Groups

Add people to a group once, and they inherit everything it can do. Groups let you manage access by role instead of person by person, so a new controller gets the same access as the last one, and a departing one loses it in one step.

You’ll find it in the sidebar under System Controls → Groups.

Why use groups

Access handed out person by person drifts. Someone gets a permission for a one-off task and keeps it for years. Two people in the same role end up with different access, and nobody can say why. With groups, the question what can our bookkeepers do? has one answer, in one place.

How it works

1. Every organization starts with five groups: Owner, Admin, Finance, Operations and Legal.
2. You can add your own, such as Treasury or Auditors. A new group starts with no access.
3. You decide what a group can do on the Permissions page.
4. You add people to the group here, or when you invite them.
5. Access is additive. Someone in two groups holds everything both groups hold.

When to use it

• You’re setting up a new role, like an outside auditor or a treasury committee. See Give an outside auditor view-only access.
• Someone changes role. Move them between groups rather than editing their permissions one by one.
• You’re reviewing access. Open each group to see who’s in it and what it can do.

Using the page

The list shows each group and how many members it has. Click a group to open it on the right. It has three tabs:

• Overview: the group’s description, its member count, and Anyone in this group can open, the parts of Mezzanine its members can reach.
• Members: who’s in the group. Click Add member to add people from Our Team. Click the × next to someone (Remove from group) to take them out. You’re asked to confirm with Remove Member.
• Permissions: what the group can do. Click Edit in Permissions to change it. The Owner group shows Owner has full access across the organization — not editable and not grantable to anyone else.

For a group you created, the ⋯ menu at the top of the panel has Rename group and Delete group. The five built-in groups can’t be renamed or deleted.

The Actions menu at the top right has:

• New group: create a group. Give it a Group name, an optional Description, and choose where to Start from: Start from scratch, or Copy from an existing group to start with the same permissions.
• Invite people to groups: add people already on the team to one or more groups, or invite someone new.
• Permissions: goes to the Permissions page.

The built-in groups

Group	What it’s for
Owner	Full access to everything. This can’t be changed.
Admin	Configures and oversees the organization. Admins manage the team, groups and permissions.
Finance	Moves money. By default, Finance can propose payments and transfers.
Operations	Drafts and coordinates. By default, Operations can add and edit contacts.
Legal	Owns records and sensitive data. By default, Legal can manage company files.

These are the starting permissions. An Owner or Admin can change what Finance, Operations and Legal can do on the Permissions page.

Good to know

• New groups start with no access. After you create one, switch on what it can do on the Permissions page.
• Deleting a group takes its access away from everyone in it. Members stay on the team and keep their other groups.
• Group names can be up to 50 characters. You can’t reuse a built-in group’s name. Descriptions can be up to 200 characters.
• You can have up to 20 groups of your own.
• Copying from another group needs the Edit permissions permission, on top of being able to create groups.

Who can use it

To…	You need
See this page	View groups
Create, rename or delete groups	To be an Owner or Admin
Add or remove members	To be an Owner or Admin
Add or remove members of the Owner or Admin group	To be an Owner
Start a new group as a copy of another	Edit permissions

Manage groups comes only with the Owner or Admin group. It can’t be given to anyone else, and it also lets someone see groups.

If you can’t open the page, it says You do not have permission to view groups and lets you request access. If you can see the page but can’t change a group, the button tells you who can, for example Only Owners and Admins can change group membership.