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Permission Overview

Entity permission: An entity is a client or a matter. Your entity permission applies to one specific client or matter, and decides what you can see and do there. There are two entity permissions: Owner and Assistant. You get one when you create a client, or when an Owner, a Manager, or an Administrator assigns you to a client or matter.

This article explains how the two work together and what to do when you cannot see or do something.

Access rules

For each action, bilabl checks both your user role and your entity permission on that client or matter. If either one allows the action, you can do it. You do not need both.

For example:

Michael's role is Manager. Because of his role, he can see every client and matter in the firm, and edit or delete them, without being assigned to them.

Daniel's role is User. His role does not give him access to clients and matters, so he sees a client or matter only after an Owner, a Manager, or an Administrator assigns him to it. What he can do there depends on his entity permission:

As an Owner, he sees all of its information, and he can edit or delete it.

As an Assistant, he can work on it, for example add timesheets. He cannot edit or delete it, and he does not see its billing statements and payments.

The flowchart below shows how bilabl decides for one example: seeing and editing the client ABC Bakery Company.

If you lead a team, you also get the permissions of your team members, see Team Leader Permissions.

Use role summary

User roles

User role	Clients and matters you can see	Key differences
User	Only the clients and matters assigned to you	You can add new clients, including clients with the status Contact. Everything else depends on your entity permission.
HR	Only the clients and matters assigned to you	Same as User. You can also manage user accounts, except Manager and Administrator accounts.
Accountant	Every client and matter	You can see billing statements and payments, but you need the Owner permission to change them.
Manager	Every client and matter	You can do everything on every client and matter and manage user accounts except Administrator accounts.
Administrator	Every client and matter	Same as Manager, and you can manage all user accounts and use System Settings.

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If your role is User or HR, you can also see the general information of some clients that are not assigned to you (see Access to general information only). For the full list of actions by role, see User Role.

Entity permission summary

Owner and Assistant permissions

Action	Owner	Assistant
See the client or matter	Yes	Yes
Add timesheets and costs, and use the Documents, Calendar, and Activity tabs	Yes	Yes
See other users' timesheets	Yes	Own only if the role is User or HR. Yes for other roles.
See billing statements and payments	Yes	No
Edit or delete the client or matter	Yes	No
See billing statements and payments	Yes	No
Change who has access in the Manage Visibility window	Yes	No

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A permission on a client also applies to all of its matters. An Owner, a Manager, or an Administrator can give you a different permission on one matter. For details and the steps to assign users, see Entity Permission.

Access to general information only

If your role is User or HR, there are two cases where you can see a client that is not assigned to you, but only its general information. General information means the client's Information and Relation tabs, and nothing else:

Through a relation. You are assigned to a client, and that client has a relation with another client. You can see the general information of the other client. For example, Sarah is an Assistant on ABC Bakery Company, which has a relation with its parent company, ABC Holdings. She can see the Information and Relation tabs of ABC Holdings.

Through a matter. You are assigned to a matter, but not to its client. You can see the general information of the client. For example, Sarah is an Assistant on the matter Commercial Lease Review, but she is not assigned to ABC Bakery Company. She can see the Information and Relation tabs of ABC Bakery Company.

To see the rest of the client, you need to be assigned to the client as an Owner or an Assistant.

Limits that apply to everyone

bilabl blocks some actions for everyone, including Administrators:

Billing status notes

Blue Approved and green Issued billing statements: To edit or delete one, first change it back to white Draft status. If it has payments, delete the payments before you change its status.
Deleting a Client: You can delete a client only if it has no matters and its status is white color Contact.
Deleting a Matter: You can delete a matter only if it has no timesheets, costs, or billing statements.

⚠ Warning: Deleting a client or matter also deletes all tasks linked to it.

Troubleshooting

In most cases, ask the Owner of the client or matter, a Manager, or an Administrator to give you the permission you need.

Permission troubleshooting

What you see	Why and what you need
You cannot find a client or matter.	If your role is User or HR, you see only the clients and matters assigned to you. You also cannot see who their Owner is, so ask a Manager or an Administrator to assign you.
You see only a client's Information and Relation tabs.	You are not assigned to this client (see Access to general information only).
You cannot add a timesheet.	You need the Owner or Assistant permission on the matter or its client.
You see only your own timesheets.	You are an Assistant, and your role is User or HR. To see everyone's timesheets, you need the Owner permission.
You cannot see billing statements or payments.	The Assistant permission does not include them. You need the Owner permission.
You can see billing statements but cannot approve (blue) or issue (green) them.	Your role is Accountant, which lets you see billing statements but not change them. You need the Owner permission on the client or matter.
You cannot edit or delete a billed timesheet or cost.	The timesheet or cost is billed (see Limits that apply to everyone).
You cannot edit or delete another user's unbilled timesheet or cost.	You need the Owner permission. If your role is Accountant, the Assistant permission is enough. A team leader can also edit their team members' unbilled timesheets (see Team Leader Permissions).
You cannot edit or delete a billing statement.	You need the Owner permission. If it is blue Approved or green Issued, see Limits that apply to everyone.
You cannot delete a client or matter.	You need the Owner permission. The client or matter must also meet the conditions in Limits that apply to everyone.

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