Ownerships
Set the list of ownership types for accounts, such as Private, Public, Government or Partnership.
Updated 12 October 2026 · 2 min read
Ownership says how a company is owned, such as Private, Public or Government.
For example, a firm that sells to schools and hospitals wants to tell government buyers apart, because they buy through tenders. They keep Government, and add "Trust" for school trusts. Now salespeople can see at a glance which accounts need a tender.
Before you start
- To see the list, you need the View Configurations permission. To add a value, you need Create Configurations. To change one or switch it off, you need Edit Configurations. To delete one, you need Delete Configurations.
If you don't have a permission you need, ask your admin.
Where it's used
- Ownership on accounts.
The list
Go to Settings > Configurations and click Ownerships. You start with 11, such as Private, Public, Government and Partnership.

Add a value
- Click Add Ownership. The Create window opens.
- Fill in the fields. Fields marked * must be filled in.
- Click Create.

| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Name * | The ownership type, up to 100 characters, such as "Trust" |
| Sequence * | Its place in the dropdown, from 1 to 100. Lower numbers come first |
| Description | When to use it, up to 255 characters |
New values show in everyone's dropdowns straight away.
Change, switch off or delete
Click ⋮ on a value:
- Edit changes it. The window is called Update.
- Make it Inactive hides it from dropdowns. Records that already use it keep it. Make it Active shows it again.
- Delete removes it. You can't delete a value that records still use.
Each one asks you to confirm first. See Configurations.
Renaming a value doesn't change records that already use the old name. They keep showing the old name.
An ownership used by accounts can't be deleted.
Troubleshooting
| You see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Ownership cannot be deleted as it is used by … Deactivate it instead to hide it from new records." | Records still use the value | Click Make it Inactive instead |
| "A ownership with this name already exists." | The name is taken, maybe by a deleted value | Pick another name |
| "Sequence must be at least 1" or "Sequence cannot be more than 100" | The sequence is outside 1 to 100 | Enter a number from 1 to 100 |
Related
Still stuck?
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