Someone has added you to a company in Aicountly Manage, or asked you to take over as its owner. Where do you answer? In the Invitations page. This guide shows how to handle invitations in Manage: accept or decline them, what each type means, and where to find the record afterwards.
Where to find your invitations in Manage
Open Invitations from the left sidebar. When something is waiting for you, the sidebar entry shows a count, and the Pending tab on the page carries the same count in a small badge. If you came from an invitation link, the page highlights that invitation and says you have one waiting for your response.
The page has two tabs: Pending for invitations you still have to answer, and History for the ones already closed.
What each invitation row tells you
Every row in Pending shows a title (usually the company name), a label for the type, a line describing what is on offer, who sent it and an "Accept by" date. Read all four before you click, because the types differ:
- Company access: shared access to a company, with the access profile named in the row (for example "Shared company access" plus the profile).
- Ownership transfer: the row says "Accept to become the company owner". Accepting makes you the owner, so confirm with the sender first.
- Product access: access to specific products for a company; the row lists the product names.
- Vault access request: shown to a company owner when someone asks for access in Vault. It has Approve and Deny instead of Accept and Decline.
How to accept an invitation
- Go to Invitations and stay on Pending.
- Check the sender, the company and the "Accept by" date.
- Click Accept.
- Look for the green message. A normal invitation says "Invitation accepted." An ownership transfer says "Ownership transfer accepted. You are now the company owner."
For company access and ownership transfers, Manage refreshes your company lists after you accept, so the company can show up in your company lists. The message stays on screen even when you have answered your last invitation and the list is now empty.
How to decline an invitation
Click Decline on the row. You will see "Invitation declined." and the row leaves the Pending list. If you declined by mistake, ask the sender for a new invitation, and the declined one stays in History.
Approving or denying a Vault access request
If you own the company and a Vault access request reaches you, Manage can show Approve and Deny when it is connected to Vault. Approve asks you to confirm, and says Vault gives the access straight away and that you can revoke it in Vault. Deny asks for a reason, which the requester sees in Vault. Without that connection, the row offers a Review in Vault link instead.
When an invitation will not accept
- "This invitation link is outdated": it has been replaced or withdrawn. Refresh the page, or ask the company owner to send a new link.
- Past the "Accept by" date: expired invitations move to History. Ask for a fresh one.
- Your invitations could not be loaded: Manage shows a "Try again" button. A failed load is not an empty inbox, so use the button before assuming nothing was sent.
A short checklist before you click Accept
An invitation is a decision about access to financial records, so treat it like handing over a key. A few habits help, especially for accountants, CAs and finance managers who handle several clients:
- Know the sender. The row shows who the invitation is from. If you do not recognise the name, message the person you expected before accepting.
- Match the company. Several clients can have similar names. Confirm the company name in the row against the engagement you have with them.
- Check the profile or product list. Company access rows name a profile, and product access rows list products. Accept only what matches the work you were asked to do.
- Be extra careful with ownership transfers. Ownership comes with responsibility for the company's setup, so accept only when the current owner has told you it is coming.
- Do it before the date. The "Accept by" line is a real cut-off. A busy month-end is exactly when invitations get ignored and expire.
Who should keep an eye on the inbox
Small businesses often have one person who sets things up and then moves on to other work. If that person is also the one who receives invitations, requests can sit unanswered. Agree who checks Invitations in your team, for instance as part of your weekly review, and look at the History tab at the same time to confirm nothing unexpected was accepted. A quick look takes a minute and makes access easy to explain later to an auditor or a new partner.
The same habit helps when someone leaves. Pending invitations you no longer need can simply be declined, so they do not linger with a count on the sidebar and distract the next person who opens Manage.
Use History as your record
The History tab lists each invitation with its type, details, sender, sent date, responded date and outcome. Outcomes are Accepted, Declined, Withdrawn, Expired or Cancelled, and a Vault request reads "Approved in Vault" or "Denied in Vault". When a client asks "who gave me access and when?", or when you review who can reach the books before year-end, this list is a handy trail.
Key takeaways
- Answer invitations in Invitations, not by email replies; the sidebar count tells you something is waiting.
- Read the type label first: company access, ownership transfer and product access are very different decisions.
- Accepting an ownership transfer makes you the company owner.
- An outdated link means ask the sender for a new one.
- History keeps accepted, declined, withdrawn and expired invitations as a record.
Invitations decide who can see your company's accounts, so pair this with a look at workspace team vs company users in Manage, and keep your directors and auditor contacts in Key persons. Setting up a new financial year or branch? See financial years and branches in Manage. You can start from the Manage page whenever you are ready.
