Admin
Maintains organizations, accounting periods, ledger accounts and team access.
Can
- Manage Organizations, accounting periods, ledger accounts, team members
- View operation receipts, review decisions
- Cost Accounting
- Roles and permissions
Who can do what in Cost Accounting
Assign cost setup, posting approval, variance release and finance review to clear owners.
How permissions work
Prepare cost records
Cost Accountant enters estimates, actual postings and journals against the organization and period in scope.
Separate decisions
Cost Controller approves actual postings; Variance Analyst reviews scheduled variances before release.
Retain evidence
Finance Reviewer reads the decisions, operation results and journal details needed for a period review.
Maintain context
Cost Master Owner controls cost pools and cost objects; Admin maintains organizations, periods, accounts and team access.
Who can do what
| Role | Cost foundations | Standard estimates | Actual postings | Variance review | Cost journals | Period oversight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | Edit | Edit | Edit | View | Edit | Edit |
| Cost Accountant | View | Edit | Edit | View | Edit | Edit |
| Cost Controller | — | View | Approve | View | View | View |
| Variance Analyst | View | View | View | Approve | View | View |
| Finance Reviewer | — | View | View | View | View | View |
| Cost Master Owner | Edit | Edit | Edit | Edit | View | — |
Each role in detail
Cost Accountant
Prepares standard estimates, actual postings and journal entries.
Can
- Manage standard cost estimates, standard cost lines, accounting documents, document lines, journal entries, journal lines
- View cost pools, business partners, accounting periods
Starts on: Estimate Issue Queue
Cost Controller
Reviews actual postings and records the approval decision within assigned authority.
Can
- Manage review decisions, accounting documents
- View standard cost estimates, cost variances, journal entries, operation receipts
Reviews and approves
- Approve accounting documents
Starts on: Estimate Issue Queue
Variance Analyst
Reviews linked standard and actual cost and releases scheduled variance records.
Can
- Manage cost variances
- View standard cost estimates, accounting documents, cost pools, business partners, operation receipts
Reviews and approves
- Approve cost variances
Starts on: Variances Awaiting Reconciliation
Finance Reviewer
Reviews period status, ledger balance and retained decision evidence.
Can
- View accounting periods, journal entries, journal lines, review decisions, operation receipts, record attachments
Starts on: Cost Journals Unposted
Cost Master Owner
Maintains cost pools and business partner cost objects for the organization.
Can
- Manage cost pools, business partners
- View Organizations, ledger accounts
Starts on: Open Cost Pools
Set up Cost Accounting your way.
Start free, then use Proto to change fields, steps and approvals before your team goes live.