Last updated on May 25, 2026

Account & Settings

Control who can access what, configure system-wide defaults, manage currencies, and keep your workspace secure. This guide covers everything in the Settings area of Belvak PM.

User Roles and Permissions

Belvak PM uses roles to determine what each user can see and do. Every user account is assigned exactly one role, and each role carries a set of permissions across the workspace.

How role access works

If a user's role does not include permission to view invoices, the Invoices sidebar link is hidden and the add button does not appear. This keeps the interface aligned with the actual access the user has.

Creating custom roles

Open Settings from the sidebar and navigate to the Roles tab.
Click Add Role and give the role a descriptive name (e.g., "Account Manager", "Project Lead", "Finance Team").
An access grid will appear. Each row represents a business area and each column represents an action.
Toggle the checkboxes to grant or revoke specific permissions.
Click Save. The role is immediately available for assignment to users.

Access levels

For each business area, you can independently control four actions:

View: See records in the table and open detail drawers.
Create: Add new records through the add form.
Edit: Modify existing records and update fields.
Delete: Permanently remove records.

The business areas covered by permissions include:

Projects - active work and deliverables
Clients - customer records and contacts
Invoices - billing documents and PDF generation
Payments - incoming payment records
Proposals - pre-sale proposals and quotes
Employees - team member profiles and compensation
Seekers - job applicants and recruitment pipeline
Maintenance - recurring service contracts
Purchases - company expenses and vendor costs
Suppliers - vendor and service provider directory
Referrals - referral partner records and their commission terms
Referral Commissions - per-payment commission ledger, separate from referral partner records

See Referrals & Commissions for how the Referrals and Referral Commissions permissions differ.

Assigning roles to users

When creating or editing a user account, select the appropriate role from the role dropdown. Each user can have exactly one role at a time. Changing a user's role takes effect immediately - the next time they load a page, Belvak will reflect their new permissions.

How permissions affect what users see

Belvak uses the current user's role to control visibility throughout the interface:

Sidebar links for business areas the user cannot view are hidden entirely.
The "Add" button only appears if the user has create permission for that area.
Edit and delete actions in row menus and detail drawers are hidden when the corresponding permissions are missing.
Drawer action buttons, such as "Generate PDF" or "Convert to Project", respect the permissions of the related area.

Best practices

Principle of least privilege: Start with minimal permissions and add more as needed. It is easier to grant access than to revoke it after sensitive data has been viewed.
Separate financial roles: Create distinct roles for staff who need to manage invoices and payments versus those who only work on projects.
Limit admin accounts: Reserve full-access admin roles for one or two trusted users. Everyone else should use a scoped role.
Audit regularly: Review role assignments quarterly, especially after team changes, to ensure permissions still align with job responsibilities.

Tip: Create a "Read Only" role with only view permissions across all business areas. This is useful for stakeholders or executives who need visibility without the ability to modify data.

System Settings

The Settings page is the central hub for platform-wide configuration. Access it by clicking Settings in the sidebar. Settings are organized into tabs, each covering a different aspect of your workspace.

Saving changes

When you update a setting, the change is saved immediately and takes effect across the platform on the next page load or data refresh.

Invoice template management

Belvak PM includes 12 built-in invoice template presets that cover a range of styles, from minimal to detailed layouts. You can customize every aspect of the design:

Colors and branding: Match your company's visual identity.
Column visibility: Show or hide specific line-item columns.
Footer text: Add payment terms, bank details, or legal disclaimers.
Layout options: Choose how sections are arranged on the page.

To customize a template, open the template editor in Settings, select a preset as your starting point, make your changes, and save. You can preview the result in real time using the PDF preview button before committing your changes. All future invoice PDFs will use the saved template.

Activity log

Every significant action in the platform is recorded in the activity log. This includes creating, viewing, updating, and deleting records across the workspace. Each log entry captures:

User: Who performed the action.
Action: What was done (create, update, delete).
Record type: Which area the record belongs to.
Record name: A readable identifier for the record.
Change details: The relevant details captured at the time of the action.

Access the activity log from the Settings page. The log is fully searchable and sortable, and can be filtered by record type, action (create, update, delete), and user. This makes it easy to narrow down specific events even in a busy workspace - for example, you can filter to see only invoice deletions by a particular team member, or review all changes made to a specific client record. Use it to audit changes, investigate discrepancies, or track team productivity.

Data export

The Settings page also provides a data export option. This lets you download a full export of your data for backup, migration, or reporting purposes. Use it periodically to maintain an off-platform copy of your business records.

Preferences tab

The Preferences tab in Settings lets you configure default values that apply across the platform. This includes the default currency for new records, the list of available currencies, and other system-wide defaults. Setting sensible defaults here saves your team time by reducing repetitive form filling.

Tip: Configure your company details and invoice template before onboarding your team. This ensures every document generated from day one carries consistent, professional branding.

Currency Configuration

Belvak PM supports multi-currency operations out of the box. Each financial record stores its own currency code, so you can work with clients and vendors across different currencies without any workarounds.

Setting the default currency

Go to Settings and open the Preferences tab.
Find the Default Currency setting.
Select the ISO 4217 currency code you use most often (e.g., USD, EUR, GBP, AED).
Save your changes. All new records will now default to this currency.

The default currency is pre-selected whenever you create a new project, proposal, or other standalone financial record. For invoices and payments, the currency is determined by the linked project or invoice respectively, so the default currency only applies when creating records that are not linked to another record.

Managing available currencies

The available currencies setting controls which currencies appear in dropdown menus across the platform. Add the currency codes your team uses most often.

Adding a currency: Open the Preferences tab, add the ISO 4217 code (e.g., "CAD", "JPY") to the available currencies list, and save.
Removing a currency: Remove the code from the list. Existing records that already use the removed currency will retain their values - only new records are affected.

Note: Only add currencies your business actually works with. A shorter list keeps dropdown menus clean and reduces the chance of accidental mis-selection.

How currencies work across records

Currency is set per financial record. For invoices and payments, the currency is inherited automatically from the related project or invoice to ensure consistency:

Projects: Each project stores its contract value in a specific currency. This is the source of truth for all downstream records. Changing a project's currency cascades the update to all linked invoices and payments after confirmation.
Invoices: Currency is locked to the linked project's currency. When you select a project on the invoice form, the currency is set automatically and cannot be changed.
Payments: Currency is locked to the linked invoice's currency. When you select an invoice on the payment form, the currency is set automatically and cannot be changed.
Proposals: Proposal values are stored with a currency code.
Maintenance contracts: Contract amounts carry a currency designation.
Purchases: Expense records include a currency field.
Employees: Salary and compensation use a dedicated salary currency field.

Each referral partner also has its own commission currency that governs their flat fees and per-client caps independently of project, invoice, or proposal currency. See commission currency on referrals.

Why is the currency locked on invoices and payments? Allowing different currencies between a project and its invoices would make collection progress, financial summaries, and client reporting unreliable. The lock ensures that all amounts under a project can be summed and compared accurately. If you need to bill a client in a different currency, create a separate project in that currency.

Currency display formatting

The platform automatically formats currency values based on the ISO 4217 code stored on each record. This includes the correct currency symbol, decimal places, and thousand separators. For example, a USD amount displays as "$1,234.56" while a JPY amount displays as "¥1,235" (no decimals). The formatting is applied consistently in tables, detail drawers, PDF exports, and collection progress bars.

Tip: If you primarily work in one currency but occasionally deal with others, set your main currency as the default and add the others to the available list. This gives you the convenience of automatic defaults while retaining flexibility.

Security Settings

Belvak PM includes sign-in protections, account access controls, and rate limits to help keep your workspace safe.

Sign-in options

Users sign in with their email address and password through the login screen. If your organization enables Google sign-in, users can also choose the Google button instead.

Keeping accounts secure

Signed-in users stay connected securely while they work. If Belvak needs a user to sign in again, they will be returned to the login screen.

Account access controls

Role permissions help protect sensitive areas by showing only the pages, buttons, and actions each user is allowed to use. This keeps financial, people, and administrative work visible only to the right team members.

Rate limiting

Belvak may temporarily slow or reject repeated requests to protect against abuse. If you see a rate-limit message, wait a moment and try again.

Password management

Users can reset their password using the "Forgot Password" link on the login screen, which sends a reset email to the address on their account. Administrators can also help users regain access when needed.

Best practices for account security

Use strong passwords: At least 8 characters with a mix of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
Change default passwords: New users should change their temporary password immediately after their first login.
Limit admin accounts: Keep the number of users with full admin access to a minimum.
Review the activity log: Regularly check the activity log in Settings for unexpected or unauthorized actions.
Keep browser up to date: Modern browsers enforce security headers and cookie policies more strictly.

Note: If Belvak signs a user out or shows an access error, ask them to sign in again. Any unsaved form changes may need to be re-entered.