How Powerlily decides what someone can see
Access to operational work is determined by several controls working together. A broad permission in one area does not cancel a restriction in another.
- Role access controls which modules a person can open and what actions they can take.
- Record scope can limit leads and quotes to records assigned to that person.
- Workflow access can limit quotes to selected pipelines.
- Branch access can limit operational records to a person’s home branch.
- Pricing access independently controls whether financial information is visible.
A record must pass every applicable rule. Giving someone edit access to quotes, for example, does not let them see quotes outside their permitted branch or workflow.
What a branch represents
A branch is an office, territory, division, or operating region inside one Powerlily company. Branches do not create separate accounts. They continue to share the company’s domain, catalogue, branding, subscription, and general settings.
Use branches when different offices should work from the same company account while keeping day-to-day records organized and appropriately separated.
Create a branch
- Open company settings.
- Open Branches.
- Select New branch.
- Enter the branch name and available contact details.
- Save the branch.
Creating a branch does not immediately change what the team can see. Visibility changes when you assign people a home branch and configure their role.
Assign a home branch
- Open the Team page.
- Find the team member.
- Open their actions menu or profile controls.
- Select the intended home branch.
- Save the change.
New operational records created by that person are normally assigned to their home branch automatically. Existing unassigned records remain unassigned until an authorized user changes them.
When a person becomes branch restricted
A staff member is branch restricted when both of these conditions are true:
- They have a home branch.
- Their role does not have Branches: Manage.
A branch-restricted person sees records from their own branch plus records that are not assigned to any branch. They do not receive a control for switching to another branch.
A person without a home branch is not branch restricted. Assigning a home branch is therefore an important part of activating branch separation.
What Branches: Manage permits
Branches: Manage is the staff permission that allows cross-branch visibility. It permits a user to manage branch records, view work across branches, use branch filters, and reassign supported records between branches.
Permissions such as Leads: Manage, Quotes: Edit, or Schedule: Edit do not override a branch boundary. Module access and branch access are separate.
Use branch filters
Users with cross-branch access can filter supported lists and boards by:
- All branches
- A specific branch
- Unassigned records
Branch-restricted users see a fixed branch marker instead of a filter. This makes their active operating context clear without offering a control that could widen access.
Understand unassigned records
An unassigned record has no branch. Unassigned records remain visible to branch-restricted users so that introducing branches does not make older company data disappear.
This shared pool is useful during rollout, but it should not become a permanent substitute for clean branch assignments. Review unassigned records and place them in the correct branch when appropriate.
Assign workflows to branches
Workflows are the pipelines used to move quotes through stages. A workflow can be assigned to a branch so each office has boards that match its own process and workload.
- Open Workflows.
- Create a workflow or edit an existing one.
- Select the appropriate branch.
- Configure its title, stages, appearance, and other settings.
- Save the workflow.
Only users with cross-branch authority can move a workflow between branches.
Assign people to workflows
Some roles use Assigned workflows only for quote access. For those roles, team managers assign the specific workflows the person may use.
- Open the workflow’s edit page or the team member’s workflow assignment controls.
- Select the eligible team members or workflows.
- Save the assignments.
A workflow assignment matters only when the person’s role is configured to require assigned workflows. A role with access to all workflows does not rely on this assignment list.
How branch and workflow rules combine
Workflow access and branch access intersect. A salesperson may be assigned to a workflow, but still be unable to open it if that workflow belongs to another branch and the salesperson is branch restricted.
Likewise, granting Branches: Manage removes the branch boundary but does not remove an assigned-workflow restriction. The user must still be assigned to the workflow when their role requires it.
Configure lead record scope
A role’s lead record scope can be set to all accessible leads or assigned leads.
For an assigned-only role, a lead qualifies when the person is the current setter or assignee. Creating the lead in the past does not permanently preserve access if those relationships later change.
View, Edit, and Manage determine the permitted actions. The record scope determines which leads those actions can reach.
Configure quote record scope
A role’s quote record scope can be set to all accessible quotes or assigned quotes. Assigned quote scope follows the current quote owner.
Quote options are checked individually because each option can have its own owner. Ownership changes can therefore add or remove access immediately.
Quote workflow scope and quote ownership are different
Quote access can have both a workflow rule and a record-assignment rule:
- Workflow scope determines which pipelines are available.
- Record scope determines whether the current quote is assigned to the person.
If both are restricted, the quote must be inside an assigned workflow and match the required ownership rule. Neither restriction replaces the other.
Records that follow a parent record
Related operational records normally follow the branch context of the lead or project they belong to. This helps invoices, events, systems, safety records, tasks, and other work stay with the correct office.
When moving a parent record between branches, review its related work and team assignments so the handoff remains intentional.
Company-wide areas
Not every setting belongs to a branch. Shared catalogue data, company settings, team administration, automations, branding, and similar configuration areas use their own permissions rather than a home-branch filter.
Branches separate operational work inside the company. They are not separate tenants and do not duplicate company configuration.
Moving records between branches
A user with cross-branch authority can change the branch on supported records. Branch-restricted users cannot move work into or out of their own branch.
Before moving a record, check:
- The destination workflow belongs to the intended branch.
- The new owner or assignee can see the destination branch.
- Scheduled work and related events still have the correct team.
- Automations and routing rules still produce the intended result.
- Customer communication will continue without interruption.
Deleting a branch
Deleting a branch does not delete its historical operational records. The affected records become unassigned instead.
Before removing a branch, move active work and team members to their new branches. After deletion, review the unassigned filter so no active record is left without an operating owner.
Preview a role before rollout
Use role preview to test permissions before assigning a new role broadly. When possible, preview with a real team member as the context so the test includes that person’s branch, workflow assignments, and record assignments.
A role-only preview can show the permission design, but it cannot match records assigned to a specific person.
Recommended setup sequence
- Create the branches.
- Create or review workflows for each branch.
- Review roles and decide who needs Branches: Manage.
- Choose all-record or assigned-record scope for leads and quotes.
- Choose all-workflow or assigned-workflow quote access.
- Assign each person’s role and home branch.
- Add workflow assignments where the role requires them.
- Preview representative users.
- Review unassigned records and move them deliberately.
Common access examples
Branch salesperson
Give the person a home branch, leave Branches at View, and assign the relevant sales workflows. They see their branch’s accessible work plus unassigned records, subject to their lead, quote, and workflow scopes.
Regional manager
Grant Branches: Manage when the person must view and filter across offices. Configure lead and quote record scopes separately if they should still see only assigned records.
Installer
Give the installer a home branch and only the operational modules required for field work. Pricing visibility remains a separate choice and does not change record access.
Company administrator
The built-in Admin role retains full company access, including Branches: Manage, so the company always has a recovery path for permissions and configuration.
Troubleshooting
A person can see records from every branch
Check whether the person has a home branch and whether their role has Branches: Manage. A person without a home branch is not branch restricted.
A person cannot see an assigned workflow
Confirm that the workflow assignment exists, the role permits workflow access, and the workflow is inside the person’s branch boundary.
A person can open a workflow but not a quote
Check quote ownership, quote record scope, module permission, and branch assignment. Access to the workflow alone does not guarantee access to every record in it.
A lead disappeared after reassignment
For assigned-only lead scope, access follows the current setter or assignee. Changing those fields can intentionally transfer access.
Old records appear in every branch
They may be unassigned. Use the branch filter’s unassigned option and place the records in the correct branch.
A user cannot change a record’s branch
Moving records between branches requires cross-branch authority. Check whether the role has Branches: Manage.
A branch was deleted and its records remain
This is expected. Deleting a branch preserves the records and changes them to unassigned.
Related guides
- Team Members, Roles, and Permissions
- Managing Leads: List, Board, Filters, and Insights
- Workflows, Clients, and Quotes: How the CRM Fits Together
- Automating Your Workflow: Triggers, Steps, and Conditions
- Scheduling Crews and Managing Installations
