diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 119bbf7..62e3dcf 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -26,6 +26,5 @@ npm-debug.log*
 yarn-debug.log*
 yarn-error.log*
 
-# will be added upon deployment as it is located on separate repo. Will store user roles.
-#  see https://github.com/WATonomous/infra-config/tree/master/directory/users/data
-/backend/data
\ No newline at end of file
+# will be mounted on deployment. Will store user roles. For local development, create one in the shape specified in README.md
+/backend/user_directory.json
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 85e834c..82c350c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,7 +52,24 @@ cd backend
 nodemon start
 ```
 
-## Generating seeding data
+### Permissions
+
+Create a file `/backend/user_directory.json` that has the following shape. This will determine your approval levels. If for some reason you have multiple accounts, simply add more elements to the array.
+In the production environment this file is mounted automatically based on https://github.com/WATonomous/infra-config/tree/master/directory/users/data
+
+```
+[
+    {
+        finance_system: {
+        email: <YOUR_WATO_EMAIL>
+        enabled: true
+        membership: 'Administrator' | 'Member'
+        }
+    }
+ ]
+```
+
+### Generating seeding data
 
 To generate seed data, in the terminal in the backend directory, run:
 
diff --git a/backend/utils/getSheetData.js b/backend/utils/getSheetData.js
index c18d50a..1ddcfa2 100644
--- a/backend/utils/getSheetData.js
+++ b/backend/utils/getSheetData.js
@@ -1,31 +1,25 @@
 const fs = require('fs')
-const yaml = require('js-yaml')
-require('dotenv').config()
 
 const { updateGoogleGroups } = require('../service/googlegroup.service')
 
-const readUserGroups = async () => {
-    // check if ./data exists
-    if (!fs.existsSync('./data')) {
-        console.log('No user role data to be found.')
+const readUserGroupsv2 = async () => {
+    if (!fs.existsSync('./user_directory.json')) {
         return []
     }
-    const yamlFiles = await fs.promises.readdir('./data')
+    const data = JSON.parse(
+        await fs.promises.readFile('./user_directory.json', 'utf8')
+    )
     const userGroups = []
-    const promises = yamlFiles.map(async (yamlFile) => {
-        const doc = yaml.load(
-            await fs.promises.readFile(`./data/${yamlFile}`, 'utf8')
-        )
-        if (doc?.finance_system?.enabled) {
-            userGroups.push(doc.finance_system)
+    for (const userInfo of data) {
+        if (userInfo.finance_system?.enabled) {
+            userGroups.push(userInfo.finance_system)
         }
-    })
-    await Promise.all(promises)
+    }
     return userGroups
 }
 
 const updateGroup = async () => {
-    const users = await readUserGroups()
+    const users = await readUserGroupsv2()
     try {
         await updateGoogleGroups(users)
         console.log('Updated google groups')