Glossary
LEXICON / TERMAn access-control model where permissions are granted to roles rather than individual users, and users gain permissions by being assigned to a role.
RBAC (role-based access control) is an access-control model where permissions are attached to roles (e.g. "Sales Approver," "Payroll Preparer") rather than to individual user accounts, and a user gains those permissions by being assigned the role.
Managing access at the role level, not per-user, is what makes access reviews and audits actually tractable at scale — an auditor can review 12 role definitions instead of every individual user's ad hoc permission grants.
A well-implemented RBAC system typically supports scoping a role assignment to a specific part of the organisation (a company, branch, or department) and time-bounding it with a start and expiry date, so temporary access doesn't become permanent by accident.
A contractor is granted a scoped role limited to one branch, with an expiry date matching their engagement end — their access is automatically no longer valid after that date, without anyone having to remember to revoke it.
Vercentlabs seeds roughly 12 roles at organisation bootstrap, and role assignments can be scoped to specific companies, branches, or departments and carry a start and expiry date — a contractor or auditor's access doesn't outlive the engagement.
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