Roles & permissions

A role is a named set of permissions, and every user has exactly one. The role decides which parts of the menu a person sees and which buttons work for them. Seven roles come with every workspace, and you can create as many of your own as you need.

Where to find it: Settings → Roles & permissions → Role list

When you'll use it

• Before you create an account, to decide what the new person should be able to reach.
• When someone cannot see a screen or a button that you can.
• When your company has a job that none of the ready-made roles fits.
• When you want to hand day-to-day administration to someone without making them the owner.

Key concepts

• Permission — the right to do one thing, for example to see the order list or to create an invoice. Each permission has a name such as Users: Create or Order packing.
• Role — a named set of permissions. Changing a role changes what everyone with that role can do, at once.
• Module — permissions are grouped by area of Complaia: Users, Orders, Warehouse, Finance and so on. A person with no permission in a module does not see that part of the menu at all.
• System role — a role that comes with the workspace. Its name and description are translated into each person's language automatically, so you cannot change them.
• Custom role — a role you created. You choose its name, description, badge and permissions.
• Required permission — some permissions work only together with another one. For example, you cannot edit users if you cannot open a user. The role editor handles this for you. See How the permission picker works.
• Quick actions — up to 6 shortcut cards that people with this role see on their dashboard.

The screens

Role list shows every role. The columns are:

• Role — the name;
• Badge;
• Users — how many people have the role;
• Modules and Permissions — how many of each the role covers;
• Description;
• Created and Updated — the dates.

A padlock next to a name marks the Owner role, which cannot be edited or deleted. Click a row to open the role. To open it in a new browser tab, hold Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) while you click.

📷 Screenshot to add: the Role list with the padlock on the Owner role and the Create role button

Role details shows:

• Access scope — what the role allows, module by module, with a search box, an Active only switch, and Expand / Collapse;
• Users in this role — shown if you have the Users: List permission;
• the badge and the dashboard quick actions;
• an Information card.

The header has Edit and Delete. The Owner role has no Delete.

The Information card shows a Key. This is the role's internal identifier. For a role you create, it is made from the name. If it would be the same as the key of a system role or another role, a number is added, for example manager_2. The key is for reference only and does not change how the role works.

New role and Edit role share one editor. The permission picker is on the left. Basics, Badge appearance and Quick actions are on the right.

The roles that come with the workspace

Role	What it allows
Owner	Everything. One account only: the one that registered the company. See The Owner role.
Administrator	Everything except the Subscription module and the System definition: Edit permission. See Administrator is not Owner.
User	Viewing only: products (with prices), orders and notifications.
Production worker	Viewing production orders, products (without prices) and workstations, plus Production: Reporting, which means reporting finished work.
Driver	One permission: Driver: delivery and proof of delivery on own routes. It works in the mobile app: the driver sees their own routes, scans parcels and confirms deliveries. It opens nothing in the browser.
Warehouse worker	The whole Warehouse module, including Stock reservation, Order packing and stocktaking, plus Route loading, and viewing products (without prices) and orders. Posting stocktaking differences is not included. That is the separate Stocktake: post differences permission.
Accountant	All of Finance except Finance: KSeF configuration (the set-up of KSeF, Poland's national e-invoicing system). Also viewing orders, viewing entities (customers & suppliers) with their sensitive data, products with prices, and Analytics. It also includes Orders: Statuses. This permission opens the lists under Sales → Configuration and Logistics → Carriers as well.

Every role above except Driver also includes viewing notifications.

These are the permissions a role gets when the workspace is created. After that, the role belongs to your company:

• Changes you make in the editor stay. Complaia updates do not undo them.
• When Complaia adds a new permission to a role that comes with the workspace, the role gets it automatically. A permission you switched off stays off.
• The Owner role is the exception. It always has every permission.

The description on screen is only a summary

The short description next to a system role is a summary. It may not match what the role really allows. This is true of the Driver role in particular. The Access scope on the role's details page always shows exactly what the role allows.

The Owner role

The Owner is the account created when the company registered. The role is protected:

• It cannot be given to anyone. If you try, you see a message that the Owner role cannot be assigned.
• You cannot create a role named Owner.
• Its name and permissions cannot be changed, and it cannot be deleted. In the editor you can change only its badge appearance and dashboard quick actions.
• The Owner's account cannot be blocked or deleted, and only the Owner can change the Owner's password.

Administrator is not Owner

Administrator is the role for the person who runs Complaia day to day. It includes everything except two things:

• No Subscription. An Administrator does not see System → Subscription. They cannot change the plan, buy seats or cancel.
• No System definition: Edit. Without this permission, an Administrator can open Settings → Company details and read it, but cannot edit it. The Administrator also does not see Logistics → Deliveries and notifications.

You can change the Administrator role like any other role. If you want several kinds of administrators, create custom roles.

Letting someone else manage billing

If someone other than the Owner should manage the plan and invoices, create a custom role that includes the Subscription module, and give it to them. They get billing rights and nothing else. See Subscription & billing.

How the permission picker works

The Permissions card in the role editor lists every module as a row you can open and close.

• Module row — shows the module name, a counter of ticked permissions (for example 3 / 9) and a tick box for the whole module. Click the row to open it. Click the tick box to tick or untick every permission in the module at once. A dash in the box means that only some are ticked.
• Permission row — click it to switch that permission on (green tick) or off. Under the name you see what it does, and either Requires permission: … or No other permissions required.
• Switching on together — when you tick a permission that needs another one in the same module, the other one is ticked for you. When you untick a permission that others depend on, those are unticked too. For example, ticking Users: Delete also ticks Users: Edit, Users: Details and Users: List.
• What it unlocks — point at a permission row with the mouse. A tooltip that starts with Unlocks: names the menu items and screens it opens. For a permission that only switches on a button, the tooltip starts with Applies to: and names the screens where it works.
• Search — type in Search features… to narrow the list. Select all and Clear at the top act on every module. The same two buttons at the bottom of an open module act on that module only.

A few permissions depend on one in a different module. For example, creating a claim needs viewing orders. Those are not ticked for you. Read the Requires permission line and tick the other permission yourself.

The two KSeF permissions are shown only if your company has a Polish sales entity, or if the role already has them.

Common tasks

Create a role

1. Go to Settings → Roles & permissions → New role, or click Create role on the list.
2. In Basics, enter the Role name and, optionally, a Description.
3. In Permissions, open the modules this role needs and tick the permissions. Tick at least one, otherwise you see Select at least 1 permission.
4. Optionally, set the Badge appearance: background, border, dot and text colours, with a live preview. Restore defaults resets them.
5. Optionally, choose Quick actions: up to 6 dashboard cards. You can choose a card only if the role has the permission it needs.
6. Click Create role. You can give the role to people straight away.

Role names must be unique. If the name is taken, you see A role with this name already exists. Use a different name.

See what a role allows

1. Open the role from Role list.
2. Read Access scope. Switch Active only on to hide everything the role does not allow, or search for a feature by name.
3. Check Users in this role to see who has the role. These are the people any change will affect.

Change what a role allows

1. Open the role and click Edit.
2. Tick or untick permissions. If you untick a permission that a chosen quick action needs, Complaia asks whether to remove that quick action too. Confirm with Uncheck and remove action.
3. Click Save changes.

If the save removes permissions from a role that people have, Complaia asks you to confirm first. The window lists what the role will lose and how many accounts have the role. The change applies at once for all of them, including people who are signed in right now.

Revert brings back the last saved state. If you have unsaved changes, Complaia asks first.

For system roles, the Role name and Description fields are locked, because they are translated automatically.

Give a role to a user

You give roles in the user editor.

1. Go to Settings → Users → User list and open the person.
2. Click Edit.
3. On the Data tab, choose the Role.
4. Click Save.

See Users for the details.

Delete a role

1. Open the role and click Delete.
2. Confirm in the window:
   • If nobody has the role, click Delete role.
   • If people have it, the window is titled Choose a replacement role. Choose the Replacement role and click the button that moves the users and deletes the role. Everyone listed moves to the replacement role first.

Deleting a role cannot be undone. A role that came with the workspace (other than Owner) is created again, without users, the next time Complaia is updated.

When it doesn't work

What you see	Why	What to do
A colleague cannot see a menu section that you can	Their role has no permission in that module.	Open their role, check Access scope, and add the permission. Or give them a different role.
Roles & permissions is not in your menu	You do not have the Roles & permissions: View permission.	Ask the Owner or an Administrator.
A message that the Owner role cannot be assigned	There is only one Owner.	Give the person Administrator, or a custom role with what they need.
The Owner role is reserved and cannot be created manually. Choose a different role name.	You named a new role Owner.	Use another name.
A role with this name already exists. Use a different name.	Role names are unique.	Change the name.
The Owner role has no Delete button	The Owner role is protected.	Nothing to do.
This action requires the “…” permission. First select that permission in the section above.	You chose a quick action that the role has no permission for.	Tick the permission first, then the quick action.
You can select at most 6 actions. Deselect another one first.	The dashboard has room for 6 quick actions.	Remove one before you add another.
The Role name field is greyed out	System role names are translated automatically.	Create a custom role if you want your own name.
A role you deleted is back in the list	It is one of the roles that come with the workspace. Complaia creates it again when it is updated.	Leave it without users, or change its permissions.
The description under a permission is in Polish	Eight permissions have no English description: the three stocktaking permissions, Stocktake: post differences, Stock reservation, Order packing, Route loading and Orders: customer portal.	Go by the permission's name, which is in English, and by the Unlocks: tooltip.

Permissions

To do this	You need
See the role list and open a role	Roles & permissions: View
Create a role	Roles & permissions: Create
Edit a role	Roles & permissions: Edit
Delete a role	Roles & permissions: Delete
See who has a role on its details page	Users: List
Change a user's role	Users: Role change. See Users.

People who create or edit users can choose from the full list of roles, even without the Roles & permissions permissions.

Related

• Users — creating accounts and giving them roles
• Subscription & billing — the module the Administrator does not have
• Company details — the screen only the Owner can edit by default
• Event log — who changed a role, and when
• Glossary — role, permission, owner and seat in one place