Give staff permissions with POS roles

A POS role is a named set of POS permissions that are assigned to each staff member. Roles make it easier for you to assign the same permission set to multiple staff. You can't assign individual permissions to Point of Sale staff, you need to assign a role.

If you're the store owner, or you have the Manage POS role permission, then you can create and manage roles from the Point of Sale channel in the Shopify admin. A role can include the same permission set as other roles, but each role must have a unique name.

The default role is Associate. You can change the name and the permission set for the Associate role. You can make another role the default role. The default role is the role that is selected automatically when you add Point of Sale staff. You can't delete the default role.

Staff with limited permissions can access the POS channel, but certain sections might be unavailable if they don't have the required Shopify POS login permissions.

Create POS roles from the Point of Sale channel (Shopify admin)

In the Point of Sale channel, you can create POS roles with different permissions that you can assign to your POS staff.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.
  2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Point of sale.
  3. Click Open sales channel.

  4. Click Staff.

  5. Click Manage POS roles > Create POS role.

  6. In the Title field, enter a name for the role, and then select the permissions for this role.

  7. Optional: To make this role the default role, check Set as default POS role.

  8. Click Save.

Edit POS roles from the Point of Sale channel (Shopify admin)

In the Point of Sale channel, you can edit the permissions for your POS roles.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.
  2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Point of sale.
  3. Click Open sales channel.

  4. Click Staff.

  5. Click Manage POS roles, and then click the appropriate role.

  6. Select or deselect permissions.

  7. Optional: To set this role as the default role, check Set as default POS role

  8. Click Save changes.

Delete POS roles from the Point of Sale channel (Shopify admin)

You can delete any role unless it is the default role or if it has staff assigned to it.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.
  2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Point of sale.
  3. Click Open sales channel.

  4. Click Staff.

  5. Click Manage POS roles, and then click the appropriate role.

  6. Click Delete POS role. If staff are assigned to this role, then you're prompted to select another role for the staff before deleting this role.

  7. Click Delete POS role.

Description of POS permissions

A POS role is a set of permissions that enables your Point of Sale staff to access certain activities in Shopify POS and the Point of Sale channel. Staff with limited permissions can access the POS channel, but certain sections might be unavailable if they don't have the necessary permissions. Both POS permissions and Admin permissions affect what they can access.

Permissions

Point of Sale initial permissions
PermissionDescription
Allow all Point of Sale permissionsStaff can access all Point of Sale activities in Shopify POS and the Point of Sale channel.
Select Point of Sale permissionsStaff can access select Point of Sale activities in Shopify POS and the Point of Sale channel.

Manager approval

Point of Sale Manager approval permission
PermissionDescription
Manager approval

Point of Sale staff can approve staff actions by entering their PIN. Store owners, or staff with the Manage POS roles permission, can edit roles to allow Manager approval. To approve an action, staff need both Manager approval and the required permission is set to Allowed.

This permission can be set to either of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff approve actions
  • Denied, which restricts staff from approving actions.

Discounts

Point of Sale discounts permissions
PermissionDescription
Apply custom discounts

Point of Sale staff can apply custom discounts to both an entire cart and a single line item.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff apply custom discounts
  • Denied, which restricts staff from applying custom discounts
  • Approval required, which requires staff with manager approval and apply discount permissions allowed to enter their PIN to complete the action.
Apply discount codes

Point of Sale staff can apply discounts codes to the entire cart.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff apply discount codes
  • Denied, which restricts staff from applying discount codes
  • Approval required, which requires staff with manager approval and apply discount permissions allowed to enter their PIN to complete the action.

Checkout

Point of Sale checkout permissions
PermissionDescription
Ship to Customer

Point of Sale staff can ship a cart to a customer.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff ship to customers
  • Denied, which restricts staff from shipping to customers
  • Approval required, which requires staff with manager approval and ship to customer permissions allowed to enter their PIN to complete the action.
Edit taxes

Point of Sale staff can edit taxes to orders.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff edit taxes
  • Denied, which restricts staff from editing taxes
  • Approval required, which requires staff with manager approval and edit taxes permissions allowed to enter their PIN to complete the action.
Add custom sales

Point of Sale staff can create a custom sale.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff add custom sales
  • Denied, which restricts staff from adding custom sales
  • Approval required, which requires staff with manager approval and add custom sales permissions allowed to enter their PIN to complete the action.

Register

Point of Sale register permissions
PermissionDescription
View and adjust current payment tracking session

Staff can view and adjust current payment tracking session, add cash, and remove cash.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff view and adjust current payment tracking session
  • Denied, which restricts staff from viewing and adjusting current payment tracking session.
View payment tracking session history

Point of Sale staff can view details of previous payment tracking sessions.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff view payment tracking session history
  • Denied, which restricts staff from viewing payment tracking session history.
Start and end payment tracking sessions

Point of Sale staff can manually start and end payment tracking sessions.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff start and end payment tracking sessions
  • Denied, which restricts staff from starting or ending payment tracking sessions but a payment tracking session starts automatically after a sale.
Open drawer

Point of Sale staff can open the cash drawer using the cart actions.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff open the cash drawer
  • Denied, which restricts staff from opening the cash drawer but still opens automatically after a cash sale.

Orders

Point of Sale orders permissions
PermissionDescription
Manage orders at all locations

Point of Sale staff can manage orders for all locations.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff manage orders regardless of the device's location
  • Denied, which restricts staff from managing orders for all locations. Staff can manage only the orders that were made at the device's location.
Return and exchange orders

Point of Sale staff can refund and exchange orders.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff refund and exchange orders
  • Denied, which restricts staff from refunding and exchanging orders
  • Approval required, which requires staff with manager approval and refund and exchange orders permissions allowed to enter their PIN to complete the action.
Cancel orders

Point of Sale staff can cancel orders.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff cancel orders
  • Denied, which restricts staff from canceling orders
  • Approval required, which requires staff with both manager approval and the cancel orders permission activated to enter their PIN to complete the action.
Manage draft orders at all locations

Point of Sale staff can view, retrieve, and edit draft orders from other retail locations.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff view, retrieve, edit, and checkout draft orders from other retail locations
  • Denied, which restricts staff from viewing, retrieving, and editing draft orders from other retail locations. If staff are denied, then staff cannot access draft orders created from admin.
Manage sales attribution for orders

Point of Sale staff can add, edit, or delete staff attribution on completed orders.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff edit staff attribution on orders
  • Denied, which restricts staff from editing staff attribution on orders.
Reassign or cancel fulfillment

Point of Sale staff can reassign an order for fulfillment to a different location.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff use Order Routing to reassign an order to a different location
  • Denied, which restricts staff from reassigning orders to a different location.
Fulfill shipping orders

Point of Sale staff can prepare and fulfill orders for shipping using Ship from Store.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff use Ship from Store to fulfill orders
  • Denied, which restricts staff from fulfill orders using Ship from Store.

Customers

Point of Sale customers permissions
PermissionDescription
Add customers

Point of Sale staff can add new and existing customers to a cart and view basic customer information.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff add customer information
  • Denied, which restricts staff from adding customer information.
Manage customers

Point of Sale staff can view, edit, and delete customer information.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff add manage information
  • Denied, which restricts staff from managing customer information.

Apps

Point of Sale apps permissions
PermissionDescription
Use apps that work with Shopify POSPoint of Sale staff can use apps that are installed on Shopify POS.

Staff

Point of Sale staff permissions
PermissionDescription
Manage Point of Sale staffPoint of Sale staff can view, add, edit, and delete staff records from Shopify POS and from the Point of Sale channel in the Shopify admin. This includes assigning the POS roles to other staff.
Manage POS rolesPoint of Sale staff can view, create, edit, and delete POS roles from the Point of Sale channel in the Shopify admin.

Analytics

Point of Sale analytics permissions
PermissionDescription
View analytics for device's locationPoint of Sale staff can view the Daily Sales report for their location.
View cash tracking sessionsPoint of Sale staff can view a history of cash tracking sessions in the Shopify POS app and Shopify POS channel.

Settings

Point of Sale settings permissions
PermissionDescription
Customize smart grid for device's locationPoint of Sale staff can add, edit, and delete smart tiles on the home screen for the POS at the device's location.
Switch device's locationPoint of Sale staff can change the device's location setting.
Log out store from Point of Sale appPoint of Sale staff can log out of Shopify POS.
Manage payment settings for devicePoint of Sale staff can change the payment settings for the POS device at the device's location from Shopify POS or from the Point of Sale channel in the Shopify admin.
Manage receipt settingsPoint of Sale staff can change the printed receipt settings for the POS device.
Manage required checkout information in the POS channel

Point of Sale staff can view and edit POS checkout required information in the settings.

This permission can be set to one of the following:

  • Allowed, which lets staff manage required checkout information settings.
  • Denied, which restricts staff from managing required checkout information settings.

Additional permissions for POS channel access

In addition to any related POS permissions, staff with limited permissions need the appropriate admin permissions to access the following POS channel actions:

Point of Sale settings permissions
Sales channel actionRequired admin permissionRequired POS permission
View POS channelNoneGive Point of Sale access to this staff
Add locations Locations

Only store owners can alter POS Pro subscriptions.

None
View reportsReportsNone
View sales data for a location Reports

Only store owners can alter POS Pro subscriptions.

None
Manage POS staffNoneManage Point of Sale staff
Manage POS rolesNoneManage POS roles
Manage receipt settingsNoneManage receipt settings
Upload logo for receipt customizations Themes, Pages, or Products None
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