## 🧭 Overview

If you are an Admin in Search Atlas but cannot find the **Billing** section inside your account settings, the most common reason is **not** a permissions error — it is your account type. Search Atlas accounts provisioned through **GoHighLevel (GHL)** as a **Child account** do not display the Billing tab at all, regardless of your role. This article explains why, and shows you exactly how to upgrade your plan.



## 🔍 What Is a GHL Child Account?

Search Atlas integrates with GoHighLevel (GHL) so that GHL agency owners can provision Search Atlas access directly from their GHL dashboard. This creates two distinct account types:

- **Parent account:** The GHL agency owner's Search Atlas account. This account holds the active subscription and has full access to Billing.
- **Child account:** A Search Atlas account created automatically when a GHL agency provisions access for one of their clients or sub-accounts. Child accounts are linked to the Parent's subscription and therefore have no independent Billing section.

Because billing is managed entirely at the Parent level, Search Atlas intentionally hides the Billing tab from all Child accounts — including users with the Admin role. This is by design, not a bug or a permission misconfiguration.



## ⚠️ How to Confirm You Are on a GHL Child Account

Before spending time troubleshooting permissions or refreshing your browser, confirm your account type with these steps:

1. Click your **avatar** in the top-right corner of the platform.
2. Select **Team Members**. You will be taken to **/settings**.
3. Look for any banner, label, or note that references **GoHighLevel**, **GHL**, or **Agency** provisioning near the top of the settings page.
4. If you see such a label, your account is a GHL Child account and Billing will not appear here.

If you are still unsure, contact the agency or team that originally set up your Search Atlas access — they will be able to confirm whether they provisioned it through GoHighLevel.



## 💳 How to Upgrade Your Plan as a GHL Child Account

Because your subscription is controlled by the GHL Parent account (your agency owner), you have two paths to upgrade:

- **Option 1 — Ask your agency owner to upgrade:** Reach out to the GoHighLevel agency that manages your account and ask them to upgrade the plan from their Search Atlas Parent account. All billing changes must originate there.
- **Option 2 — Migrate to a standalone Search Atlas account:** If you want full control over your own subscription and Billing tab, you can create an independent Search Atlas account that is not linked to GHL. Our support team can guide you through migrating your data and settings without losing your work.

## 🚫 Troubleshooting Steps That Will Not Help

If your missing Billing tab is caused by the GHL Child account structure, the following actions will **not** resolve it and can be skipped entirely:

- Logging out and back in
- Clearing your browser cache or switching browsers
- Asking your agency owner to re-assign your Admin role
- Removing and re-adding yourself as a Team Member

These steps are valid for other UI or permissions issues, but they cannot override the structural design that hides Billing on GHL Child accounts.



## ✅ Quick Summary

- GHL Child accounts never show the Billing tab — this is expected behaviour, not a bug.
- Your Admin role does not change this; Billing is controlled at the GHL Parent (agency) level.
- To upgrade, contact your agency owner or request a migration to a standalone account.

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.