Each role gives a level in each area: View (see and report), Prepare (create and edit), Approve (approve other people's work, for example accept a client, publish a policy or evaluate a deficiency) or Full (also delete and administer the area). Some registers are self-service: anyone with View records their own CPD, gifts and declarations and completes their own tasks. Custom roles combine levels area by area (step 3.6).
| Role | What it is for | Full or approve | Prepare | View only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner (ultimate responsibility) | Full control, including users and security. Usually the managing partner, who holds ultimate responsibility for the system of quality management and signs the annual evaluation. | Dashboard & quality indicators; Risk assessment; Governance & leadership; Ethics & independence; Clients & acceptance; Engagements, consultations & EQR; Resources; Information & communication; Monitoring & remediation; Complaints & allegations; Annual evaluation; Users & roles; Firm settings; Audit trail | — | — |
| Firm administrator | Users, settings and every register. No access to complaints and allegations, which stay confidential to the quality leads. | Dashboard & quality indicators; Risk assessment; Governance & leadership; Ethics & independence; Clients & acceptance; Engagements, consultations & EQR; Resources; Information & communication; Monitoring & remediation; Users & roles; Firm settings; Audit trail; Annual evaluation | — | — |
| Quality lead (operational responsibility) | Runs the system of quality management day to day: risk assessment, responses, monitoring, remediation, complaints and the annual evaluation file. | Dashboard & quality indicators; Risk assessment; Governance & leadership; Ethics & independence; Clients & acceptance; Engagements, consultations & EQR; Resources; Information & communication; Monitoring & remediation; Complaints & allegations; Annual evaluation; Firm settings | — | Users & roles; Audit trail |
| Ethics & independence partner | Operational responsibility for independence: declarations, breaches, threats, non-assurance services, fees and rotation. | Ethics & independence; Clients & acceptance | Risk assessment; Engagements, consultations & EQR; Information & communication; Complaints & allegations | Dashboard & quality indicators; Governance & leadership; Resources; Monitoring & remediation; Annual evaluation; Firm settings; Audit trail |
| Monitoring & remediation lead | Operational responsibility for monitoring: the plan, inspections, findings, deficiencies, root causes and remedial actions. | Monitoring & remediation; Risk assessment; Complaints & allegations | Engagements, consultations & EQR; Resources; Information & communication; Annual evaluation | Dashboard & quality indicators; Governance & leadership; Ethics & independence; Clients & acceptance; Firm settings; Audit trail |
| Engagement partner | Approves acceptance and continuance, keeps the engagement register, consultations and differences of opinion for their engagements, and logs threats and gifts. | Clients & acceptance; Engagements, consultations & EQR | Ethics & independence | Dashboard & quality indicators; Risk assessment; Governance & leadership; Resources; Information & communication; Monitoring & remediation; Annual evaluation |
| Manager | Proposes clients, keeps engagement records and raises consultations. Sees policies and monitoring results communicated to teams. | — | Clients & acceptance; Engagements, consultations & EQR | Dashboard & quality indicators; Risk assessment; Ethics & independence; Resources; Information & communication; Monitoring & remediation |
| Staff | Confirms independence, acknowledges policies, records their own CPD and gifts, completes assigned tasks and can raise a concern. | — | — | Dashboard & quality indicators; Risk assessment; Ethics & independence; Engagements, consultations & EQR; Resources; Information & communication |
| Inspector (read-only) | Read-only access to the whole system of quality management and the audit trail — for an internal reviewer or a regulator's inspection (FRC, ICAN, ICAB/ACCA). | — | — | Dashboard & quality indicators; Risk assessment; Governance & leadership; Ethics & independence; Clients & acceptance; Engagements, consultations & EQR; Resources; Information & communication; Monitoring & remediation; Complaints & allegations; Annual evaluation; Firm settings; Audit trail |