> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.paintscout.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.paintscout.com/support/account-settings/users-and-permissions/understanding-the-new-user-types-what-changed-and-why.md).

# Understanding the New User Types: What Changed and Why

{% hint style="warning" %}
The information below only applies to PaintScout users who have signed up **before May 12th, 2026.**
{% endhint %}

If you've been using PaintScout for a while, you may have noticed that your user types look a little different. We've restructured how seats and permissions work to give you more flexibility and better match the way real painting businesses are actually organized.

Here's a breakdown of what changed, what stayed the same, and what's new.

***

### The Old Structure <a href="#h_99ee73d192" id="h_99ee73d192"></a>

Previously, PaintScout had four user types, and permissions were fixed — you couldn't customize what each individual user could or couldn't see. You got what came with the role.

| Old Seat | What they could do                                                                                                                                     |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Admin    | Full access to everything — account settings, all users' estimates, deals, events, tasks, and reports                                                  |
| Sales    | Access to their own estimates only. Could not access account settings, reports, or export data                                                         |
| Office   | Could view all estimates and invoices, send them, pull reports, add contacts, record payments, and create deals (with CRM). Could not create estimates |

The main limitation? **No customization.**

If you had a Sales user who also needed to see other users' estimates, there was no way to grant that without upgrading them to Admin. If you had an Admin who shouldn't have access to billing, you couldn't restrict that either.

***

## The New Structure <a href="#h_7892081e65" id="h_7892081e65"></a>

We've consolidated and redesigned seat types into three: **Sales**, **Team**, and **Painter (Beta)**. The big difference is that each seat now comes with **custom permissions** — optional add-ons you can toggle per user to tailor their access to their actual role.

**Sales** is your full-access seat, designed for anyone who estimates, sells, or runs the business day-to-day. Think owners, estimators, and sales reps — anyone who needs to create and manage estimates and invoices. Sales replaces both the old Sales and Admin seats.

**Team** is your lightweight seat, designed for people who need broad visibility across the account but aren't in the estimating seat. Think office staff, production managers, and scheduling coordinators — people who need to see what's going on, manage deals, send documents, and record payments, but don't need to build estimates from scratch. Team replaces the old Office seat.

**Painter (Beta)** is an entirely new seat type built for field workers. Painters only see what's relevant to their assigned jobs — their schedule, work orders, and tasks. This seat type is free of charge during the beta.

| New Seat       | Replaces                        |
| -------------- | ------------------------------- |
| Sales          | Admin + legacy Sales            |
| Team           | Office                          |
| Painter (Beta) | No replacement - new seat type! |

***

## How Your Users Were Migrated <a href="#h_63776b217a" id="h_63776b217a"></a>

Your existing users have been automatically moved to the new structure. Here's exactly how that mapping worked:

| Old Seat       | New Seat | What carried over                               |
| -------------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| Admin          | Sales    | All custom permissions enabled by default       |
| Sales (legacy) | Sales    | No custom permissions enabled                   |
| Office         | Team     | Dashboard and Reports access enabled by default |

***

## 🔐 What Are Custom Permissions? <a href="#h_dd13bab05f" id="h_dd13bab05f"></a>

Custom permissions are brand new — they didn't exist before. They let you fine-tune what an individual user can access, without changing their seat type entirely. [Learn more about Custom Permissions >](/support/account-settings/users-and-permissions/user-permissions.md)

### Sales seat — permissions OFF by default for new seats <a href="#h_b7e3d00e17" id="h_b7e3d00e17"></a>

* Access to account settings
* Access to account settings — Billing
* Access to other users' documents
* Access to reports
* Ability to export data

{% hint style="info" %}
Sales users can only access their own estimates, invoices, and deals, but they can also access records when they are **linked** to them in some way.
{% endhint %}

### Team seat — permissions OFF by default for new seats <a href="#h_48101d22aa" id="h_48101d22aa"></a>

* Access to account settings
* Access to account settings — Billing
* Access to dashboard
* Access to reports
* Ability to export data

### To edit a user's permissions:

1. Go to **Account Settings** → **Billing** → **User Management.**
2. Click the `...` on the user.
3. Click **Edit permissions** and make changes.

***

### A Few Practical Examples <a href="#h_52e7646eff" id="h_52e7646eff"></a>

**"I have a Sales user who needs to see reports."** Previously you'd have had to make them an Admin. Now, just keep them as Sales and toggle on **Access to reports**.

**"I have an Admin who shouldn't be touching billing."** Previously you couldn't restrict this. Now, as a Sales user with custom permissions off by default for new users, you can choose exactly what they have access to. Note: existing Admins were migrated with all permissions on — you can turn these off individually if needed.

**"I had an Office user. What do they have now?"** They're now a Team user. They've kept Dashboard and Reports access by default, and everything else they could do before carries over. They still cannot create or edit estimates.

***

### New: Account Ownership <a href="#h_7876a25c1c" id="h_7876a25c1c"></a>

There's also a new **Owner** designation — shown with a crown icon 👑 in User Management. Every account has one Owner, automatically assigned to the first Sales (legacy Admin) user on the account. If this looks incorrect in your account, please message <support@paintscout.com>.

The Owner cannot be deactivated, and only the current Owner can transfer ownership to another Sales user. [Learn more about Account Ownership >](/support/account-settings/users-and-permissions/account-ownership.md)

## Related articles

* [Sales User](/support/account-settings/users-and-permissions/sales-user.md) — See who should use a Sales seat and which permissions it supports.
* [Team User](/support/account-settings/users-and-permissions/team-user.md) — See what Team users can manage without estimate creation access.
* [Custom Permissions](/support/account-settings/users-and-permissions/user-permissions.md) — Review the current permission options for each user type.


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