What is the purpose of a permissions audit?
The audit should reduce unnecessary access without interrupting orders, advertising, finance, compliance, or catalog work. Begin with actual responsibilities rather than copying permissions from a previous employee or agency.
Build an access register
- User, organization, role, business owner, and last confirmed need.
- Marketplaces and functions the user can view or change.
- Whether the access is permanent, temporary, or project-based.
- Required security controls and recovery contact ownership.
- Approval, review date, and removal date where applicable.
Remove access in a controlled sequence
Transfer ownership of reports, cases, advertising, integrations, and operational routines before removing a user. Confirm that remaining authorized people can complete the critical task and recover access if the primary owner is unavailable.
Repeat after every role change
Review permissions when an employee, contractor, agency, or software connection changes. A short event-driven review is more reliable than waiting for one annual cleanup while obsolete access accumulates.