Answer
To further improve security, Lightning Payroll now allows you to create user profiles and set permissions for each user profile individually. This gives you complete control over who can access your Lightning Payroll and what data they can view or actions they can take.
Setting up users is very easy, but before you start, you need to set a password for the application administator. The application administrator can setup other users and determine what kind of access they have within Lightning Payroll.
Setting Up Users
To setup the application administrator, you'll need to go to Settings >> Password And Security and enter an application administrator password.
Once this is done, you can begin adding users to Lightning Payroll.
To do this, click on the Add New User button. You will be prompted to add a username and email address (for password reset emails), along with the user's login password. Finally, you can select which companies a user has access to.
Once you've clicked Save, the user will be added. You can then select the App Permissions assigned to that user for each section of the program.
App permissions fall into three categories:
- Locked? (Cannot access section)
- Read Only? (Can view, but not change data in section)
- Editable? (Full access to section)
You can select which permission you'd like the user to have for a particular section by clicking in the appropriate box. The image below shows our test user John Doe being assigned 'Editable' permissions for the Employees and Pays sections of the program, but 'Read Only' permissions for the rest of the sections.
You may notice that the Settings, Entities and Tools sections have (G) next to them - these sections of the program are used across multiple companies (if you have multiple companies set up within Lightning Payroll). In the example above, if we had more than one company in Lightning Payroll, John Doe would have 'Read Only' permissions for Settings, Entities and Tools across all companies.
Editing or Removing Users
The application administrator can edit the permissions for users, or remove users whenever required.
Deleting a user will not remove any of the work they have completed in Lightning Payroll, it will simply prevent them from logging into the program going forward.
Logging In as a User and Logging Out
When opening Lightning Payroll, you will be asked to choose which user you would like to login as; select the user from the username drop-down menu, then enter the password for that user.
To log out of a user, simply close Lightning Payroll.
Forgotten Password
If the application administrator has forgotten their password, they can attempt to enter their password three times at the login screen; after the third failed attempt, the program will shut down, and a recovery password will be sent to the email address registered to the Lightning Payroll subscription.
The process is the same for a non-administrator user who forgets their password to receive a temporary access password to their own email address. However, please keep in mind that only the application administrator can change non-administrator users' passwords permanently, by clicking Edit Selected User in the Settings >> Password And Security section of Lightning Payroll.