01 · Roles & access

Operator role: take calls, look things up, key in drafts

A read-only role across the spine with one write: creating order drafts. Built for the person answering the phone who needs to check stock and price and start an order.

5 min read · updated 28/05/2026
Who can do this
RoleCreate order draftConfirm / dispatch orderPack orderRecord paymentVoid invoiceEdit pricing
OwnerAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowed
OperatorAllowedNot allowedNot allowedNot allowedNot allowedNot allowed

Overview

The Operator is the person on the phone. A customer calls, asks "kitne mein hai, stock hai kya," and the Operator needs to check the price, check the stock, and start the order — all without being able to touch money or change anything they shouldn't. Operator is read-only everywhere on the spine, with exactly one write: starting an order draft. Nothing they do is irreversible. The draft waits for a Manager or Owner to confirm before stock moves.

Where to find it

Operator signs in to the same Neev workspace as everyone else; the sidebar just shows fewer doors. On the web you'll see Orders, WhatsApp, Customers, Inventory, Invoices, Reports, and Notifications. The one button that writes is Orders → New (/orders/new) — that opens the draft screen. Everything else is look-only.

On mobile, the Operator works in the field shell — looking up stock and customers and keying in a draft on the go. Note that completing a counter-sale at the till is a Sales power, not an Operator one: the Operator starts the order, but checkout and billing belong to Sales or Owner.

You won't see Pricing, Approvals, Settings, or any money action. That's by design — those belong to Manager and Owner.

Key concepts

  • A draft order is a started-but-not-committed order. Lines, customer, and prices are filled in, but no stock is reserved yet. An Operator can create one; only a Manager or Owner can confirm it.
  • Confirm is the step that turns a draft into a live order. At confirm, stock reserves against the lines and the order can move toward dispatch. Operator does not have this power.
  • Read on the spine means the Operator can open and view customers, inventory, suppliers, prices, invoices, and sales returns — but cannot edit any of them.

Common workflows

1
Check stock and price while the customer is on the call

Open Inventory to see what's in stock, and Customers to pull up the buyer's record. Prices show inside the draft as you add lines — no separate Pricing page to open.

2
Start a draft order

Go to Orders → New (/orders/new). Pick the customer, add line items by hand, and Neev applies the customer's prices and computes GST as you type.

3
Hand it off for confirmation

Save the draft. It now sits in the Orders list waiting for a Manager or Owner to confirm. You cannot confirm it yourself — that's the next person's job.

4
Reply on WhatsApp without leaving Neev

Open WhatsApp, pick the conversation, and reply right from inside Neev. Tell the customer "order le liya, confirm ho raha hai" without switching to your phone.

5
Look up an invoice or a return

Open Invoices to read a bill (including its HSN lines) or Returns to view a sales return. You can read both, but you can't change them.

Role notes

This page covers two roles: Operator who does the front-desk work, and Owner who supervises and finishes what the Operator starts.

Operator can:

  • View orders, customers, inventory, suppliers, prices, intake, invoices (with HSN), sales returns, reports (operations), and notifications.
  • Create an order draft — the one and only write.
  • Read and reply on WhatsApp conversations using approved templates.

Operator cannot:

  • Confirm, transition, dispatch, pack, or cancel an order — a draft must be advanced by a Manager or Owner.
  • Edit master data — no creating or updating customers, no touching stock (receipts, adjustments), no pricing changes.
  • Do anything on the money side beyond reading — no generating invoices, no marking paid, no voiding.
  • Act on returns. Operator sees sales returns but cannot initiate, approve, or receive them.
  • See financial or team reports, or any platform admin (team, settings, features).

Owner holds every non-Pack permission in the workspace, so the Owner is who handles every write the Operator lacks. A Manager carries the same order powers by default — confirm, transition, dispatch, pack, cancel — so a Manager can also confirm an Operator's drafts and push them toward dispatch. Some writes stay Owner-only even for a Manager (voiding an invoice, blacklisting a customer, archiving a supplier, and all team, role, and settings admin). Role assignment itself is an Owner job, done in Settings → Team.

Tips & time-savers

Tip
Reply to the customer on WhatsApp straight from inside Neev — pick the conversation, use a saved template, and you never have to switch to your phone. The customer's order, stock, and prices are all on one screen.

Stock and price sit right inside the draft screen, so you don't page-hop while the customer waits — add a line and the price and GST fill in on the spot.

Gotchas

Warning
An Operator can start a draft but cannot confirm it. Stock does not reserve and the order does not advance until a Manager or Owner hits Confirm. If a customer needs the order locked in right away, flag a Manager — don't assume saving the draft is the same as placing the order.
Warning
Operator sees the Returns list but can't act on it. Don't promise a customer a return or credit note from the Operator seat — pass it to a Manager who can initiate and approve it.

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