What is the purpose of sub-teams, and how are they managed?

The screenshots in this article show the German interface. Where a button or field matters, the German label is given in brackets so you can match text to screenshot.

Teams in ContractHero control which contract categories a group of people can see. You define the access logic once per team, and everyone in that team inherits it.

What's in it for you

Instead of setting permissions for each team member individually, you define the access logic once per team. New colleagues inherit the visibility automatically as soon as you assign them to the team. That saves ongoing maintenance and reduces the risk of someone accidentally seeing contracts intended for another department — which matters for GDPR and internal compliance.

How it works

1. Open the team overview

Go to Settings → Teams [Einstellungen → Teams]. You will see a matrix of all existing teams and their access to categories. The heading "Your teams have access to categories" [Ihre Teams haben Zugriff auf Kategorien] describes the default view. Use Search [Suche] to find a team quickly, and Filter [Filter] to narrow the display to particular teams or categories.

2. Create a new team

Click "Create new team" [Neues Team erstellen] in the top right.

In the dialog you give the team a name [Teamname] — a required field — and decide in the "Category access" [Kategorienzugriff] section which contract categories the team may see:

"Access to all" [Zugriff auf alle] unlocks every category in one click.
The individual tick boxes per category let you grant access selectively.

Confirm with "Create team" [Team erstellen].

3. Adjust access later

In the matrix view, click the tick box where a team meets a category to grant or withdraw access. Changes take effect immediately — there is no separate save step.

4. Switch perspective

The "Switch to category view" [Zur Kategorieansicht wechseln] toggle at the top flips the matrix round: instead of "which team sees which categories" you see "which teams can reach this category". Handy if you want to check who has access to NDAs, for example.

Common questions

How many teams can I create?
The number depends on your plan. You can see your current count and your limit under Settings → Organisation details [Einstellungen → Details zur Organisation] in the "Organisation limits" [Organisationslimits] section.

Who can create and edit teams?
Only people with admin rights at organisation level. Regular team members do not see the Teams area in the settings at all.

What happens if I assign one person to several teams?
That person sees the union of the released categories — that is, every category at least one of their teams is allowed to see.

Do team permissions apply retroactively?
Yes. As soon as you tick or untick a box, the visibility of the affected contracts changes immediately for all team members — including for contracts that already exist.

Can a team be restricted to a single document or contract instead of a category?
No. The team logic works at category level. If you want to control access to individual contracts, use the Advanced Permission Concept (APC) (see Related articles).

Good to know

Contracts a team is not allowed to see do not appear in the contract list for its members at all — not even greyed out. That simplifies onboarding and reduces accidental access.
When a contract is uploaded, the category assigned to it decides which teams can see it afterwards.
Team logic is independent of roles: roles control what a person may do (read, edit, delete), teams control which contracts they can see in the first place.
There are currently no true sub-teams or team hierarchies — each team stands on its own. For structured multi-level set-ups, assign a person to several teams.

Updated on: 08/26/2026

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