User Roles Admin✗Staff contributor ✗External contributor ✗Pulse user 

In Silverfin, you can manage who has access to a client file based on their role and the sensitivity of the information. A file can be generally accessible to all staff members, or kept private so that only selected users can open it. This article explains how to set that up, both when you create a file and afterwards.

Table of contents 

How do I set access when creating a client file?

You set the access level while creating a new client file.

Making a file generally accessible

Within Silverfin, you can set a file to be generally accessible. This means that all staff members with multi-file access can access the file. This checkbox is ticked by default when you create a new client file.

Making a file accessible to specific users only (private)

You can also make a file private by unchecking the box during file creation. This shields the file, allowing only selected users to access it. Don't forget to add a file manager to ensure proper management.

How do I make an existing client file private?

  1. Go to the client file.
  2. Choose 'Edit client'.
  3. Go to the 'Users' tab.
  4. Uncheck 'all staff with multi-file access' under 'Staff'.

How do I give a staff contributor access to a private file?

By default, a staff member has access to all files. When a file is private, explicit access must be granted to the user. You can do this in two ways:

At client file level:

  1. Go to the file you want to grant access to and click on 'Edit client'. 
  2. Go to 'Users' and specify which staff contributors may access the file.

At firm level:

  1. At firm level, go to 'Staff' under 'Users' tab. Click on the user's name and explicitly grant access at the bottom of the page.

How do I give an external contributor or Pulse user access to a file?

If you are not sure which of the two roles you need, see How to know whether to choose a Pulse user or an external contributor?

External contributors

An external contributor does not have access to files by default. Explicit access must be granted, and this can only be done at client file level:

  1. Go to the file you want to grant access to and click on 'Edit client'.
  2. Go to 'Users' and specify which users may access the file.
Please note that this option incurs additional costs. When you add an external contributor to the file, the charges will automatically appear on your invoice.

Pulse users

For Pulse users, you can grant access at both levels.

At client file level:

  1. Go to the client file.
  2. Choose 'Edit client'.
  3. Go to the 'Users' tab.
  4. Add the Pulse user to grant access.

At firm level:

  1. Go to 'External' under the 'Users' tab at firm level.
  2. Click on the user's name.
  3. Explicitly grant access at the bottom of the page.

To change an existing user from one role to another, see How to adjust a User's Access?