Humanised User Roles & Permissions: Who Can Do What

On this page

In short: Humanised uses six access roles. Owner and Payroll Admin have full organisation control including finalising payroll. Admin has the same control but cannot complete a pay run. HR Admin handles people operations — users, leaves, attendance and contracts — but not payroll or settings. Manager sees only their assigned team, and User sees only their own profile, payslips and contracts.

What are the user roles in Humanised, and who can do what?

Humanised controls access through role-based permissions — every person you add to your organisation is given one role, and that role decides exactly what they can see and do. Getting this right keeps salary data private, stops the wrong person finalising a pay run, and still lets managers handle their own teams without bothering you for everything.

There are six roles, from full organisation control down to a single employee viewing their own payslip. The most important line to understand is who can finalise (complete) payroll versus who can only prepare it — that one distinction separates several of the senior roles.

The two lines that matter most: who can complete payroll (Owner and Payroll Admin can; Admin can’t), and who can touch payroll at all (HR Admin, Manager and User can’t). Everything else is about how wide a person’s view of the organisation is.

The six roles at a glance

The table below is the fastest way to see the hierarchy. “Full org control” means all settings, leaves, contracts, expenses, loans, attendance, gratuity, integrations, reports and notifications.

Role	Scope	Full org control	Prepare payroll	Finalise / complete payroll	People ops (users, leaves, attendance, contracts)
Owner	Whole organisation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Payroll Admin	Whole organisation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Admin	Whole organisation	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
HR Admin	Whole organisation (people ops only)	No	No	No	Yes
Manager	Assigned team only	No	No	No	Their assigned users only
User	Themselves only	No	No	No	No

The cleanest way to think about it: Owner and Payroll Admin are the full-power roles that can take payroll all the way to completion; Admin is the same power minus the final “complete” step; HR Admin runs people operations but never touches payroll or organisation settings; Manager is scoped to one team; and User is scoped to one person.

Each role in detail

Owner

Full control of an organisation. The Owner manages users, runs and completes payroll, and handles all settings, leaves, contracts, expenses, loans, attendance, gratuity, integrations, reports and notifications. This is the role for the person who is ultimately responsible for the account. There can only be one Owner per organisation — if several people need full power, set the others up as Payroll Admins.

Payroll Admin

The same powers as an Owner, including completing payroll. A Payroll Admin can also change settings for other admins at the same level, which makes it the right role for a senior payroll or finance person who needs to run the whole show day to day.

Admin

The same as a Payroll Admin, with one deliberate limit: this role can prepare and manage payroll but cannot finalise or complete it. It is built for the situation every finance team knows — you want someone to do all the heavy lifting of building the pay run, but you want a second, more senior person to press the final button. Use it to enforce a maker-checker step on payroll.

HR Admin

Focused on people operations. An HR Admin can manage users, handle leaves and leave approvals, manage attendance and attendance settings, fully manage contracts, view payslips, and manage notifications. They cannot run or complete payroll, and cannot touch organisation settings, expenses, loans, gratuity, reports, accountants, or integrations. This is the right role for an HR manager who runs the people side of the business but should stay out of payroll processing and finance configuration.

Manager

Limited access focused on the team assigned to them. A Manager can view their own payslips and contracts, sign contracts, and manage the users assigned under them. They have no access to organisation-wide settings, payroll, or leave approvals beyond their assigned users. This is the role for a team lead or department head who should handle their own people but nothing across the whole company.

User

Basic employee access. A User can view their own profile, their own payslips, view organisation contracts, and sign contracts assigned to them. They have no management capabilities. This is the default role for most of your staff.

Which role should I give someone?

Match the role to the responsibility, and grant the least access that still lets the person do their job. A quick guide:

If the person needs to…	Give them…
Own the account and be ultimately responsible	Owner
Run payroll end-to-end, including the final completion	Payroll Admin
Build pay runs but not finalise them (maker-checker)	Admin
Run HR — users, leaves, attendance and contracts — but not payroll	HR Admin
Manage only their own department or team	Manager
See only their own profile, payslips and contracts	User

To understand where roles are set in the first place, read the contacts section of Humanised.

How to change an employee’s role

You set a person’s role from their profile in the Contacts section. Here is the exact path:

Open Contacts. Click Contacts in the main sidebar to see the list of employees.
Find the employee. Scroll through the list, or use the search and filters to locate the person.
Open their profile. Click on the employee’s row to open their personal details page.
Go to Settings. In the left sidebar of the employee’s profile, click Settings.
Pick the new role. Under Allow System Login, open the Access Role dropdown and choose the new role.
Save. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

A couple of things to know:

You can only assign roles at your own level or below. For example, a Payroll Admin can’t promote someone to Owner.
If the Access Role dropdown is greyed out, it means you don’t have permission to change that particular user’s role.

If you are still adding people for the first time, start with the contacts section of Humanised, which walks through adding employees and setting access during onboarding. Choosing the right HR platform for your team in the first place is covered in our guide to the best HR software in Sri Lanka.

A few good habits for managing access

Keep the full-power roles few. Only the people who genuinely need to finalise payroll should be Owner or Payroll Admin.
Use Admin for a checker step. It is the simplest way to make sure no single person both builds and approves a pay run.
Give HR managers HR Admin, not Payroll Admin. HR Admin lets them run users, leaves, attendance and contracts while keeping payroll and finance settings out of reach.
Scope Managers tightly. A Manager only ever sees and manages their assigned users, so assign the team carefully.
Default everyone else to User. Most staff only need to see their own payslips and sign their own contracts.
Review access when people change jobs or leave. Update or remove the role as soon as someone’s responsibilities change.

For more help managing your organisation, browse the Humanised support centre, or open a ticket — a real person on the team typically replies within a few working hours.

Frequently asked questions

Which Humanised roles can complete (finalise) payroll?

Owner and Payroll Admin can prepare and complete payroll. Admin can prepare and manage a pay run but cannot finalise it. HR Admin, Manager and User cannot run payroll at all.

What is the difference between Payroll Admin and Admin?

They have the same powers across the organisation, with one exception: Admin cannot finalise or complete a pay run. Use it when you want someone to build payroll but a more senior person to approve and complete it.

What can a Manager see and do?

A Manager works only with the team assigned to them. They can view their own payslips and contracts, sign contracts, and manage the users under them. They cannot access organisation-wide settings, payroll, or leave approvals for anyone outside their assigned team.

What access does a basic User have?

A User can view their own profile and payslips, view organisation contracts, and sign contracts assigned to them. They have no management capabilities.

What can an HR Admin do, and can they run payroll?

An HR Admin handles people operations: managing users, leaves and leave approvals, attendance and attendance settings, contracts, viewing payslips, and notifications. They cannot run or complete payroll, and cannot access organisation settings, expenses, loans, gratuity, reports, accountants, or integrations. It is the right role for an HR manager who should stay out of payroll processing and finance configuration.

How many Owners can an organisation have?

There can only be one Owner per organisation. If you need several people to operate the account at full power, set the additional senior staff up as Payroll Admins rather than as extra Owners.

Who can change another user’s role?

Owners and full admins manage users — creating, editing and deleting them and changing login emails. Payroll Admins can also change settings for other admins at the same level. Managers can only manage the users assigned to them, and Users cannot manage anyone.

Where do I change someone’s role?

Open the person in Contacts, go to Settings in their profile sidebar, and choose the new role from the Access Role dropdown under Allow System Login, then click Save. You can only assign roles at your own level or below, and a greyed-out dropdown means you don’t have permission to change that user’s role.

Was this article helpful?

Your feedback helps us improve these guides.

Yes, it helped Not quite

Still need a hand?

A real human on our team will look at your ticket and come back to you — typically within a few working hours.

Open a support ticket

Free Contract Templates

APIT Accuracy · Y/A 2025/26 Guide

For Accountants

Compare HR Software

HR Software Alternatives

Need Support?

Onboard a new employee by email in Humanised

Simplifying Payroll and Vendor Payments for Sri Lanka’s Boutique and Retail Fashion Brands