Use this article when you are setting up a new tenant and need to decide which users get which role. After this you will know which Estimator surface each role can open, where roles are administered, and how the test-customer pattern keeps practice quotes off real customers.

Access to GelatoConnect Estimator is controlled by GelatoConnect user accounts and roles. A user signs in once with their GelatoConnect credentials and sees only the Estimator surfaces their role grants. Roles are not configured per estimate, per customer, or per quote — they apply tenant-wide.

The two role names commonly used in implementations are MIS Admin and MIS User. MIS Admin can open every Estimator surface, including Estimate Setup, Estimates analytics, and exports. MIS User can create, edit, calculate, and send quotes from Manage estimates but cannot open Estimate Setup or change configuration. Earlier onboarding material sometimes referred to MIS Manager — confirm the exact role label on your tenant before assigning.

Onboarding work uses a test customer so practice estimates do not touch live customer pricing. The test customer is a normal customer record with estimation enabled, named so it is obvious it is for training. New estimators run their first quotes against this record before ever quoting a real account.

Northgate Press is onboarding three users: Anna (head of estimation), Ben (estimator), and Clara (sales support).

The admin opens GelatoConnect's user management area and assigns Anna the MIS Admin role — she will configure substrates, machines, and pricing rules. Anna signs in and sees both Manage estimates and Estimate Setup in the sidebar; she can open every section under Estimate Setup and review Pending Changes.

Ben gets the MIS User role. He signs in and sees Manage estimates but no Estimate Setup link in the sidebar. He can open existing quotes, run Calculate, change quote fields, and send quote letters. When he tries the URL for Estimate Setup directly, GelatoConnect routes him back to the area his role permits.

Clara, who only needs to see quote totals to follow up with customers, gets a read-only variant of MIS User. She sees Manage estimates but cannot edit a quote — the Calculate and edit controls are disabled for her.

The admin creates a test customer named Internal Test — Estimator Training, opens the customer record's Jobs and Estimations section, and enables the Estimation Process toggle. Anna, Ben, and Clara now all see this customer in the Create new estimate customer picker and run their early practice quotes against it.