Subcontractors
A subcontractor is an external company that works on your properties with its own people. You create the company as its own master data record, assign properties to it and set up an access. With it the subcontractor signs in to the portal and the LiteLog app, creates their own employees, hands out QR logins and only ever sees their own accounts. The records of their employees (times, rounds, tasks) arrive at your side just like those of your own employees.
Navigation: Master data → Subcontractors
What is this view for?
Here you manage all external companies working for you as a list with a file. The view answers:
- Which subcontractors work for us, on which properties and with how many people?
- Can the company sign in, and which areas does it see?
- Which employees belong to which company?
The subcontractor differs from the customer access: the customer is your client and looks on, the subcontractor brings staff and works. Their employees clock in, walk rounds and complete tasks like your own.
The list
The table shows per subcontractor the columns Company, Contact (email/phone), Properties (assigned properties), Employees (number of accounts belonging to the company), Status (Active, Locked or Archived) and Access (enabled login methods). Use the gear icon to show or hide columns.
- The tabs Active and Archived switch between current and archived companies.
- The search field finds companies by company name or username. The search term stays in the address bar.
- Clicking a row opens the file.
Adding a subcontractor
Click Add subcontractor. The dialog matches the employee dialog, with two particularities:
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Profile | Company name, contact details, notes |
| Role (required) | A role with the visibility Own accounts only. If none exists yet, the dialog shows the note "There is no role with "Own accounts only". Create one under Settings → Roles." |
| Access | Username and password for the portal and the LiteLog app. You set both yourself and pass them on to the company |
| Property assignments | Selected only is preset: you choose the properties the company works on |
After saving, the company appears in the list and you land in its file.
The file
Clicking a row opens the subcontractor file with the tabs Overview, Access, Employees and Assignment. There you change the credentials, define the visible areas, see the company's employees and maintain their property access.
The role "Own accounts only"
You set the visibility of a role under Settings → Hierarchy & roles. Next to the levels (admin, property manager, employee, customer) there is the option Own accounts only: this role only sees and manages accounts assigned to it. The role of the subcontractor needs this visibility; it is the distinguishing feature of the subcontractor list.
For the employees of the company the visibility of the role does not matter: an account with a Belongs to assignment is always limited to its own company, whatever role it carries.
Package and company switch
The feature is included from the Standard package (Premium and Enterprise as well). In Starter it is locked; the portal shows the note Unlock from Standard.
In addition the feature has a company switch: the card Subcontractor access under Settings → Features, tab For the company. The switch is off by default (opt-in). If the package is missing or the switch is off, the entry Subcontractors in the master data stays visible but is greyed out with the chip "off"; the click leads to the card.
Locked are only adding a subcontractor, moving the "Belongs to" assignment and releasing areas. Existing subcontractor accounts keep working after a package change: the company and its employees still sign in, clock in and walk rounds, and the list stays readable.
Seats
Employees of a subcontractor occupy seats like your own employees. This distinguishes them from the customer access, which never occupies a seat. So plan the seat count of your package with the people of the external companies in mind; how seats are counted is explained under License & billing.
When the seats are used up, the subcontractor sees the note "The account quota is exhausted. Please contact your client." when creating further accounts. As the client you book further seats under License & billing.
Good to know
:::tip Note
- The subcontractor's access is a normal account: locking, changing the password and archiving work as with an employee.
- When archiving a company, its employees and data are kept. The access is closed until you unarchive.
- If you open the file of an account that is not a subcontractor ("Belongs to" set, or a role without "Own accounts only"), the portal redirects to the employee file.
- The areas of a subcontractor narrow their rights, they are not a customer portal: Rounds, Reports and Material are available here from Standard, independent of the modules of the customer access. :::
Permissions
:::info Permission To open this page you need the permission View employees. Subcontractors use the same permissions as employees; there are no separate ones. Contact your administrator if you do not have access. :::
| Action | Permission |
|---|---|
| Open the page | View employees |
| Add subcontractor | Create employees |
| Edit subcontractor, change access and areas | Edit employees |
| Archive / restore subcontractor | Archive employees |