Understanding access levels and user roles

Differences between contributor, member, admin, owner and accountant

SV
Written by Sampsa VainioUpdated Oct 18, 2026

Before going deeper into the management of said access levels, it's good to understand the distinction between the roles available in SparkReceipt:

Contributor : Ideal for individuals who need to upload expenses but should not access the entire team's financial records. Contributors can only view and manage their own expense submissions, making this role perfect for team members who report expenses without the need for broader data visibility or edit permissions.

Member : Suited for those who require comprehensive access to all documents, including the ability to view, edit, and manage expenses across the team. This access level is typically reserved for team leaders, finance managers, or members who need to oversee and audit financial records comprehensively.

Admin : Has all the capabilities of a Member, plus elevated rights for managing the organization – such as inviting and removing other users. Use this role for trusted team leads who help operate the account on the owner's behalf.

Owner : This is the founding member of the account and can manage everything within it, including billing and subscription. The owner is considered the owner of the account's data. Users with this access level cannot be invited – the original creator of the account is the owner.

Accountant : An accountant is a special role that can view all documents in the system and review and edit them as needed. What else they can do depends on their Accountant permissions: with no elevated role they can add bank statements but not other documents, and with Admin permissions (the default for new accountant invitations) they can also add documents and manage the account like an Admin. The Accountant role is free on every plan and doesn't use a seat.

Who can change a document's review status

In the web app, Admins, the Owner and Accountants can change the Review status of any document. Members and Contributors can change it only on documents they submitted themselves. See Approval circulation for receipts/documents?

Who can see billing

Only Admins, the Owner and Accountants whose Accountant permissions are set to Admin see Subscription & Billing in Account settings. Only the Owner can cancel the subscription.

Who can see Account activity

Only the Owner, Admins and Accountants whose Accountant permissions are set to Admin see Account activity in Account settings. It lists who changed, deleted, downloaded or shared what in the account. See How do I see who changed what in my account?