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How to Manage Sub Accounts

  • Read time: 4 min

Welcome to Sub Accounts

Sub Accounts are subsidiary bank accounts* under your Crowded account.

Use these accounts in a variety of ways:

  • Create an account per troop, chapter, program to give them autonomy to manage their finances, while you get complete oversight
  • Separate funds for grant or restricted donation tracking
  • Keep income streams labeled and separate (fundraisers, events, etc.)

Note: this feature is available for Pro or Custom organizations operating under the same EIN. For multi-chapter organizations where chapters have their own EIN, take a look at our Related Entities Dashboard for easier group-exemption management 🙂

Watch this quick video for a walkthrough of the Sub Account creation process!

When your account opens up Sub Accounts, it becomes an “HQ” or Headquarters account.

As the HQ, you have special privileges – you’ll be able to create Sub Accounts, invite admins to run these accounts, and add and withdraw funds from those accounts. 

Why use Sub Accounts?

An organization can turn to Sub Accounts to get unprecedented oversight, without needing to manage everything hands-on.

Assign admin access to the relevant parties, and allow sub-groups/committees/chapters to manage their own finances, but step in whenever.

Also, say bye to the account handover process as you know it. No more trips to the bank, no need for the group admin to provide their SSN, Sub Account admins can be assigned and replaced instantly. 

Creating Sub Accounts

Create Sub Accounts easily from the ‘My Accounts’ tab on your Crowded account.

Navigate to the Sub Accounts tab and click ‘Create Sub Account.’

Creating One Sub Account

If you are only creating one or two Sub Accounts, you can do so manually by clicking “Create an Account.”

Then, name the account, and decide how much money you’d like to start them off with (this step is optional!).

Then, invite an admin to run this account – either select one of your existing contacts, yourself, or invite a new admin by email.

How to Create Sub Accounts in Bulk

Easily onboard the teams/chapters/sub-sections of your organization onto Crowded with a CSV upload! This process instantly creates Sub Accounts and sends out the invitations to the selected admins.

Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough of the process.

1. Compile Info into a Spreadsheet

Use Excel or Google Sheets to create a spreadsheet with the necessary information to create the Sub Accounts and invite the designated admin. The spreadsheet must have the following columns in this order or use our template.

  1. Name of the Sub Account 
  2. First name of the admin 
  3. Last name of the admin
  4. Email of the admin

 

Once you’ve added all the relevant information, double-check it, and download it as a CSV file.

2. Upload the CSV to Crowded 

  1. This time when you click “Create Sub Account” select “Upload via CSV”
  2. Upload the CSV you created with the Sub Account information. 
  3. Once the CSV is loaded in the platform, look through all of the lines to ensure that everything is correct, or fix any errors. 
  4. Once it is ready, finalize the upload. 

 

The Sub Accounts will be automatically created, and the admins will receive invitation emails. From the Sub Accounts dashboard, you can track who has accepted the invitation and resend it to those who haven’t. And you’re all set to get a bird ‘s-eye view into all the Sub Accounts of your organization!

 

Adding Admins to Sub Accounts

Adding admins is crucial for managing a Sub Account. Admins are invited by email, and then can log into the Sub Account and manage it from there! Add the designated admin (this can also be yourself).

    1. Log into Crowded on the web platform and click on “My Accounts” on the sidebar.
    2. Select the Sub Account you’d like to add an admin to.
    3. Click “Add Admin”.
    4.  Either select one of your existing contacts, yourself, or invite a new admin by email.
    5. The invited admin will receive the invitation email, and should complete the registration.

From that point, the admin will be able to log into the Sub Account and create collections, spend with an Admin card, see all transactions, etc.

Removing Admins

Once a Sub Account has admins, it must always have at least one admin. To remove an admin from a Sub Account, there must be at least two admins on that account. We recommend that you add yourself as an admin so you can easily remove other admins at any point.

To manage the admins on a Sub Account, see the Admin column on the Sub Accounts table. Click on the admin name on the Sub Account you’d like to remove. Click on the garbage bin next to the admin you’d like to remove and you’re done!

Funding Sub Accounts

Once your organization’s Sub Accounts are up and running, it’s time to get the accounts started with some funds. There are two ways to add funds to these accounts:

Option 1: Funding Sub Accounts in Bulk via CSV

  1. Log in to Crowded on a computer and click on “Accounts” on the sidebar and then “Sub Accounts“.
  2. Click the “Bulk Transfer” button on the top of the table, and select “Add funds“
  3. Prepare a spreadsheet with all of the necessary account data and transfer data. You may download a list of all accounts with their information from the platform, and then add the amounts for transfer and reference.

    1. The following columns and column names are required in the file:

      • Account name
      • Account number
      • Amount
      • Reference
    2. Once you’ve added all the relevant information, double-check it, and download it as a CSV file

4. Upload the CSV to Crowded 

  1. Once the CSV is loaded in the platform, look through all of the lines to ensure that everything is correct, or fix any errors. 
  2. Confirm, and the money should be transferred immediately from your Primary Checking. Account balance to the balance of the selected Sub Accounts

 

Option 2: Funding one at a time

  1. Log in to Crowded on a computer and click on “Accounts” on the sidebar and then “Sub Accounts“.
  2. Select the Sub Account you’d like to fund.
  3. Click “Add Funds” on the floating bar on the bottom of the screen.
  4. Input the amount and a reference for the transfer.
  5. Confirm, and the money should be transferred immediately from your Primary Checking. Account balance to the balance of the selected Sub Accounts.

Note: This process is the same for withdrawing funds from a Sub Account, except click “Withdraw Funds” from the bottom bar.

 

Option 3: From an external bank account:

External parties can make an incoming ACH transfer into a specific Sub Account from an external bank account by inputting the Sub Account’s specific bank details.  Each Sub Account has a unique account number, with the same routing number and account name as the HQ’s account.

The HQ account name and routing number can be accessed via the platform here (accessible by HQ and Sub Account admins only).

Withdrawing Funds from Sub Accounts

Depending on how your organization uses Sub Accounts, you may need to take money out of the Sub Accounts. This can be done on a one-off basis, or in bulk with a CSV file. 

Option 1: Withdrawing from Sub Accounts in Bulk via CSV

  1. Log in to Crowded on a computer and click on “Accounts” on the sidebar and then “Sub Accounts“.
  2. Click the “Bulk Transfer” button on the top of the table, and select “Withdraw”
  3. Prepare a spreadsheet with all of the necessary account data and transfer data. You may download a list of all accounts with their information from the platform, and then add the amounts for withdrawal and reference.

    1. The following columns and column names are required in the file:

      • Account name
      • Account number
      • Amount
      • Reference
    2. Once you’ve added all the relevant information, double-check it, and download it as a CSV file

4. Upload the CSV to Crowded 

  1. Once the CSV is loaded in the platform, look through all of the lines to ensure that everything is correct, or fix any errors. 
  2. Confirm, and the money should be transferred immediately from the selected Sub Accounts to your Primary Checking Account balance.

Option 2: Withdraw one at a time

  1. Log in to Crowded on a computer and click on “Accounts” on the sidebar and then “Sub Accounts“.
  2. Select the Sub Account you’d like to fund.
  3. Click “Withdraw Funds” on the floating bar on the bottom of the screen.
  4. Input the amount and a reference for the transfer.
  5. Confirm, and the money should be transferred immediately from the Sub Account to your Primary Checking. Account balance.

FAQs

How do Sub Accounts work?

Sub Accounts are essentially mini Crowded accounts inside a larger Crowded account. Once an organization activates Sub Accounts on their Crowded account, they can begin creating Sub Accounts, and inviting admins to run those accounts. The appointed admins can log into a Crowded Sub account, as they would their regular account, create collections and issue cards.

What functionalities are limited for Sub Accounts?

Sub Accounts enjoy 99% of what a regular Crowded account experiences (payment processing, expense tools, etc.) with the only difference being that Sub Accounts cannot have Sub Accounts within them and cannot file taxes.

What can Sub Account admins see?

Sub Account admins can only see the account that they were invited to manage. They cannot see any information of the HQ account or other Sub Accounts.

 

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