Roles and Permissions: Admins, Managers, Members, and Accountants

Emburse Spend allows your organization to give users the following roles:

• Member
• Manager
• Accountant
• Admin

Each role comes with specific permissions that are managed via the People screen.

Assign Member Role Permissions

Members are standard users who need to submit expenses for approval and reimbursement. They have the most limited access level in Emburse Spend. Unless they have been assigned as a delegate, they can view and manage only their own reimbursable expenses and corporate card transactions. Members cannot access or approve expenses for other users, change account settings, or invite new users.

1. In the Emburse Spend sidebar, select the Admin tab, then select People. 
2. Find the user and select the Edit button to the right of their name.

   

   Alternatively, you can select multiple users by selecting the checkboxes to the left of their names, and then selecting Edit.

   

3. Use the Role drop-down to select Member,
4. Select Save.

Assign Manager Role Permissions 

Managers are users who have the ability to approve the expenses of the employees who report to them directly. Admins may assign a Manager role to other members of the team to create an additional layer of approval in the expense flow.

Managers may also be assigned as a delegate in order to view and manage other users' reimbursable expenses and corporate card transactions.

Assign a Manager to One User

1. On the People screen, select the Edit button to the right of the user's name. 

   

2. On the Edit User Profile screen, select the desired manager in the Managed By drop-down, then select Save.

   

Assign One Manager to Multiple Users

To assign one manager to multiple users, check the box to the left of each user and then use the Managed By dropdown at the top of the People screen to search for and select the desired manager.

Assign Accountant Role Permissions

The Accountant role is for accounting and finance staff who need to configure account settings, support accounting sync, and review user data without full Admin access. Accountants can serve as a manager approver when assigned in the Managed By field, but Final Approval for reimbursable expenses and corporate card transactions remains Admin-only.

1. In the Emburse Spend sidebar, select the Admin tab, then select People. 
2. Find the user and select the Edit button to the right of their name.

   

   Alternatively, you can select multiple users by selecting the checkboxes to the left of their names, and then selecting Edit.

   

3. Use the Role drop-down to select Accountant, then select Save.

For profile and bulk-editing options on the People screen, see Edit a User's Profile.

Accountant Permissions Overview

Assign Admin Role Permissions

Admins have access to all account information and settings, including:

• Admin approval will trigger payment for reimbursable expenses
• Admin approval completes the approval flow for card transactions
• All Final Approvers will see expenses that need final approval
• Invite new users to the Emburse Spend account 
• Company bank account and bank transfer history
• Accounting integrations
• Customizable feature settings
• App integrations
• All expenses submitted by members of the organization
• Billing information

1. In the Emburse Spend sidebar, select the Admin tab, then select People. 
2. Find the user and select the Edit button to the right of their name.

   

   Alternatively, you can select multiple users by selecting the checkboxes to the left of their names, and then selecting Edit.

   

3. Use the Role drop-down to select Admin, then select Save.

   

What If I Have Both Admin and Manager Permissions? 

The expenses of the people you manage will go directly to your Reimbursements screen or Card Transactions screen, and your approval will be final. This means the payment process for reimbursable expenses will begin, and corporate card expenses will be synced with your accounting software.  

Remove Final-Approval Permission for Admins

If you have an accountant you want to invite to Emburse Spend or you need someone else to be able to invite users but do not want them to approve expenses, you can add these users to your account as admins and then turn off their Final-Approval permission via the Approval Permission toggle.

When accounting or finance staff need configuration and accounting sync access without Final Approval, assign the Accountant role instead of a non-Final-Approval Admin. See Assign Accountant Role Permissions.

Use a non-Final-Approval Admin when a user must invite new users, assign the Admin role, create auto-approval rules, or deactivate users, but should not perform Final Approval. To remove Final Approval from an existing Admin, turn off the Approval Permission toggle on the user's profile.

Admins who do not have Final-Approval can do everything that admins can do, including creating standard expense rules and policies, with the following exceptions.

• They cannot approve expenses for payment.
  • They can approve an expense if they are a manager, but it will still require approval from an admin with Final-Approval permission.
• They cannot complete the approval flow for card transactions via approval.
• They cannot create auto-approval rules.
• They can invite users and edit other information about them, but they cannot make users admins.
• They cannot deactivate users. 

1. Find the admin on the People screen and select the Edit button to the right of their name.

   

2. On the Edit User Profile screen, toggle off Approval Permission to remove the admin's Final-Approval permission. 

   

Which Roles Can Act as Delegates?

• Members, managers, and accountants can submit both corporate card transactions and reimbursable expenses on behalf of their delegators. 
• Admins cannot work as delegates for other users, but they can submit corporate card transactions for any user via the Card Transactions screen.

See How to Assign a Delegate for complete details.

Accounts Payable Add-On Access

If your organization uses the Accounts Payable add-on on Emburse Spend, Member, Manager, Accountant, and Admin roles do not automatically grant access to Accounts Payable pages or actions.

Your organization assigns Accounts Payable permissions separately from Spend roles. A user can have a Member, Manager, Accountant, or Admin role without Accounts Payable access, or Accounts Payable permissions without being an Admin.

On the People screen, select the Edit button for a user to assign Accounts Payable permissions.

When you edit a user, you can turn on the Accounts Payable toggle and select any combination of these Accounts Payable permission options: Submit Invoices, Approve Invoices, Manage AP Settings, Make Payments, and View All Invoice Activity.

Turn on the Accounts Payable toggle to grant the user access to the add-on. When the toggle is off, the user cannot access Accounts Payable pages or actions.

Select the permission options below the toggle to assign specific Accounts Payable capabilities.

The Accounts Payable pages and actions available to the user depend on the permissions you select.

For an overview of Accounts Payable workspace sections, see Get Started with Accounts Payable.