Roles and Permissions
Roles and Permissions
A user's role comes from the organization they are logged in under, shown at the top of the left sidebar. Roles are not switched inside the module; the module adapts to the organization in use.
The two roles currently able to generate Booking Notes
Shipper — creates booking notes for cargo being sent and submits them to a Freight Forwarding Agent for approval.
Freight Forwarding Agent — receives booking notes from the Shippers they work with, reviews them, and approves or rejects them. A Freight Forwarder can also create booking notes on behalf of a Shipper.
What each role can do
| Action | Shipper | Freight Forwarder |
|---|---|---|
| See the Overview page | Yes | Yes |
| See the Requests list | Own organization's booking notes only | All booking notes addressed to them |
| Create a booking note (any method) | Yes | Yes |
| Edit a booking note in Draft | Yes | Yes |
| Submit a booking note for review | Yes | Yes |
| Edit a booking note in Pending Review | No — view only | Yes |
| Approve a booking note | No | Yes |
| Reject a booking note | No | Yes |
| Edit an Approved or Rejected booking note | No | No |
| Search, filter and save views | Yes | Yes |
| Export to CSV or Excel | Yes | Yes |
| Duplicate a booking note | Yes | Yes |
The most important difference: only a Freight Forwarder can approve or reject. Once a Shipper submits, the booking note leaves their control and can be tracked but not changed.
Which participant can be changed
Both roles see the same two participant fields in General Information, but they behave in mirror image.
| Field | Shipper | Freight Forwarder |
|---|---|---|
| Shipper | The current organization. Filled in automatically, grayed out, cannot be changed. | Selectable from the Shipper organizations available. |
| Freight Forwarding Agent | Selectable from the agent organizations available. Mandatory. | The current organization. Filled in automatically, grayed out, cannot be changed. |
There is one exception on the Freight Forwarder side. When a booking note was created and submitted by a Shipper through the portal, the Shipper field is locked for the Freight Forwarder too. This preserves who originated the booking note and prevents it being reassigned during review. The field remains editable only on booking notes the Freight Forwarder created themselves.
What each role sees on the Overview
The Overview page shows a different set of counters and tables per role. Full detail is on The Overview Page.
| Shipper | Freight Forwarder | |
|---|---|---|
| Counters | Under Review, Approved | Total Requests, Draft, Pending Review, Approved, Rejected |
| Tables | Recent Requests | Pending Review, Recent Requests |
Visibility
Booking notes that do not involve the current organization are never visible.
- A Shipper sees the booking notes their own organization created.
- A Freight Forwarder sees the booking notes that name their organization as the Freight Forwarding Agent, across all the Shippers they work with. This is why the Requests list includes Shipper and Shipper Reference columns.
⏳ Coming soon — a Changes Requested status, which will let a Freight Forwarder send a booking note back to the Shipper with feedback instead of approving or rejecting it outright. Until then, review has two outcomes.