The Right Access for Every Person on Your Team
Giving someone too much access is a risk. Giving them too little slows everyone down. QuickEstimate's role system is designed to sit right in the middle—each role maps to a real job function, so your team gets exactly what they need to do their work without touching what they shouldn't.
There are four roles: Owner, Admin, Estimator, and Viewer. This guide explains what each one can do, how to decide which role fits each person, and how to manage permissions as your team grows.
The Four Roles at a Glance
Each role is designed around a distinct level of responsibility. Here's a quick summary before we go into the detail.
Full control over the entire account including billing, team management, and all data. Typically the business owner or account holder.
All the operational access of an Owner, minus billing and account deletion. Suited to senior managers or operations leads.
Can create and edit estimates and send proposals. Cannot access team settings, billing, or other members' work unless shared. Suited to estimators and project managers.
Can view estimates and proposals they've been granted access to, but cannot create, edit, or send anything. Suited to clients, subcontractors, or silent stakeholders.
Role Breakdown in Detail
Use the sections below to understand exactly what each role can and cannot do before assigning it to a team member.
Full Account Control
There is one Owner per QuickEstimate account. The Owner role is assigned automatically to the person who created the account and cannot be deleted—only transferred to another team member.
- Create, edit, and delete any estimate or proposal across the entire account
- Invite, remove, and change the role of any team member including Admins
- Access and manage billing, plan upgrades, and payment methods
- Delete the QuickEstimate account permanently
- Transfer the Owner role to another team member
- View the full account audit log covering all team activity
- Configure all account-level settings including branding, templates, and integrations
Best suited to: the business owner, managing director, or whoever is ultimately responsible for the QuickEstimate subscription and account data.
Operational Full Access
Admins have near-identical access to the Owner, making them ideal for senior team members who need to manage the day-to-day operation of QuickEstimate without being involved in billing or account ownership.
- Create, edit, and delete any estimate or proposal on the account
- Invite team members and change roles up to (but not including) Owner
- Remove team members from the account
- Access and configure all account settings, branding, and templates
- View team activity logs and proposal version histories for all members
- Approve and send proposals on behalf of other team members
- Cannot access or modify billing and subscription settings
- Cannot delete the account or transfer ownership
Best suited to: senior managers, operations leads, or a trusted second-in-command who handles team and workflow management on behalf of the Owner.
Build, Price, and Propose
The Estimator role is the most commonly assigned role and is designed for the people doing the day-to-day work of quoting and winning jobs. Estimators have the tools they need to do their job—nothing more.
- Create, edit, and duplicate their own estimates
- Generate and send proposals from their own estimates
- View the version history and client activity on their own proposals
- Access shared estimate templates created by Admins or the Owner
- Update their own notification and display preferences
- Cannot view or edit estimates and proposals created by other team members (unless explicitly shared)
- Cannot access team settings, billing, or account configuration
- Cannot see profit margin data if this has been hidden by an Admin or Owner
Best suited to: estimators, quantity surveyors, sales staff, and project managers who are responsible for quoting and winning their own jobs.
Read-Only Access
Viewers can see what they've been given access to, but cannot create, edit, or send anything. This role is useful for people who need visibility without the ability to make changes.
- View estimates and proposals they have been explicitly granted access to
- Download PDFs of proposals they can view
- See project status and proposal timelines
- Cannot create, edit, duplicate, or delete any estimate or proposal
- Cannot send proposals or contact clients through QuickEstimate
- Cannot see pricing data if profit margins have been restricted
- Cannot access team settings, billing, or account configuration
Best suited to: investors, silent partners, external consultants, or clients given temporary access to review a proposal in context.
Full Permissions Reference
Use this table as a quick reference when deciding which role to assign. All permissions apply account-wide unless custom restrictions have been set for an individual member.
| Permission | Owner | Admin | Estimator | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimates | ||||
| Create & edit own estimates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| View all team estimates | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Edit & delete any team estimate | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| View shared estimates (Viewer access) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Proposals | ||||
| Generate & send own proposals | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Send & approve any team proposal | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| View proposal version history | ✓ | ✓ | Own only | — |
| Download proposal PDFs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team & Settings | ||||
| Invite & remove team members | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Change team member roles | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| View team activity log | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Configure branding & templates | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Billing & Account | ||||
| View & manage billing | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Upgrade or change plan | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Transfer ownership | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Delete account | ✓ | — | — | — |
Custom Permissions on Business Plans
On the Business plan, Owners and Admins can override default role permissions for individual team members. This allows for more granular control beyond the four standard roles:
- Restrict an Estimator to viewing only their own assigned projects
- Hide profit margin and markup data from any role below Admin
- Require Admin approval before an Estimator can send a proposal
- Grant a Viewer access to a specific client's proposals only, rather than all shared content
- Allow a specific Estimator to view (but not edit) another member's estimates for collaboration
Custom permissions sit on top of the base role. Upgrading a custom permission beyond the role's default requires upgrading the role itself.
Tips for Assigning Roles Effectively
Getting roles right from the start saves awkward conversations and permission changes down the line.
Default to Estimator, Not Admin
Most team members only need Estimator access. Reserve Admin for the small number of people who genuinely manage the team or account configuration.
Keep Owner on a Secure Account
The Owner role controls billing and account deletion. Make sure it's assigned to a stable, permanent account—not a temporary or shared login.
Hide Margins When Collaborating Externally
If you bring in subcontractors or external estimators to help with quotes, hide profit margin data from their view before inviting them in.
Review Roles When People Change Jobs
When a team member is promoted, leaves, or changes responsibilities, update their role immediately. Stale permissions are one of the most common causes of data access issues.
Use Approval Workflows for New Estimators
When onboarding a new Estimator, enable proposal approval so an Admin reviews their first few proposals before they go to clients. Remove the restriction once you're confident in their work.
Document Your Role Assignments
Keep a simple internal record of who has which role and why. When someone new joins and asks "why can't I see X?", you'll have a clear answer and a process for reviewing access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Owners and Admins can change any team member's role at any time from the Team Settings page. Changes take effect immediately—the team member will see their updated permissions the next time they interact with a restricted feature. They do not need to log out or accept anything.
Not by default. Estimators can only see their own estimates and proposals unless an Admin or Owner has explicitly shared another member's work with them, or enabled account-wide visibility in the Team Settings. This keeps each estimator's pipeline clean and separate.
Deactivating a team member does not delete their estimates or proposals. All their work remains on the account and is accessible to Owners and Admins. You can reassign their estimates to another active Estimator from the Team Settings page.
Yes. Admins can assign the Admin role to other team members. However, only the Owner can assign or remove the Owner role. This means Admins cannot elevate anyone to a level of access above their own.
The Viewer role is designed for internal stakeholders, not external clients. Clients receive proposals via a secure shareable link or email—they don't need a QuickEstimate account to view, comment on, or sign a proposal. The Viewer role is better suited to internal team members, silent partners, or external consultants who need ongoing read access.
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