How to switch client profiles on Mac
RiskOS keeps a profile for each client you work for. One keystroke moves the methodology, the appetite, the report defaults and the branding across with you.
Consultants rarely run one methodology. One client treats anything above nine as intolerable and the next sits happily at twelve; one expects their own mark on the cover of a report, another expects to see yours. Re-typing those arrangements between engagements is how a document goes out with the wrong appetite printed on it. A profile holds each client's arrangement in one place, and moving between them is a keystroke.
Profiles beyond the number your licence allows are locked rather than removed. Nothing you set up inside one is discarded, and it comes back intact the moment there is room for it again.
Where profiles live
Profiles sits at the very top of the sidebar, above the dashboard. The position is deliberate: which client you are working for is the thing to settle before anything else you do that morning. Choosing it lists every profile you have set up, and selecting one opens it in the panel on the right, where the client name, the client logo, the methodology, the appetite and the report defaults sit together on a single screen.
There is a second control for the same job in the sidebar footer, and it is visible from every section. That is the one you will use most, because it lets you change client without leaving the register, the dashboard or a half-finished report. Whichever you use, the window itself stays put. The sidebar and the panel keep the widths you set them to, and RiskOS remembers that arrangement between switches.
Switch a profile, step by step
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Open the Profiles section
Click Profiles at the top of the sidebar. Every profile you have set up is listed. Select one and the panel on the right shows what it holds: the client name that will appear on exports, the client logo, and the methodology, appetite and report defaults this client's work is read against.
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Read what the profile holds before you move
Look at the appetite figure and the methodology in the panel before you switch into a profile. Those are the two settings that change how the register reads, so knowing what you are moving into saves a confused minute later when a familiar risk sits on the other side of a threshold.
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Switch from the sidebar footer
Use the switcher in the sidebar footer to change profile without leaving whatever you were doing. Choose the client you are working for and the window changes over at once — the appetite flags, the report defaults and the branding all follow the profile you picked, in the section you were already in.
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Cycle profiles with a keystroke
Press ⌃⌘P to move to the next profile without touching the sidebar at all. It cycles, so on a two-client morning the same keystroke carries you back and forth. This is the quickest way to answer a question about one engagement while a report for another is still open in front of you.
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Confirm the window has changed over
The sidebar footer names the profile that is now active, so a glance down there is the first check. For a second one, open Risks and switch on the over-appetite filter. The rows it leaves behind are the ones this client would not tolerate, which is the fastest proof you are reading the register under the right threshold.
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Update a profile when your settings move
The methodology and appetite inside a profile are snapshots, taken when it was created or last refreshed. If you change the organisation's methodology or appetite in Settings and want a particular profile to adopt the new rules, open that profile and choose Update from Current Settings. Profiles you leave alone keep the snapshot they already had.
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Export with the right profile active
With the client's profile active, build the report as you normally would. The export carries that client's name and logo as the organisation the work was prepared for, while your own business identity stays primary on the header and footer. Press ⇧⌘P for PDF or ⇧⌘E for HTML, and the confirmation names the file it wrote.
What a profile carries
A profile dresses the whole application for one client. It is not a different appearance laid over the same rules; the rules themselves come with it, which is why switching can change what a number means as well as what a cover page says. Five things travel together.
| What the profile holds | Why it belongs to the client | What you notice after a switch |
|---|---|---|
| Methodology | Not every organisation scores the same way, or agrees on whether a control reduces likelihood, impact or both | Residual scores are read under this client's rules |
| Risk appetite | The highest residual score this client is prepared to live with is their decision, not yours | A different set of rows carries the over-appetite flag |
| Report defaults | The cover fields a report opens with, so you are not retyping them every quarter | A new report starts addressed to the right organisation |
| Client name | The party the work was prepared for | It appears on the cover of every export |
| Client logo | The mark the client expects to recognise on their own documents | It appears on exports alongside your identity |
Your own identity stays primary
A profile does not replace you with the client. The header and footer you designed in Set Up Branding — business name, tagline, address, phone, email, website and your logo — remain the identity of the document. The client arrives as the organisation the report was prepared for. That is the right way round for advisory work: whoever picks the report up at the other end should be able to see at a glance who wrote it.
Methodology and appetite are snapshots
This is the behaviour worth understanding properly, because it is the one that surprises people. When a profile is created it takes a copy of the methodology and the appetite as they stand. From that moment the copy is the profile's own. Changing the organisation's settings afterwards does not reach back into profiles you made earlier.
Why a snapshot rather than a live link
Because clients do not move in step. If every profile followed one live setting, deciding that a new client tolerates a residual of twelve would quietly raise the tolerance you agreed with three others, and their reports would go out saying something none of them signed off. A snapshot means a decision you make for one engagement stays inside that engagement until you choose otherwise.
When to update from current settings
Use Update from Current Settings when the arrangement in Settings is now the arrangement you want that profile to use. In practice that is after a client agrees a new appetite, or after you tighten your own house methodology and want a particular engagement brought in line. Open the profile, look at what it holds, change the settings to what you want, then refresh the profile from them. Do it one profile at a time and read the register afterwards.
What changing the methodology does to scores
The methodology decides whether controls reduce likelihood, impact or both, and that choice re-scores every risk immediately rather than leaving old ratings behind. So a profile carrying a different methodology can show you the same register at different residual scores. Nothing has been altered by hand and no history is lost. The arithmetic follows the rules the active profile brought with it, and the panel still shows how each residual figure was reached.
What a client sees on an export
All four outputs RiskOS produces are drawn from the same snapshot of the register at the moment you export, so a printed page and an emailed file can never disagree about a number. The active profile decides whose name is on the front of all of them.
| Output | Shortcut | How the profile shows up |
|---|---|---|
| ⇧⌘P | Branded cover naming the client as the organisation it was prepared for, with a running header and footer on every page | |
| HTML | ⇧⌘E | One self-contained file that opens in any browser, carrying the same cover and the same identity |
| Excel | — | A workbook of seven sheets whose formulas re-score themselves when a likelihood is changed |
| ⌘P | Exactly the PDF, sent to the printer |
Because the report defaults live in the profile, the cover fields — report title, organisation, prepared by — open already filled in for the client you are working for. The section toggles are still yours to set for the document in hand, so a board pack and a working paper for the same client can differ without either of them losing the right name on the cover.
How many profiles you can keep
RiskOS includes one profile, which is the one you are in whether or not you ever open the section. Small Business, Enterprise and Consultant each unlock more, and each is a one-time purchase. There is no subscription: you buy the room once and it stays bought, through every update that follows.
If you ever hold more profiles than your licence allows, the extras are locked rather than deleted. That is a deliberate choice. A locked profile keeps its client name, its logo, its methodology snapshot and its report defaults exactly as you left them, and it opens again untouched as soon as there is room. Nothing you built for a client is thrown away because of a count.
Troubleshooting
The keystroke skips past the client I want
⌃⌘P moves to the next profile in the list and comes round again at the end, so pressing it once more will reach the one you meant. When you have more than two or three, the switcher in the sidebar footer is the better control, because it lets you choose by name rather than count presses.
All my scores changed when I switched
The profile you moved into carries a different methodology. The choice of whether controls reduce likelihood, impact or both re-scores every risk the moment it applies, so the same register can read differently under two clients' rules. Open Settings ▸ Methodology to see which rule is in force, and check the profile in Profiles to see what it holds.
A risk that was over appetite is not flagged any more
This client tolerates more than the last one did. Appetite resolves in a fixed order — the risk's own override first, then its category, then the organisation-wide threshold — so a risk can lose its flag because the profile raised the organisation threshold, and keep it because its category or its own override still says otherwise.
The profile still shows the old appetite after I changed Settings
That is the snapshot doing its job. A profile does not follow the organisation's settings as they change; it holds the copy it took. Open the profile and choose Update from Current Settings when you want it to adopt what is in Settings now. Until you do, the client keeps the arrangement you agreed with them.
A report went out with the wrong client on the cover
The cover fields come from the profile that was active at the moment you exported. Switch to the right profile, check the name in the sidebar footer, and export again; the confirmation tells you the filename it wrote, so the two files are easy to tell apart. Give each one a report title that names the client and the quarter.
A routine that keeps clients apart
Most profile mistakes are not misunderstandings. They are a switch someone forgot to make. A few habits remove nearly all of them.
- Switch first, work second. Change profile before you open a risk, not after you have edited three. The keystroke takes a second and it settles which client's rules you are about to read.
- Read the footer, not your memory. The sidebar footer names the active profile from every section. Make glancing at it the reflex before any export.
- Refresh a snapshot deliberately. Change what you want in Settings, then update the one profile that should adopt it. Never refresh several profiles in a row without reading the register between them.
- Put the client in the report title. The cover fields carry the organisation already, but a title naming the client and the period makes a folder of exports readable months later.
- Check the over-appetite filter after switching. It is a two-second sanity check that the threshold in force is the one this client agreed to.
- Keep one profile per engagement, not per person. Profiles are for clients and their rules. Owners, business units and categories already separate work inside the register.
- Back up before a round of profile changes. File ▸ Back Up RiskOS… writes everything RiskOS holds to a single file, and the default filename carries the date, so a folder of backups sorts itself.
Frequently asked questions
How do I switch between client profiles on a Mac?
Use the switcher in the sidebar footer, which is visible from every section, or press ⌃⌘P to cycle to the next profile without leaving what you are doing. The full list lives in Profiles at the top of the sidebar, where selecting one shows everything it holds before you commit to the change.
What does a client profile actually change?
Five things travel with a profile: the scoring methodology, the risk appetite, the report defaults, the client name and the client logo. Switching applies all five at once, so the register is scored under that client's rules, the right rows are flagged as over appetite, and a new report opens addressed to the right organisation.
Does switching profiles change my risk scores?
It can. A profile carries its own methodology, including whether controls reduce likelihood, impact or both, and that choice re-scores every risk as soon as it applies. Nothing is edited by hand and no history is lost. The register is being read under a different set of rules, and RiskOS shows its working either way.
Why does my profile still show the old risk appetite?
Methodology and appetite are held as snapshots, taken when the profile was created or last refreshed, so changing the organisation's settings afterwards does not reach back into it. Open the profile and choose Update from Current Settings when you want it to adopt the arrangement now in Settings. Profiles you leave alone keep what they had.
How many client profiles can I have in RiskOS?
RiskOS includes one profile, which is the one you are using by default. Small Business, Enterprise and Consultant each unlock more. Which you need depends on how many clients or business units you keep separate arrangements for, and you can move up later without setting anything up again.
Is there a subscription for extra client profiles?
No. Extra profiles are a one-time purchase, never a subscription. You buy the room once and it stays bought through the updates that follow. The only network use anywhere in the app is Apple's App Store, for the purchase itself, and it never sees your register.
What happens to a profile I no longer have room for?
It is locked, not deleted. A locked profile keeps its client name, its logo, its methodology snapshot and its report defaults exactly as you left them, and it opens again untouched as soon as there is room. Nothing you set up for a client is discarded because of a count.
Does the client's logo replace my own on a report?
No. Your business identity stays primary on the header and footer of every export, and the client's name and logo appear as the organisation the report was prepared for. The live preview in Set Up Branding shows the real header and footer, so what you see there is exactly what exports and prints.