How Can Someone Access My Business Accounts If I Can't?

By Bill Stilwell · Last reviewed October 17, 2026

The short answer

Write a short plan that tells a trusted person how to reach your business accounts if you can’t. Use built-in tools where possible, like a password manager’s emergency access feature and a second business admin, instead of sharing passwords. Store the plan where that person can find it, and test it once a year.

What this means

Most small businesses run on accounts that only the owner can open. Emergency access is a planned, documented way for someone else to step in. It has three parts:

Who: one or two trusted people, like a business partner, spouse, or key employee
How: the tools and steps they’ll use to get in
What: which accounts matter most in the first few days

Some services have built-in options. Google’s Inactive Account Manager lets you pick up to 10 people to be notified, and optionally receive data you choose, if your Google account is inactive for a period you set. Many business password managers offer an emergency access or recovery feature. A second owner on your GBP is the simplest backup of all.

Made-up example: The owner of Clearwater Pool Service is the only person who can log in to anything. He sets up his business partner as a second owner on GBP, the domain registrar, and the bank. He adds her as an emergency contact in the password manager and writes a one page plan listing what to update first if he’s ever out.

Why it matters

Emergencies don’t give notice. Illness, accidents, and family crises happen.
Platforms move slowly. Recovering an account without the owner can take weeks and paperwork.
Bills and renewals keep coming. A lapsed domain or hosting plan takes the website and email offline.
Customers need answers. Someone has to update hours and reply to messages.

Who this applies to

Every business, and most of all solo owners. A business with two active admins on every key account is already partly covered.

How to do it

Pick your emergency contact and a backup. Choose people you trust with the business.
Add a second admin on key accounts where it’s allowed: GBP, domain, website host, email, and bank (see 8.4.6 Two Business-Controlled Administrators).
Turn on emergency access in your password manager, if it offers it.
Consider Google’s Inactive Account Manager for the Google account tied to your business.
Write a one page plan. List the top accounts to deal with first, who to call (attorney, bookkeeper, bank), and where the password manager recovery kit and backup codes are.
Store it safely. A sealed envelope in a safe or with your attorney, plus a note telling your contact where it is.
Check legal paperwork. Ask your attorney whether your operating agreement, power of attorney, or succession plan covers who can act for the business (see 27.7 Succession Plan).
Test it once a year. Walk through the plan with your contact without actually using it.

What proof to keep

The written emergency access plan, with date
A list of accounts with a second admin
Screenshots of emergency access settings
Where the sealed plan is kept and who knows about it
Date of the last test

Common mistakes

Handing a spouse a list of passwords that goes stale in a month.
No second admin anywhere.
Plan stored only on the owner’s laptop, which no one else can open.
Forgetting the domain. It’s the account that takes everything else down if it expires.
Never telling the contact the plan exists.

When to get help from a pro

Attorney: for who can legally act for the business and access accounts if you’re unable. Information technology (IT) specialist: for setting up emergency access features. Questions to ask:

Who has legal authority to run the business if I’m incapacitated?
Should my succession plan name who gets account access?
Which emergency access tools fit the services we use?

Bill’s note

[Bill: add a short note. For example, a business owner who was suddenly out and whose Google Business Profile and website went untouched for weeks, or how you set up a backup person for SiteSmarty.]

If you’d rather have this done for you, SiteSmarty handles Google Business Profile management.

How I did this for SiteSmarty

[Date I did this:]
[What I actually did, step by step: who my emergency contact is and which tools I used for SiteSmarty]
[What it cost and how long it took:]
[What surprised me or what I’d do differently:]
[Screenshot or photo to add, with private info blurred: emergency access settings and the outside of the sealed plan]
[Result so far:]

Questions people ask

What happens to my Google account if I can’t use it? You can set up Google’s Inactive Account Manager to notify up to 10 people and share data you choose after a period of inactivity you pick.

Should my spouse or partner have my passwords? It’s safer to use a password manager’s emergency access feature or make them a second admin, so you don’t hand over a list that goes stale.

Where should I keep the plan? Somewhere safe and offline, like a safe or with your attorney, and tell your contact where it is.

How do I recover an account if the owner is gone? Each platform has its own recovery process and may ask for legal documents. A second admin set up in advance avoids most of this.

Audit check

Question: Is there a written, tested plan for someone else to reach key business accounts if the owner can’t?
Pass looks like: Named contacts, second admins on key accounts, emergency access features turned on, a stored plan, and a test within the last year.
Fail looks like: Only the owner can log in anywhere, or a stale password list in a drawer.
Evidence to collect: The written plan, second admin list, emergency access screenshots, and the last test date.

Where this fits

Do this first: 11.7.2 Password Manager, 11.7.4 Account Recovery Methods, 11.7.5 Access Inventory

Do this next: 11.8 Business Backups

Sources

Google Account Help, "About Inactive Account Manager" (checked October 17, 2026)
Google Business Profile Help, "Manage your Business Profile owners and managers" (checked October 17, 2026)
Federal Trade Commission, "Cybersecurity for Small Business" fact sheets (checked October 17, 2026)

This page explains general rules and Bill's own experience. It is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.