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Control Panel

Overview

The Control Panel (/control_panel/Control_panel_controller) is SARA's system administration screen. It centralizes all platform-level configuration: the navigation structure, user permissions and profiles, company settings, and the catalogs that back the rest of the ERP.

The Control Panel is not a typical SARA module — it does not use the standard permission system. Access is controlled by a dedicated session flag (control_panel) set when a user logs in. Only users whose profile has this flag enabled can reach the Control Panel.

Admin-only screen

Changes made in the Control Panel affect the entire SARA platform for all users. Mistakes in navigation structure or permissions can disrupt access to modules. Operate with care and coordinate changes with your system administrator.

Layout

The screen uses a two-column layout:

  • Left column — a scrollable list of section cards. Each card shows a section name and its sub-items. Clicking a card loads that section's content in the right panel. The active section is highlighted in blue.
  • Right column — the content area. Loads dynamically when a section card is selected. Each section renders its own tables, forms, and action buttons.

Sections

Manages the structure of SARA's left-side navigation menu. Changes here affect what appears in the menu for all users.

The section renders as an accordion with four collapsible panels:

  • Module — top-level groupings in the menu (e.g., "Human Resources", "Finance"). Create, rename, or delete modules. Deleting a module removes it from the menu.
  • Menu — groups within a module (e.g., "Personnel Management" inside HR). Create, rename, or delete menus.
  • Submenu — items within a menu. Each submenu belongs to a menu. Create, rename, or delete submenus.
  • Transaction — the actual clickable links in the menu. Each transaction has a name, a URL, and belongs to a submenu and module. Create, edit, or delete transactions.

Each panel has a Logs button to review the audit history of changes.

Warning

Deleting a transaction removes it from the menu permanently. Linked permissions still exist in the database but will no longer correspond to a visible menu item.

Customize welcome

Controls what users see on the SARA home screen.

  • Welcome carousel — the image slideshow displayed on the home page. Upload new images (JPG/PNG), drag to reorder, or delete images. Changes take effect immediately.
  • Welcome news — short news items displayed below the carousel. Create a news entry with a title and body text, or delete existing items.
  • Change logo — upload a new company logo file. The logo appears in the top-left navigation bar across all SARA screens.

Permissions

Manages the role-based access control system. This section has four sub-items:

  • Permissions — the atomic access labels tied to transactions (e.g., view, edit, approve). Create, edit, or delete permission entries. Each permission is linked to a specific transaction and has a label string that matches the in_array("label", $permissions) checks in the code. View which collaborators currently hold each permission via the "Assigned to" modal.
  • Budget permissions — permission entries specifically governing access to budget-related actions. Managed separately from general permissions.
  • Profiles — named bundles of permissions (e.g., "Purchasing Manager", "HR Admin"). Create or edit profiles. Activate or deactivate profiles — deactivating a profile immediately removes all its permissions from assigned collaborators. Assign permissions to a profile using the permission profile modal.
  • Profile grants — assign collaborators to profiles. A collaborator can belong to multiple profiles; their effective permissions are the union of all assigned profiles.

How permissions work

When a collaborator logs in, SARA loads the union of all permissions from their active profiles. Permission labels are checked in controllers and views as in_array("label", $permissions). For a full explanation of the permission model, see: Permissions & Access

Collaborator documents

Configures the document type catalog used in the Collaborators module.

  • Document types — the catalog of file categories that collaborators must upload (e.g., ID, tax certificate, contract). Each type has a name, a general_access flag (controls visibility), and activate/deactivate behavior. These types drive the Documents section in each collaborator's profile.

Suppliers

Configuration for the Suppliers module and procurement intake.

  • Supplier classification — the catalog of supplier classifications (e.g., "Manufacturer", "Distributor"). Classifications are assigned when creating or editing a supplier. Activate or deactivate classifications.
  • Supplier documents — the catalog of compliance documents that suppliers must submit (e.g., tax certificate, incorporation deed). Each document type has a name and status. These drive the Documents section in the Suppliers module.
  • Shipping companies — the catalog of shipping/logistics carriers available for selection in purchase orders. Create, edit, activate, or deactivate carriers.

Internal companies

The most complex section. Configures each legal entity operating within SARA and its associated rules.

  • Internal company — the master list of internal companies. Each company record has: name, RFC/tax ID, address, contact info, currency, and logo. Settings include:
    • Project information — default project node structure for this company (used in budget assignment in the Quotes module).
    • Purchase orders — PO-specific settings: payment terms, default currency, and PO template preferences.
    • Address — registered addresses for the company, used on PO documents and invoices.
    • Vacation rules — defines the annual leave entitlement schedule (how many days are granted per year of seniority). These rules drive the Vacations module calculations.
    • Holidays — the company's official holiday calendar. Add, edit, or delete holiday entries by date and name. Holidays are excluded from working-day calculations across modules.

Note

Each internal company has its own vacation rules and holiday calendar. Collaborators accrue vacation based on the rules of the company they belong to.

Finance settings

Catalogs used in financial transactions across SARA.

  • Taxes — the catalog of applicable tax rates (e.g., IVA 16%, IVA 0%). Each tax has a name, rate, and status. Used in purchase orders and supplier transactions.
  • Withholdings — the catalog of tax withholding rates applied to supplier payments. Create, edit, activate, or deactivate withholding entries.
  • Refunds — the catalog of refund categories used in the Refunds and Travel Expenses modules (e.g., "Meals", "Transport", "Hotel"). Create, edit, activate, or deactivate categories.
  • Delivery address — the catalog of company delivery addresses available for selection in requisitions and purchase orders. Create, edit, activate, or deactivate addresses.

Projects

Catalogs used in project configuration and the Quotes module's dynamic quotation engine.

  • Robots catalog — the list of robot models available for selection in project specifications. Create, edit, activate, or deactivate entries.
  • PLC catalog — the list of PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) models. Same lifecycle as robots.
  • Standards catalog — the list of technical standards (e.g., ISO, NFPA) applicable to projects. Create, edit, activate, or deactivate.
  • Project types — the catalog of project type classifications (e.g., "Integration", "Retrofit", "Consulting"). Used in project records and the quotation engine.

Additionally, this section contains the Nodes administration sub-panel for managing the hierarchical budget node structure used in project cost assignment (nodes → budget lines → items). This feeds the dynamic quotation engine and project cost centers.

Requisition settings

  • Priority time — defines the maximum response time (in working hours) for high-priority requisitions. When a collaborator marks a requisition as high priority, purchasing team members must review it within this window before the countdown turns red. Edit the threshold directly from this panel.

Access

Access to the Control Panel is granted via a dedicated session flag — not through the standard module permissions system. The flag is set at login based on the user's profile configuration.

To grant a collaborator access to the Control Panel, a system administrator must enable the control_panel flag on that collaborator's profile. This is done outside of the Permissions section (which manages module-level access for regular features).

Warning

The control_panel flag grants access to the entire Control Panel. There is no per-section restriction — a user either has full access or none.

Logs

Every create, update, delete, activate, and deactivate action in the Control Panel is logged. Most sections have a Logs button that opens a timeline of changes for that area, showing the collaborator who made each change, the timestamp, and the action taken.

For general log behavior, see: Logs & History