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Permissions & Access

Overview

SARA is a permission-driven ERP. What you can see and what you can do depends on the permissions assigned to your user. Permissions are configured in the Control Panel and are organized by transaction (screen).

Note

If something appears "missing" — a transaction in the menu, a tab, a button, or an action — it is almost always a permissions issue rather than a system error.

How permissions are organized

Permissions in SARA are grouped by transaction. Each transaction has its own set of permissions that control what users can do within that screen. A user may have permissions in some transactions and not others, and different users can have different levels of access within the same transaction.

Permissions are assigned and managed from the Control Panel by system administrators.

For Control Panel configuration, see: Control Panel

Permission categories

Each transaction's permissions are organized into up to five categories. Not every transaction uses all categories — only the ones that apply.

Usage

Controls whether a user can open the transaction and perform basic operations.

  • view — Read-only access. The user can see records but cannot make any changes.
  • edit — Basic editing access to the transaction's core fields.

Most transactions have at least a view permission. The edit permission grants access to standard fields; additional editing capabilities may require permissions from other categories.

Workflows

Controls actions related to the lifecycle of a record — approvals, rejections, closures, cancellations, deactivations. These permissions are relevant in transactions that follow a pipeline workflow or have status transitions.

Examples: management approval, finance closure, cancel record, deactivate item, technical closure

Additional visualization and edits

Controls access to tabs, panels, metrics, or editing capabilities beyond the base edit permission. Use this category for anything that is not part of the core transaction but is accessible within it.

Examples: view cost and income, edit cpos, project metrics, logistics tab, quote metrics

Exceptions

Controls actions that bypass or override the normal flow of the transaction. These are high-risk permissions and are typically assigned only to specific roles or administrators.

Examples: direct project creation, mismatch management

Notifications

Controls which automated notifications (email or WhatsApp) a user receives in the context of a transaction. A user with a notification permission will receive messages when the corresponding event occurs.

Examples: new project email, email project creation, unmatched amounts email

What permissions control

Permissions can affect:

  • Whether a transaction appears in your menu at all.
  • Whether you can view or edit records.
  • Whether you can perform workflow actions such as approve, reject, cancel, or close.
  • Whether you can see specific tabs, panels, or metrics within a transaction.
  • Whether you can perform exception actions that bypass normal rules.
  • Whether you receive notifications for specific events.

Permission naming

Permission names in SARA are designed to be self-explanatory:

  • Written in lowercase plain English with spaces between words.
  • Names describe what the permission grants, not a technical code.
  • Once a permission name is defined and deployed, it does not change.

Info

Each feature's specific permission list is documented in that feature's Permissions page, grouped by the categories described above.

Troubleshooting access

Common symptoms

  • A transaction is missing from the menu.
  • A tab or panel does not appear within a transaction.
  • A button or action is not visible (e.g., Approve, Send, Edit).
  • You can view data but cannot modify it.
  • You are not receiving expected email or WhatsApp notifications.

What to do

  1. Confirm you are in the correct transaction — some features exist only in specific screens.
  2. Check if the action depends on the record's current status — some actions are only available in certain statuses.
  3. Request access from your supervisor or system administrator.

Tip

When requesting access, specify the transaction name, the action you need (e.g., "approve", "view metrics", "receive notification emails"), and the business reason. This helps the administrator assign the correct permission quickly.