SOURCE:    Vacation Tracker
TITLE:     Guide: Administrator vs Location Admin vs Approver vs User
URL:       https://vacationtracker.io/knowledge-base/guide-administrator-vs-location-admin-vs-approver-vs-user/
LANG:      en
PUBLISHED: 2020-12-29
UPDATED:   2026-07-23
READING:   5 min
SUMMARY:   Vacation Tracker has three roles—User, Approver, and Administrator. See exactly what each one can do, from managing their own leave to running the whole workspace.

# Guide: Administrator vs Location Admin vs Approver vs User

# Guide: Administrator vs Location Admin vs Approver vs User

Who can do what in Vacation Tracker, at a glance.

Vacation Tracker has four roles. Users manage their own leave. Approvers decide on leave for their assigned Departments. Location Admins run the setup for one or more Locations (holidays, policies, Users, Departments). Administrators run the whole workspace. Here is what each role can do.

## Compare the roles

Included✗ Not included

What they can do
Admin
Location
Admin
Approver
User

Manage their own leave

Request, edit & cancel their own leave

View own balance, history & logs

See team calendar & public holidays

Connect a personal calendar (Google or Outlook)

Handle the team's leave (for their assigned scope)

Approve, deny or cancel leave requests✗✗✗

Add a leave on someone's behalf✗

View team members' balances & history✗

Set Team Notifications✗

Assign a Substitute Approver to cover time off✗✗✗

Manage a Location (Location scope)

Edit holidays & the working week for a Location✗✗

Create & edit Leave Policies✗✗

Edit User profiles (working days, quotas)✗✗

Invite, activate & deactivate Users✗✗

Create & edit Departments, and assign Approvers✗✗

Export scoped reports (Leave & Balance)✗✗

Configure & run the workspace

Create new Locations✗✗✗

Manage Labels✗✗✗

Configure Admin-only Add-ons (Seniority, Entitlement by Role, Visibility Manager, Open API)✗✗✗

Assign Administrators & Location Admins✗✗✗

Manage billing, plan & integrations✗✗✗

View company-wide audit logs✗✗✗

Approver permissions apply only to the Department(s) a person is assigned to. Location Admin permissions apply only to the Location(s) they manage. Roles stack: any User or Admin can also be made an Approver, and a Location Admin is often an Approver too.

## Common Questions

Can one person hold more than one role?

Yes, and it's common. A Location Admin is often also an Approver for a Department inside the Location they manage. An Administrator can also be an Approver. When roles stack, the User gets the union of the permissions, each scoped where its role is scoped.

Why isn't Approver in the Role dropdown?

Approver is a per-Department assignment, not a workspace-wide access level. Any User, Location Admin, or Admin can be an Approver for one or more Departments without changing their Role.

Who can change someone's role?

Only Administrators. Assigning Administrators, Location Admins, and changing a User's Location or Department all live in Admin-only areas of the dashboard.

What does a Location Admin see for things outside their Location?

Everything workspace-wide (all Users, all Departments, all Locations) is visible for context, but the edit controls only apply to the Location(s) they manage. Anything cross-Location has to go through an Administrator.

### What's Next?

Guide: What Can a Location Admin Do? (https://vacationtracker.io/knowledge-base/guide-what-can-a-location-admin-do/)
Guide: What Can an Approver Do in Vacation Tracker? (https://vacationtracker.io/knowledge-base/guide-what-can-an-approver-do-in-vacation-tracker/)
How Do I Add a Leave for a User? (https://vacationtracker.io/knowledge-base/how-do-i-add-a-leave-for-a-user/)

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