Understanding Roles
Learn about the user roles in Buyer24 — Organization Admin, Procurement Manager, Buyer, and Viewer — and what each role can do.
Role Overview
Buyer24 uses role-based access control to give each team member the right level of access. There are three main roles available to your organization:
| Role | Who it's for | Access level |
|---|---|---|
| Organization Admin | The person who set up the account; IT or operations lead | Full access to all features, users, and settings |
| Procurement Manager | Team leads, procurement directors | View and manage all organization RFQs; supplier management; analytics |
| Buyer | Individual buyers, purchasing agents | Create and manage their own RFQs; contact suppliers |
Viewer is a read-only role that can be assigned to stakeholders who need to see procurement activity but not take action.
Buyer
Buyers are the day-to-day users of Buyer24. They create and manage procurement requests, reach out to suppliers, collect quotes, and make purchasing decisions. This is the most common role.
What Buyers Can Do
- Create RFQs — Describe what you need to purchase, set a budget and deadline, and send the request to suppliers
- Contact suppliers — Send and receive messages with suppliers directly in the platform
- Review quotes — See AI-extracted quote data from supplier replies
- Compare quotes — Generate AI-powered side-by-side comparisons when you have 2+ quotes
- Organize your work — Star important RFQs, filter by status, and archive completed requests
- Connect your email — Optionally link your Gmail or Outlook so replies also arrive in your inbox
- Manage your own profile — Email signature and notification preferences
- View your personal buyer dashboard — Your own performance metrics, deadlines, and recent activity
What Buyers Cannot Do
- View other buyers' RFQs (managers and admins can see all RFQs)
- Manage the supplier directory (add or edit supplier records)
- Access the manager dashboard or organization-wide analytics
- Invite or manage other users
- Change organization settings
If you need these capabilities, talk to your Organization Admin about upgrading your role to Procurement Manager.
Procurement Manager
Procurement Managers have organization-wide visibility and control. While buyers focus on their own requests, managers can see and act on all RFQs across the team. The role is typically held by procurement team leads, senior buyers responsible for oversight, or procurement directors.
What Managers Can Do
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| View all org RFQs | See every request created by any buyer in the organization |
| Manage any RFQ | Edit, archive, or take over any request — not just your own |
| Contact suppliers | Send messages on any active RFQ |
| Manage supplier directory | Add, edit, and remove suppliers and contacts |
| Access manager dashboard | View KPIs, activity feeds, and team performance metrics |
| Approve purchases | Take action on RFQs flagged for approval |
| Create your own RFQs | Managers can also act as buyers when needed |
What Managers Cannot Do
- Invite or remove users (Admin only)
- Change user roles (Admin only)
- Modify organization-wide settings (Admin only)
For day-to-day manager workflows — daily check-ins, supporting a buyer, supplier reviews — see the Manager Guide.
Organization Admin
Organization Admins have the highest level of access. They are responsible for setting up and maintaining the account: configuring the organization, managing users, and ensuring the platform is ready for the team. Most organizations have one or two admins — typically a procurement director, operations lead, or IT administrator.
What Admins Can Do
- Everything a Procurement Manager or Buyer can do, plus:
- Invite new users and assign roles
- Change existing users' roles
- Remove users from the organization
- Configure organization-wide settings (name, procurement context, default payment terms, delivery locations)
- View and manage all RFQs across all users
- Access organization profile and billing settings
Admin vs. Manager
If you're unsure whether to make someone an Admin or a Manager, use this guide:
| Need | Role |
|---|---|
| Needs to see all RFQs and manage suppliers | Manager |
| Needs to invite or remove users | Admin |
| Needs to change organization settings | Admin |
| Needs to approve purchases | Manager |
| Needs to run analytics reports | Manager |
When in doubt, start with Procurement Manager and upgrade to Admin only if the user needs to manage users or settings.
Viewer
Viewers have read-only access. They can browse RFQs and quotes but cannot create, edit, or send anything.
This role is useful for:
- Finance or compliance staff who need visibility into procurement
- Executives who want to monitor activity without participating
Changing Roles
Only Organization Admins can change a user's role:
- Go to Users in the sidebar (visible to admins only)
- Find the user and click the edit icon
- Select the new role from the dropdown
- Click Save
Role changes take effect immediately. For the full invitation and user-management workflow, see Inviting Your Team.
Role Comparison Table
| Feature | Buyer | Manager | Org Admin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create RFQs | Own only | All users | All users |
| View all org RFQs | — | Yes | Yes |
| Contact suppliers | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Manage suppliers | — | Yes | Yes |
| Approve purchases | — | Yes | Yes |
| Manager dashboard | — | Yes | Yes |
| Buyer dashboard | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Invite users | — | — | Yes |
| Change user roles | — | — | Yes |
| Organization settings | — | — | Yes |