# Users, roles & permissions

> Give each team member a role that matches their job, from external describer to accountant and administrator, plus read-only roles and API keys.

- URL: https://www.selloff.auction/features/users-permissions
- Language: English
- Domain: Platform & service
- Last updated: 2026-10-07
- Français: https://www.selloff.auction/fr/fonctionnalites/utilisateurs-droits.md

## At a glance

- Roles from Describer to Account Owner, each with defined access
- Read-only roles for general and accounting staff
- External describers see only the lots they described
- Users activated or deactivated at any time
- Separate API keys for websites and other tools, revocable at any time

## Roles that match the auction house

Access to each module depends on the user's role:

- **Describer**: an external expert, for example a philatelist, who describes lots and sees only the lots they described
- **User**: administration staff, with access to contacts, consignments, lots, sales and shipments; in accounting, they can edit invoices only
- **Auction Manager**: a user who can also create and configure sales
- **Accounting**: full access to invoices, payments, suppliers and exports
- **Admin**: manages the application settings and behaviour
- **Account Owner**: manages the Selloff subscription and billing, and adds users

Read-only versions of the User and Accounting roles let staff consult data without changing it.

## Accountability built in

Many actions, such as emails sent or lots added to a shipment, are logged in the contact's activity with the user who performed them. A sale can require a second user to confirm bids entered manually or imported. Each sale and catalogue has a responsible user, and each bidder can have a sales agent.

## Managing users

The Account Owner adds users with their name, email, role, time zone and number of results per page, changes passwords and activates or deactivates accounts. Each user can enable two-factor authentication and review and close their active sessions from their profile.

## API keys

Websites, ERPs and other tools connect through API keys created in the Admin section, separately from user accounts. A key is shown only once, when it is generated. It can be regenerated, which revokes the previous key, and disabled or re-enabled at any time.

## Related features

- [Security, hosting & backups](https://www.selloff.auction/features/security-backups.md): A web application with each client's data kept separate, two-factor authentication, role-based access and protected financial records.
- [Interface customisation](https://www.selloff.auction/features/interface-customization.md): Adapt Selloff to your house: description fields, list columns, your branding on documents and emails, and every text your clients read.
- [Lot descriptions](https://www.selloff.auction/features/lot-descriptions.md): Describe lots on a screen you configure, with texts, custom fields, categories and images, and generate repetitive headings and descriptions automatically.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can an external expert describe lots without seeing our clients?

Yes. The Describer role gives access to the description interface and to the lots that person described, without contacts, sales or accounting.

### Can accounting staff be limited to viewing?

Yes. The Accounting (read only) role gives access to the accounting screens without the ability to change data, and a User (read only) role exists for the rest of the application.

### Who can add users?

The Account Owner, who manages the Selloff subscription, adds and deactivates users and assigns their roles. Admins manage the application settings.