User role deep-dive: Finance Admin
Overview
The Finance Admin is a powerful user role designed for individuals responsible for managing financial operations within Ramp. This role provides full access to all financial products and settings, while granting read-only access to user management.
Finance Admin is an add-on role that is assigned on top of the Accounting role. A user must have Accounting as their base role to receive Finance Admin permissions. This means a Finance Admin has all Accounting capabilities plus the additional Finance Admin permissions described below. For more on how base and add-on roles work, see User Roles Overview.
Finance Admins are the direct counterpart to IT Admins. While Finance Admins manage financial products, including expenses, Spend Programs, accounting, Bill Pay, and treasury, IT Admins focus on managing users, roles, and organizational structure. Together, these roles represent the two most comprehensive areas of administration within Ramp.
Finance Admin vs. Admin
The table below highlights the key differences between the Admin and Finance Admin roles.
| Capability | Admin | Finance Admin |
|---|---|---|
| Manage all financial products (expenses, bills, vendors, treasury) | Yes | Yes |
| Manage users (invite, deactivate, assign roles) | Yes | No (read-only view of users) |
| Manage organizational structure (departments, locations) | Yes | No |
| Configure policies and approval workflows | Yes | Yes |
| Access treasury and banking | Yes | Yes |
| Access rewards and savings | Yes | Yes |
| Delete users | Yes | No |
| Manage company settings | Yes | Limited (financial settings only) |
Use Finance Admin instead of Admin for finance leaders who need full financial product access but should not manage users or organizational structure. This supports separation of duties and reduces the number of super-users on your account.
Finance Admin vs. accounting
Because Finance Admin is an add-on to the Accounting role, it can be helpful to understand what the add-on provides beyond base Accounting capabilities.
| Capability | Accounting | Finance Admin (Accounting + add-on) |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting integrations and sync | Yes | Yes |
| Code and reconcile transactions | Yes | Yes |
| View and manage all bills | Limited | Yes (full lifecycle) |
| Manage vendors company-wide | No | Yes |
| Use Price Intelligence and Seat Intelligence | Limited | Yes |
| Configure approval policies | No | Yes |
| Access treasury accounts | No | Yes |
| Access banking and statements | Limited | Yes (full access) |
| Manage Bill Pay settings | No | Yes |
The Accounting role with the Finance Admin add-on gains significantly broader access to financial products. If a user only needs accounting and reconciliation capabilities, the Accounting role alone is sufficient.
What can the Finance Admin user do?
Finance Admins have wide-ranging permissions across Ramp's financial products and accounting workflows. Their access includes the ability to create, edit, and manage financial data across expenses, Spend Programs, Bill Pay, vendors, and treasury.
The following are examples of permissions that come out-of-the-box for Finance Admins. For Ramp Plus customers, many of these permissions can be turned off to restrict the abilities of the Finance Admin role. See Customizing Roles and Permissions for details.
Financial products
- Full visibility into company settings, expenses, transactions, cards, and payments.
- Can review, edit, mark ready, and sync/export all financial data.
Reimbursements & Expenses
- Create and edit reimbursements for all employees.
- Review and manage expenses company-wide.
Accounting integrations
- Connect or disconnect accounting integrations and manage sync settings.
- Configure accounting rules, fields, and default accounts.
Bill Pay
- Manage the full lifecycle of bills (draft, create, edit, delete, archive, approve, and sync).
- View bill payment details and configure Bill Pay settings.
Vendor management
- View, edit, and manage vendors (owned and company-wide).
- Use tools like Price Intelligence, Seat Intelligence, and request vendor onboarding details.
Ramp Banking
- Access business bank accounts, billing, statements, subscriptions, and rewards.
- Manage Ramp Banking accounts, request transfers, and view redemptions.
Policy & Approvals
- Configure approval workflows for expenses, bills, and transactions.
- Manage company-wide policy settings.
What can the Finance Admin user not do?
Although Finance Admins have broad financial permissions, they do not have full Ramp-wide administrative powers. For example, they:
- Do not have edit access to user management (read-only view of users on Ramp).
- Cannot invite or deactivate users (unless they are a manager, and manager invites are enabled).
- Cannot assign roles or adjust permissions.
- Cannot modify organizational structure (departments, locations).
- Cannot delete users.
Who is the Finance Admin role a good fit for?
The Finance Admin role is ideal for individuals who are directly responsible for managing financial operations, accounting workflows, and spend oversight within Ramp. This includes:
- VPs of Finance and CFOs — who need complete visibility into company spend, vendor activity, treasury accounts, and financial reporting.
- Controllers and Accounting Leads — who need to own reconciliation, accounting rules, and integrations.
- Finance Leads — who review company-wide transactions, bills, and vendor spend for reporting and forecasting, and need access beyond the Accounting role.
- Finance Operations Managers — who configure policies and approvals to align Ramp with company-specific workflows.
Best practices for using the Finance Admin role
To ensure strong security and governance, companies should follow these best practices when assigning Finance Admins:
- Limit the number of full Admins. Assign the Finance Admin role to team members who only need financial product access, rather than granting full Admin rights. See the comparison above for the specific differences.
- Separate financial and IT administration. Assign Finance Admin and IT Admin roles to different people to maintain clean operational boundaries.
To learn how to assign or change a user's role, see Editing a user's role.