# Partner Portal overview
URL: https://docs.autociso.io/product/partner/overview/
Description: What the Partner Portal is for, who gets access to which screen, and how a fractional CISO or advisory firm signs up and starts managing client organisations.

The Partner Portal is a separate workspace for people who look after the security and ISO 27001 work of **several companies at once**: fractional CISOs, vCISO providers and small advisory firms. Instead of switching between client organisations one by one, you see all of them in one place, work through one combined to-do list, and send each client a regular board report under your own firm name.

Each client keeps its own AutoCISO organisation and its own data. The portal sits on top of those organisations; it does not merge them.

## What you can do in the portal

| Task | Where | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Connect a client organisation to your firm | **Invite Center**, client-side **Partner Access** | [Connect client organisations](https://docs.autociso.io/product/partner/connect-clients/) |
| See which clients need attention and what to do next | **Dashboard**, **Portfolio**, **Action Queue**, **Health Timeline** | [Work across your clients](https://docs.autociso.io/product/partner/manage-portfolio/) |
| Send clients a report; reuse your advisory workflows | **Board Pack**, **Advisory Templates** | [Board Packs and advisory templates](https://docs.autociso.io/product/partner/deliverables/) |
| Run your own firm: branding, team, plan, referral income | **Partner Settings**, **User Management**, **Billing & Subscription**, **Referral Program** | [Administer your partner firm](https://docs.autociso.io/product/partner/firm-admin/) |

## Who can do what

The portal has two roles. Both are described, once, on [Roles and permissions](https://docs.autociso.io/getting-started/roles-and-permissions/); this table only shows how they map to screens.

| Screen | Partner Owner | Partner Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Yes | Yes |
| Portfolio and Action Queue | Yes | Yes |
| Health Timeline for a client | Yes | Yes |
| Board Pack | Yes | Yes |
| Advisory Templates: browse and apply | Yes | Yes |
| Advisory Templates: create, edit, delete | Yes | No |
| Partner Compliance | Yes | Yes |
| Referral Program | Yes | Yes (no link in the menu; a Partner Manager lands here when opening a screen reserved for owners) |
| Invite Center | Yes | No |
| Partner Settings | Yes | No |
| User Management | Yes | No |
| Billing & Subscription | Yes | No |

If a Partner Manager opens a screen reserved for owners, the portal sends them to **Referral Program** instead.

## Become a partner

You need an AutoCISO sign-in first. Then:

1. Open **Become a Partner**. If you already have a partner role, the portal sends you straight to your Portfolio instead.
2. On the **Join the Partner Program** form, enter your **Firm or advisor name** (for example "Acme Security Advisors"). It can be up to 200 characters.
3. Tick **I agree to the Partner Program terms**.
4. Click **Activate Partner Account**.

You land in the portal as the firm's **Partner Owner**. From there you can [connect your first client](https://docs.autociso.io/product/partner/connect-clients/) and invite colleagues as Partner Managers.

**Note — Limits on registration**

Some accounts cannot register (the form then reports that you already have a partner account). You can make at most three registration attempts in 24 hours; after that the form shows "Too many requests. Please try again later." If you already have a partner account, the form says "You already have a partner account." and offers **Go to Partner Portal**.

## Plan and the first clients

The Partner Portal is part of [The Seed plan and higher](https://docs.autociso.io/getting-started/plans-and-features/). Two screens behave differently until your firm has enough clients:

- **Portfolio** and **Action Queue** are greyed out in the menu until your firm manages at least two client organisations. Until then, opening Portfolio takes you to **Referral Program**.
- **Partner Compliance** needs a plan that includes it. Without it the page shows "This feature is not available on your current plan."

Your **Dashboard** and **Referral Program** work from day one. There are two ways a firm earns, and each client organisation is on exactly one of them:

- **Referral:** you share your referral link; the customer pays AutoCISO directly, and you earn a share of their subscription. See [Referral Program](https://docs.autociso.io/product/partner/firm-admin/#referral-program).
- **Managed:** you manage the client's organisation yourself and receive a discount tier on your own subscription as the number of managed organisations grows. See [Billing](https://docs.autociso.io/product/partner/firm-admin/#billing-and-subscription).

## Console reference

Every screen has a reference page that lists its columns and fields: [Dashboard](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/partner-dashboard/), [Portfolio](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/portfolio/), [Action Queue](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/action-queue/), [Health Timeline](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/org-timeline/), [Board Pack](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/board-pack/), [Referral Program](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/referrals/), [Invite Center](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/invite-center/), [Partner Settings](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/partner-settings/), [Partner Compliance](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/compliance/), [Billing & Subscription](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/partner-billing/), [User Management](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/partner-users/) and [Advisory Templates](https://docs.autociso.io/console/partner/templates/).