---
title: "Roles in Toggl: estimate, staff and track by role"
description: "How roles work in Toggl: create roles, give members a workspace role, estimate and staff projects by role, track time by role and see hours by role in the Summary report, with plan availability."
---
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# Roles in Toggl: estimate, staff and track by role
## This guide covers how roles work in Toggl: create roles, give members a workspace role, estimate and staff projects by role, track time by role and see hours by role in the Summary report, with plan availability.
Roles describe the kind of work people do, for example Designer, Developer or PM. Once your workspace has roles, you can estimate a project by role, staff people into each role, have tracked time recorded with the right role automatically, and see hours by role in the Summary report.
This guide walks through the whole flow, from creating roles to reporting on them. Each step links to the page-by-page guide with more detail.
### Roles, access levels and team roles
Toggl uses the word "role" in a few places. They are separate things:
| Term | What it is | Where it's set |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Role** (this guide) | The work someone does, for example Designer or Developer. Used for estimates, staffing, time tracking and reports. A role doesn't change what anyone can see or do in Toggl. | Members → **Roles** tab |
| **Access level** | What someone can see and do in Toggl, for example Admin, Manager or Member. This used to be called "Role". | Members → People tab, **Access** column. See [Access levels in Toggl](https://docs.toggl.com/user-roles-in-toggl?hsLang=en). |
| **Team role** | Team lead or Team member within a team. | Members → Teams tab. See [Overview of the Teams page](https://docs.toggl.com/overview-of-the-teams-page?hsLang=en). |
Workspace roles and project roles
- **Workspace role:** the role a member holds across the workspace. Each member holds one workspace role. Their tracked time is recorded with it automatically.
- **Project roles:** the roles a project needs. You add roles to a project, set an estimate for each one and staff people into them. One person can hold several roles on the same project.
### Which plan you need
| What you can do | Free | Starter | Premium and Enterprise | Starter with the Capacity Management Add-on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Create roles and give each member a workspace role | — | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Time recorded with the workspace role | — | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hours by role in the Summary report | — | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Project roles: estimate a project by role, staff by role, track time by project role | — | — | Yes | Yes |
Premium and Enterprise already include project roles, so you don't need the add-on for them. Either one is enough. See [Capacity Management Add-on](https://docs.toggl.com/capacity-management-add-on?hsLang=en).
### Who can set up roles
Roles follow the same access as teams. Access levels that can view teams can see roles. Access levels that can manage teams can create, rename and delete roles and assign them to members. See [Access levels in Toggl](https://docs.toggl.com/user-roles-in-toggl?hsLang=en).
#### Step 1: Create roles
1. Open **Members** in the sidebar and select the **Roles** tab.
2. Click **New Role**.
3. Enter a name, for example Designer, and click **Create role**.
Repeat for each role your team works in. You can rename or delete a role from the Roles tab later.
You can also create a role while estimating a project: use **Create role** in the roles picker (see Step 3).
#### Step 2: Give members their workspace role
Pick one of these:
- **From the Roles tab:** add members to the role. You can also remove a member from a role here.
- **From the People tab:** click a member's cell in the **Role** column and choose a role.
- **From the member's details page:** set the **Role** field.
Each member holds one workspace role. Members without one show "None" in the Role column. See [Overview of the Members page](https://docs.toggl.com/overview-of-the-members-page?hsLang=en).
#### Step 3: Estimate a project by role
*Premium and Enterprise, or with the Capacity Management Add-on.*
1. Open the project's **Overview**.
2. Set the estimate source to **Roles**. The project estimate is then summed from the role estimates.
3. Click **Add roles** and pick the roles the project needs. If a role doesn't exist yet and you can manage roles, use **Create role** in the picker.
4. Set hours for each role, for example 40h for Designer and 120h for Developer.
The role estimates add up to the project total, shown as "From roles (160h)" in this example. The other estimate sources are Manual and Tasks. See [Setting up and monitoring projects](https://docs.toggl.com/setting-up-and-monitoring-a-project?hsLang=en).
**Recurring projects:** when a recurring project is estimated by role, each period's estimate is the total of the role estimates. Role estimates are managed in the project overview, and member and role changes apply to all periods. See [Recurring projects](https://docs.toggl.com/set-up-a-recurring-project-in-toggl-2-0?hsLang=en).
#### Step 4: Staff the project by role
*Premium and Enterprise, or with the Capacity Management Add-on.*
- On the project's Overview, add people to each role. Project members are grouped by role.
- One person can hold several roles on the same project.
- People already on the project bring their workspace role with them.
- Members who don't hold a role on the project are listed under **No roles**.
- To take someone off a role but keep them on the project, use **Remove from role**. Removing someone from the project also removes them from every role they hold on it.
#### Step 5: Track time by role
People don't need to do anything to record their role. It's filled in for them.
- Time is recorded with the member's workspace role (Starter and above).
- On a project estimated by role, a **Role** chip appears next to the project when you track time on it, with your project role filled in.
- If you hold more than one role on that project, click the chip to pick the role. You can do this in the timer, the calendar, the list and the timesheet.
- Time tracked before roles were set up shows as **Without role**.
See [Time tracking in Toggl](https://docs.toggl.com/time-tracking-in-toggl-2-0?hsLang=en) and [Using the Timesheet view](https://docs.toggl.com/using-the-timesheet-view?hsLang=en).
#### Step 6: See hours by role in the Summary report
1. Open the **Summary** report.
2. In the breakdown, choose **Role**, on its own or together with project, member or task.
Time tracked before roles were set up is grouped as Without role. Exports follow the same breakdown. Hours by role are available on Starter and above. See [Summary report](https://docs.toggl.com/summary-report-in-toggl?hsLang=en).
### FAQ
**Does giving someone a role change what they can access?**
No. Roles describe the work. What someone can see and do is set by their access level.
**Can one person have more than one role?**
A member holds one workspace role, but can hold several roles on the same project. When they track time on that project, they pick which role the time belongs to.
**I'm on Premium. Do I need the Capacity Management Add-on for project roles?**
No. Premium and Enterprise include project roles. On Starter, the add-on unlocks them.
**What happens to time tracked before we set up roles?**
It stays as it is and shows as Without role in reports.
**I can't see the Roles tab.**
The Roles tab follows the same access as teams. If your access level can't view teams, you won't see it. Ask an Admin.
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