Roles & permissions
Every seat has one of four roles. The role decides what the person can do; SturdyBooks checks it on every action, and hides the buttons a role can’t use.
| Role | In short |
|---|---|
| Owner | Everything, including adding and removing other owners. |
| Admin | Everything except managing owners. |
| Bookkeeper | Day-to-day bookkeeping. Can see the team but not change it. |
| Viewer | Read-only access to the books. |
What each role can do
Section titled “What each role can do”| Owner | Admin | Bookkeeper | Viewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| See every page and report | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| See the team | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Customers & vendors: add and change | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Invoices: create, post, change, void | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Record payments received, apply customer credits | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Expenses: record, change, void | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Receipts: upload, record, dismiss, restore | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Bills: enter, post, change, void | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Pay bills, apply vendor prepayments, void bill payments | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Journal: post and reverse standard entries | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Journal: post and reverse adjusting entries | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Chart of accounts: add, change, archive, delete | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Suggest accounts; make and turn off rules | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Close and reopen months | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Lock and unlock months | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Invite people, change roles, disable and enable seats | ✓ | ✓ (not owners) | ||
| Invite an owner, or change an owner’s seat | ✓ |
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”- Admins and owners. An admin can do everything an owner can, except invite an owner or change, disable or re-invite an owner’s seat.
- Nobody can change their own seat. You can’t change your own role or disable yourself — ask another owner or admin.
- A company always has an owner. The last active owner can’t be demoted or disabled.
- Bookkeepers and vendors. Bookkeepers enter and post bills but don’t pay them — and for the same reason can’t debit Accounts Payable in a manual journal entry.
- Viewers see everything — every page, every report, the team — but have no buttons to change anything. Pages they can’t change say Your role can view … but not change them.
- Role changes take effect at the person’s next click — there’s no need for them to sign out.
- If you try something your role doesn’t allow, SturdyBooks says Your role doesn’t allow that. Ask your company owner if you need it.
To invite someone or change a role, see Invite your team & set roles.