Overview
Users are the people who have system access to your Beeswax account. They are the team members, contractors, and clients who log in and interact with the application — managing projects, tracking time, sending invoices, or viewing their own information.
The User Management page displays all users grouped by their assigned role. Each role group is shown as a collapsible section, making it easy to see who has what level of access at a glance.
Beeswax distinguishes between People (contacts associated with a business) and Users (people who have been granted login access to your account). A person becomes a user when they are invited and accept an invitation. Not every person needs to be a user — only those who require system access.
You can access user management from the Dashboard, then navigating to Users.
Roles
Every user in Beeswax is assigned exactly one role. Roles determine what a user can see and do within the account. There are seven roles, ordered from most to least access.
| Role | Access Level | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Full | Complete access to everything including billing, subscription, and account settings. One per account. |
| Super Admin | Full (minus billing) | Full access except billing, subscription management, and account deletion. Can invite users of any role type. |
| Admin (Manager) | High | Can manage most areas of the account. Cannot access financial features such as statements, reconciliation, payroll, or transaction templates. Can invite Admin role only. |
| Accountant | High (finance-focused) | Can manage most areas of the account including financial features such as statements, reconciliation, payroll, and transaction templates. Cannot manage account-level settings. |
| General (Basic) | Limited | Restricted to their own assigned tasks, milestones, and time entries. Cannot manage businesses, people, or projects. |
| Client | External / View-only | External user with minimal access. Can only view their own profile, milestones marked as visible, public files, and public events. Cannot manage anything. |
| Contractor | Limited | Can manage task lists and milestones. Has limited access to projects and tasks. |
Key Role Details
- Owner — There is only one Owner per account. This is the person who created the Beeswax account. The Owner role cannot be transferred to another user through the interface.
- Super Admin — Acts as a full deputy for the Owner. Ideal for business partners or senior managers who need near-complete access without billing control.
- Admin (Manager) — Suited for project managers and team leads. Their access is broad but excludes sensitive financial functions.
- Accountant — Designed for bookkeepers and finance staff. They have access to financial tools that Admins do not, but cannot change account-level configuration.
- General (Basic) — Best for team members who only need to log time, update their tasks, and view their milestones. They have no administrative capability.
- Client — External users such as customers or stakeholders. They see a restricted view of the account — only what has been explicitly shared with them.
- Contractor — External collaborators who need to manage specific tasks and milestones but should not have broad access to the account.
Inviting a User
To invite a new user, navigate to the User Management page and click the Invite User button. This opens a form where you configure the new user's details.
Invitation Form Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| First Name | Yes | The user's first name |
| Last Name | Yes | The user's last name |
| Yes | The email address where the invitation will be sent. Must be unique within the account. | |
| Role | Yes | Select one of the available roles using radio buttons. The roles shown depend on your own role. |
| Company | No | The business to associate this user with |
| Account Receivable | No | Whether they should receive monthly statements |
Invitation Rules
- Only users with Admin or higher roles can invite new users.
- Admins can only invite users with the Admin role. They cannot invite Super Admins, Accountants, or Clients.
- Accountants cannot send invitations despite having broad management access.
- Super Admins and the Owner can invite users of any role type.
- Client invitations must be associated with a business that is marked as a client. You cannot assign a Client role to someone under the account owner's own business.
- When the invitation is submitted, an email is sent to the specified address with a link to accept the invitation and set up their account.
- If the invited email address already belongs to a user on another Beeswax account, the invitation is auto-accepted and the user gains access immediately.
User Card Display
On the User Management page, each user is displayed as a card within their role group. Cards provide a quick summary of each user's key information.
Card Elements
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Avatar | A coloured circle displaying the user's initials. The colour can be customised in the user's profile settings. |
| Name | The user's full name (first and last) |
| The user's email address | |
| Phone | The user's phone number, if provided |
| Role Badge | A label indicating the user's assigned role |
| Status Indicator | Shows whether the user is Active or Deactivated |
| Action Dropdown | A menu with options including Go to User (navigate to their profile) and Deactivate or Reactivate (depending on current status) |
Important Notes
- Deactivated users remain visible on the management page but are visually distinguished from active users.
- The action dropdown options vary depending on your role and the target user's role.
User Profile
Clicking on a user (or selecting Go to User from the action dropdown) opens their consolidated profile page. This page brings together personal details, preferences, security, leave management, expenses, invoices, time tracking, and files into a single view.
The profile page has a sidebar on the left showing the user's details and navigation links, with stacked content cards on the right. What you see depends on whether you are viewing your own profile or another user's:
- Your own profile — All sections are visible: leave management, Hive profile, accounts, preferences, security, expenses, invoices, time logged, and files.
- Another user's profile — A simplified view showing their details, leave management (if salaried), time logged, and files. Admin actions like deactivate/reactivate are available from the sidebar menu.
Key Profile Actions
| Action | Where | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Edit Details | Sidebar menu | Update name, email, phone, address |
| Change Password | Sidebar menu | Navigate to password change page |
| Edit Avatar | Pencil icon on avatar | Change avatar colour |
| Edit Preferences | Preferences card menu | Update time zone, default project, linked product/service, milestone view |
| Enable/Disable 2FA | Security card | Manage two-factor authentication |
| Edit Employment | Leave card menu (admin) | Update salary, tax, and employment details |
Deactivating & Reactivating Users
When a team member leaves or no longer needs access, you can deactivate their account rather than deleting them. This preserves their historical data (time entries, task assignments, etc.) while revoking their access.
Deactivation Rules
- You cannot deactivate the account Owner.
- You cannot deactivate yourself.
- On deactivation, the user's state changes to removed and they immediately lose access to the account.
- The user's data (time entries, completed tasks, history) is retained in the system.
Reactivation
A deactivated user can be brought back in two ways:
- Reactivate — Use the Reactivate option from the action dropdown on the User Management page. This restores the user's access with their previous role and settings.
- Reinvite — Send a new invitation to the user's email address. This effectively creates a fresh invitation that the user must accept.
Employee & Employment
Beeswax includes built-in payroll and leave management. To enable these features for a user, you must mark them as an employee.
Enabling Employee Status
On the user's profile, check the Receiving Salary checkbox. This action:
- Creates an employee card for the user
- Auto-sets the employment type to Full-Time
- Auto-sets the pay method to Monthly
- Auto-sets default leave entitlements based on your account's region
Default Leave Entitlements
| Leave Type | UK | AU | Other Regions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Leave | 28 days | 20 days | 14 days |
| Sick Leave | 8 days | 10 days | — |
Employment Details
Once marked as an employee, the Employment Details tab becomes available with the following fields:
- Salary — The user's salary amount and frequency
- Tax Information — Tax-related settings based on your region
- Leave Balances — Current balances for annual leave, sick leave, and any custom leave types
What Employee Status Enables
- Payroll — The user appears in pay runs and payroll reports
- Payslips — Payslips are generated and visible under the Payslips tab
- Leave Tracking — Leave requests, approvals, and balance tracking become available under the Leave tab
User States
A person in Beeswax can exist in one of four states, depending on whether they have been invited and whether they have accepted.
| State | Description |
|---|---|
| Contact Only | A person record exists under a business, but they have not been invited as a user. They have no login access. |
| Invited | An invitation has been sent to the person's email address, but they have not yet accepted it. They do not yet have access. |
| Active | The person has accepted their invitation and can log in to the account. They have full access as defined by their assigned role. |
| Deactivated | The person has been removed from the account. They can no longer log in. Their historical data is preserved. |
State Transitions
- Contact Only becomes Invited when you send an invitation.
- Invited becomes Active when the user accepts the invitation (or auto-accepts if they already have a Beeswax account on another instance).
- Active becomes Deactivated when an administrator deactivates the user.
- Deactivated can return to Active through reactivation or reinvitation.
How-to Guides
Users vs Contacts
A Contact is a record of someone's details — like a phone contact. A User is someone who does things in Beeswax. A Contact becomes a User after accepting an invitation and setting a password. A person must be a Contact first before being invited as a User. Clients do not need User status to receive invoices. Contractors may need User access if they need to manage tasks or upload files.
Invite a New User
- Create a Contact for them first (under their Company)
- Click Send Invite on the Contact
- Select the User Type/permissions in the sidebar and click Save
- An email is sent from no-reply@beeswaxapp.com
- The recipient clicks Accept Invitation and sets their password
- They become an Active User with the assigned role permissions
Note: Users control their own profile after accepting. Their email cannot be changed (it is used as their login). Details sync globally across all Beeswax accounts the user belongs to.
Permissions: Who Can Manage Users
User management permissions vary by role. The table below summarises what each role can do in relation to managing other users.
| Action | Owner | Super Admin | Admin | Accountant | General User | Client |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View all users | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Invite users | Any role | Any role | Admin only | No | No | No |
| Deactivate users | Yes | Yes (not Owner) | Yes (not Admin/Owner) | Yes (not Admin/Owner) | No | No |
| Reactivate users | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Change user roles | Yes (not own) | Yes (not Owner) | Non-Admin/Owner only | Non-Admin/Owner only | No | No |
| Edit own profile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Change own password | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Edit other profiles | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Key Notes
- The Owner can manage all users and invite any role, but cannot change their own role.
- Super Admins have the same user management capabilities as the Owner, except they cannot manage subscription or billing settings and cannot change the Owner's role.
- Admins can only invite Admin role. They can change roles for users who are not Admins or the Owner.
- Accountants can manage people records but cannot send user invitations.
- General Users can only view and edit their own profile. They cannot see or manage other users.
- Clients can only view and update their own profile and change their own password. They have no visibility into other users.
Tips & Best Practices
- Assign the minimum necessary role. Follow the principle of least privilege — give each user only the access they need to do their job. Avoid making everyone a Super Admin.
- Set default projects for team members. Configuring a default project on each user's profile saves time when logging time entries and creating tasks.
- Configure employee settings before the first pay run. If you plan to use payroll, mark users as employees and fill in their employment details (salary, tax information, leave entitlements) before running your first pay cycle.
- Use time zone settings for distributed teams. If your team spans multiple time zones, set each user's time zone in their profile so that dates and deadlines are displayed correctly for them.
- Deactivate rather than delete. When someone leaves the team, deactivate their account to preserve their historical data while revoking access.
- Review roles periodically. As team members change responsibilities, review and update their roles to ensure access levels remain appropriate.
- Use the Client role for external stakeholders. When clients or customers need visibility into project progress, invite them with the Client role to give them a restricted, read-only view.
- Reassign tasks before deactivating. Ensure all incomplete and pending tasks are reassigned to another team member before deactivating a user, as deactivation will be blocked otherwise.