# Core concepts

Workspace, Member, and Account: the three ideas everything else builds on

* **[Workspace](https://splits.org/docs/workspaces)**: the unit everything is scoped to. One workspace per set of books: a company, an individual, or a project.
* **[Member](https://splits.org/docs/members)**: a person who belongs to a workspace, with a role and their own signing keys.
* **[Account](https://splits.org/docs/accounts)**: where a workspace's assets live, at the same address on every network, controlled by signers at a threshold.

## Workspace

Everything in the app (accounts, balances, transactions, bank info) except personal settings is scoped to the current workspace, shown in the workspace selector (top left).

A workspace maps to one set of books, whether or not a legal entity exists yet: a company, an individual, or a project that hasn't incorporated. Where an entity does exist, the mapping is one-to-one: on/offramps and compliant payments require [entity verification](https://splits.org/docs/banking), and each workspace can have only one verified entity. A tax ID is a useful litmus test: Alice belongs to the Splits Labs workspace (EIN) and her own personal workspace (SSN), two tax IDs, two workspaces. A pre-entity project runs as its own workspace from day one and can [verify through an individual](https://splits.org/docs/introduction/personal-usage#no-entity-needed) until it incorporates.

When deciding between a new workspace and an existing one, ask "who are the owners?" Same owners, existing workspace; different owners, new workspace. This matters for Recovery: see [Change recovery signers](https://splits.org/docs/workspaces/recovery#changing-recovery-signers). To create a workspace, see [Workspaces](https://splits.org/docs/workspaces).

## Member

A member is a person who belongs to a [workspace](https://splits.org/docs/workspaces). Members authenticate with email, and one member can belong to many workspaces. Every member has a [role](https://splits.org/docs/workspaces/roles) (Owner or Member) that determines what they can administer, and holds **[signing keys](https://splits.org/docs/members/keys)**: passkeys saved in the app, or EOAs [registered via the CLI](https://splits.org/docs/introduction/agents#sign-locally-with-an-eoa).

A member's signing keys can become [signers](https://splits.org/docs/accounts/signers) on accounts; membership alone grants no signing authority. Signing keys, email, display name, and avatar belong to the member, not the workspace, so they work across every workspace a member is part of ([Settings > Personal](https://app.splits.org/settings/personal/general/)). For roles, inviting, and removal, see [Members](https://splits.org/docs/members).

## Account

An account is where a workspace's assets are stored, at the same address on every network it's active on. Every account has a [threshold](https://splits.org/docs/accounts/thresholds): a transaction executes once that many [signers](https://splits.org/docs/accounts/signers) approve it. Signers are keys held by members; the public key lives onchain, the private key stays with the member, and **Splits never has access to private keys**.

For account types and the ownership chain, see [Accounts](https://splits.org/docs/accounts).