Team
Roles & Access Control
Last updated 15 April 2026
Roles & Access Control
Understand what each role in OpenChair can do, so you assign the right level of access when inviting team members, and your staff see only what they need.
Where to find it: Roles are assigned when you invite a team member (Team → Invite) and can be changed from the staff profile.
TL;DR
- Three roles: Owner (full access), Manager (operations without billing), Stylist (own calendar and bookings only).
- Roles are per venue, a person can have different roles at different venues.
- Only Owners can change roles or manage other Managers and Owners.
- Kiosk mode and shared-device PINs are available to both Owners and Managers.
Overview
OpenChair uses three roles to control what each team member can see and do:
- Owner: full access to every feature, including billing, venue settings, and team management
- Manager: can manage day-to-day operations, staff schedules, and services, but cannot access billing or financial reports
- Stylist (Staff): can view their own calendar, manage their own bookings and clients, and update their own profile
Roles are assigned per venue. A person can have different roles at different venues if they belong to more than one.
Note
FREE accounts are limited to 1 bookable team member. PRO supports additional bookable team members with capped per-venue pricing. Role functionality is the same on both plans, there is no tier restriction on which roles are available.
The three roles
Owner
The Owner has unrestricted access to the venue. Every feature, setting, and report is available.
Owners can:
- Invite team members with any role (Owner, Manager, or Stylist)
- Remove or offboard any team member
- Change any team member's role
- Access billing, subscription, and payout settings
- Configure venue settings, operating hours, and booking rules
- View all reports, commission settings, invoices, and deposit rules
- Set up and manage kiosk mode (shared-device PIN)
- Manage reviews
- Access the full Intelligence dashboard
When you create a venue, OpenChair automatically assigns you the Owner role. You do not need to invite yourself.
Manager
Managers handle day-to-day operations without access to billing or sensitive financial data.
Managers can:
- View and manage all bookings on the calendar
- Manage Stylists (invite, edit profiles, set schedules, assign services, offboard)
- Configure services, packages, products, and gift cards
- Manage the waitlist
- View and manage the timesheet (all staff hours)
- Set up kiosk mode and shared-device PINs
- Access communications tools (Inbox, Campaigns, Automations)
- Access Assistant with manager-level prompts
- Edit brand voice, storefront, portfolio, loyalty, forms, and deposit rules
Managers cannot:
- Invite, edit, or remove other Managers or Owners
- Access billing, subscription, or payout settings
- View invoices or financial reports
- View or configure commission rates (web)
- Manage the reviews queue (web)
Tip
Managers see slightly different items depending on the platform. On mobile, Managers can access commission and timesheet through the More menu. On web, those sidebar items are only visible to Owners, though Managers can access the Timesheet page directly if they navigate to it.
Stylist (Staff)
Stylists have a personal view focused on their own work, here is exactly what they can access on web and mobile.
Stylists can:
- View their own calendar and upcoming bookings
- Create and manage bookings
- View and manage their own clients
- Update their own profile (name, email, bio, calendar colour)
- Edit their own working hours (via mobile self-service)
- Toggle which services they offer (on/off only, no proficiency or price overrides)
- View their own commission earnings on mobile (More → My Earnings)
- Clock in and out, track breaks (More → My Hours)
- Access Assistant with staff-level prompts
- Send and receive messages via Inbox
Stylists cannot:
- Access the Team management page
- View other team members' calendars or schedules
- Change venue settings, operating hours, or booking rules
- Configure services, commission rates, or deposit rules
- Access billing, invoices, payouts, or reports
- Set up or manage kiosk mode
Feature access by role
The table below shows which features each role can access. "View" means read-only access; "Manage" means full create/edit/delete access.
Core features
| Feature | Owner | Manager | Stylist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar (all staff) | Manage | Manage | Own bookings only |
| Create bookings | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Waitlist | Manage | Manage | No |
| Walk-in checkout | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clients | Manage | Manage | Own clients |
| OpenChair Assistant | Full prompts | Full prompts | Staff prompts |
| Inbox | Manage | Manage | Send/receive |
| Campaigns | Manage | Manage | No |
| Intelligence dashboard | Full | View | View |
Team management
| Feature | Owner | Manager | Stylist |
|---|---|---|---|
| View team list | Yes | Yes | No |
| Invite team members | All roles | Stylists only | No |
| Edit staff profiles | All staff | Stylists only | Own profile only |
| Set staff working hours | All staff | Stylists only | Own hours (mobile) |
| Assign services to staff | All staff | Stylists only | Own services (toggle only) |
| Set proficiency / duration / price overrides | All staff | Stylists only | No |
| Offboard team members | All roles | Stylists only | No |
| Change a team member's role | Yes | No | No |
Services & catalogue
| Feature | Owner | Manager | Stylist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Services | Manage | Manage | View |
| Packages | Manage | Manage | View |
| Products | Manage | Manage | View |
| Gift cards | Manage | Manage | View |
| Consultation forms | Manage | Manage | View |
Financial & reporting
| Feature | Owner | Manager | Stylist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commission setup (rates & overrides) | Manage | Manage | No |
| Commission report (all staff) | View | View | No |
| Own earnings (My Earnings) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Timesheet (all staff) | Manage | Manage | No |
| Own hours (My Hours / clock in-out) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Invoices | Manage | No | No |
| Payouts | Manage | No | No |
| Close till | Manage | Manage | View |
| Deposits (rules & configuration) | Manage | No | No |
| Reviews | Manage | No | No |
Venue & settings
| Feature | Owner | Manager | Stylist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venue settings | Manage | No | No |
| Operating hours | Manage | No | No |
| Booking rules | Manage | No | No |
| Storefront & appearance | Manage | Manage | No |
| Brand voice | Manage | Manage | No |
| Portfolio | Manage | Manage | View |
| Loyalty programme | Manage | Manage | No |
| Billing & subscription | Manage | No | No |
| Kiosk mode setup | Yes | Yes | No |
| Shared-device PIN management | Yes | Yes | No |
How roles are assigned
Roles are assigned when you invite a team member:
- Go to Team in the sidebar (web) or More → Team (mobile).
- Click the + button (web) or tap Invite (mobile).
- Enter the team member's email and select a role:
| Role option | Web label | Mobile label |
|---|---|---|
| Stylist | "Staff (Stylist)" | "Stylist" |
| Manager | "Manager" | "Manager" |
| Owner | "Owner" | "Owner" |
- Click Send Invitation (web) or tap Send Invite (mobile).
Changing a role
Only Owners can change a team member's role after they have been invited.
- Go to Team and select the team member.
- On the Profile tab (web) or Edit Profile screen (mobile), change the Role field.
- Click Save Profile.
Role hierarchy for invitations
- Owners can invite and manage all roles (Owner, Manager, Stylist).
- Managers can invite and manage Stylists only: they cannot invite, edit, or remove other Managers or Owners.
- Stylists cannot invite or manage anyone.
For full details on the invitation process, see Team Invitations.
Shared devices and kiosk mode
When your venue uses a shared tablet or reception screen, kiosk mode adds an extra layer of access control on top of roles.
What kiosk mode does
Kiosk mode locks the device to a schedule-only view, preventing unauthorised access to venue data. There are two modes:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Display Mode | Shows the schedule in a read-only view. A 4-digit venue PIN is required to unlock and return to the full dashboard. |
| Shared Device Mode | Team members must "claim" the device with their personal PIN before they can make changes. Write actions are disabled until someone claims the device. |
Who can set up kiosk mode
Only Owners and Managers can:
- Set the venue-wide 4-digit kiosk PIN
- Enter kiosk mode (Display or Shared)
- Change or remove the kiosk PIN
- Temporarily unlock shared mode for 5 minutes (management unlock)
Stylists cannot set up or manage kiosk mode, but they can:
- Unlock the device if they know the venue PIN
- Claim the device as an operator in shared mode using their personal PIN
Personal operator PINs
In Shared Device Mode, each team member sets a personal 4-digit PIN. When a staff member claims the device:
- Their name appears in the header ("Acting as [Name]")
- They can make changes subject to their normal role permissions
- The claim expires after 15 minutes, after which they must re-claim
Kiosk mode does not override role permissions, it adds a device-level lock on top of them. A Stylist claiming a shared device still has only Stylist-level access.
What Stylists see
On web
- The sidebar shows the standard navigation items (Today, Schedule, Clients, Inbox, Intelligence, Assistant, Services)
- The Manage popover in the sidebar is empty (all items are owner-only)
- Navigating directly to restricted pages (Team, Commission, Invoices, Payouts, Deposits, Reviews) shows an "Access Restricted" card with a message like: "Only owners can manage team members."
- The Timesheet page shows: "Timesheet management is only accessible to venue owners and managers."
On mobile
- All five main tabs are visible (Today, Clients, Create, Intelligence, More)
- The More menu hides: Reviews, Timesheet, Commission, Invoices, Payouts, and Shared Device setup
- Stylists can access: Waitlist, Inbox, Intelligence, Services, Packages, Products, Gift Cards, Team (own profile), My Hours, Resources, Deposits (view only), Storefront, Brand Voice, Portfolio, Loyalty, and Forms
Platform differences
| Feature | Web | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Role assignment UI | Dropdown select in invite dialog | Radio buttons in invite form |
| Sidebar gating | Owner-only items hidden from Managers and Stylists via ownerOnly flag |
Managers see all items; only Stylists have items hidden |
| Access denied message | "Access Restricted" card on the page | Items hidden from the More menu (no error page) |
| Kiosk mode entry | Toolbar button (monitor icon) for Owners and Managers | More menu → Shared Device (iPad only, Owners and Managers) |
| Commission access (page level) | Owner only | Owner and Manager |
| Timesheet access (page level) | Owner and Manager | Owner and Manager |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| "Access Restricted" message on the Team page | Only venue Owners can access the Team management page on web. If you are a Manager, ask the venue Owner to make changes, or use the mobile app where Managers can access team features. |
| Manager cannot see Timesheet or Commission in the web sidebar | On web, these sidebar links are only visible to Owners. Managers can access the Timesheet page by navigating directly to the URL. Commission setup is Owner-only on web. |
| Cannot invite a Manager as a Manager | Managers can only invite Stylists. To invite another Manager or Owner, ask a venue Owner to send the invitation. |
| Staff member sees "Your account isn't linked to a staff profile" | The team member's user account is not connected to their staff record. The venue Owner should verify the staff record exists and the email addresses match. |
| Cannot change a team member's role | Only Owners can change roles. If you are a Manager, ask the Owner to update the role. |
| Stylist cannot access their own schedule on web | Ensure the Stylist has accepted their invitation and their profile is active. On web, Stylists can view the calendar but may need to navigate to their own bookings. |
| Kiosk mode option not showing on mobile | Kiosk mode is only available on iPad (tablets), not phones. It is also restricted to Owners and Managers. |
FAQ
What is the difference between Owner, Manager, and Stylist?
Owners have full access including billing, venue settings, and all team management. Managers handle day-to-day operations (bookings, stylists, services, campaigns) but cannot access billing or financial settings. Stylists can only view their own calendar and bookings.
Can a Manager invite other Managers?
No. Managers can only invite and manage Stylists. Only Owners can invite, edit, or remove Managers and other Owners. To invite a Manager, ask a venue Owner to send the invitation.
Can I change a team member's role after they have joined?
Yes, only Owners can change roles. Go to Team → select the member → Profile tab → change the Role field → Save Profile. The new role takes effect immediately.
What can a Stylist access on the mobile app?
Stylists can access their own calendar, clients, Inbox (send/receive), Intelligence dashboard, My Hours (clock in/out), My Earnings (commission), and their own profile. They cannot access billing, team management, venue settings, or the full Timesheet.