Assigning Roles and Permissions in Bill Pay

Relay’s Bill Pay feature brings your entire accounts payable workflow—uploading, approving, and paying bills—into one place. However, not every user in your Relay account has the same level of access. Whether you're a business owner paying vendors, an advisor categorizing expenses, or a team member submitting bills for review, knowing who can do what ensures security and smooth operations.

This article outlines which team and advisor roles have access to each part of the Bill Pay workflow.

Team Member Role Permissions Breakdown

Feature	Administrator	Manager	Bill Payer	Cardholder	Deposit Only	Read Only
Upload bills	✅	⛔	⛔	⛔	⛔	⛔
Set approval rules & approve bills	✅	⛔	⛔	⛔	⛔	⛔
Make payments (ACH, wire, check)	✅	⛔	✅	⛔	⛔	⛔
Add or edit payees	✅	⛔	✅	⛔	⛔	⛔
Integrate with QuickBooks/Xero	✅	⛔	✅	⛔	⛔	⛔
View bill transactions	✅	✅	✅	⛔	✅	✅

Note: Only Administrators can manage the full bill pay process from end-to-end. Bill Payers can pay bills but cannot approve them. Managers can submit requests, but not execute or approve them.

Advisor Role Permissions Breakdown

Task/Feature	Super Admin	Administrator	Manager	Bill Payer	Read Only
View bills	✅	✅	✅	⛔	✅
Categorize bills for accounting	✅	✅	✅	⛔	⛔
Set up Xero or QuickBooks integrations	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔
Make payments	✅	✅	✅	✅	⛔
Approve bills or set approval rules	✅	⛔	⛔	⛔	⛔

Note: Advisors typically support categorization and accounting integrations. Only a Super Administrator can both approve and pay bills. Most advisors cannot initiate or approve payments, helping maintain separation of duties for financial control.

How to Update User Roles

To change someone’s role:

Sign in to your Relay account.
Go to the Team section in Relay.
Choose either Team or Advisors.
Select the user and click Edit.
Choose a new role from the dropdown.
Save your changes.

Please note: Only team member Administrators or advisor Super Administrators can change user roles.

Tips for Managing Roles

Keep it lean: Only assign Administrator or Super Administrator access to those who need full control of your business finances.
Separate approval and payment duties: For extra security, use approval rules with different roles handling reviews and actual payments.

What’s Next?

Now that you know what each role can do in Bill Pay, you can:

Implement approval rules for safer spending.
Assign team members to upload and categorize bills.
Ensure the right users can pay—but only when appropriate.

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