Getting Started
We’ve broken down your Homebase setup in to three simple steps:
- Preparing (3 mins)
- Planning (3 mins)
- Your First Schedule & Clock-In (3 mins)
Click here to download a PDF summary of this guide.
Preparing (3 mins)
There are 3 important areas of interacting with Homebase:
- Your Square device
- The Homebase mobile apps
- The Homebase web dashboard
Your Square Device
Homebase on your Square register, primarily serves as the central hub for your employees to clock in and out in-store.
- Employees can clock in and view the weekly schedule.
- Managers can edit time cards, view shift reports, and log in to the web dashboard.
The Homebase Mobile Apps
The mobile apps put everything that’s happening in-store, right into your pocket.
- Employees can view the schedule, request time-off, and message each other in real-time.
- Managers can view who is clocked in at any given moment, check on sales and labor costs, and even build schedules (if they have permission to do so).
The Web Dashboard
The web dashboard brings all the magic together.
- Employees can view the schedule, request time-off, and set availability.
- Managers can build schedules, edit employee information (like wages), view labor reports, and edit employee timesheets for payroll.
- As an owner, the web dashboard is likely where you will spend the most time.
Accessing the Web Dashboard and Mobile Apps
- Log in to your personal Homebase web dashboard at https://app.joinhomebase.com/
- Use the email and password you created when you installed Homebase on your Square device
- Download the free Homebase mobile apps
Planning (3 mins)
You’ve signed up to Homebase, downloaded the free mobile app, and have signed in to your web dashboard. Now what?
Get started by adding your employees under the Team tab of your Homebase web dashboard. As you add an employee, we will automatically send out an email invitation to them. The invitation will contain their PIN for the Homebase time clock, allow the employee to set their password and sign in to their account.
Once your employees are set up, we strongly recommend customizing your location settings and preferences via your web dashboard. Click here to sign in.
Your Location Settings
As you customize your settings, you’ll get a great idea of what Homebase can do for you. Use the top page navigation to customize for each feature.
Settings we recommend checking out:
- Time Clock & Timesheets: Manager alerts, breaks, overtime, and your payroll period (this is important for payroll time)
- Schedule: Your schedule start day
- Permissions: Customize what each role level has access to (like wages, sales, and the ability to edit time cards).
Your First Schedule and Clock In (3 mins)
Now that you’re set up with Homebase, it’s time for the fun part – your first schedule and clock in!
Scheduling With Homebase
Building a schedule with Homebase is easy. This short 30 second video covers some tips and tricks that will have you up and running.
Your First Clock In
As an owner, you may not need to use the time clock at all. That said, we recommend clocking in to a fake shift so that you can understand the process your employees will need to follow each day.
- Open the Homebase Time Clock app on your Square device or any tablet or computer
- Enter your 4 or 6 digit PIN
- We emailed your PIN when you first signed up to Homebase. You can also find it again under the Team tab.
- Choose the shift you’re clocking in to
- If you had built a schedule, you would be prompted to select your scheduled shift
- You can also choose Unscheduled Shift if you were not scheduled for the day (this is useful when you call an employee in un-planned and they need to clock in)
- You’re now clocked in!
- At this point, we recommend taking a look at your Homebase web dashboard and your Homebase mobile app dashboard. You will notice that both now display your time clock information. This is exactly what you will see when your employees clock in and out
- Simply repeat steps 1-3 to take a break or clock-out. Wasn’t that easy?!
The Homebase web dashboard displaying employee time clock information.
Running Payroll
As your employees clock in and out, their time cards are synced to the Timesheets tab of your Homebase web dashboard. This is where you can edit time cards and run payroll.
The Timesheets tab of the Homebase web dashboard – where you can run payroll.
Getting Help
You’re all set up and ready to go. If you have any questions or need further help:
- View our Support website full of detailed how-to’s, tips, and tricks
- Email our Support Team: help@joinhomebase.com
- Phone our Support Team: (415) 951-3830 between 7am–7pm Pacific Time, M–F