Invite and manage staff members

Summary

This article explains how to invite new staff members to your Torqueflow organisation and manage their status. You send an invitation email, assign a role, and can later edit details or deactivate staff you no longer need. Staff are never deleted - they are deactivated to preserve historical data.

Prerequisites

• You are signed in as an Owner or Manager.
• You have the settings.staff.invite permission (Owners and Managers have this by default).
• If Torqueflow asked for a card after signup, the card is saved. Until it is, Staff Management is not reachable and every page returns to the card step. See Sign up for Torqueflow.

Steps

Inviting a new staff member

1. Go to Settings > Staff Management from the main menu.
2. Click the Invite Staff Member button in the top right.
3. In the dialog that opens, enter the staff member’s Full Name. This is required.
4. Optionally enter a Display Name. This is the name customers see in messages. If you leave it blank, customers see their first name.
5. Enter their Email. The invitation is sent here, and it becomes their sign-in email.
6. Select a Role. The list shows the standard roles first (Manager, Service Advisor, Technician) and then any custom roles you have created, A to Z. Only an Owner sees the Owner role.
7. Click Send Invitation. A message confirms Invitation sent.
8. The staff member receives an invitation email. The link opens a page headed You have been invited, where they click Continue to set your password, then choose a password of at least 8 characters. See Sign in, accept an invitation and reset your password.

A Technician invited this way can be booked as an appointment’s technician straight away.

Viewing staff members

The staff table shows the following columns:

• Name - the staff member’s name.
• Email - their email address.
• Role - their assigned role (displayed as a badge). If a custom role is assigned, that name shows instead of the default role.
• Capabilities - shows a “Technician” badge if the staff member can work as a technician.
• Status - either Active (green) or Inactive (grey).
• Joined - the date they were added.
• Actions - Edit and activate/deactivate buttons (visible to Owners and Managers).

Use the Show inactive staff toggle at the top of the table to show or hide deactivated members. The toggle shows a count of inactive staff.

Editing a staff member

1. Click the Edit button next to the staff member’s row.
2. Update their name, role, or other settings in the dialog.
3. Save your changes.

Can work as Technician is locked on for the Technician role. For a custom role it starts unticked, and you decide. Tick it for people who work on cars: it lets them be booked as an appointment’s technician, open My Jobs and sign off jobs. Leave it unticked for office staff. If you set up custom roles before September 2026, check this box on each person, because earlier versions ticked it automatically.

Deactivating a staff member

1. Click the deactivate icon (person with minus) next to the staff member’s row. This is only available to Owners.
2. A confirmation dialog appears explaining that the staff member will no longer be able to sign in and will not appear in assignment dropdowns.
3. Click Deactivate to confirm.

Reactivating a staff member

1. Make sure the Show inactive staff toggle is on so you can see inactive members.
2. Click the activate icon (person with plus) next to the inactive staff member’s row.
3. Confirm in the dialog. The staff member can sign in again.

Expected Outcome

• The invited staff member receives an email and can set their password to access Torqueflow.
• They appear in the staff table with an Active status.
• Deactivated staff show as Inactive and cannot sign in, but their historical data is preserved.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
”Email already exists”	The email address already has a profile in your organisation.	Check the staff table, including inactive members, for the existing entry.
”This email is already registered with another garage. Each email address can only be used with one garage.”	The email is used by a different Torqueflow garage.	The staff member needs to use a different email address.
”Enter the staff member’s full name”	The Full Name box is empty.	Enter their name. It can be up to 100 characters. The display name can be up to 50.
”Permission denied”	Your role does not have the required capability.	Ask an Owner to send the invitation instead.
Staff member says they did not receive the email	The email went to spam, or the address was incorrect.	Click Edit on the staff member’s row and click Send Password Reset Email. For someone who has not yet signed in, this re-sends the invitation.
Staff member says the invitation link “has expired or was already used”	The link was used once already or ran out.	Click Edit on their row and click Send Password Reset Email to send a fresh link. Ask them to use it straight away.
A staff member signs in and sees “A card is needed before you can carry on”	The account is still waiting for the Owner to add a card.	The Owner signs in and adds a card from the card step or Settings > Billing. Everything opens up for staff straight away, and nothing they have done is lost.
”Kiosk devices are managed in Settings > Kiosk Devices, not here.”	You tried to give a staff member the Kiosk Device role.	Set up workshop tablets from Settings > Kiosk Devices instead.
”Select a role for this staff member before saving.”	The staff member has no role selected.	Pick a role, then save.
Cannot deactivate a staff member	Only Owners can deactivate staff. Owner accounts cannot be deactivated. You also cannot deactivate yourself.	Sign in as the Owner to deactivate other staff members.

Permissions

• Invite staff: requires settings.staff.invite capability.
• View staff list: requires settings.staff.manage capability.
• Edit staff details: requires settings.staff.manage capability.
• Deactivate/activate staff: requires settings.staff.toggle_active capability (Owners only).
• Reset password/re-invite: requires settings.staff.reset_password capability.