> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.pleo.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Employees and Roles

Pleo supports multiple user roles to manage spending, approvals, bookkeeping, and integrations.

Understanding how employees and roles are represented in Pleo is essential when designing integrations, configuring permissions, and automating workflows.

This page explains the **conceptual model** of users and roles in Pleo and highlights which permissions matter for accounting and API integrations.

## Employee Types in Pleo

Pleo distinguishes between two main types of users:

### Internal employees

Internal employees are members of the organisation who:

* Use Pleo cards for business spending
* Submit out-of-pocket expenses for reimbursement
* Participate in approval and review workflows

### External bookkeepers

External bookkeepers are third-party users (for example, accountants) invited to manage bookkeeping tasks without being employees of the organisation.

External bookkeepers:

* Do not have access to Pleo cards
* Have restricted permissions depending on access level
* Are commonly used in agency or outsourced accounting setups

## User Roles Overview

Pleo assigns permissions through roles. Each role defines what actions a user can perform in the platform.

| Role                 | Purpose                                 | Integration relevance              |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| **Employee**         | Submits expenses and uses cards         | Source of expense data             |
| **Administrator**    | Full platform control                   | Required to configure integrations |
| **Expense reviewer** | Reviews and approves expenses           | Controls accounting readiness      |
| **Bookkeeper**       | Manages accounting settings and exports | Controls export behaviour          |
| **Finance**          | Financial oversight and reporting       | Audit and analysis                 |

## Role Permissions and Constraints

### Administrators

Administrators have full access to the Pleo platform, including:

* Managing employees and roles
* Managing wallets and cards
* Configuring ERP and Accounting System integrations
* Exporting accounting data
* Managing subscriptions and invoices

**Admins are required** to:

* Configure API integrations
* Generate API keys or OAuth 2.0 applications
* Grant access to bookkeepers and reviewers

### Expense reviewers

Expense reviewers:

* Review submitted expenses
* Approve or reject expenses based on policy
* Control whether expenses become accounting-ready

Approved expenses are the **only expenses eligible for export** via the API.

### Bookkeepers

Bookkeepers manage accounting-related workflows.\
There are two access levels:

#### Limited access

* View and modify expense details
* View invoices (cannot pay invoices)
* Modify accounting settings
* Export accounting entries
* Reimburse out-of-pocket expenses
* Move funds through the Pleo wallet (optional)

#### Extended access

Includes all limited permissions, plus:

* Add employees and manage roles
* Configure spending limits
* Order cards
* Assign expense reviewer permissions
* Perform wallet top-ups (region-dependent)

## Employees and Integrations

* Employees are scoped **per company**
* Integrations interact with employees only within the company context
* HRIS integrations may be used to automatically provision and deactivate users
* External identifiers can be stored to reconcile users across systems

Correct role assignment is critical to:

* Enable exports
* Ensure approvals are completed
* Maintain auditability

## What comes next?

Follow the relevant guides to manage users in Pleo:

* [Add employees to Pleo](/docs/current/how-tos/user-management/how-to-add-employees-to-pleo)
* [Assign user roles](/docs/current/how-tos/user-management/how-to-assign-user-roles-to-employees)
* [Invite external bookkeepers](/docs/current/how-tos/user-management/how-to-invite-external-bookkeepers)