Activity Messenger Help Center

Staff operations: schedules, timesheets, time off, approvals and payroll

This guide covers how a team is run day to day: building and publishing the staff schedule, tracking hours with timesheets and the timer, handling time-off requests, approving worked hours, and what payroll covers. For staff records and access, see Manage staff records and access, Staff profile and forms and Invite users and manage their access.

Several parts are optional modules. If a menu item or tab described here is missing, the module is not enabled for your organization. Contact Activity Messenger support and ask for it.

What is available and who turns it on

Without the staff schedule module, User management › Staff calendar opens the older Staff calendar instead of the staff schedule.

The switches live under Organization settings › Team & operations › Staff scheduling & management, in the Staff features section. They appear only once the staff schedule module is on, and you need permission to manage the organization. Turning the staff schedule module off also turns off timesheets, projects and time-off requests.

For a newly enabled staff schedule, Timesheets starts off. Organizations that had timesheets before keep them on.

Create and assign shifts

Open User management › Staff schedule. Administrators with the Account owner, Organization owner, Human Resources or Administrator permission see the User management menu. The page has two sections: Schedule and Hours & payroll. The Schedule section has these tabs, each shown only when it applies:

• Staff availabilities: the weekly view of who is available. It opens by default.
• Schedule: classes, bookings and shifts for the week or day. You need permission to view schedules.
• Shifts: the list of shifts. Same permission.
• Time Off: shown when time-off requests are on.

Create shifts

1. On the Shifts tab, click New shift. On the Schedule and Staff availabilities tabs, the Shifts button opens the same window, titled Bulk create shifts.
2. To create shifts that nobody holds yet, turn on Create unassigned shifts. Otherwise choose the staff under Create shifts for selected staff.
3. Optionally enter a Name. Leave it empty to use the shift type name. Choose a Shift type (a booking type) and a Description. With staff management on, choose each person's Roles.
4. Choose Show shift schedule, then add the dates. Each row has a Date, a Start time and either a Duration or an End time. Switch between Start + duration and Start and end time. If the end is before the start, the shift ends the next day.
5. Click + Row for one more date, or + Recurrence to repeat the shift weekly. Recurrence is weekly only: choose a start date, the weekdays and an end (a number of weeks or a date). Organization holidays are skipped.
6. Click Save.

If a selected person already has another shift, a class, a booking or an unavailable period at that time, the window warns This shift conflicts with another shift, class, booking, or unavailable period. You can still save. Split shift around conflicts cuts the shift into blocks around the conflicts.

To change a shift later, open it from the Shifts tab with Manage. Name, description and booking type apply to every occurrence. You can add or delete rows, use Edit recurring patterns to change many occurrences at once, Copy the whole series to a new first date (turn on Copy assigned staff to keep the people), or Delete the series. Deleting a series removes every occurrence and its staff assignments.

Assign staff

Click an event on the Schedule tab.

• A shift opens Edit shift. Under Staff positions choose a role and a person for each row. Use Apply changes to to update This occurrence, Selected occurrences, All occurrences, or Replace staff.
• A class or booking opens Staffing. Set Number of staff needed, or add a position with a role and no person to create an open role. Open roles and missing staff show on the calendar as staff missing.
• To assign one person to many events, click Assign a staff member. Pick the person, tick the shifts, classes or bookings, and click Save assignments. Only show role-compatible events is a filter only. Administrators can assign staff to any event.

Under each person the window shows Assigned hours for the day and week, before and after saving.

Availability and conflicts

Staff set when they can work in Recurring availability (weekly time slots between two dates) and Single events and unavailabilities (one-off Available or Not available periods with a note). Managers open a person's availability with the pencil on their row in Staff availabilities. Staff open their own from Add availabilities.

On the Schedule tab, events carry these flags:

• Unavailable: an assigned person has no availability covering the event.
• Conflict: an assigned person has another overlapping assignment, or the event still has missing required staff or open roles.
• Unpublished: staff cannot see the event yet.

Filter with Only show conflicts, Without staff and Required staff. Only show available staff narrows the pickers when you assign.

Conflicts warn but do not stop you from assigning someone. One thing they do block: More › Send schedule stays disabled on the Schedule tab until the displayed range has no conflicts and is published.

Who can edit whose availability depends on access. A staff member with Can modify their availability schedule edits their own. Can modify other staff schedule lets a manager edit others and publish. With the user hierarchy on, an administrator can set View schedules and Edit schedules per level under Hierarchy › Access permissions, using No other staff, Staff below them, All staff or Existing permissions.

Publish the schedule and notify staff

By default, schedule changes are visible to staff immediately. To keep changes private until you are ready, use the Schedule visibility settings button on the Schedule tab.

1. Choose Publish the schedule by date range.
2. Choose Publish schedule or Unpublish schedule, then Apply from a date onward or a Schedule date range.
3. To send the schedule at the same time, keep Send the schedule to staff when publishing, choose the staff, and tick Send schedule by sms and Send schedule by email.
4. Confirm. Unpublish schedule hides the dates without deleting events.

You can also publish Class-specific publishing ranges, and publish or unpublish one event from its window with Publish event and Unpublish event. With date-range publishing, past dates stay visible and future dates stay hidden until you publish them. Staff, their calendar feed and their reminders only ever include published events. Managers see unpublished events marked Unpublished. Choosing Always publish schedule changes makes every change visible again.

To send a schedule yourself, open More › Send schedule, choose the dates and the staff, and click Send. Each person receives an SMS, an email, or both. The email has the subject Your schedule is available, a View Schedule link and, if you tick Include assigned event dates in email, the list of their published events. There is no attachment. The link opens their Schedule page.

Under Staff schedule notifications on the same settings tab you can also turn on:

• Booking reminders, Class reminders and Shift reminders, each with Send reminder before (minutes, hours or days) and email or SMS. They are off by default.
• Notify staff when their schedule changes. Off by default. Staff get one summary after Wait before sending the summary (minutes) (5 by default) with no further changes. It covers published events they were assigned to, removed from or whose time changed.

What staff see

Staff see three places.

The client portal. A staff member who is connected to the portal sees extra tabs marked Staff: Roles, Qualifications and Contracts. Under My account they also get My schedule and My worked hours. My schedule shows their own classes, bookings, shifts and availability for a week, with Edit availabilities. My worked hours shows hours for a date range. These need staff management or the staff schedule module, a staff resource for the person, and the staff to be a user of your organization. The portal has no timer, timesheets, time-off requests or approvals.

The Schedule page. Staff who sign in to Activity Messenger open the user menu and choose Schedule. It has these tabs: Schedule, Worked hours, Worked hours approvals (if enabled), Timesheets (if on) and Time Off (if on). Staff only see their own information.

Messages. Reminders, schedule-change summaries and schedules you send, as described above.

Track time with timesheets and the timer

Timesheets record work that is not already on a class, booking or shift, such as admin or planning time. Staff open Schedule › Timesheets. Managers open User management › Staff schedule › Hours & payroll › Timesheets.

Submit a timesheet

1. Click Submit timesheet.
2. For each row choose the Date, enter a Task (required) and a Note (optional). Choose a Project if projects are on and a Staff role if staff management is on.
3. Enter the time as a duration, or turn on Enter start and end times. A duration is between 1 minute and 24 hours.
4. Click the submit button, which shows the number of entries.

Every new or edited entry is Submitted. A manager changes it to Approved or Rejected. Staff can edit or delete their own entries until they are approved. Editing a rejected entry submits it again. Only a manager can change an approved entry, and the entry then returns to Submitted. Only approved timesheets count in worked hours and compensation reports.

A manager with permission can enter time for someone else with the staff picker, and approve with Approve, Reject, or Approve selected for many entries at once. Activity Messenger does not send a notification when an entry is submitted, approved or rejected.

The timer

The Time tracker card tracks one task at a time. Enter a Task, optionally a project and role, and click Start timer. The timer runs on the server, so it survives a refresh. While it runs, a Timer running indicator with the elapsed time sits at the bottom right of every page and links back to the timesheets. Show in the interface hides it on that device.

Click Stop and review to check the start time, end time and note. Resume timer continues without counting the pause. Submit time entry creates a submitted timesheet. Discard deletes the timer. After 12 hours a warning asks you to verify the times. An entry is at most 24 hours.

Projects

With Timesheet projects on, staff can attach a project to an entry or the timer. It is optional. Administrators (Account owner, Organization owner, Human Resources or Administrator) click Manage projects to create, edit, archive and restore projects. Archived projects stay on old entries but cannot be chosen again. The Hours by project chart compares approved and submitted hours.

Request and approve time off

With Time Off Requests on, staff open Schedule › Time Off and click Request Time Off.

1. Choose a Request Type: Vacation, Sick Leave, Personal, Unpaid Leave or Other.
2. Choose the start and end dates. Keep Full day or choose start and end times.
3. Optionally enter a Reason, then click Submit.

The request is Pending. Staff can edit it while it is pending and delete it while it is pending or denied. If the organization uses the user hierarchy, the person's manager is notified by email or SMS.

Approvers open User management › Staff schedule › Time Off. A red count on the tab shows pending requests. They can Approve or Deny (a Denial reason is required). On confirming they choose whether to Send by email (on) or Send by text message (off). An approved request can be denied or cancelled with Cancel leave.

If the person has classes, bookings or shifts in the period, approving opens the replacement window. Choose a replacement for each assignment, or click Approve without assigning. Approval adds an unavailable period to the person's availability, and denying or cancelling removes it. Who's off lists approved leave for the dates you choose.

Who can approve depends on Approve time off. Account owners, Organization owners and Human Resources users always can. Others need Can modify other staff schedule, or a hierarchy setting of Staff below them or All staff. A plain Administrator cannot approve unless one of these applies.

Worked hours and approvals

Worked hours are the hours staff are credited with in a period. They are built from classes, bookings, shifts, approved timesheets and payroll adjustments. Hours from classes and bookings count when staff are checked in or assigned as a resource. Staff assigned only through a class's Permissions count if you turn on Include staff assigned through Permissions.

Managers open Reports › Financial reports › Worked hours. Click Options to choose how hours are counted:

• Staff must be in to consider worked hours
• Include preparation time
• Include staff assigned through Permissions
• Use instructor check-in/check-out times
• Only show missing roles or rates (with staff management)

Under Staff features and Worked hours report defaults in the organization settings you choose the starting values. Staff see their own hours in Schedule › Worked hours.

Approve hours

Turn on Require staff to approve worked hours in the same settings tab. You choose an Approval request method (Manual, Automatic or Both, the default) and, for automatic requests, a Report frequency (Daily, Weekly, Every two weeks or Monthly), delivery day and time. Weekly on Monday at 8:00 is the default.

1. For a manual request, open Hours & payroll › Worked hours approvals, click Send approval request, choose staff and a period, and click Send request. Automatic reports are created on the schedule you set.
2. Each person receives an email, Please review your worked hours, and a red badge on the Worked hours approvals tab.
3. Staff open the report. They click Approve worked hours, or Deny and edit, change the hours per entry, and click Submit change request.
4. For a change request, a manager enters New value from admin and clicks Approve and create adjustments or Request changes again. Approving creates a payroll adjustment for each change.

Statuses are Pending, Approved, Changes requested, Changes approved and Changes required. A manager cannot approve a pending report for the staff member. Only checked-in hours are included in approval reports.

Turn on Only count approved hours in worked-hours reports to make reports and exports use only approved hours. By default, all computed hours are counted.

Payroll adjustments

Hours & payroll › Payroll adjustments holds manual additions or deductions, as hours or a flat amount, with a date and a note. They appear as Adjustment lines in worked hours.

Payroll and exports

There are two different things called payroll.

Worked hours and compensation. In Reports › Financial reports › Worked hours, click Download to Excel to export the staff hours. Choose the dates, the staff, and one tab or one tab per person. With staff management the file also has role, hourly rate and pay columns. This is the export to use for hours-based pay.

The Staff payroll page. With the payroll module on, User management › Staff payroll pays coaches from paid private lessons. It does not use timesheets, shifts or worked hours.

1. Click +. Choose the Type (Self-employed or Employee), the From and To dates and the Funds available date.
2. Open the period and click Generate from private lessons. Only fully paid lessons that are not on another payroll are included.
3. Review each person's net amount. You can Move a slip to another period or Remove it with a reason.
4. Set the status to Processed when done. Log shows the history.

Exports on a period are an Excel file and, for self-employed periods, an AFT bank file (a text file for automated funds transfer). Both include only slips with a bank account. Report downloads processed periods. Banking details come from the staff form chosen under Automated Funds Transfer (Canada), which the Settings button on the page opens. The AFT file needs the settings there completed. Opening the page needs payroll access (Account owner, Organization owner, Human Resources or Accountant).

Settings reference

Common questions

Why can't I see Staff schedule, Timesheets or Time Off? They need modules that support enables, and some need a switch in your organization settings. See the table at the top. The User management menu itself is for Account owner, Organization owner, Human Resources and Administrator users.

Does a conflict stop me from assigning someone? No. Activity Messenger flags Conflict, Unavailable and Role mismatch, but you can still save. A conflict does block Send schedule on the Schedule tab.

Why can't staff see the shifts I created? Date-range publishing may be on and those dates unpublished. Check Schedule visibility settings. Events marked Unpublished are hidden from staff.

What do staff receive when I send the schedule? An SMS with a link, an email with a View Schedule link, or both. The email can list their assigned events. No file is attached.

Why do my timesheet hours not appear in worked hours? Only approved timesheets count. Open Hours & payroll › Timesheets and approve the entries.

Can a manager approve worked hours for the staff member? No. The staff member approves or asks for changes. A manager then reviews a change request.

Does staff payroll use timesheets or worked hours? No. The Staff payroll page is generated from paid private lessons only. Use the worked hours Excel export for hours-based pay.

Who can see Staff payroll? The menu item needs the payroll module. Opening the page needs payroll access: Account owner, Organization owner, Human Resources or Accountant.

Can staff use the timer in the client portal? No. The timer, timesheets, time off and approvals are on the staff Schedule page after signing in to Activity Messenger.

Does an approved time-off request move the person's classes? No. The approver chooses replacements for each assignment, or approves without assigning.

Related guides

• Manage staff records and access
• Staff calendar
• Staff profile and forms
• Invite users and manage their access
• Calendar colours and views