22. Roles and permissions

Whether someone can open a page or press a button is decided by two checks. Both must pass.

• Society Superadmin and Manager need no role. They can use every feature the society has. Neither can use a feature the Platform Admin has switched off.
• Every other staff member gets access only through a custom role. A staff login whose role is inactive, archived or deleted can still sign in but sees a page saying nothing is available.
• Residents (Flat Owner, Tenant) are not part of this. They see only their own invoices and ledger.

Roles & Permissions is at the bottom of the sidebar and is open to the Superadmin only. It has two parts: Custom Roles and Role Templates .

A role and the staff member's login are created together, on one form. Each role belongs to one staff member. To give two people the same access, create two roles and apply the same template to both.

1. Open Roles & Permissions , then Custom Roles , and click Add Role .
2. Under Role Details, enter the Role Name, for example Accounts Clerk, and optionally a Description of up to 500 characters. Leave Active Role ticked.
3. Under Staff Account, enter the staff member's Full Name, Email, Username and Password.
4. Under Permissions Matrix, either choose a starting point in Apply Template or switch on the permissions one by one.
5. Click Create Role . The role is saved and the login is ready to use.
6. Give the username and password to the staff member yourself. The system does not email them.

• Username: must be unique across the whole platform. The form checks it as you type and suggests alternatives if it is taken.
• Email: must not already be used by another login or resident.
• Password: any password is accepted, regardless of length or strength.

The matrix lists every feature the society has, grouped by area. Each row has one or more switches:

Add, Edit and Archive cannot be switched on until View is on for the same row. Turning View off clears them.

The Quick Permission Actions bar above the list fills the matrix in one click:

• Enable All View : switches on View everywhere.
• Enable All Archive : switches on View and Archive everywhere.
• Grant All : switches on everything.
• Clear All : switches everything off.

Nothing is saved until you click Create Role or Save Changes in the bar at the bottom of the page. A change to a role takes effect on the staff member's next page load.

These are the groups and rows of the matrix. A row is missing from your screen when the Platform Admin has switched that feature off for the society.

Some rows are useless without another. A staff member who can edit floors but cannot see towers has no way to reach a floor. The matrix enforces this for you: a dependent row stays greyed out, with the note Requires … to be enabled first, until View is on for the row it depends on.

• The chain runs all the way up. Flats need Floors, and Floors need Towers, so a role that works with residents needs View on Towers, Floors and Flats.
• Add, Edit and Archive follow the same rule between Towers, Floors and Flats: Add on Floors needs Add on Towers, and so on.
• Turning a row off turns off everything under it. Switching off View on Towers clears Floors, Flats and every resident row. The same clean-up is applied again when the role is saved.

A template is a saved set of switches. Choosing one in Apply Template fills the matrix, and you can then adjust any switch before saving. Your society starts with its own copies of three templates:

To make your own template:

1. Open Roles & Permissions , then Role Templates , and click Add Template .
2. Enter a Name, which is what appears in the Apply Template list, and optionally a Description.
3. Set the switches in the Permissions Matrix and click Create Template .

• Templates are yours. The three defaults can be edited or archived like any other, and your changes do not affect any other society. A template name can be used only once in your society.
• A template is a starting point, not a link. Editing a template later does not change roles that were created from it. To update an existing role, open it and apply the template again, or change its switches directly.
• Archived templates leave the Apply Template list. View Archived shows them, with Restore and permanent delete.

Use the three-dot menu on the role's row in Custom Roles .

• Approving or rejecting a waiver. The Waivers row only lets staff request a waiver. Deciding one needs the separate Waivers — Approve/Reject switch, which is off unless you turn it on. The Superadmin and Managers can always decide.
• Requesting a waiver while waivers are switched off. If waivers are turned off in Billing Configuration, staff cannot request one even with the Waivers permission. The Superadmin and Managers still can.
• Roles & Permissions itself. Only the Superadmin can create roles, change switches or reset staff passwords. Managers cannot open these screens.
• Anything the society does not have. A feature the Platform Admin has switched off cannot be granted. If it is switched back on later, roles that had it before get it back without any change from you.
• The Superadmin and Manager logins. These are set up by the Platform Admin. A society has one Superadmin.

• A switch is greyed out: the row it depends on is off, or View on the same row is off. Turn those on first.
• A row is not in the matrix at all: the feature is switched off for the society. Ask the Platform Admin.
• The staff member signs in and sees "Nothing available for your account": their role is inactive or archived, or it has no switches on for a feature the society has.
• A proof, receipt or attachment will not open for a staff member: uploaded files follow the View permission of the feature they belong to. A petty cash bill needs Petty Cash View, a flat's documents need Flats View, and so on. Having the link is not enough.
• The staff member has the page but not the button: View is on but Add, Edit or Archive is not.
• "A user with this username already exists": usernames are shared across all societies. Pick one of the suggestions.
• The form has no Staff Account panel when editing: the role no longer has a staff login attached. Create a new role for the staff member.