This feature is currently being rolled out across Float. If you don’t see it in your account yet, it will be available to your team in the coming weeks - stay tuned! For more details, see the Access roles FAQ.
Until then, see the Access rights article for how existing permission levels work.
An access role is a set of permissions that defines what each user (person or guest) on your team can see and do in Float. Set permissions once, and everyone assigned that access role inherits them. On Pro and Enterprise, you can also scope access by project team, project ownership, or the people and departments someone manages.
The five default access roles are:
Account Owner - Full control of the account. This role can't be assigned or customized.
Admin - Manages company settings, people, projects, finance, and access.
Resource Manager - Schedules people on projects.
Project Manager - Estimates and manages projects.
Member - Works from their own schedule.
Each person or guest in Float can hold one access role at a time, and their individual permissions can be adjusted individually as needed.
Plan availability
All plans use access roles. The level of customization depends on your plan.
Starter
Starter plan includes the default access roles: Admin, Resource Manager, Project Manager, and Member. You can't customize them, but you can add additional permissions to individual people as needed.
Pro and Enterprise
Pro and Enterprise plans include full role-level customization with the ability to:
Edit default roles: Change an access role’s default permissions, and everyone assigned to it updates automatically. You don’t need to override people one by one.
Create custom roles: Duplicate an existing role or build one from scratch. In addition to the default access roles, you can create up to 10 custom roles.
Scope access more precisely: Define access based on project teams, project ownership, or people someone manages.
Separate view and edit permissions: Configure viewing and editing independently where applicable. For example, someone can view every person in their department but only edit the projects they own.
Access roles management
You can manage access roles in Company settings > Access rights. By default, only Account Owners and people with the default Admin access role can access the Access rights page and configure access roles.
The access rights page shows every access role on your account and its permissions:
On Starter, the page lists only the default access roles. You can't edit them or add custom ones.
On Pro and Enterprise, the page lists the default roles and any custom roles you added.
Clicking on the access role opens the side panel and shows its description and permissions, grouped into these sections:
Can view
Schedule
People and access
Projects
Dashboards and reports
Time tracking
Data studio
Company settings
For detailed permissions, check the Access roles - detailed permissions article.
The default access roles
Each default access role fits a type of work a user performs in Float. Pick the role that best matches what a team member does day to day, or customize as needed.
💡 Here's a tip: On Pro and Enterprise, you can rename the default access roles to match your company’s internal language.
Account Owner
While being one of the default access roles, the Account Owner role can't be assigned or customized. That is why it is not displayed in Company settings > Access rights.
The Account Owner has full control of your company's Float account. By default, this is the person who created the account. Each team has one Account Owner, who can transfer ownership to someone else. This access role holds every permission, including a few that no other role has by default: editing company details such as the team name and URL, setting up integrations, generating the API key, canceling the subscription, and deleting the company.
Learn more about Account Owner's permissions in the Account ownership article.
Admin
The Admin role is designed for the people who set up and run Float day-to-day, such as operations leads, finance owners, and IT admins. Admins manage company settings, people, projects, finance, and access. They can view, edit, and delete company data, view and edit cost rates and bill rates, and configure access roles.
Learn more about the default Admin's permissions in the Admin access role article.
Resource Manager
The Resource Manager role is designed for scheduling people across the company. It fits resource planners, capacity leads, and studio managers who plan and balance workloads. Resource Managers see every person and every non-draft project, and they can create, edit, and delete allocations for anyone on any project.
Learn more about the default Resource Manager's permissions in the Resource Manager access role article.
Project Manager
The Project Manager role is designed for creating projects, estimating them, and monitoring their progress. It fits producers, delivery leads, and account managers who own project delivery. Project Managers create projects, manage tasks, phases, milestones, expenses, and estimates on the projects they can see, and schedule people on those projects.
Learn more about the default Project Manager's permissions in the Project Manager access role article.
Member
The Member role is designed for people who do their own work in Float without seeing restricted data. It fits designers, developers, and consultants who get scheduled on projects and/or log their own time. Members see their own schedule, log time for themselves, request time off, and mark their own allocations as completed.
Learn more about the default Member permissions in the Member access role article.
Assigning access roles
To assign a role, you need the Assign access roles and overrides permission. The Account Owner and users with the default Admin role have it by default. Others can be granted this permission additionally under People and access permission group, either for specific access roles or for all.
Restrictions to keep in mind:
No one can change their own access role or edit the permissions assigned to them.
No one can grant more access than they have. When you assign a role or add permissions for someone else, you can only give access that is equal to or narrower than your own.
Additional permissions can't reduce a role's access. To give someone less access, change their access role and adjust the individual permissions.
Best practices
For teams on Starter plan:
Start with the access roles, not your people
Review the default access roles in Company settings > Access rights.Apply the roles to people
On the People page, use the bulk-edit option to assign a role to multiple users at once.Assign individual permission overrides
For exceptions, use per-person overrides.
For teams on Pro and Enterprise plans:
Start with the access roles, not your people
Review the default access roles in Company settings > Access rights and define the roles you want for your current team and for anyone you add later.Review each role's permissions against how your team actually works and adjust it to your needs
Tighten sensitive permissions and disable anything not relevant. Update the role's name and description so people can then see what they’re granting without scanning the whole permissions list.
Create custom roles for variants
Duplicate existing roles to create new ones with custom permissions as needed.Apply the roles to people
On the People page, use the bulk-edit option to assign a role to multiple users at once.Use overrides for one-offs
For exceptions, use per-person overrides at the individual level.
Assigning and updating people access roles
You can assign access roles to your people from the People page - individually or in bulk.
To assign a role to a person and invite them to Float:
Navigate to the People page
Select a person and navigate to the Access tab of their profile
Enter their email address
Select the access role
Review permissions and adjust them as needed
Save with Update & invite person
To update the existing access role of a person:
Navigate to the People page
Select a person and navigate to the Access tab of their profile
Select the new access role from the dropdown
Review permissions and adjust them as needed
Save with Update person
To assign access roles for several people at once and invite them to Float:
Navigate to the People page
Select the people without access you want to invite. Make sure each has an email address in their profile
Click Edit
Under Field, select Access role from the drop-down
Select the access role
Review permissions and adjust them as needed
Save with Update & invite
To update existing access roles for several people at once:
Navigate to the People page
Select people whose access you want to edit
Click Edit.
Under Field, choose Access role from the drop-down.
Review permissions and adjust them as needed
Click Update.
Updated people will hold the access role you selected and the permissions it grants. Any permissions edited for them individually will be replaced.
Assigning and updating guest access roles
Guests can be assigned access roles in Company settings > Admin > Guests. This section is available to the Account Owner and users with permission to configure admin settings (can be granted under the company settings permission group).
To assign a role to a guest and invite them to Float:
Navigate to Company settings > Admin > Guests
Click on the Invite button
Enter their name and email address
Select the access role
Review permissions and adjust them as needed
Save with Invite
To update the existing access role of a guest:
Navigate to Company settings > Admin > Guests
Click on the pencil icon next to the guest you want to edit
Select the new access role from the dropdown
Review permissions and adjust them as needed
Save with Update
📝Note: Permissions that depend on a person record, such as Self or Managed, don't apply to guests.
Assign individual permission overrides
On all plans, you can add additional permissions for individuals as needed - both for people and guests. To do that, you need the Assign access roles and overrides permission. Account Owners and users with the default Admin access role have it by default, and they can grant it to others. With it, you can customize individual permissions on top of their assigned access role.
Adding additional permissions for people
To customize permissions of people:
Navigate to the People page
Select the person you want to update and open the Access tab of their profile
Add additional permissions as needed
Save with Update person
People with additional permissions show a blue dot next to their name.
📝Note: Assigning someone to a different access role clears the additional permissions on their account.
💡Here's a tip: You can use additional permissions for exceptions, such as one Project Manager who also needs to view rates. If several people need the same extra permissions, create a custom access role instead of editing each person. Custom roles are available on Pro and Enterprise plans.
Reset the individual permission overrides to the access role's defaults
If a team member's permissions have been edited on the individual level, but you want to reset them to the defaults, you can do it with Actions > Reset to defaults. This removes any additional permissions from the person's default access role.
You can also reset edited permissions to defaults for multiple people at once using the bulk-assigned access role option.
Adding additional permissions for guests
To customize permissions of guests:
Navigate to the Company settings > Admin > Guests page
Select the guest you want to update and open the Access tab of their profile
Add additional permissions as needed
Save with Update
Guests with additional permissions show a blue dot next to their name.
Reset the individual permission overrides to the access role's defaults
If a guest's permissions have been edited on the individual level, but you want to reset them to the defaults, delete them and invite them again, selecting one of the default access roles.
Check and copy permission details
Check your own access role and permissions
You can check your own access role and permissions in your Profile settings and copy them to your clipboard.
Click on your profile icon in the bottom left corner of Float
Select Profile settings
Find the Access role field
Click the copy icon to copy your permission details
Paste the copied text into any text field (like email or notebook)
The copied text lists:
The access role name, as your company named it. If your company renamed Project Manager to Producer, the copied text says Producer
Every permission in that role, with its scope
Any additional permissions added to you on top of your role
💡Here’s a tip: When you contact Float support about an issue, paste your copied access role details into the conversation so the Support team can see your exact permissions.
Check a team member’s access role and permissions
Anyone who can open the People page can check the access roles of the people they can view. Anyone who can open Company settings > Admin > Guests can check the access roles of guests.
People with the Assign access roles and overrides permission also see the copy icon on the Access tab of each person or guest they can view. The icon copies that person’s access role and detailed permissions.
To copy a team member’s access role and permissions:
Navigate to the People or Guests page
Select a person or a guest and open the Access tab of their profile
Click the copy icon next to their access role
Paste the copied text into any text field (like email or notebook)
💡Here’s a tip: Use the copied list to troubleshoot. The full list lets you check a specific permission and its scope. For example, if a person can’t edit tasks, the list shows whether they have that permission.
Assigning direct reports
Assign direct reports is set separately from the access role. It can be done in the Manages tab. The Manages tab appears for anyone whose role includes Assign direct reports.
This is where you can add people or departments they manage. The dropdown only lists people the person assigning can view. Once you save someone as a direct report, the manager can see them, even if they couldn’t before.
Editing default access roles (Pro and Enterprise)
On Pro and Enterprise plans, you can change what each default access role can do. You can both add and remove permissions. There is no minimum set of permissions. When you save, the changes apply automatically to everyone assigned that role. To edit the default role:
Go to Company settings > Access rights
Select the default role you want to edit
Add and remove permissions as needed
Save with Update access role
If the default access role has been edited, we display it as Default (updated).
To reset the updated access role to default permissions, open the role's action menu and select Reset defaults.
💡Here’s a tip: To hide a whole area, such as Data studio, from a role, turn off the whole section’s switch instead of individual permissions.
Creating custom access roles (Pro and Enterprise)
On Pro and Enterprise plans, you can add up to 10 custom access roles. You can create them from scratch or duplicate an existing role and edit the permissions as needed. Additional access roles are displayed as Custom.
Duplicate existing access role
To create a copy of an existing access role:
Go to Company settings > Access rights
Select the access role you want to clone
Click on the action menu (three vertical dots in the top right corner of the page) and select Duplicate
Add the access role's name, edit the description, and adjust permissions as needed
Create with Save access role
Add a new custom access role
To create a custom access role from scratch:
Go to Company settings > Access rights
Click on the Add button
Add the access role's name, edit the description, and adjust permissions as needed
Create with Save access role
Set the scope of a permission
You can edit individual permissions to fine-tune access. Many permissions let you choose how far they reach. Options vary by permission and can include:
All: every person, project, or entry in the account.
Self: only the person’s own record.
Managed: people the person manages on their Manages tab.
Projects they own: projects where the person is the project owner.
Projects they can edit: projects they own, are on the team of, or that are open to all project managers.
Projects they can view: every project they can see.
For detailed permissions, check the Access roles - detailed permissions article.
Assigning a custom access role to a person
Only users with Assign access roles and overrides permission can assign custom access roles to people. In the permission settings, you can include either specific roles or all company roles.
You can assign custom roles to people and guests the same way you assign default access roles.
Deleting custom roles
You can delete custom roles as needed. Before deleting, move people off the role first.
To delete a custom role:
Go to Company settings > Access rights
Select the role you want to remove
Click on the action menu (three vertical dots in the top right corner of the page) and select Delete
This action cannot be undone and requires double confirmation.
Additional notes
Hours budgets are visible to everyone who can see the project.
Managers see their direct reports. If Alice manages Bob and Bob manages Carol, Alice doesn't see Carol unless they share a project, Carol is in a department Alice manages, or Alice's role has a broader scope. Department managers also see people in sub-departments.