When a firm falls behind on its account (firms on external invoicing pay outside the platform), you can suspend it. Suspension immediately locks the firm's admin portal, and every partner workspace tied to that firm's client engagements — while leaving you, the platform admin, in full control. Nothing is deleted; reinstating the moment the firm settles takes one click.

**💡 Tip — Who can use this**
Platform administrators, from the firm's detail page under Firm Management. The built-in System firm cannot be suspended.

## Quick reference

| Step | Action |
|------|--------|
| 1 | Open the firm and scroll to Suspend Firm |
| 2 | Enter a reason and click Suspend Firm |
| 3 | Click Confirm Suspend |
| 4 | Reinstate the firm when it has settled |

---

## Step 1: Open the firm's page

From the admin console, go to **Firms** and click the firm you need to act on. The **Suspend Firm** card is the last section on the firm's detail page, below Members.

![The Suspend Firm card at the bottom of the firm detail page](https://brandassets.lucidusfortis.com/help/suspend-reinstate-firm/step-1-suspend-card.png)

**📝 Note — What suspension locks**
The firm's own portal, its partners' access to that firm's client workspaces, and the firm's client accounts. Partners keep working on engagements belonging to other (paying) firms, and you keep full admin access to everything. No data is deleted at any point.

## Step 2: Enter a reason and arm the confirmation

Type a reason for the audit log (at least 10 characters), then click **Suspend Firm**. The button flips to a confirmation state so a slip of the mouse can't suspend a firm.

![The confirmation state after clicking Suspend Firm](https://brandassets.lucidusfortis.com/help/suspend-reinstate-firm/step-2-confirm.png)

## Step 3: Confirm the suspension

Click **Confirm Suspend**. The page immediately shows a red suspended banner with your reason, and the firm's portal, partners, and clients see their lock screens on their next visit.

![The suspended banner shown at the top of the firm page](https://brandassets.lucidusfortis.com/help/suspend-reinstate-firm/step-3-suspended-banner.png)

**❗ Important — The firm's clients see a specific message**
Clients of a suspended firm are told their firm is inactive on the platform and to contact their firm administrator. The firm's admins are told to contact the Fortis Pulse team. Both keep a Log out option on that screen.

## Step 4: Reinstate the firm

Once the firm has settled its account, return to the same page. The card now offers **Reinstate Firm** — confirm it, and every lock lifts instantly. The full suspend/reinstate history is recorded in the firm's activity log.

![The Reinstate Firm card shown while the firm is suspended](https://brandassets.lucidusfortis.com/help/suspend-reinstate-firm/step-4-reinstate-card.png)

**⚠️ Warning — Suspension and deactivation are different things**
Suspending a firm is your platform-level action for a firm in default. Deactivating an individual client is the firm admin's action from their own portal (see "Deactivating and Reactivating a Client"). A suspended firm locks everyone; a deactivated client locks just that client.