# Users and data access

It's important to understand the types of users in the Budgets & Forecasts module and the factors that impact user access to the budget and forecast workbooks so you can complete your budgeting process efficiently and confidently.

## Types of users <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-typesofusers" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-typesofusers"></a>

Your organization should consider which individuals need to be involved in the budgeting process and what responsibilities they should have. This will determine what type of user role they’ll have in Budgets & Forecasts. The Budgets & Forecasts module has four types of users:

### Budget owner <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-budgetowner" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-budgetowner"></a>

The budget owner is the user who creates the budget workbook. The owner controls the budget and its workflow and can perform all actions in the budget workbook. They are the only one who can perform these tasks:

* Add a Scratch Pad tab.
* Unlock structural settings for editing in the workbook setup.

Ownership can be changed over time, as your business needs change.

To be a budget owner, you need these user permissions: Budgets & Forecasts and Manage Budgets & Forecasts.

### Budget administrator <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-budgetadministrator" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-budgetadministrator"></a>

The budget administrator is a user who can help the owner with workflow management and other tasks. Administrators can do more within the budget workbook than the other users (contributors). In addition to the standard data entry, administrators can change the budget owner to themselves, add comparison rows, assign tasks in the workflow (but not change the workflow baseline, which is the owner), and add and publish worksheet tabs.

To be a budget administrator, you need the following user permissions: Budgets & Forecasts and Manage Budgets & Forecasts. You also need to be added as an administrator in the budget workbook set up by the budget owner.

{% hint style="info" %}
A *budget administrator* is different from a *Phocas administrator*. The Phocas administrator manages the [administration](https://app.gitbook.com/o/U7I5eMnPmDGlzutOZw9D/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/) settings for your Phocas site.

A *budget administrator* is also different from a *headcount administrator.* This separation of tasks is an additional layer of security to protect the privacy of your employee headcount data. See[ Manage Headcount users](https://docs.phocassoftware.com/budgets-and-forecasts/owner-and-administrator/add-worksheet-tabs/headcount-tab#manage-headcount-users) for more information.
{% endhint %}

### Budget contributor <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-budgetcontributor" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-budgetcontributor"></a>

A budget contributor is a user who is responsible for entering and editing the values in the worksheets.

To contribute to a budget, you need:

* Either the Viewer or Full [user license](https://app.gitbook.com/s/7pj8v25BOyqZTdG5mdD1/getting-started/user-permissions-and-licenses).&#x20;
* The Budgets & Forecasts user permission.
* To be assigned to a task in the budget workflow (by the budget owner or administrator).

{% hint style="info" %}
Note for Phocas administrators:&#x20;

To allow a user with a Viewer license to **view** budget workbooks, you need to do the following:

* On the **Profile** tab of each Viewer's user account page, create a user-specific profile and select the **Budgets and Forecasts** user permission checkbox. This is the only permission you can edit, as the others are governed by Viewer license. See the [Profiles](https://app.gitbook.com/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/profiles) and [User permissions](https://app.gitbook.com/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/users/add-update-user/user-permissions) pages.
* Ensure each user has access to the database(s) upon which the budgets and forecasts are based. See [Manage a user's database access and restrictions](https://app.gitbook.com/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/users/manage-a-users-database-access-and-restrictions).

To allow a user with a Viewer license to **contribute** to budgets, in addition to the above steps, you need to assign the user to tasks in the budget workflow.

A budget contributor can only be assigned to tasks in the headcount workflow if they have been added as headcount user. See[ Manage Headcount users](https://docs.phocassoftware.com/budgets-and-forecasts/owner-and-administrator/add-worksheet-tabs/headcount-tab#manage-headcount-users) for more information.
{% endhint %}

### Budget viewer <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-viewer" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-viewer"></a>

The budget owner or administrators can add other users to a workbook as viewers. This type of user is useful if you want to allow one or more Phocas users to view the budget but not contribute to it (edit any values).

To view a budget, you need the Viewer user license and the Budgets & Forecasts user permission.

## User access and data security <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-useraccessanddatasecurity" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-useraccessanddatasecurity"></a>

As your organization's financial and budget information is sensitive, your Phocas administrator controls who can access the Budgets & Forecasts module and what data they can see there. This security gives you the freedom to share and assign work as required, without worrying about who can see what. The following factors impact user access to a budget or forecast workbook.

{% hint style="info" %}
Database restrictions are respected in Budgets & Forecasts workbooks. See [Overview of access to data](https://app.gitbook.com/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/overview-of-access-to-data) for more information on database restrictions. If a user profile includes a dimension, stream or measure restriction, the user will only see data (rows) in the workbook that match the restriction, all other data will be hidden.
{% endhint %}

### User permissions and type of user <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-userpermissionsandtypeofuser" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-userpermissionsandtypeofuser"></a>

The Phocas user permissions are the first line of defense in your organization’s budget security. If you can’t access the Budgets & Forecasts module, you can’t edit any of the budgets or forecasts. Your Phocas administrator controls who can access the Budgets & Forecasts module and who can create budget and forecast workbooks.

The type of Budgets & Forecasts user you are determines the actions you can take within the module. For example, a budget administrator can publish a budget but a contributor cannot.

### Phocas database access and restrictions <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-phocasdatabaseaccessandrestrictions" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-phocasdatabaseaccessandrestrictions"></a>

Even when you have permission to access the Budgets & Forecasts module, to see any data in a budget or forecast, you need access to the underlying database. In general, database permissions and restrictions are carried through to the budget, so you can only view rows (budget lines) for which you have permission.

As stated in the **Types of users** section above, your Phocas administrator controls who can access a database and what information they can see within that database. If the budget data comes from multiple databases, your administrator can control access to each database and set different restrictions for each. Restrictions can be customized at a fine level and applied to individuals or groups of users.

For example, your administrator can:

* Set a default restriction on a database so that all users can see branch data but not *company-wide data*.
* Apply specific database restrictions to individual users to ensure:
  * A regional manager only sees the budget items for their region (Australia) and not others (UK and USA).
  * The Warehouse Manager only sees the operating costs for their branch.
  * A member of the Sales team only sees the Gross Margin and higher-level information.
  * A user can access the Cost of Sales data in one database but not in another.

Administrators, see [Manage a user's database access and restrictions](https://app.gitbook.com/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/users/manage-a-users-database-access-and-restrictions) for more information.

### Workbook access and workflow <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-budgets-and-forecastsworkflow" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-budgets-and-forecastsworkflow"></a>

Budget owners and administrators can restrict access to a whole workbook or specific tabs within a workbook. See [Manage access to a workbook](https://docs.phocassoftware.com/budgets-and-forecasts/owner-and-administrator/manage-user-access-and-notifications) and [Edit tab permissions](https://docs.phocassoftware.com/budgets-and-forecasts/owner-and-administrator/manage-worksheet-tabs#edit-the-tab-permissions).

Even with the required user permission, data access, and data workbook access, you can only edit budget and forecast data when the budget owner or administrator assigns rows to you in the workflow.

See [Use workflows](https://docs.phocassoftware.com/budgets-and-forecasts/contributor/use-workflows) and [Contribute to the workflow](https://docs.phocassoftware.com/budgets-and-forecasts/contributor/use-workflows/contribute-to-the-workflow) to learn more.

## Information for Phocas administrators <a href="#getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-administrators-useranddatabasepermissions" id="getstartedwithbudgets-and-forecasts-administrators-useranddatabasepermissions"></a>

When the Budgets & Forecasts module is enabled for your Phocas site, as an administrator, you need to:

* Update the relevant Phocas user accounts to allow the applicable users to access the Budgets & Forecasts module and manage the budgets and forecasts. See [Budgets & Forecasts permissions](https://app.gitbook.com/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/users/add-update-user/user-permissions#budgets-and-forecasts-permissions) to learn about the two user permissions.
* Ensure each user has applicable access to the database(s) upon which the budgets and forecasts are based. See [Manage a user's database access and restrictions](https://app.gitbook.com/s/vQCmtGTR7MsjcI62Vdki/users/manage-a-users-database-access-and-restrictions) and read the **User access and data security** section above.
* Ensure the relevant users can access the Financial Statements module to view the completed financial budgets and forecasts.


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