> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.peakcommerce.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.peakcommerce.com/product/partner-portal/administration/partner-realms.md).

# Assigning Accounts to Partners

Each partner acts only on the **accounts assigned to them** — their book of business. This boundary is what keeps an indirect channel safe: partners never see each other's customers, and they never see accounts outside their cohort. Getting assignment right is the foundation of the whole Partner Portal, so it's worth understanding both ways accounts reach a partner.

## How assignment works

PeakCommerce determines a partner's accounts two ways, which combine:

* **Territory Rules** (under **Rules & Automation → Territory Rules**) — rules that match customer accounts by attributes such as region, locale, or segment and route them to a partner. As accounts match a rule, they join that partner's book of business automatically. This is the scalable path: define a Northwest territory for one partner and a Southwest territory for another, and new matching customers fall into place without manual work.
* **Manual assignment** — you can assign a specific account to a partner directly, for one-off or exception cases that no rule covers.

Both feed the same scope: a partner's view is the union of rule-matched and manually assigned accounts. You can preview a Territory Rule before saving it to see which accounts it would match.

## Who manages this

Staff with permission to manage **Territory Rules** create and edit the rules; account assignment also respects each partner's **profile record scope** ("created by or assigned to them"), which is what enforces the boundary at view time. Together, the rule decides *who gets the account* and the profile scope ensures *only that partner sees it*.

## Gotchas

* **An unmatched account is invisible.** If a customer matches no Territory Rule and has no manual assignment, no partner can act on it — check rule conditions first when a partner reports a "missing" customer.
* **Rules are evaluated against current account attributes.** If you change how territories are defined, a partner's cohort can shift; preview before saving.
* Territory Rules govern *visibility and assignment* — what a partner can *do* with an assigned account (change vs. cancel) is controlled separately by [Portal Action Permissions](/product/using-peakcommerce/profiles-and-permissions/portal-action-permissions.md).

## Related

* [Partner Administration](/product/partner-portal/administration.md)
* [Customer Management](/product/partner-portal/customer-management.md)
* [Partner Users](/product/using-peakcommerce/users-and-user-roles/partner-users.md)
* [Profiles & Permissions](/product/using-peakcommerce/profiles-and-permissions.md)


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