Productive’s custom permission sets let you customize permission sets to match the roles and responsibilities within your organization—including invoicing and payments.
By defining granular permissions, you can control who creates invoices, who finalizes them, and who handles payments, ensuring that each team member has the right level of access.
Custom permission sets are available on the Ultimate subscription plan.
Defining Invoicing Roles in Your Organization
When setting up permissions, consider who in your team handles different invoicing tasks.
You likely already have roles such as Project Managers, Account Managers, or Finance team members—adjust their permission sets based on their responsibilities.
Here are three key roles to consider when assigning invoicing permissions:
Invoice Preparer – Creates draft invoices but does not finalize them.
Invoicer – Finalizes and sends invoices. Typically, Project Managers or Account Managers.
Accounting Contact – Transfers invoices to the accounting system. Usually part of Finance or Accounting teams.
Invoicing Permissions Breakdown
Permissions for invoices and payments are granular, allowing organizations to tailor access based on responsibilities.
Invoice Permissions
View all invoices and payments
Access every invoice and payment in the system.
View invoices and payments where a user is a member on a budget
Required for all other invoice permissions; limits access to budgets the user belongs to.
Add, edit, and delete draft invoices
Create and modify drafts but cannot finalize them.
Edit and delete finalized invoices
Separate permission dependent on Finalize invoices. Without it, users cannot modify or delete finalized invoices.
Finalize invoices
Allows approval of drafts but not sending. Having this does not automatically grant Edit and delete finalized invoices.
Copy invoices to accounting system
Transfer invoices to an integrated accounting tool.
Send invoices
Allows sending finalized invoices from Productive to the client.
Payment Permissions
View and send payment reminders
Access reminders tab and send reminders.
Add, edit, and delete Payment Reminder Templates
Manage company-wide reminder templates.
View payments
See payments but not modify them.
Add, edit, and delete payments
Record and adjust payments.
Example: Structuring Invoicing Permissions
Project Managers (Invoice Preparers)
Invoice permissions
View invoices and payments where a user is a member on a budget
Add, edit, and delete draft invoices
Payment permissions
View payments (optional, if they need visibility)
📌 A user with these permissions can:
Create and edit draft invoice details (issue date, due date, bill-to and from information, tax rates, and discounts).
Adjust line items and select document templates.
Add subscribers, notes, and invoice custom fields.
Check draft invoice history in the feed and, if enabled, view payments.
🚫 They won’t be able to finalize or send invoices (these options will be grayed out for them).
Finance Team / Account Managers (Invoicers)
Invoice permissions
View invoices where a user is a member on a budget (or View all invoices — optional, org-dependent)
Finalize invoices only (Unless they should actually send from Productive. If they only finalize, the Send button will be hidden.)
Edit and delete finalized invoices (optional; depends on Finalize invoices)
Payment permissions
View payments
Add, edit, and delete payments
View and send payment reminders (optional)
📌 A user with these permissions can:
Review, adjust, and finalize invoices.
Send invoices directly from Productive.
Record full or partial payments.
Write off invoices if needed.
Accounting / Finance Team (Accounting Contact)
Invoice permissions
View all invoices
Add, edit, and delete draft invoices
Finalize invoices
Edit and delete finalized invoices
Copy invoices to accounting system
Send invoices
Payment permissions
View payments
Add, edit, and delete payments
View and send payment reminders
Add, edit, and delete Payment Reminder Templates
📌 A user with full invoicing and payment permissions can:
Oversee invoice transfers and reminders.
Manage payment reminder templates.
Send invoices from Productive to the integrated accounting system.
Use case: External accounting only
If your organization issues invoices exclusively through an external accounting system, assign Finalize invoices but not Send invoices. This hides the Send to client option in Productive.
If someone only needs to copy invoices into the external system (e.g., Xero, QuickBooks), grant Copy invoices to Accounting system without broader integration permissions.
Notes on Individual Permissions
Finalize invoices and Send invoices are separate.
Edit and delete finalized invoices depends on Finalize invoices—without it, users cannot edit or delete finalized invoices.
Assign Edit and delete finalized invoices separately. It is not included automatically with Finalize invoices.
Examples:
Finalize invoices only → Can approve drafts into finalized invoices, but cannot send them.
Send invoices only → Can send finalized invoices, but cannot finalize drafts (less common in practice).
Finalize + Send invoices → Full authority: finalize drafts and send invoices to clients.
Finalize invoices + Edit and delete finalized invoices → Can finalize, then modify or delete finalized invoices.
Default (System) Permission Sets
By default, Admins, full-access Managers and Profitability Managers have all invoicing and payment permissions enabled.
Restricted Managers and Profitability Managers can access and manage invoices and payments for budgets they’ve been assigned to.
To customize access, create a custom permission set and assign it to users. This ensures that only the right team members can handle invoicing and payments.