This documentation serves as the primary technical resource for administrators responsible for the setup, configuration, and management of users across the FOUR Platform. By following this standardised procedure, administrators can ensure that all personnel are provisioned with consistency and the right level of access across the FOUR Platform.
Your operations involve far more people than will ever need to log in — so on the FOUR Platform, Contacts and User Access are modelled separately. An Entity is a business or an individual, and each entity has Contacts — the people you'd reach out to for that entity. This clear separation lets you build comprehensive solutions without muddling your actual users with every person and business in your world. When someone does need to sign in, you simply grant their contact user access.
Remember: To add a user, start with a contact. Find an existing one or create a new one, then grant it user access.
Step 1: Find or create the contact
User access always begins with a contact in the Directory in FOUR WORK. The best way to get there:
- In FOUR WORK, open the Entities list.
- Find the correct entity and open it.
- Go to the Contacts tab.
- Search for the person. If they don't exist yet, create a new contact and enter their details.
Once created, this contact becomes important information that other parts of the platform can leverage — so accuracy is always a good idea. It can be updated later if needed.
Step 2: Create the FOUR User
Open the contact you found or created. You'll see a Create FOUR User button — click it and it will take you into FOUR ACCOUNT, where you can start setting up their user access appropriately.
Step 3: Subscriptions and permissions
From here, you can add subscriptions to the applications the user is allowed to access (e.g., FORMS, WORK), and give permissions for what they need to do within them.
Tip: A user doesn't need a login to be set up. Quite often administrators will prepare users with the appropriate subscriptions and permissions ready to go, and hold off on the actual login until it's the right time to share it — a handy way to stage new users and get your ducks in a line early.
Step 4: Choose experiences and set up a login
Subscriptions and permissions alone don't yet allow the user to log in. The final step is deciding which experiences are available to the user (one or both), and setting up the right type of login:
Field Experience
Streamlined for action
Essential functions in a clean, focused interface — perfect for drivers, technicians and frontline workers who need to get things done quickly.
- Sign in with a PIN number
- Works on shared devices
- Mobile-first, with offline sync
Main Experience
Full platform power
Access to comprehensive functionality across the suite of applications in the FOUR Platform — the right fit for administrators and office-based users.
- Sign in with a full login (see below)
- Personal credentials
- Works in any modern browser and on mobile
You can read more about the two experiences on the platform overview page.
Login types
Giving someone Main Experience access means setting up a login. There are three types, and the right one depends on who should own it:
Standard
The platform sends an invitation to the user's email address. From there, they can create a new login or add this account to one they already have. The login is owned by the user.
Managed
You create the login on the user's behalf, and your account owns the rights to it — meaning you can manage it for them. The login is owned by your account.
Delegated
If you have a Microsoft or Google workspace, users can sign in with it in a very low-friction way. The login is owned by your auth provider.
Learn more: For further assistance with user access, you can contact our Support team at support@four.io.