Groups Overview

The Groups screen allows you to define and manage security groups. The group that a user is assigned to determines which screens (and therefore features) of the software the user can access.

Example: A user assigned to an Administrator group would probably be granted access to the Setup and Utility menus, while a user assigned to a Clerks group probably would not. Features that a user does not have access to do not even appear. To use the prior example, a member of the Clerks group would not see the Setup and Utility menu options. For more information, see the Screen Access Tab.

You may optionally restrict the lists of inventory, vendors, and/or accounts a group may see, using the Groups screen's Inventory Levels, Vendor Groups, and GL Accounts tabs.

Create a New Group

The first time you access Groups, you will not see any group names. To create a new group, select Add Record , and enter a Group Name and Description. Then select Save to save your group definition.

If you wish to create a new group based on an existing group's settings, you can click Copy Group (on the Groups screen) to make an exact copy of the current group's security settings.

When creating a group, you must complete the first two of the following tabs of the Groups screen (the rest are optional restrictions):

Multiple Groups

When a user belongs to multiple security groups, the screen access of those groups is cumulative. That is, the user has access to each screen any one of his group definitions allows.

Restrictions to particular inventory level definitions and vendor groups, if used, are also cumulative in the sense that the restrictions of any one group definition will apply to that user.

Example: Say that Tom belongs to both the Administrators group and the Bar Managers group. The Administrators group has no inventory level or vendor group restrictions; while the Bar Managers group restricts its users to the Alcohol inventory level definition. Tom will only be able to see Alcohol inventory until such time as he removes his membership in the Bar Managers group.

Finally, in the case where a user belongs to multiple groups with inventory level and/or vendor group restrictions in more than one group definition, the user will be able to access each level definition and vendor group to which the various group definitions are restricted. In the above example, if the Administrators group were to restrict its users to the Office Supply inventory level definition, Tom would be able to see Office Supply and Alcohol inventory.