Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://grantmaster.dev/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Role Guide: Manager
Overview
Managers are project-level leaders responsible for day-to-day operations. They oversee teams, approve submissions, manage project budgets, and ensure work stays on track. Managers have broad operational access but cannot configure organization-level settings or manage billing.
What Managers Can Do
Projects
| Action | Details |
|---|
| View all projects | See all projects in the organization |
| Manage assigned projects | Edit details, update phases, track milestones |
| Budget monitoring | View budget vs. actual, burn rate, and alerts |
| Task management | Create and assign tasks within projects |
| Stakeholder portal | Configure external-facing project views |
Approvals
| Action | Details |
|---|
| Expense approvals | Approve or reject expenses submitted by team members |
| Journal approvals | Review and approve daily time entries and monthly submissions |
| Document review | Approve documents pending review |
Financial Tracking
| Action | Details |
|---|
| Expenses | Create own expenses, view all team expenses, approve/reject |
| Journals | Submit own time entries, view team entries, approve submissions |
| Reports | Create and schedule reports (financial, narrative, activity) |
Compliance
| Action | Details |
|---|
| Compliance Dashboard | Full read access to scores, trends, and alerts |
| Audit Logs | Read-only access |
| Policies | View active policies (cannot create or modify) |
Documents & AI
| Action | Details |
|---|
| Document Brain | Upload and organize documents, submit for review |
| AI Assistant | Full chat access, run agents |
| Reports | Generate all report types |
Manager Dashboard
The Manager dashboard shows:
- My projects — status overview of projects you manage
- Pending approvals — expenses and journals waiting for your review
- Team activity — recent submissions and updates from your team members
- Upcoming deadlines — milestones and reporting deadlines across your projects
- Budget alerts — projects approaching 80%, 90%, or 100% budget thresholds
Common Manager Tasks
1. Approving Expenses
- Go to Dashboard > Pending Approvals or Expenses module
- Review each pending expense:
- Check the amount, category, project allocation, and supporting receipt
- Verify compliance with active policies (the system flags violations automatically)
- Click Approve or Reject (with a reason)
- For bulk processing: select multiple expenses and use Bulk Approve
2. Reviewing Monthly Journal Submissions
- Go to Journals > Monthly Submissions (or click the notification)
- Open each pending submission to review:
- Total hours vs. expected hours
- Distribution across projects
- Effort certification statement
- Approve or Return for Revision with comments
3. Monitoring Project Budgets
- Go to Projects > [Your Project] > Budget tab
- Review:
- Budget vs. Actual bar charts per category
- Burn Rate — current spending velocity and projected end date
- Alerts — any categories approaching thresholds
- If budget adjustments are needed, coordinate with an Admin for reallocation
4. Creating Reports
- Go to Reports > Report Builder
- Select report type (Financial, Narrative, Activity, Compliance, or Combined)
- Set parameters: date range, projects, grants
- Generate and review the preview
- Download or schedule for recurring delivery
5. Managing Project Tasks
- Go to Projects > [Your Project] > Tasks
- Create tasks with assignees, deadlines, and descriptions
- Track completion status and follow up on overdue items
- Use task dependencies to manage work sequencing
What Managers Cannot Do
| Restricted Area | Why |
|---|
| Organization settings | Configuration is Admin-only |
| Billing & subscriptions | Financial management is Admin-only |
| Team management | Inviting/removing members requires Admin access |
| Grant Discovery & Pipeline | Pipeline is Admin-only; Managers have read-only pipeline view |
| Compliance policy creation | Policy Engine is Admin-only |
| Auditor access management | Granting external access requires Admin |
| Active grant management | Creating/editing grants requires Admin |
| Delete expenses | Managers can approve/reject but not delete |
Best Practices
- Process approvals promptly — pending items block team members from completing their workflows
- Review budget alerts weekly — catching overspend at 80% is much easier than at 100%
- Use monthly submission reviews as a team check-in — they show effort allocation patterns
- Schedule recurring reports for routine deliverables — reduces manual work before deadlines
- Flag compliance violations early — escalate to Admins before they compound
- Provide clear rejection reasons — team members need specific feedback to correct submissions
Permissions Summary
Managers have full operational access for their assigned projects but cannot modify organization configuration, billing, or compliance policies. For the complete permission matrix, see the Permission Matrix.
