How to use ShiftThru

Start here

Getting started

Four steps from sign-up to your first clock-in. Most businesses finish in about 15 minutes.

Set up your business

1. Go to app.shiftthru.com/manager and create an account with your email and a password (at least 8 characters).
2. Enter your business name, pick your type of business, and keep or edit the suggested departments.
3. You land on Getting started. It shows your business code. Staff need this code to sign in to the staff app.

The four steps

1. Add your people in Team. One at a time, or many at once from a spreadsheet (see Team).
2. Give each person a 4-digit PIN. They use their Employee ID and PIN at the time clock.
3. Set up a time clock on a tablet or computer at work (see Kiosks & face scan).
4. Make a schedule and publish it, so staff see their shifts (see Schedule).

Every day

Live board

Who is working right now, who is on break, who is late, and what today is costing you. It updates by itself, so you can leave it open.

How to read it

Clocked in

Everyone working now, grouped by department, with how long they've been on the clock.

On break

People who started a break at the kiosk, and how long it has run.

Late / no-show

Someone whose published shift started (plus your grace minutes) with no clock-in yet.

Missed clock-out

A punch left open from an earlier day. Click Add the clock-out time to fix it.

Long shift

Someone past your long-shift warning (set in Settings), so overtime doesn't sneak up on you.

Leaking now

Money being spent right now that wasn't planned: people clocked in early, staying past their shift, or working with no shift scheduled.

Yesterday

One card that sums up yesterday, including shifts that ran past midnight.

How to use it

1. Use All departments at the top to look at one department.
2. Click a person to see today's punches and their shift.
3. Fix anything flagged red the same day. It's much easier than at payroll time.

Every day

Team

Your roster: add people, set PINs, departments, pay, access and availability. The Scorecard tab shows how reliable each person has been.

Add a person

1. Click + Add person.
2. Fill in Full name and Department. The Employee ID is created for you (for example CLI001). This is what they type at the kiosk.
3. Payroll ID is optional. It's their number at your payroll company (like 75), so your accountant can match them. Leave it empty if you don't have one.
4. Pick Access: Employee, Team lead, Department manager, General manager or Owner.
5. Set Gets tips to Yes only for people who receive tips. This turns on the Daily tips page.
6. Choose Pay type and Pay amount, then click Add person.
7. Set their 4-digit PIN on the next screen, and tell them their Employee ID and PIN.

Add many people at once

1. Click the import button on the Team page.
2. Upload a CSV file, or copy the cells from Excel or Google Sheets and paste them. The first row should be headings (name, department, ID, email, phone, pay type, pay).
3. Check the preview, then import.

Change someone

1. Click their name to open the edit panel.
2. Change what you need: department, pay, access, hire date, extra jobs, special requests, availability.
3. Click Save changes. Pay and access changes are recorded in the Activity log.

Extra jobs, special requests and availability

Jobs

If someone also works in another department, add a job there, with its own rate if it pays differently.

Special requests

Standing rules like "no Sundays" or "25 hours max". The schedule warns you before you break one marked Must.

Availability

When they can work each day. The schedule greys them out on days they can't, and Fill skips them.

Someone leaves

1. Open their edit panel and turn them inactive (deactivate).
2. They can't clock in any more. Their hours and pay history stay for your records.
3. If they used face scan, their face data is destroyed automatically.

Reset a PIN

Open the person and set a new 4-digit PIN. If someone is locked out after too many wrong tries, a new PIN unlocks them.

Scorecard

Switch to the Scorecard tab to see, for each person, on-time clock-ins, no-shows, missed clock-outs and hours against schedule for the period. Approved time off and sick days never lower a score.

Every day

Timesheets

Every clock-in, clock-out and break for the pay period. Fix mistakes here and approve hours before payroll.

Review and approve

1. Pick the pay period at the top. It follows your pay schedule from Settings.
2. Start with Needs review: missed clock-outs, very long shifts, punches far from the schedule.
3. Fix each one (see below), then click Approve all without issues.
4. If you use department managers, they approve first (Dept ✓), then the GM or owner gives the final approval.

Fix a punch

1. Click the person, then the day.
2. Add or change the clock-in, clock-out or break time.
3. Type a reason. It's required, and every change is kept in the Activity log with who made it.

Add a missed day

If someone worked but never clocked in, open their row and add the time for that day, with a reason.

Every day

Schedule

Build the week, see coverage against what each department needs, and publish it to staff.

Make a week

1. Open Schedule and go to the week you want.
2. Click a day in a person's row to add a shift (start, end, department, note).
3. Save shifts you use often as Shift templates, so adding one is a single click.
4. Or click Copy last week to start from last week's schedule.
5. Use Fill to suggest people for empty slots. It follows availability and special requests.

Publish

1. Shifts start as drafts. Staff don't see drafts.
2. Click Publish. Staff get a notification and see their shifts in the staff app.
3. If you change a published shift, the person is told about the change.

Open shifts, give-aways and pickups

Open shift

Post a shift with no one on it. Staff in that department can ask for it, and you choose who gets it.

Give-away

A staff member offers their shift to coworkers. They stay on the schedule until someone picks it up and you approve.

Pickup

Requests show up in Approvals.

Month view and coverage

The month view shows scheduled people per department against what each department needs each day. Set "needed per day" for each department in Settings. Click a day to open that week.

Every day

Approvals

Everything staff ask for waits here until a manager decides.

What shows up here

Punch fixes

"I forgot to clock out", "I clocked in late by mistake". Approving one changes the punch and logs who approved it.

Time off

Vacation, sick and other requests, with their balance shown.

Shift pickups

Someone wants an open shift, or a coworker's give-away.

Availability

Changes to when someone can work.

How to decide

1. Open Approvals. A number on the menu shows how many are waiting.
2. Read the request. Warnings (like overtime, or a "Must" rule) appear right on it.
3. Click Approve or Deny. Add a note if you like. The person is told either way.

Every day

Time off

Vacation, sick and paid leave: balances, requests and history.

First-time setup

1. Open Time off. A short setup asks how you track balances.
2. Automatic: balances grow from hours on each payroll you send, plus any monthly or yearly grants. Manual: you enter balances yourself. Not tracked: requests only.
3. Add your plans (like Vacation or Sick), how much people earn, any waiting period for new hires, and whether balances reset on January 1 or on each person's hire anniversary.

Requests

1. Staff ask in the staff app. You can also add time off for someone yourself.
2. Approve it in Approvals. Approved time off is taken off the balance and shows on the schedule.
3. Approved paid time off goes into payroll automatically.

Change a balance

Click the person to see their history and adjust a balance. Adjustments need a reason and are logged.

Every day

Messages

Team chat inside ShiftThru: announcements, department channels and direct messages. No personal phone numbers needed.

Post an announcement

1. Open Messages and pick Announcements.
2. Type your message and press Enter. Use Shift + Enter for a new line.
3. Everyone gets a notification. You can see who has read it.

Message one person or a small group

1. Click + New message.
2. Search for names (up to 20 people) and start the conversation.
3. Type @ and a name to mention someone, so they get a notification.

Channels and settings

Each department can have its own channel. Open Members & settings in a channel to choose who's in it. The GM sees every channel. If staff messaging is turned off, turn it on in Settings, and set the name staff see on your messages.

Pay

Payroll

Close the pay period in 3 steps and send hours and pay to your accountant or payroll company. They run taxes and paychecks.

Payroll has two tabs: 📤 Payroll to accountant (this guide) and 💵 Pay stubs to staff (see Pay stubs).

Step 1: Check hours

1. Pick the pay period with the ‹ › arrows.
2. Fix anything in the "things to fix first" box: people still clocked in, missed clock-outs, punch fixes waiting, people with no payroll ID.
3. Approve everyone's hours. Click Approve on each row, or approve all in Timesheets.

Step 2: Add extras

1. Use + Tips, + Bonus / other pay and + Deduction to add anything that isn't hours.
2. Approved paid time off is added for you.
3. Check the right-hand summary: hours, overtime, time off, tips and extras, deductions, gross pay, and the change from last period.

Step 3: Send

1. The first time, add your accountant's email.
2. Pick a File layout that matches what your payroll company wants, or make your own.
3. Click Send to accountant, or Download file instead to send it yourself.
4. When your accountant has run payroll, click Mark processed under Last payrolls.

Pay

Pay stubs

Send each person their pay stub in the staff app. Upload what your accountant gives you; ShiftThru reads it and splits it per person.

Send stubs to staff

1. Open Payroll → 💵 Pay stubs to staff.
2. Pick the pay period with the ‹ › arrows.
3. Click Upload register and choose the file from your accountant: a payroll register or a pay stubs PDF, an Excel file, or a photo.
4. Click ✨ Read the register. It takes about a minute, and you can leave the page.
5. Check the list. Each stub is matched to a person by payroll ID, employee ID or name. Fix any wrong match with the menu on that row.
6. Look for ⚠ marks. The math is checked on every stub (gross minus taxes minus deductions must equal take-home).
7. Click Publish to staff. Each person gets a notification and sees only their own stub.

After you publish

• Sent to staff shows who has opened their stub.
• To fix one, click Take back, then read the register again and publish the corrected stub.
• Pay stubs sent at the bottom lists every pay period you've sent.
• People who leave can still see their stubs for 3 years.

Pay

Daily tips

Record tips each day for the people who get them. Totals flow into payroll.

Turn it on

1. The Daily tips page appears only when at least one person has Gets tips: Yes.
2. Go to Team, open the person, set Gets tips to Yes and save.

Enter tips each day

1. Open Daily tips and pick the day.
2. For each person, enter Paid on paycheck (card tips you pay out through payroll) and Cash declared (cash they took home and report).
3. Use the department filter if you only manage one area.
4. The Pay period so far total adds up as you go.

How tips reach payroll

The period totals show up in Payroll step 2. You can also add a one-off amount there with + Tips. Once a pay period has been sent, its tips are locked.

Pay

Reports

Where your labor money went this period and what cost the most.

Total labor cost

Regular pay, overtime, time off and extras, with the change from last period.

Cost of extra hours

What overtime, early clock-ins and late clock-outs cost.

Biggest exceptions

The people and days that cost the most beyond the schedule.

Hours by department

Scheduled against worked hours for each department.

Pick the period at the top. Most numbers can be clicked to see the people behind them, or downloaded.

Set up

Kiosks & face scan

Any tablet, computer or old phone at work can be a time clock. Staff clock in with their Employee ID and PIN, or with face scan if you turn it on.

Set up a time clock

1. In the manager app, open Kiosks & face scan and add a kiosk. Name it by where it sits, like "Front desk".
2. Copy the kiosk key. It's shown only once.
3. On the tablet or computer at work, open shiftthru.com/kiosk and enter the key.
4. Optional: install it as an app (browser menu → Install or Add to Home Screen) and keep the device plugged in.

How staff clock in

1. Type the Employee ID (like CLI001) and the 4-digit PIN.
2. Tap Clock in, Start break, End break or Clock out.
3. If clock-in is blocked as too early, wait until closer to the shift, or a manager can add the time later.

Face scan (optional)

1. Turn on face scan on the Kiosks page. Have your lawyer approve the consent wording first.
2. At the kiosk, each employee signs in with ID and PIN and chooses whether to set up face scan.
3. They read the consent (in English or Spanish), type their name and tap I agree, or tap No thanks, I'll use my PIN.
4. They look at the camera and turn their head slightly. Next time, they just look at the camera to clock in.

Consent forms and face data

• Signed consent forms are saved. Open the person in Team and click the consent forms button to view or print them.
• No photo is ever kept, only an encrypted face template.
• Face data is destroyed automatically when someone is deactivated, withdraws consent, face scan stays off for 30 days, or 3 years after their last use.
• Saying no never affects anyone's job. ID and PIN always work.

Set up

Staff app

What your employees use on their phone: schedule, hours, pay stubs, time off, shift swaps and team chat. Clocking in still happens at the kiosk.

How staff sign in

1. On their phone, open app.shiftthru.com/app.
2. Enter the business code (from you; it's on Getting started and in Team → 📱 Staff app link), their Employee ID and their kiosk PIN.
3. The first time, they pick a new PIN that's hard to guess.
4. Tap Add to Home Screen and Turn on notifications, so they get schedules and messages right away.

What staff can do

My schedule

See upcoming shifts, give a shift away, or pick up an open one.

Hours & pay

Hours for this pay period, and their pay stubs.

Fix a punch

"Forgot to clock in or out": the request goes to you in Approvals.

Time off

Ask for time off and see their balances. They can cancel while it's waiting.

Messages

Announcements, their department channel and direct messages.

Set up

Departments

Group your people the way your business works: front desk, kitchen, clinical, sales floor.

1. Open Departments and click add. Give it a name and a short code.
2. Add sub-departments if you need them (like Breakfast and Dinner inside Kitchen).
3. Add the department's payroll code if your payroll company uses one.
4. Pick a color and set needed per day (in Settings) so the schedule shows coverage.

Department managers only see and approve their own departments.

Set up

Settings & activity log

The rules for your business. Only the GM and owner can change them, and every saved change is logged.

What you can set

Business

Name, time zone, address, pay schedule (weekly, every two weeks, twice a month, monthly).

Clock-in rules

Grace window for matching punches to shifts, when someone counts as late, blocking early clock-in, auto-closing missed clock-outs, rounding for pay.

Overtime & breaks

Daily and weekly overtime, break rules, the Illinois One Day Rest in Seven Act. Illinois defaults are filled in.

Holidays

Extra pay for hours worked on holidays. Dates are worked out each year, so you set this up once.

Department colors

Colors and people needed per day for each department.

Activity log

Every change a manager makes (punch fixes, pay changes, approvals, settings) with who made it, when, and why. Entries can't be edited or deleted, so you always have a clean record if there's ever a question or a wage claim.