Licenses and True-up confusion

Hello

I'm a little confused about the new subscription model.

I have some new team members and I want to assign them a licence. Does that now mean 'Member'? I can't see anywhere to assign licences anymore.

I find the true-up explanation very confusing. I have some people that I share sheets with which I need them to contribute to so they were Guests. Now I see them as a Member (Provisional) that are going to True-up. I don't want them to have Member access but I can only change them to Viewer which won't allow them to update a sheet (an Action Log that they contribute to).

Can someone help me navigate this new model as I'm just totally confused by it!

Thanks

Katie

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Comments

Naeem Ejaz

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I understand how the new subscription model can be confusing. Let me help clarify things for you:

Assigning Licenses:
- In the new subscription model, you assign licenses to users by making them "Members." To do this, go to the Admin Center, navigate to "Users and Groups," and then "User Roles and Reports." Here, you can add new users and assign them the "Licensed User" role.
True-Up Process:
- The true-up process involves reviewing provisional Members (users who have been given temporary access) and deciding whether to convert them to full Members. This happens during a reconciliation period, typically every quarter for annual plans. If you don't take action, Smartsheet will automatically convert provisional Members to full Members and bill you accordingly.
Managing Access Levels:
- If you don't want certain users to have full Member access but still need them to contribute to sheets, you can adjust their roles. Unfortunately, the new model doesn't allow for a middle ground between Viewer and Member. Viewers can only view sheets, while Members have full access. You might need to manually manage these roles during the reconciliation period to ensure you're not over-licensed.
Provisional Members:
- Provisional Members have full access for at least 30 days. After this period, you can decide whether to upgrade them to full Members or downgrade them to Viewers. This flexibility allows you to test their need for full access before committing to a license.

KatieDi

Hello.

So, point 3 - This is contradictory. You say I can adjust the role if I have someone who still needs to contribute to sheets without having full Member access, but then you say it's either Member or Viewer.

I have someone who contributes to one sheet only. Are you saying I now have to give them full Member access? That isn't financially viable and completely misses the point of having sheets that are collaborative!

Katie

Genevieve P.

Hi @KatieDi

It looks like @Naeem Ejaz may have used a form of AI to write the explanation, which is perhaps why it's not very clear.

I would recommend reviewing this Help Article as it has a diagram that may be a better visual aid: https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2483245-User-Subscription-Model-System-Admin-overview

Internal users are either a Member or Viewer.
External users can be both of those, or they can be a Guest with editor access.

In your scenario it sounds like the one person who contributes on 1 sheet is perhaps an Internal user, so then yes, they would need to be a Member in order to make changes and edit content.

If they're making minimal changes, you could provide them with Viewer access to the sheet and then send them Update Requests to have their input without needing to make them a Member.

For your original question, yes, making someone a Member is similar to giving them a license on the previous model. 🙂

Cheers,
Genevieve

Naeem Ejaz

User Subscription Model FY25 [Customer Resource].pdf

Smartsheet-user-subscription-brief.pdf

@KatieDi @Genevieve P. I think these files will be useful.

Vivien Chong

@KatieDi this may be helpful to you: https://help.smartsheet.com/learning-track/get-started-user-subscription-model

In short, in the New Subscription Model, whenever you share an item with your internal team (same domain) with commenter permission and above, they will be counted as Provisional Member if they are not currently a member. During true up, you have to decide whether to upgrade them to a member or downgrade to a viewer.

Any external email domain will be categorise as Guest if they are share to an item with commenter or Editor permission. If you want to grant them Admin access, a membership is required too.

Loann McGee

Am I understanding that we no longer have what used to be "Users" and they have to have what is the equivalent to a license??!!!

In one sheet, alone, we have 129 who have been shared to the sheet with only five of us being licensed users.

Automatically charging is quite concerning, as well. Will there be a notice sent to the SysAdmin well ahead of time to make any needed updates?

Regarding this process, this isn't a feasible work-around…this would take more man power to send out the update requests: "If they're making minimal changes, you could provide them with Viewer access to the sheet and then send them Update Requests to have their input without needing to make them a Member."

This will utterly destroy our use of Smartsheet as we have so many current users that contribute daily to the various sheets/reports.

Ask anyone I work with and they will tell you I have been a huge proponent of Smartsheet - even rejecting the possible use of AirTable. If all the above is true, I will have no choice but to being looking elsewhere…

I would appreciate a phone call from our Smartsheet Representative to talk about this.

Genevieve P.

Hi @Loann McGee

System Admins receive email notifications as part of the "true up" process when deciding if a use should change from a provisional member to be a paid member. This article goes through the true up process in detail: https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2483246-Manage-users-User-Subscription-Model#toc-true-up-process

It sounds like you have questions about the User Subscription Model that are specific to your plan and sharing processes; your representative will reach out directly so that you can discuss this in a private channel.

Thanks,
Genevieve

rscott

There also needs to be a way to lock a user to an access level - otherwise, we'll have to spend time each quarter carrying out this stupid true-up process.

There's no API for this, so we can't even automate the process.

TCJ

I agree with rscott - why are there not any tools for admins to limit the number of users, or who can become provisional? The only explanation is that this is an attempt at a money grab, I have gotten a lot of questions from my management, specifically around looking for alternatives to Smartsheets because of the new licensing model.

msmasonanew

I am absolutely disappointed in Smartsheet's new subscription model and how Smartsheet placed any kind of responsibility on its customers' admins to adjust member types. I am just a small business with minimal licenses. Smartsheet, not me, went into my account and added an additional user license, based on their review of my users. I felt violated actually like my account had been hacked by Smartsheet. That action increased my annual subscription billing AND delayed me paying my bill because it included the additional licence I did not add. Worst, the new true-up system took CONTROL of reducing licenses away from the subscriber. Support requests went unheard. When support responded, defended their action, said they gave me enough time to go into my account and true-up (yeah that confusing thing being talked about in this thread), which I did not do by a certain date. Why do I need to true up, whatever that means? My job is to say I need this many licenses and PAY for them. That's it. Overall, I can scarcely believe what Smartsheet has done. Signed confused and dissatisfied.

Tony Lin

this is really confusing as a new subscriber to Smartsheet. I have 5 licenses and configured 5 members in the User Management page, and I see 3 of them are provisional and 1 of them is true-up in the User-type and True-up page, what does it mean? will I get additional charge in the future???

Loann McGee

@Tony Lin from my online chat with our rep there will no longer be "free" users that can edit data. Only viewers are free going forward.
If your users within your entity have to edit anything within the platform they must have a license.

If they are an "outside" user, meaning not an employee/contractor, then they can be granted some type of user status that lets them edit data.

Smartsheet reps hopefully reply to make sure you have an accurate answer.

Loann McGee

I came across a booklet from Smartsheet on their history. To @Mark Mader and those who oversee Smartsheet and its changes, may I ask that you reconsider the True-Up subscription and removal of "User" members?
Many of us have commented about the financial impact - negative impact - this will have on our use of Smartsheet and whether or not it will remain a viable product due to the massive increase in cost to our bottom line.

"Maintaining our integrity is an outcome just as important as closing a sale or
helping a customer overcome a challenge. This means being honest with our
customers, our colleagues, and ourselves. It means being transparent about
our work. It means remaining determined to do the right thing, even when
the right thing is hard to do.
When we face an ethical choice between sacrificing our integrity to reach
a goal and risking failure to keep our integrity intact, we take it as a win to
prioritize what we believe ahead of what we could achieve.?

Kari G

@Loann McGee This is the same issue we are finding, we are in the Medical Field and the editor role is perfect for us. We can't let all of our staff have a license. However this is going to eliminate 90% of our staff from being able to do huge parts of their jobs on a daily basis. We will be having to look elsewhere as well. I'm very upset, because I have spent so much time creating and building out our space in SmartSheet all for this to happen. This is not ok!

Loann McGee

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/480610#Comment_480610

@Sheryl Sheldon your post is blank. Just thought you might want to know. :)

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