What does it mean to "associate" or "unassociate" from an account?

[ECSBC]

We're a very small organization and have a paid pro plan whose owner is ***********.  When I run a Zoom meeting, I log into Zoom as ***********.  

We also have someone, call her Mary, who's Gmail account is somehow "associated" with our paid paid.  Mary wanted to buy her own paid plan but when she went to buy it got a message that she was already on a paid plan, that the administrator was *********** and that she'd have to "disassociate" from it (see attached screen shot). 

We've never seen this message and Mary isn't even sure how her Gmail was "associated."   We don't even know what it means to be "associated" and want to make sure that her disassociating from it won't break anything, in other words, that I will still be able to log in as *********** and do everything I need to do.,

[Bort]

This just means that Mary was added to your account at some point. She is a member on the account and has her own, separate and independent list of meetings. Removing her from the account will have no impact on the owner's profile. 

Here is an article on how the account owner can unlink her from the account: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005269946-Deactivating-unlinking-or-deleting-users-from...

Hope that helps and please make sure to mark the solution as accepted if this information is what you needed.

[ECSBC]

Thank you, Bort.  Let me follow up with what I am sure is a dumb question.  What does it  even mean to "link" an account.  What can she do as a linked account that someone else cannot do?  

[Bort · Accepted solution]

When a user is linked to someone's account, they are a member of that account. They can schedule their own meetings independently of the owner and other users on the account, but the owner can control their settings to a degree at the account level.

The main benefit is that the company may pay for the account and may want to purchase additional licenses or other add-ons, which can be assigned to other users on the account, such as Mary's profile. Additionally, this is often preferred for billing and accounting, since you will just get one invoice for all the users the company pays for. 

The main restriction is that she cannot purchase these herself, as she is not in control of the account. When she is unlinked from the account, she becomes her own account owner and can upgrade as she sees fit. 

Hope that helps and please make sure to mark the solution as accepted if this information is what you needed.