AWS Audit Manager will no longer be open to new customers starting April 30, 2026. If you would like to use Audit Manager, sign up prior to that date. Existing customers can continue to use the service as normal. For more information, see [AWS Audit Manager availability change](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/audit-manager/latest/userguide/audit-manager-availability-change.html). 

# Prerequisites for setting up AWS Audit Manager
<a name="setup-prerequisites"></a>



Before you can use AWS Audit Manager, you must make sure that you have properly set up your AWS account and user permissions. 

This page outlines the necessary steps to create an AWS account (if needed), configure an administrative user, and grant the permissions required to access and enable Audit Manager. 

**Tasks**

1. [Sign up for an AWS account](#sign-up-for-aws)

1. [Create a user with administrative access](#create-an-admin)

1. [Add the required permissions to access and enable Audit Manager](#attach-IAM)

**Important**  
If you’re already set up with AWS and IAM, you can skip tasks 1 and 2. However, you must complete task 3 to ensure that you have the required permissions to set up Audit Manager.

## Sign up for an AWS account
<a name="sign-up-for-aws"></a>

If you do not have an AWS account, complete the following steps to create one.

**To sign up for an AWS account**

1. Open [https://portal.aws.amazon.com/billing/signup](https://portal.aws.amazon.com/billing/signup).

1. Follow the online instructions.

   Part of the sign-up procedure involves receiving a phone call or text message and entering a verification code on the phone keypad.

   When you sign up for an AWS account, an *AWS account root user* is created. The root user has access to all AWS services and resources in the account. As a security best practice, assign administrative access to a user, and use only the root user to perform [tasks that require root user access](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_root-user.html#root-user-tasks).

AWS sends you a confirmation email after the sign-up process is complete. At any time, you can view your current account activity and manage your account by going to [https://aws.amazon.com/](https://aws.amazon.com/) and choosing **My Account**.

## Create a user with administrative access
<a name="create-an-admin"></a>

After you sign up for an AWS account, secure your AWS account root user, enable AWS IAM Identity Center, and create an administrative user so that you don't use the root user for everyday tasks.

**Secure your AWS account root user**

1.  Sign in to the [AWS Management Console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/) as the account owner by choosing **Root user** and entering your AWS account email address. On the next page, enter your password.

   For help signing in by using root user, see [Signing in as the root user](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/signin/latest/userguide/console-sign-in-tutorials.html#introduction-to-root-user-sign-in-tutorial) in the *AWS Sign-In User Guide*.

1. Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your root user.

   For instructions, see [Enable a virtual MFA device for your AWS account root user (console)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/enable-virt-mfa-for-root.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.

**Create a user with administrative access**

1. Enable IAM Identity Center.

   For instructions, see [Enabling AWS IAM Identity Center](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//singlesignon/latest/userguide/get-set-up-for-idc.html) in the *AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide*.

1. In IAM Identity Center, grant administrative access to a user.

   For a tutorial about using the IAM Identity Center directory as your identity source, see [ Configure user access with the default IAM Identity Center directory](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//singlesignon/latest/userguide/quick-start-default-idc.html) in the *AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide*.

**Sign in as the user with administrative access**
+ To sign in with your IAM Identity Center user, use the sign-in URL that was sent to your email address when you created the IAM Identity Center user.

  For help signing in using an IAM Identity Center user, see [Signing in to the AWS access portal](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/signin/latest/userguide/iam-id-center-sign-in-tutorial.html) in the *AWS Sign-In User Guide*.

**Assign access to additional users**

1. In IAM Identity Center, create a permission set that follows the best practice of applying least-privilege permissions.

   For instructions, see [ Create a permission set](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//singlesignon/latest/userguide/get-started-create-a-permission-set.html) in the *AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide*.

1. Assign users to a group, and then assign single sign-on access to the group.

   For instructions, see [ Add groups](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//singlesignon/latest/userguide/addgroups.html) in the *AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide*.

## Add the required permissions to access and enable Audit Manager
<a name="attach-IAM"></a>

You must give users the required permissions to enable Audit Manager. For users who need full access to Audit Manager, use the [AWSAuditManagerAdministratorAccess](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-managed-policy/latest/reference/AWSAuditManagerAdministratorAccess.html) managed policy. This is an AWS managed policy that’s available in your AWS account, and it’s the recommended policy for Audit Manager administrators. 

**Tip**  
As a security best practice, we recommend that you get started with AWS managed policies and then move toward least-privilege permissions. AWS managed policies grant permissions for many common use cases. However, keep in mind that because AWS managed policies are available for use by all AWS customers, they might not grant least-privilege permissions for your specific use cases. As a result, we recommend that you reduce permissions further by defining [customer managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_managed-vs-inline.html#customer-managed-policies) that are specific to your use cases. For more information, see [AWS managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_managed-vs-inline.html#aws-managed-policies) in the *AWS Identity and Access Management User Guide.*

To provide access, add permissions to your users, groups, or roles:
+ Users and groups in AWS IAM Identity Center:

  Create a permission set. Follow the instructions in [Create a permission set](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//singlesignon/latest/userguide/howtocreatepermissionset.html) in the *AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide*.
+ Users managed in IAM through an identity provider:

  Create a role for identity federation. Follow the instructions in [Create a role for a third-party identity provider (federation)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_create_for-idp.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ IAM users:
  + Create a role that your user can assume. Follow the instructions in [Create a role for an IAM user](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_create_for-user.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
  + (Not recommended) Attach a policy directly to a user or add a user to a user group. Follow the instructions in [Adding permissions to a user (console)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com//IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_users_change-permissions.html#users_change_permissions-add-console) in the *IAM User Guide*.

## Next steps
<a name="setup-prerequisites-next-steps"></a>

Now that you've set up your AWS account and granted the required permissions, you're ready to enable Audit Manager. For step-by-step instructions, see [Enabling AWS Audit Manager](setup-audit-manager.md).