Staff and roles

Read time: 5 minutes. Last updated: June 20, 2026 Who it's for: Merchants who share QuotWay with a team and want to control who can edit settings, send proposals, manage billing, or only view quotes.

QuotWay gives every member of your team a role that decides what they can do - from full admin access to view-only. This article explains how staff get added, what each of the four roles can do, how many seats your plan includes, the guard that protects your last administrator, and why you enter staff names and emails by hand.

How does someone become a staff member?

Whoever opens QuotWay becomes a staff member automatically. The first time a Shopify store user opens the embedded app, QuotWay creates a StaffMember record for them with the ADMIN role. This is open-by-default on purpose: a small team can install QuotWay and start working immediately, with no invitation step to block them.

Because everyone starts as an administrator, the merchant's job is to downgrade - not to invite. Open Settings → Staff to see everyone who has opened the app, then set the right role for each person. A new teammate appears in the list the first time they open QuotWay.

QuotWay can't pre-load your team or send invitations. Shopify restricts the store user list (the read_users scope), so QuotWay can't import who works at your store. That's also why you enter names and emails manually - see Why are names and emails entered manually? below.

What are the four roles?

QuotWay has four fixed roles. You can't create custom roles - the four below cover the common patterns, from full control to read-only.

Admin - full access. Admins do everything: send proposals, convert quotes, edit every setting, manage billing, and add or change staff roles. This is the only role that can manage staff and billing.
Manager - runs the day-to-day quoting operation. Managers can edit QuotWay settings (targeting, the quote form, approvals, automation), assign quotes to teammates, and work quotes end to end. They don't manage staff or billing.
Sales rep - works quotes. Sales reps handle the quotes assigned to them - building proposals, countering, messaging buyers, and converting accepted quotes - without editing store-wide settings.
View only - read-only. View-only staff can open and read quotes and reports but can't change anything.

Settings editing and quote assignment are reserved for Manager and Admin. If a teammate sees a "plan restriction" or "no access" message on a settings page, check their role first - they may be a Sales rep or View only.

The four roles are fixed. QuotWay doesn't offer custom roles or per-person permission editing.

How many team seats does each plan include?

Each plan includes a set number of active staff seats. A seat is used by each active staff member.

Plan	Team seats
Lite	1
Starter	3
Professional	10
Enterprise	Unlimited

If your team outgrows your plan's seats, deactivate someone who no longer needs access, or move up a plan. See Plans, trial, and billing for what each plan includes.

What is the last-admin guard?

QuotWay won't let you lock yourself out. You can't demote or deactivate the last active administrator on your store - there must always be at least one active Admin who can manage staff and billing.

If you try to change the role of your only Admin, QuotWay blocks the change and tells you why. To proceed, first promote another teammate to Admin, then adjust the original account.

QuotWay also self-heals in the other direction: if an active non-admin opens the app and the store has no active Admin at all, that person is promoted to Admin so the store is never left without one.

Why are names and emails entered manually?

You type each staff member's name and email yourself because Shopify doesn't share its store user list with apps. The read_users scope is restricted, so QuotWay has no way to read who your staff are or auto-fill their details. The name and email you enter are labels QuotWay uses for display, quote assignment, and notifications - they don't have to match a Shopify login exactly, but keeping them accurate makes assignments and emails clear.

Plans, trial, and billing - seats per plan and how to upgrade.
Data retention and uninstall - what QuotWay stores about your team and quotes.
Approval workflows - route quotes for sign-off across your team (Professional+).