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Company connections

Company connections let you establish and manage business relationships with other companies on the Hubbado platform. Once connected, you can work with these companies by adding them to assignments or posting jobs with them.

  • A managing company creates connections to suppliers and clients.
  • Connections are the foundation for assignments and jobs — you can only add a company to an assignment or post a job with a company you're connected to.
  • Each connection keeps that company's details, documents, and billing information in one place.

Why this matters - Connections make sure you have the information you need before creating assignments or jobs. - Connections keep a single source of truth for a company's details, documents, and billing information. - Once connected, a company appears in the dropdowns when you create assignments and jobs.

What company connections are used for

In assignments

When you create or edit an assignment, your connections determine which companies you can choose:

  • Supplier — a connected supplier that provides the people for the assignment.
  • Client — a connected client that receives the work.
  • End company — optionally, a connected company where the work is actually performed.

What is an end company? An end company is where work is actually delivered when the client acts as an intermediary. For example, your managing company may have a contract with Company A (the client), but Company A sends your people to work for Company B (the end company). Adding an end company also widens the pool of people who can be chosen as timesheet reviewers. See Direct vs. intermediated assignments for how these relationships work.

You can also choose:

  • Timesheet reviewers — from your managing company and from any connected company on the assignment (client or end company).
  • Hiring managers — from the managing, client, and end companies.

In jobs

When you post a job, your connections determine which company can be the hiring company:

  • Client — the hiring company for the job (must be a connected company).
  • End company — optionally, a connected end company.

You can also choose hiring managers from the managing, client, and end companies.

Creating a connection

Path: Engagements → Company connections → Add connection

This opens the Add a new company connection page.

Step 1: Choose the managing company

In Managing company, choose which of your companies is managing this connection. This is the company that will work with the connected company.

Step 2: Choose what you're connecting to

Under Are you connecting to a supplier or a client?, choose A supplier or A client.

A supplier gives you two options:

  • Search for a supplier — connect to a supplier that's already on the Hubbado platform. Use Connect with to find them by name. This option needs the Search Suppliers permission.
  • Or add a new supplier — create a new supplier company. Provide a Supplier name, and the Member name and Member email of the supplier's principal member.

A client lets you create a new client company. Provide a Client name, and the Member name and Member email of the client's principal member.

What is a principal member? The principal member is the person responsible for setting up that company's details. When you add a new company, Hubbado sends them an invitation so they can complete their company's information.

Note — Hubbado staff option Hubbado staff also see an Any company (superuser only) option, which connects to any company on the platform. This is used for administrative purposes and isn't available to other users.

Step 3: Connect

Click Connect.

Hubbado creates the connection and takes you to the connection details page, where you can view and manage it.

What happens next

After creating a connection, the usual next step is to create an assignment or post a job with that company:

  • To add the company to an assignment, go to Engagements → Assignments and select it from the company dropdowns.
  • To post a job with the company, create the job and select it as the hiring company.

Tip — Create connections without leaving a form You can also create a connection straight from an assignment or job form. In the supplier or client dropdown, click Connect to a new supplier company or Connect to a new client company to create the connection without leaving the form. See Creating connections from assignment or job forms.

Connection details page

Path: Engagements → Company connections → select a connection

The connection details page brings together the key information about the relationship between your managing company and the connected company.

Company details

This section shows key information about both companies:

  • Company name
  • Legal type (Ltd, LLP, Sole Trader, etc.)
  • Registration number
  • VAT number
  • Website
  • Registered and billing addresses

Note — Missing information If a company's details are incomplete, you'll see a prompt to complete them. Both companies should provide complete information before you create assignments or jobs.

Accounts and Billing

The Accounts and Billing section shows the connected company's payment information:

  • Bank account name
  • Bank name
  • Sort code
  • Account number
  • IBAN
  • BIC / SWIFT
  • Bank account currency

This information is used to generate invoices and process payments.

Billing Defaults

The Billing Defaults section sets how invoicing works by default for assignments with this company:

  • Self-bill by default — whether the supplier's invoices are raised on their behalf.
  • Client invoice by default — whether the client is invoiced.
  • PO required — whether a purchase order number is needed before client invoices can be raised.
  • Payment term (days) — the default number of days allowed for payment.

These defaults are applied when you set up assignments with this company, and can be changed per assignment.

Master Service Agreement

A Master Service Agreement (MSA) is the overarching contract between your managing company and the connected company. It typically covers payment terms, liability and insurance, confidentiality and data protection, termination, and dispute resolution.

A signed MSA must be in place before you can mark assignments with this company as agreed.

Recording a signed MSA To record that an MSA has been signed for a company, contact Hubbado.

Documents

The documents section lets you upload and share documents with the connected company.

Uploading a document

  1. On the connection details page, click Upload new document.
  2. Choose the Document type:
  3. General document
  4. Company registration certificate
  5. Company VAT certificate
  6. Choose the file under Document.
  7. Set Visible (to the connected company) — whether the connected company can see the document.
  8. Set Read only (cannot be edited by the connected company) — whether the connected company can change the document's properties.
  9. Click Upload.

Supported file types: PDF (.pdf), Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx)

File size limit: 5 MB per document

Note — Default visibility Uploaded documents are visible to the connected company and read-only by default. Change either setting in the upload form, or later by editing the document.

Managing documents

Each document in the list shows its Filename, Doc type, Size, Read only status, and Visible status.

  • Download — click the document's filename.
  • Edit — change the document type, visibility, or read-only status.
  • Delete — remove the document from the connection (you'll be asked "Are you sure you want to delete this document?").

Who can manage documents

  • Managing company members — upload, edit, and delete documents.
  • Connected company members — view and download documents marked visible, and edit a document's properties only if it isn't read-only.

Permissions

Who can create connections

To create a company connection, you need:

  • The Manage Company Connections permission on your managing company
  • A confirmed email address
  • Membership of the managing company

Who can view connections

You can view a connection if you're a member of the managing company or the connected company.

Who can edit connections

Only admins of the managing company can edit connection details and upload documents. Members of the connected company have view-only access, except for documents that aren't marked read-only.

Company permissions

Two permissions affect connections, and both are set per company:

  • Manage Company Connections — create and manage connections for that company.
  • Search Suppliers — search the supplier directory when connecting to an existing supplier.

About the Search Suppliers permission

Search Suppliers is a subscription feature that unlocks Hubbado's supplier directory. With it, you can:

  • Search for and connect to suppliers already on the Hubbado platform
  • Browse the supplier directory by name
  • View a supplier's profile before connecting

Without it:

  • You can still create new supplier companies and connect to them
  • You can't search for or connect to existing suppliers on the platform

Note — Who grants these permissions The Manage Company Connections and Search Suppliers permissions are enabled by Hubbado, not by company administrators. Contact Hubbado if you need them changed.

Creating connections from assignment or job forms

When you create an assignment or post a job, you can create a new connection without leaving the form.

From an assignment form

  • In the supplier dropdown, click Connect to a new supplier company.
  • In the client dropdown, click Connect to a new client company.

From a job form

  • In the client dropdown, click Connect to a new client company.

In each case, a window opens with the connection form. Enter the company name and the principal member's name and email, then submit. Hubbado creates the connection and selects the new company on your form straight away.

Why this is useful Creating a connection on the fly speeds up assignment and job creation — you don't have to leave the form, create the connection elsewhere, and come back.

Connection list and filtering

Path: Engagements → Company connections

The Company connections page lists every connection you have access to.

List view

Each connection shows the managing company, the connected company, and whether it's a supplier or client connection. Click any connection to open its details page.

Filtering

Click Filters to filter by:

  • Managing company
  • Connected with
  • Name — searches both the managing and connected company names
  • Type — supplier or client

Use Clear all filters to reset.

Pagination

The list shows 20 connections per page. Use the pagination controls at the bottom to move through the pages.

Troubleshooting

"I can't create a connection"

Possible reasons:

  1. You don't have the Manage Company Connections permission.

  2. Solution: Contact Hubbado to have it enabled for your company.

  3. Your email address isn't confirmed.

  4. Solution: Check your email for the confirmation link and confirm your address.

  5. You're not a member of the managing company.

  6. Solution: You can only create connections for companies you're a member of. Ask an administrator to add you.

  7. The company is already connected.

  8. Solution: Check the connections list — each pair of companies can have only one connection.

"I can't find a supplier when searching"

Possible reasons:

  1. You don't have the Search Suppliers permission.

  2. Solution: Contact Hubbado to have it enabled for your company.

  3. The supplier isn't on Hubbado yet.

  4. Solution: Use Or add a new supplier to create the supplier company and connect to it.

  5. The name is spelled differently.

  6. Solution: Try different search terms or variations of the company name.

"I can't see a connection I know exists"

Possible reasons:

  1. You're not a member of either company in the connection.

  2. Solution: Connections are only visible to members of the managing or connected company. Ask an administrator to add you to one of them.

  3. You're filtering by a different managing company.

  4. Solution: Use the filters to select the correct managing company.

"The connected company can't see a document I uploaded"

Uploaded documents are visible to the connected company by default, so check whether this one was marked not visible:

  1. Open the connection details page.
  2. Find the document in the list.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Turn on Visible (to the connected company).
  5. Save.

"Why can't I edit this connection?"

Only admins of the managing company can edit connection details and upload documents. If you're a member of the connected company, you have view-only access.

Solution: Ask an admin of the managing company to make the change, or ask to be added to the managing company if that's appropriate.

Best practices

Complete company details early

Before creating assignments or jobs, make sure both companies have complete details:

  • Registration information
  • VAT registration
  • Billing details (bank account, IBAN, etc.)
  • Contact information

Upload key documents

Keep important documents on the connection so they're in one place and easy for both companies to find:

  • Company registration certificates
  • VAT certificates
  • Insurance documents

Use document visibility deliberately

  • Keep documents visible when the connected company needs them.
  • Turn visible off for documents that are for your internal reference only.
  • Use read only to stop the connected company changing important documents.

Name new companies carefully

When you create a new supplier or client company:

  • Use the official registered company name.
  • Double-check the spelling before submitting.
  • Avoid abbreviations unless they're part of the official name.

Company names can be changed later, but it's easier to get them right the first time.

Understand connection permanence

Connections are permanent records:

  • Connections can't be deleted. Once created, a connection stays in the system, preserving the record of your business relationships and the assignments and jobs that used them.

If you created a connection by mistake, contact Hubbado for guidance.

  • Assignments — creating and managing assignments with connected companies
  • Companies — managing company details and members