Roles and permissions in a gold shop: owner, store manager, staff

A gold shop usually has an owner, someone running the counter and sales staff, all working with cash, stock and gold prices. When everyone shares one ledger or one login, it is very hard to tell who changed a price, who wrote a ticket and who cancelled a transaction.

Sol26 Gold splits access into four account types. This article covers the scope of each, why sensitive pages are restricted and the account rules that come with them.

Four account types

• Owner: full access to all 19 pages
• Store manager: 12 pages, with the Staff page view-only
• Staff: 6 pages for counter transactions
• System account: system log viewing only

Each account type can only access the pages within its scope. Pages outside that scope are blocked.

Owner: configuration, gold prices and pawn

The owner manages the settings that decide how the shop runs: accounts, gold prices, interest rates, catalogues, shop configuration and data backup. The Pawn group also belongs to the owner under the default permissions.

The owner sees the sales report by staff member. Each person's sales figure is the total value of purchases, sales, exchanges, scrap gold and pawn transactions they performed in the period, filterable by day, month or reporting period.

Store manager: runs the counter, no configuration changes

The store manager has 12 pages, covering transactions, stock and customers. The four blocked groups are Gold prices, Catalogue, Settings and Pawn.

On the Staff page, the store manager can only view. This lets the store manager coordinate daily work without being able to change gold prices, labour charges in the catalogue or shop configuration.

Staff: six counter pages

Staff can only access the 6 pages that serve customers directly:

1. 1Customers
2. 2Items, view and print labels only
3. 3Retail buy / sell
4. 4Gold exchange
5. 5Scrap gold purchase
6. 6Resizing

Staff cannot access stock, pawn, reports or settings. On the Items page they can view details and print labels but cannot edit item data.

System account and the log

The system account has one permission: viewing the system log. The log records actions in the software and gives the owner a basis for review when cash or stock does not match.

For the log to be useful, every ticket must be tied to the person who wrote it. The performed-by field therefore defaults to the logged-in account and cannot be changed to someone else.

Account rules

• Everyone in the shop uses their own account
• The first login forces a password change, minimum 6 characters
• A locked staff account cannot log in again
• System-calculated amounts such as the exchange difference or total pawn amount are locked against manual edits

The forced password change on first login is a security design: the default password issued at setup stops working once the staff member takes over the account.

Testing permissions before go-live

During the trial run, the shop should log in with each account type in turn and try to open pages outside its scope. Access leaks sit in the same priority group as wrong money amounts, wrong stock and data loss.

Each defect report should state the account and role used, the page where it happened, the state of the data, the steps taken, the expected result, the actual result and a screenshot.

Frequently asked questions

Can the store manager change gold prices?

No. The Gold prices page belongs to the owner. The store manager is blocked from it along with Catalogue, Settings and Pawn.

Can staff see stock?

Staff can view details and print labels on the Items page, but cannot access stock, pawn, reports or settings.

What is the system account for?

The system account can only view the system log. It is used to review action history without touching transactions.

Can the person on a ticket be changed?

No. The performed-by field follows the logged-in account so every ticket is tied to the person responsible.