Read only access
What a person with Read only access sees and cannot do in an organization, and how to ask for more access.
With Read only access, you can open every page of the organizationOne company with its own books, its own data and its own address. and read all its data. You cannot change anything. Read only is one of the four access levelsWhat a person can do in one organization: Full access, Read and edit, Read only or No access.. See Roles and access levels.
How you know you have it
A banner at the top of every page says:
You have read-only access to this organization. To change anything, ask its administrator for read and edit access.
Your level also shows in two menus:
- Your picture, at the top right: under your email address, the menu shows Read only.
- The organization menu, at the top of the sidebar: under Switch organization, each organization shows your level in it.
What you can do
- Open every page and every window, and read every figure.
- Ask ContaGPT about the books. ContaGPT answers your questions and does not prepare a change for you.
- Connect an AI client of your own, if the organization allows it. The client reads the books and does not prepare a change. See Connect an AI client (MCP).
- Filter, search and sort the tables.
- Export data to a file.
What you cannot do
You cannot change the data of the organization. The buttons and menu items that change data do not show for you. For example, you do not see:
- New account, Add transaction, Import ledger, Add token or a new rule
- the boxes that select movements to categorize them, or the review marks as buttons
- Close period or Save report
- the buttons that send entries to the ERP
- the menu items that edit, ignore or delete an account, a token, a rule or a contact
The windows that show details still open, with their values as text.
If your access was lowered while a page was open, a button can still show until the page reads your access again. When you select it, the change is not saved, and a notice says: "You have read-only access to this organization. Ask its administrator for read and edit access to change it."
Organization settings
The settings stay readable, but the cards are greyed out. The page says: "You have read-only access, so you cannot change the preferences." See Organization settings.
Ask for more access
Who can raise your access depends on how you reach the organization.
| You reach the organization | Ask |
|---|---|
| As a member of the team that owns it | The owner or an admin of your team. They change your access with Edit access. See Change or remove access. |
| As a member of another team, such as an accounting firm | The owner or an admin of your team. If your team itself has Read only access there, they cannot give you more. Then the team that owns the organization must raise the access of your team. See Work with another team. |
You cannot see who the administrators of your team are from the organization. Open the page of your team: open the organization menu and select Team and organizations. The Users tab lists each person with their role.
When a change of access applies
A change of your access reaches you within 5 minutes, also when you have the organization open. If your access was lowered while a page was open, the first refused action shows the banner at once.