Roles and permissions
What an Owner, a Manager, a Tech and a Viewer can and cannot do in A9 Stockroom, in one table, and the rules that the table does not show.
Every person in a company has one role. The role decides what they can see and what they can change. The owner or a manager picks it when they invite you, and it can be changed later in Settings, then Team (see Team).
The four roles#
- Owner: Runs the company. There is exactly one per company. The owner can do everything a manager can, and also manage the managers, change the company's settings, see the plan and export all the data.
- Manager: Runs the stockroom. A manager sets up items, folders, minimums, suppliers and purchase orders, reads reports, imports lists, and invites and looks after techs and viewers.
- Tech: Does the work. A tech scans, takes, returns, counts and receives stock, starts and closes jobs, checks tools out and in, and adds photos. A tech works at the locations they have been assigned to, and nowhere else.
- Viewer: Looks. A viewer can see what they are allowed to reach and can print labels, and cannot change anything in the stockroom.
Describe this diagram
Each role includes everything the one before it can do. Viewers look at everything they can reach and print labels. Techs add scanning, taking, returning, counting, receiving, jobs, tools, photos and transfers, at the locations they are assigned to. Managers add items, folders, minimums, adjusting a number, purchase orders and suppliers, reports, import and export, locations, inviting techs and viewers, and reopening jobs. The owner adds company settings, managers and the owner role, the plan, the change log and Export everything. There is one owner per company.
The table#
A tick means the role can do it. This table is generated from the rules the app itself enforces, so it is always the real answer.
| What you can do | Owner | Manager | Tech | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everyday work | ||||
| Look at items, folders, jobs and history | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scan, take, return, count and receive stockTechs only at the locations they are assigned to | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Move stock between folders in one location | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Adjust a number up or down | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Transfer stock between locationsA tech only between the locations they are assigned to | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Start and close a job | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Reopen a closed job | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Check a tool out and in | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Add or replace an item photoFrom the Edit item screen | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Receive stock against a purchase order | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Print labels | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Running the stockroom | ||||
| Create and edit items | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Create, rename and move folders | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Set minimums and reorder-to levels for a location | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Delete an item photo | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Add tools (units) and change due dates | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Create, edit, send and cancel purchase orders | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Add and edit suppliers | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| See reports and spend | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Import from a CSV, and undo an import | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Export items and activity as CSV | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Add, rename and archive locations | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Send yourself a test of the daily email | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Running the account | ||||
| Invite a tech or a viewer, and resend or revoke those invites | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Invite a manager | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Change a tech's or viewer's role, assign techs to locations, remove them | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Make someone a manager, demote a manager, or remove one | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Transfer ownership | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Read the company page | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Change company name, logo, colour, time zone and the location word | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Read the change log (who changed what in Settings) | ✓ | — | — | — |
| See Your plan | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Export everything (a zip of all your data) | ✓ | — | — | — |
Rules the table does not show#
A tech only reaches the locations they are assigned to#
A location is a separate stockroom (see the Glossary). A tech is assigned to one or more of them. Everything outside those is out of reach: it does not appear in lists, totals or search, and opening it by address finds nothing. A tech works in one location at a time, chosen with the location switcher at the top of the screen. There is no combined "All locations" view for a tech.
Owners and managers reach every location in the company. On the Essentials plan the combined view is not included, so everyone works in one location at a time (see Your plan).
A manager or the owner assigns techs to locations from Team.
There is exactly one owner#
Every company has one owner, always. The owner cannot be made a manager, removed, or leave the company on their own. To hand the company to someone else, the owner transfers ownership to an existing manager. In one step that manager becomes the owner and the previous owner becomes a manager. Nobody can be invited as a second owner.
Only the owner makes or demotes managers#
A manager can invite, change and remove techs and viewers. Only the owner can invite a manager, make someone a manager, change a manager's role back, or remove a manager. A manager cannot change another manager.
What a viewer can do: look, and never change anything#
A viewer's scan screen shows an item and an Open item button, and never Take. A viewer cannot start a job, check a tool out, change a count or a setting. The one thing a viewer can change is their own account: their name, photo, password, devices and notification choices, under My account.
Removing someone#
When an owner or a manager removes a person, the person's sign-ins end straight away, so they are signed out. Everything they did stays in the company's history under their name, so counts and job costs do not change.
A paused company is read-only#
If a company's subscription is paused or has ended, the whole company is read-only, whatever the roles. Everyone can still look, and owners and managers can still export. Nobody can change anything until it is restored. See Your plan.
Some screens are part of the Pro plan#
Purchase orders and suppliers, tools, reports and the combined All locations view belong to the Pro plan. On Essentials those screens show what they are and that they need Pro, to everyone. The role table still applies on Pro: for example, only owners and managers see reports.
What you'll see when your role can't do something#
- The button is missing, or says what to do instead. A viewer who scans an item sees Open item instead of Take.
- A message says "Your role can't do that." when a change is refused.
- A screen says who can use it. For example, "Owners and managers only" on Company settings.
If you need to do something your role does not allow, ask the owner or a manager. They can change your role, or do it for you.