HSA Verse
Staff roles, permissions and accountability
Why accountability matters in pharmacy inventory
Most stock problems are process problems. If everyone shares one login, nobody can say who changed an expiry date, who wrote off a carton or who accepted a return. That makes it hard to correct mistakes and impossible to learn from them. Clear roles protect the pharmacy, and they also protect honest staff from being blamed for errors they did not make.
Define roles before you configure any software
| Role | Typical inventory responsibilities | Should not act alone on |
|---|---|---|
| Owner or manager | Sets policy, approves high-value orders and write-offs, reviews reports | Day-to-day receiving of stock they also order and pay for |
| Responsible pharmacist or qualified person | Oversees quality checks, expiry reviews, returns and recall response, according to your licence arrangements | Large purchases or price changes without the owner’s agreement, if your policy requires it |
| Purchasing staff | Raises purchase orders, follows up supplier credit notes | Receiving the same delivery and approving payment |
| Receiving or store staff | Checks deliveries, records batch and expiry, shelves stock by FEFO, processes transfers | Editing batch or expiry data after receiving, or approving write-offs |
| Counter or sales staff | Sells stock, scans products, flags damaged or near-expiry packs | Changing stock quantities, prices or expiry data |
| Accounts staff | Matches invoices, credit notes and payments to purchase records | Changing stock records |
Which activities must be performed or supervised by a qualified person depends on your licence and applicable requirements. Confirm this with the relevant authority and your compliance adviser.
A sample permission matrix
The table below is a starting point, not a legal requirement. Adapt it to your staff size. In a small pharmacy one person may hold several roles, but the approval for sensitive actions should still be recorded.
| Action | Counter staff | Store staff | Purchasing | Pharmacist / manager | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sell medicines at the counter | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Enter batch and expiry at receiving | No | Yes | No | Verify | View |
| Create a purchase order | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Approve orders above the set limit | No | No | No | Approve | Approve |
| Change batch or expiry after receiving | No | No | No | Approve | View |
| Transfer stock between locations | No | Yes | No | Approve | View |
| Approve write-offs | No | No | No | Approve | Approve |
| Accept a customer return back into stock | No | No | No | Approve | View |
| View purchase cost and margin | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Change selling prices | No | No | No | Approve | Approve |
| Export reports | No | No | View | Yes | Yes |
Key: Yes = can do; Approve = can authorise; Verify = checks another person’s entry; View = read-only; No = not permitted.
Core accountability rules
- One person, one login. Never share passwords. Disable a staff member’s access on the day they leave.
- Least access. Give each person only the access their job needs. Counter staff rarely need to see purchase costs or change stock quantities.
- Split duties. The person who orders stock should not be the only person who receives it and approves payment.
- Corrections need a reason. If a batch or expiry date is wrong, correct it with a written reason and an approver, rather than silently overwriting it.
- Review adjustments weekly. A manager should look at stock adjustments, write-offs and returns every week, not only at year end.
Example: write-off approval limits in PKR
A pharmacy might agree that a write-off of up to PKR 2,000 can be approved by the pharmacist on duty. A write-off between PKR 2,001 and PKR 10,000 needs the manager, and anything above PKR 10,000 needs the owner. These limits are only an illustration. Choose figures that match your stock value, and record the approver’s name and the reason on every write-off.
Make accountability a daily habit
Use a short end-of-day routine: the counter lead confirms damaged or near-expiry packs were reported, the store lead confirms that new batches were recorded, and the manager signs off any adjustment. Ten minutes a day is usually enough to catch errors while people still remember what happened.
What to confirm with Dukanverse
Dukanverse gives every staff member their own login with role-based permissions, and staff can be tied to their own branch. Approval workflows for write-offs, refunds and stock adjustments, and an audit log of who changed what and when, are part of the Enterprise plan.
Frequently asked questions
Who should approve stock write-offs?
Set this in your written policy. Many pharmacies use the responsible pharmacist or manager for routine write-offs and the owner for high-value ones. Confirm what your licence arrangements require.