🎯 Goal
Move a Society seat or Pro/Atlas licence from one colleague to another, with or without closing the outgoing user's account, and make sure their disposals and requirements have a new owner before any account is closed.
❓ Why
In Kato, every record must have an owner - that's what keeps filters, workflows, reporting and marketing content accurate. When a user account is closed, any records they own must be transferred to another active user first. Getting the order right - seat transfer, then record transfer, then account closure - prevents broken filters, missing data and the rescue work that follows.
🔍 Overview
There are four scenarios:
Scenario | Best for | Closure needed? |
Option 1: Transfer Society seat only | Colleague changes role but stays in the same team | No |
Option 2: Transfer Pro seat only | Colleague changes role but stays in the same team | No |
Option 3: Transfer Society seat and close outgoing account | Leaver or someone moving team where records and seat are taken over | Yes - records must be transferred first |
Option 4: Transfer Pro seat and close outgoing account | Leaver or someone moving team where records and seat are taken over | Yes - records must be transferred first |
Only Organisation Admins can transfer seats, reassign records and deactivate users.
📊 Step-by-step
1. Identify what you need
Seat transfer only - Option 1 (Society) or Option 2 (Pro)
Seat transfer + account closure - Option 3 (Society) or Option 4 (Pro)
2. Gather the details
If closing an account: be sure who should receive the departing user's records
Confirmation that the receiving user has an active Kato account (create one first if not)
3. Transfer the seat (Organisation Admin)
In Organisation Settings → User Management, transfer the Society or Pro seat from the outgoing user to the new user. Because the seat is paid for, it remains valid for the rest of the Society year (Society) or contracted term (Pro). Seats can be reassigned again later if needed.
4. Bulk add the new user to existing disposals (optional, no closure required)
Go to the Disposals page.
Switch to Table view.
Select the disposals you want to add the user to.
Apply the bulk action to add the new user.
To remove the outgoing user from their existing disposals, either remove them manually from each disposal management page, or request a human agent and we'll action it for you.
5. If you're closing the account
Once the seat transfer is complete, you can proceed to deactivate the user's account.
✅ You've done it when…
The seat shows against the receiving user in User Management.
For closures: the outgoing user's records appear under the new owner.
Marketing content, filters and reporting continue to work without 'orphaned records'.
💡 Common mistakes & pro tips
Closing the account before transferring records. Every record needs an active owner. Do the seat transfer, then the record transfer, then close.
Forgetting the new owner needs an active account. Create the receiving user first if they don't already exist.
Removing the outgoing user from disposals manually one by one. Use the bulk action in Table view, or ask Support to action it.
Expecting individual users to do this. Only Organisation Admins can sign off seat transfers.
💬 Need Help?
📞 0203 772 8898