All staff members that have access to Smokeball must be assigned a Role that determines what they can see in the software. This article will outline the six default account-level roles that are available in Smokeball, and how to create Create Custom Roles (Smokeball Grow/Prosper+ only).
This article is only relevant for Smokeball firms created after 29 October 2026. If your firm has been using Smokeball prior to this date, refer to the Permissions article. This feature will be rolled out for firms created prior to 29 October 2026 at a later date.
What are Roles?
Roles are permission groups. Each role is gives a set of access levels to different areas of Smokeball, allowing you to open or close access to areas that staff should or should not see.
Some examples of where assigning specific roles to users would help include:
- Giving partial billing access to billing staff that need to raise invoices but not necessarily view trust accounts or financial reports.
- Limiting junior staff and paralegals from viewing and editing billing information and precedent templates.
- Assigning bookkeepers and trust accountants full billing access without touching firm settings.
Smokeball have created six Default Roles that encompass the most common permissions that firms use:
- Full Access
- Productivity Access
- Partial Billing Access
- Advanced Access
- Limited Access
- Full Billing Access
These roles cannot be edited. However, if your firm is on Smokeball Grow/Prosper+, any Firm Owner can create Custom Roles for the firm and choose individual permissions to associate to them.
Types of Default Roles
Full Access
Assign users to Full Access if they need to see everything in Smokeball, but are not Firm Owners or Admins.Â
Full Access is best suited for staff with job titles such as:Â
- Managing Partner
- Senior Partner/Equity Partner
- Principal Lawyer
- Non-Equity Partner
- Firm Administrator
- Practice/Office Manager
- Chief Operating Officer
Productivity Access
Assign users to Productivity Access if they need access to matters and drafting documents, but don't need billing access.
Productivity Access is best suited for staff with job titles such as:
- Associate
- Senior Associate
- Solicitor
- Barrister
- Senior Paralegal
- Legal Executive
Partial Billing Access
Assign users to Partial Billing Access if they need access to raise invoices, but not override clearance days, access trust accounts or run billing reports.Â
Partial Billing Access is best suited for staff with job titles such as:
- Billing Clerk/Coordinator
- Accounts Receivable Clerk
- Invoice Administrator
- Junior Bookkeeper
- Billing Assistant
Advanced Access
Assign users to Advanced Access if they need access to everything BUT the ability to modify forms and precedents.
Advanced Access is best suited for senior staff who are trusted with billing, trust, reports, and firm settings, however precedent authoring is owned by another team, like a template committee. Some job titles of staff that are suitable for Advanced Access include:
- Senior Associate
- Non-Equity Partner
- Practice/Office Manager
- Head of Department
- Practice Group Leader
- Senior Legal Executive
Limited Access
Assign users to Limited Access if they solely need access to matters. By default, newly created staff members are assigned Limited Access.
Limited Access is best suited for staff with job titles such as:
- Junior Associate
- Trainee Solicitor
- Graduate Lawyer
- Law Clerk
- Paralegal
- Legal Assistant
- Junior Solicitor
- Articled Clerk
- Intern
- Summer Associate
Full Billing Access
Assign users to Full Billing Access if they need access to billing and firm financials.
Full Billing Access is best suited for staff with job titles such as:
- Bookkeeper
- Trust Accountant
- Senior Billing Manager
- Accountant
- Financial Controller
- Cashier
What does No Access, Read Only and Full Access mean in Billing App access?
Under Billing app access permissions, you can choose from No Access, Read Only and Full Access. Expand the sections below to read more about what this means for Invoices, Accounts and Disbursements.Â
For Invoice permissions, the access options are Full Access, Read Only and No Access:
Full Access: Users retain full ability to:
- Create, edit, finalise, and delete invoices
- Apply, edit, and reverse payments
- Manage payment plans
- Use all bulk and quick actions
Read Only: Users can view invoice information, but cannot create or modify invoices or payments.
- On the Finalised invoice screen, Read Only users can Email, Download, View Payment Detail and view history. They can also view the Entries and Payments tabs. All other buttons are visible but disabled (not clickable).
- On the Draft Invoice screen, Read Only users can only view the draft preview, close the invoice, or link the invoice to a matter. All other actions are disabled.
- On the Payment Details screen, the Delete and Reverse actions are removed.
- On the main Invoices screen, the Add Payment and Bulk Actions buttons are disabled. The Create Invoices and Trust to Office tabs are also disabled. On the Reminders tab, the Bulk Actions button is disabled.
- On Matter > Invoices, Create Invoice, Add Payment and Bulk Actions buttons are disabled.
- On Matter > Time & Fees and Matter > Disbursements, Create Invoice is disabled.
- On Contact > Invoices, Create Invoice, Add Payment and Bulk Actions buttons are disabled.
- On Contact > Payment Plans, Add Payment, Edit Plan and Close Plan are disabled. Create New Plan is also disabled.
- The Payments option is not selectable under the Quick Add menu on the top-right corner of the Smokeball Web App.
No Access: Users cannot access invoices or related billing data, even if they see related tabs or links.
The following areas show the tab/section, but users with No Access cannot select or open them:
- Main Invoices screen
- Matter > Invoices
- Contact > Invoices
- Accounts > Invoice Ledger
- Accounts > Client Communications
- Matter > Transactions > Invoice Ledger
- Matter > Transactions > Client Communications
- Contacts > Ledger > Invoice Ledger
- Main Contacts screen > Payment Plans
- Contacts > Payment Plans
- Matter Overview
- Invoicing tile is removed
- Users will see the “surface” in some cases (e.g., tab labels) but will not be able to interact with them.
The following areas will display a "You do not have permission to access this area" message if the user tries to navigate to any invoice-related page from:
- Time & Fees (main page and via the matter)
- Disbursements (main page and via the matter)
- Descriptions and ledger lines that link to Trust Account, Operating Account and the Credit Memo Ledger
- Split Billing invoices
Other restrictions include:
- Unbilled and Due columns are removed from the matter list.
- Unbilled, Unpaid and Overdue amounts are hidden from the balance summary at the top of matters.
- Unpaid and Overdue amounts are hidden from Contacts.
For Accounts permissions, the access options are Full Access, Read Only and No Access:
Full Access: Users can view and edit all accounts information for all matters, without any restrictions.
Read Only: Users can view but not edit accounts information for all matters.
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The Accounts section on the left panel of the Smokeball Web App remains visible but is disabled.
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When opening the Transactions tab in a matter or contact, transactions remain viewable, but Reverse Transaction is unavailable.
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In the list of transactions for Trust Accounts and CMAs, the buttons to Deposit Funds, Create/Request Payment, Transfer Funds and Protect Funds are disabled.
Printing receipts remains available.
No Access: Users are restricted from viewing accounts data for any matter.
The Accounts section on the left panel of the Smokeball Web App is disabled.
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When opening the Transactions tab in a matter or contact, the Invoice Ledger will be shown when Invoice permissions allow.
If both Invoices and Accounts are set to No Access, the Transactions tab is disabled.
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Trust Account and Controlled Money Account-related sections are hidden from the Invoice section summary.
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If Smokeball Payments is active, the Manage Account button is removed from Payment Provider Settings.
For Disbursement permissions, the access options are Full Access and Read Only:
Full Access: Users can add, edit and delete disbursements without any restrictions.
Read Only: Users can view existing disbursement details, but not add or delete any disbursements.
On the Smokeball Web App, users with Disbursement Read Only permissions will experience the following:
- They cannot create a new disbursement from the Create New (+) menu on the top-right corner of the screen.
- When accessing the Time/Fees section from the left panel, then navigating to Disbursements:
Quick Add is disabled.
Disbursement details opens in read-only mode (fields cannot be edited).
Actions are disabled: New Disbursement Entry, Print Cheques, View Office Payments, Create Cheque
Print and CSV export remain available.
Filters remain available and functional.
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When accessing the Time/Fees tab in a matter, then navigating to Disbursements:
Quick Add is disabled.
Disbursement details opens in read-only mode (fields cannot be edited).
Actions are disabled: New Disbursement Entry, Bulk Actions
Print and CSV export remain available.
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On the Draft Invoice screen:
Add Entry (Disbursement) is disabled.
In-line editing of existing disbursement line items is disabled.
Disbursement item checkbox selection remains available.
On the Smokeball Desktop App, users with Disbursement Read Only permissions will experience the following:
The ability to add a disbursement, including Quick Add, is disabled on the Matter View and Time & Disbursements tab
Users can open existing disbursement details, but the disbursement window is read-only (fields cannot be edited).
Creating Custom Roles
If you would like to tweak permissions to your firm's liking, you can create Custom Roles to assign staff to. To create a custom role:
- As a Firm Owner, open the Smokeball Web App.
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Select the Settings (gear) icon on the bottom-left corner of the screen, then select Firm Settings.
- Select Permissions from the left panel.
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Select New role on the top-right corner of the screen.
- Enter a name for the Custom Role.
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Tick the individual permissions that this Custom Role should have. If there's a drop-down menu next to the permission, choose the appropriate level of access. Refer to What does No Access, Read Only and Full Access mean in Billing App access? to understand the different permission levels in Billing App access.
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Assign staff members to the Custom Role from the left panel.
Good to Know:
- Every action on the page is automatically saved as you do them.
- You can click Duplicate on the top-right corner any existing Role (Default or Custom) to clone it, which is useful if you just need to slightly modify an existing permission.
Assigning Roles to Users
There are a few ways to assign Roles to users in Smokeball.
Via the Permissions tab in Firm Settings
Use this method to quickly assign users by Role.
- As a Firm Owner, open the Smokeball Web App.
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Select the Settings (gear) icon on the bottom-left corner of the screen, then select Firm Settings.
- Select Permissions from the left panel.
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Click on the relevant Default account role or Custom role you wish to assign users to.
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Click on the Members drop-down menu on the left to select staff members to assign to this role. The system will automatically save as you add staff.
Via the Staff List
Use this method to quickly assign Roles from a list of all staff members.
- As a Firm Owner, open the Smokeball Web App.
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Select the Settings (gear) icon on the bottom-left corner of the screen, then select Firm Settings.
- Select Staff from the left panel to open the Staff List.
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For ease of assigning, filter the Staff List by Licensed Seats. Only staff with a licensed seat can have a role.
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Under the Role column for every staff member, select the appropriate Role in the drop-down menu. Your selection is automatically saved.
Via the Staff Card
Use this method to assign an individual staff member or user a Role. This is mostly convenient when onboarding a new staff member and you are in the process of filling in their Staff Card.
- Navigate to Firm Settings > Staff on the Smokeball Web App to open the Staff List.
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Click on a user in the Staff List to open their card.Â
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Navigate to the Permissions tab and click on the drop-down under the Role section to choose the Role.
Your selection is automatically saved to the staff member.
View Permissions History
You can view a log of changes made to Roles by selecting Permissions audit history on the top-right corner of the Permissions tab.
Permissions history displays who made a change, which staff member or role had a change made to it, and when the change was made.