Finance
Finance permissions
View and Manage Finances, bill approval, expense submission and approval — why most of them are owner-sensitive, and how invoices, search and Donna honour them.
On this page
Finance separates seeing money from moving it, and treats moving it as a decision only the Owner can delegate. This page lists every Finance permission, who has it by default, and how the same rules reach search, CRM records and Donna.
The permissions#
| Permission | Allows | Default | Owner-sensitive |
|---|---|---|---|
| View Finances | Open Finance; see invoices, bills, accounts, reports and books | Owner, Admin | No |
| Manage Finances | Create, send and change invoices, quotes, bills, orders, accounts, journals; record payments; import statements; reconcile; change Finance settings | Owner only | Yes |
| Approve bills | Approve bills so they reach the books and the payment schedule | Owner only | Yes |
| Submit expenses | Claim expenses and follow your own claims — without access to Finance | Every role | No |
| Approve expenses | Review, approve or send back other people's claims | Owner only | Yes |
| Export reports | Export company reports and data extracts | Owner only | No |
Owner-sensitive means no role includes it: even an Admin needs the Owner to grant it. The Accountant preset bundles View and Manage Finances, Approve bills, Approve expenses and Export reports (plus View Inventory and Reports); the Executive preset includes View Finances only.
Common questions#
Who can send an invoice? Anyone with Manage Finances. By default that is only the Owner. An Admin can see invoices but not send them until the Owner grants Manage Finances.
Can a bookkeeper approve bills without changing anything else? Yes — grant View Finances and Approve bills only.
Can staff claim expenses without seeing the company's finances? Yes. Every role has Submit expenses. People without View Finances claim from Home and see only their own claims.
Can someone approve their own expense claim? No — except the Owner, so a sole-owner organization can close its own expenses.
The same rules everywhere#
- Search returns Finance records only to people with View Finances.
- CRM records show invoiced, paid and owed figures, and the Quotes tab, only to people with Finance access. Others see the relationship without the money.
- Donna can read Finance for you only with View Finances, and take Finance actions only with the matching permission. Money-moving actions always ask for your confirmation.
- Connections on other records hide linked invoices and bills from people who cannot view them.
- Office live fields bound to Finance data only fill in for readers with View Finances.
Change who has what#
Grant or remove Finance permissions in Admin → People → (person) → Full editor. Only the Owner — or someone the Owner has given Manage permissions — can grant owner-sensitive permissions. See Roles and permissions.