System Setup & Administration:

General Authorizations
SAP Business One
Version 10.0

PUBLIC
Objectives

Objectives:
 Describe the process for manually assigning general
authorizations to a user
 Define authorization user groups to efficiently assign a set of
authorizations to multiple users
 Explain the difference between authorizations and effective
authorizations
 Copy general authorizations from one user to other users

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Business Example

DG Industries has 15 users in the sales department. These

users need authorization to the Sales – A/R menus and
other sales-related functions in SAP Business One.
In addition the sales manager needs access to sales
reports and sales analysis dashboards.
Option 1: Set the required general authorizations for one
sales user, then copy these authorizations to other sales
users, including the sales manager. Then manually adjust
the authorizations for the sales manager.
Option 2: Create a user group (type authorization). Set the
required authorizations and assign all sales users to this
group, including the sales manager. Manually adjust the
authorizations for the sales manager.

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Introduction to General Authorizations
Accessing System Functionality

Each user who is not a super user needs

to be assigned both a license and general
authorization to menus and functions
required for their role:

 License determines which

functions the user is legally
contracted to work with
 General authorizations permit
the user to access the menu
functions and objects required by
the user’s job role, within the
scope of the assigned license
type

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Authorizations for Super Users

Administration  System Initialization  Authorizations General Authorizations

 Authorizations window shows list of authorizations granted to a selected user

 Authorizations are listed by subject area and generally match the main menu

 A super user has full

Super user
authorization to all menus and
functions and requires a
Professional license
 You cannot modify the
authorizations for a super user

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 Authorizations for Regular Users

Administration  System Initialization  Authorizations General Authorizations

 A newly created normal user initially has no authorizations to menus and functions
 Authorizations must be set for the user so they can perform their job
 Authorizations should be granted in accordance with the license purchased for the user

Normal user

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Temporary Authorization

 If user does not have authorization

to a function a popup message will
appear
 A super user can temporarily allow
one time access

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Setting Authorizations Manually
 Setting Authorizations Manually

Administration  System Initialization  Authorizations General Authorizations

1. Select the user account

2. For each subject area,
select Full Authorization
or Read-Only from the
dropdown list
3. Only super users or
authorized users can set
authorizations for users
4. For a full explanation of
each authorization, refer
to the how-to guide

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Setting Authorizations Manually (cont.)

When you set an authorization to the top node for a If you assign or change the authorization at a
subject, the same authorization trickles down to all sub-level, the top level node will change to
sub-level menus Various Authorizations

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Setting Authorizations Manually (cont.)

For each user you can:

 Limit the discount they
can offer on sales,
purchasing and/or other
windows
 Set the maximum cash
amount on incoming
payments

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Copy Authorizations

To copy a set of authorizations to multiple users, You can also copy authorizations to a
select the source user, choose the Copy single user using drag and drop
Authorizations button, then select the target users

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Authorization User Groups
Timesaver – Authorization User Groups
Administration > Setup > General > User
Groups
 Authorization user groups are
predefined sets of authorizations that
can be assigned to multiple users
 The system provides four default
authorization user groups – finance,
sales, purchasing and inventory – which
contain the authorizations generally
required for these roles
 You can use these default user groups
out-of-the-box, edit them, copy them to
new user groups, or create new user
groups from scratch

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Creating a New Authorization User Group
Administration > Setup > General > User
Groups
Choose Create Group button Select Group Type as Options:
Authorization or Cross All  Set active date range for group
Types  Select a cockpit template (SAP
HANA only)
 Set active date range per user

Note: User Groups can also be created for other types of use. For
information on these groups see the Users and User Defaults course.
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Setting Authorizations at the Group Level
 User groups of type Authorization and Cross All Types are visible in the authorizations window
(Groups tab)
 Set the authorizations for the group as you would for a user

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Copying Authorizations to a New Authorization Group

 Instead of setting the

authorizations manually for a
new group, you can copy
authorizations from one of the
predefined groups
 Then you can manually adjust
for the company’s unique
requirements

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Assigning Group Authorizations to a User Account

From the user account:

 You can also assign a user to a group from the
user account
 In the user account select the ellipsis button for
the Groups field, and select a group from the
list
 When you assign a user to a group, the user is
added to the group list and instantly receives
the general authorizations set for the group

Note: If you change an authorization in a group

after you have assigned users to the group, those
users will all receive the changed authorization.

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Managing Authorizations
Reviewing Set Authorizations

To review authorizations for a user or a user group, select the user or user group name then choose the
export to Excel icon

Export Individual User Authorizations

Export User Group Authorizations

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Effective Authorizations for a User

Effective Authorizations column shows the combined authorizations granted to a user – both manually and from
an authorization user group.

Authorizations Combined
granted to user authorizations
manually granted to user
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Multiple Authorization Groups

• If user account is assigned to multiple

authorization groups the user could potentially
receive conflicting permissions for a specific
function (Read-Only, No Authorization and/or Full
Authorization)

Result:

• The system will grant the most generous

User groups: authorization
Sales - OEC
Sales
Inventory

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Change Log

Tools > Change Log…  Changes to authorizations for a user or user group are
tracked in change log
 Each row is a snapshot of what was changed
 Differences window consolidates two selected rows

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Additional Authorization Creator

Administration  System Initialization  Authorizations General Authorizations  Additional

Authorization Creator

 In this window, developers can add

new authorizations to the
authorization table to control access
to new menus and forms
 Use System Information to find the
form ID:

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Authorizations for Reports
Sales and Purchasing Reports

Option to authorize or restrict

access to all sales and
purchasing reports, to the
Open Items List, or to
individual document types in
the Open Items List

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Analytics Reports

Ability to authorize or restrict

access to
• Excel Report and
Interactive Designer
• Interactive analysis reports
• Semantic layer views
• KPIs, cockpits and
dashboards

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Summary 1 of 2
Key points from this topic:
 Each user who is not a super user needs to be assigned both a license and general authorization to
menus and functions required for their role:
 A super user has by default full authorization to every function and needs a Professional license
 Regular users have no authorization to any function and you need to grant general authorizations
to each user according to the license
 The authorizations window shows the list of general authorizations in the same general order as SAP
Business One menus and functions
 Authorizations are also required to run reports, and for analytics
 To set an authorization manually, select the user then open the dropdown list for each menu or
function and select Full Authorization or Read-Only:
 If you select Full Authorization the user can display and modify data for that function. For example,
view, create and update sales quotations
 If you select Read-Only the user can view, but not change any data
 To save time, you can copy the authorizations from one user to other users
 Changes to authorizations are recorded in the Change Log, for audit purposes
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Summary 2 of 2

Key points from this topic:

 If a company has several users who perform the same role, or work with the same set of
functions, it is more efficient to use an authorization user group
 Authorization user groups are predefined sets of authorizations that can be assigned to multiple
users. In a new system there are four default groups which contain the authorizations generally
required for finance, sales, purchasing and inventory-related roles
 User groups appear in the authorizations window and you can set the authorizations as you
would manually for a user
 When you create a new group, you can copy authorizations from another user group
 The Effective Authorization column shows the combined authorizations granted to a user – from
an authorization user group and from any manual authorizations
 If multiple, conflicting authorizations are granted to a user, the highest (most generous)
authorization will apply
 You can export assigned authorizations to Microsoft Excel to review, or for project documentation

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