How to manage your shifts and allocations

Your job schedule is the heart of Agency Accelerator. It is where you see every shift you have been asked to cover, decide who is going to work it, and follow that shift all the way through to an invoice.

Everything sits in one place, under Jobs in the left-hand menu. You can look at your week as a list or as a calendar, open any shift to read the detail, and put forward the workers you believe are right for it.

This guide follows the whole journey: finding your jobs, reading a shift properly, allocating a worker, and getting the timesheet submitted and approved once the shift has been worked.

Before you begin

To post and schedule jobs for your own direct clients, you also need an active Agency Accelerator Pro licence.
Only Care Hires verified workers can be put forward for Care Hires jobs. For your own direct client jobs, you can put forward your internal workers as well as Care Hires verified workers.
The rates, cancellation terms and timesheet deadlines that apply to a job all come from your agreement with that provider. It is worth reading the agreement before you start filling shifts, so nothing on the invoice comes as a surprise.
A worker needs an approved profile, the right worker type and the required skills before they will appear as eligible for a shift.

Opening your job schedule

Select Jobs in the left-hand menu, then select Jobs List.
Your schedule opens on the List view, showing every job with the All filter applied.

The controls above the list on the right are:

A search icon, for finding a job by its reference.
Date Range, for choosing the dates you want to see. In the calendar view this reads Date, and moves you to a different day or week.
Search client, pro…, for narrowing the schedule down to one client, provider or site.
+ Post Job, for creating a new shift.
A share icon on your direct client jobs, for giving clients access to their rota. See Giving your clients access to the rota below.

Choosing the right view

The toggle in the top-left corner switches between two ways of looking at the same information: List and Agency. Neither is better than the other — they answer different questions.

List view

Use the List view when you need the detail of individual shifts. Each row is one shift, and the columns tell you:

Worker Type — who is doing the shift, their worker type and the agency they belong to. An unfilled shift reads No worker allocated.
Provider Info — the client and the exact site the shift is at, for example Tangerine Provider and Tangerine Provider North. Always check the site as well as the client name, as large clients run several.
Job Start/End Time — the start and end date and time. An overnight shift shows two different dates.
Break Hours — the Paid and Unpaid break time built into the shift, or No Breaks Assigned.
Actual Charge — until a worker is allocated, this reads View rate on Allocation screen. Once a worker has been allocated, it shows the Estimated value of the shift, and once the shift has been worked, what was actually charged.
Status — how far the shift has progressed.
Timesheet — the state of the timesheet, such as NOT ALLOCATED, NOT STARTED, APPROVAL PENDING or INVOICED.

The job reference sits at the top of each row, for example JB-2026-AA-25999, with icons beside it showing the type of client and any badges that apply to that shift. Tags on the right of the row tell you more:

Job Note and CH Admin Note — a note has been attached, either by the provider or by our team. Worth reading before you fill the shift.
PO — the client's purchase order reference for the job, for example PO: 2223333.
Agency Posted — the shift was posted by your agency rather than by the provider.
Bank Holiday — the shift falls on a bank holiday, so bank holiday rates apply.
A red countdown, such as Job starting in 21h 55m 18s — the shift is about to start and is still unfilled.

The three dots at the end of a row hold the actions available for that shift.

At the bottom of the list you will see which page you are on, for example Page 1 of 49, and how many jobs match, for example Showing 25 of 1223 results. Use the arrows to move between pages, and the number box at the bottom right to change how many jobs are shown on each page.

The calendar view

Select Agency in the toggle to switch to the calendar. This is the view to use when you are planning rather than checking one shift.

Your workers run down the left, the days of the week run across the top, and the day you are on is highlighted. Reading it:

The first row holds your Open Shifts, with a running total such as 5 Shift(s). Select the arrow beside the total to show or hide them. These are the shifts still waiting to be filled. A day with nothing to fill reads No Jobs Available.
Under each worker's name you will see the hours they are already booked for in the week you are viewing, for example 2.5h. Check this before you give them anything else.
Each shift card shows the times, the worker type, the site, and an icon telling you the client type: the Care Hires logo for a Care Hires verified client, and the building icon for one of your own direct clients.
Leave is shown in place as an On Leave card — Sick Leave, Annual Leave – First Half or Annual Leave – Second Half — so you can see at once why someone is unavailable.
A flame icon and a red time marks an urgent shift.
An empty cell shows + Post Job. Select it to create a shift for that worker on that day.

Use the A–Z strip down the left-hand side to jump to a worker, or All to see everyone. The status filters work here too.

Choosing which workers appear in the calendar

Select the filter icon to the right of the status tabs to open Advance Filter.

Under Show All Workers in Calendar, choose Yes to list every worker, or No to keep the calendar to a shorter list.
Select Apply.

Select Clear All Filters to go back to the standard view, or Cancel to close the window without changing anything.

Tip: Fill your open shifts from this view rather than from the list. Because leave and booked hours sit alongside, you can see who is genuinely free before you commit to anyone.

Care Hires jobs and direct client jobs

In the List view, the toggle on the right-hand side separates your work into two sets:

Care Hires Jobs — shifts for your Care Hires Clients. These work exactly as they always have.
Direct Client Jobs — shifts for your Direct Clients. Scheduling these needs an active Agency Accelerator Pro licence.

Please note: Only Care Hires verified workers can be allocated to Care Hires jobs. Direct client jobs can be covered by your own internal workers or by verified workers, which gives you more room to move when a shift is hard to fill.

Giving your clients access to the rota

When you are viewing Direct Client Jobs, a share icon appears beside + Post Job. Hover over it and you will see Give clients access to view rotas.

Select it to open How to give clients access, which sets out the four steps:

Open the client — go to Clients and open the client you want to give access to.
Go to the site — open the client's Sites section and choose the site they should see.
Add the contact — add the person as a notification contact, with their name, email and phone.
They get the link — save. When a worker is allocated at that site, the contact receives a secure email link to the rota.

Select Go to Client Sites to go straight to your clients, or Close to return to your schedule. Clients do not need an Agency Accelerator login. Access is per site, the link is valid for 30 days, and sign-in uses a one-time code sent to the contact's email, so it cannot be shared. Our guide Share a live rota with your clients covers this in full.

Understanding the job statuses

The tabs above the list — All, Draft, Urgent, Open, Open Over-due, Suggested, Allocated, Completed and Cancelled — are both a filter and a summary of the journey every shift takes. The calendar view has the same tabs, apart from Suggested.

Draft — jobs that have not been posted yet.
Open — the shift is available and nobody has been put forward for it yet.
Urgent — the shift starts very soon and is still unfilled. A red countdown shows exactly how long you have.
Open Over-due — the shift was not filled in time. It can often still be covered, so it is worth checking rather than ignoring.
Suggested — you have put one or more workers forward and are waiting for the provider to decide.
Allocated — a worker has been confirmed for the shift. The timesheet reads NOT STARTED until the hours are submitted, then APPROVAL PENDING while they wait for approval.
Completed — the shift has been worked and its timesheet approved. Once billing has been processed, the timesheet shows as INVOICED.
Cancelled — the shift is not going ahead. Any cancellation fee is worked out from your agreement with that provider.

Opening a job to see the full detail

Select any row in the list, or any card in the calendar, and a panel opens over the top of your schedule.

At the top of the panel you will see the client's logo and name, the site, the date the job was created, the job reference with a copy icon beside it, and the current status badges — for example ALLOCATED and NOT STARTED. The Timesheets button and the three dots in the corner hold the actions for that job.

Save the shift as a template

Underneath the heading, a Smart tip suggests saving the shift so you can post it faster next time. Select Create template to open the template panel with this shift's details already filled in. Our guide How to create and use job templates explains the rest.

Shift Summary

This is the part to read properly before you put anyone forward.

Start Time, End Time and Job Duration — the full span of the shift.
Blocks — longer shifts are split into blocks, each with its own start and end time, the date each one falls on, for example (13th), and its own icon for the type of block. A shift running 08:00 to 23:00, for example, may show Block 1 as 08:00–15:00 during the day and Block 2 as 15:00–23:00 overnight. This matters, because night hours are usually charged at a higher rate.
Break Information — the Paid Break and Unpaid Break built into the shift, with their durations. Unpaid breaks are deducted from the charge.
Skills — the qualifications the worker must hold, for example NVQ L2.
Worker Type — the role required, such as Support Worker.
Gender Preference — a preference set by the provider, or Any.
Block Booking — whether the shift is part of a block booking, or N/A.
Job Posting Reason — why the shift exists, for example Annual Leave, where the provider has given one.
Job Notes — instructions from the provider about the shift itself.
PO Number — the client's purchase order reference, or N/A. Select the pencil icon beside it to add or correct the reference. This can be changed up until the job is completed, after which it is fixed because it feeds the timesheet and the invoice.
Internal Notes — notes for your own team only.

Use the arrow at the right of the Shift Summary bar to collapse the section once you have read it.

Allocating a worker to a shift

Allocation is a two-part conversation. You put workers forward, and the provider confirms who they want. The Allocations section records both halves across four tabs: ELIGIBLE WORKERS, SUGGESTED WORKERS, SELECTED WORKER and REJECTED WORKERS.

Step 1: Look through your eligible workers

Open the ELIGIBLE WORKERS tab. The number beside the tab tells you how many workers could cover this shift. Narrow the list down using:

Search by Name or Worker ID — to find a particular worker.
Filter By Skills — to show only workers holding a particular qualification.

Each worker card gives you what you need to make the decision:

Their name, worker reference number and agency.
View Worker Skills — select this to see their full skill set.
A green tick confirming how many of the skills required for this job they hold, and how many additional skills they have on top.
Rates from Agreement — the agreement reference the rates come from, and the hourly rate for each block of the shift, with day and night rates shown separately.

Please note: If a card tells you the worker's cost configuration has not been set up, their pay rate is missing, so profit and loss cannot be calculated for the shift. Select Go to Setup to add it. You can still put the worker forward in the meantime.

Step 2: Put your worker forward

Find the worker you want on the ELIGIBLE WORKERS tab.
Select SUGGEST on their card.

You can suggest more than one worker for the same shift. Where a shift is urgent, or the provider is particular about skills, putting two or three names forward gives them a genuine choice and fills the shift faster.

Step 3: Check what you have suggested

The job status changes to SUGGESTED and your worker moves across to the SUGGESTED WORKERS tab.

If circumstances change — the worker becomes unavailable, or you would rather send someone else — select WITHDRAW on their card. They return to ELIGIBLE WORKERS, and you are free to suggest somebody else.

Step 4: Wait for the provider to confirm

The provider then reviews the names you have sent.

Anyone they confirm appears under SELECTED WORKER, and the job status changes to ALLOCATED. The worker's name then shows against the shift in both your list and your calendar.
Anyone they turn down appears under REJECTED WORKERS. Nothing has gone wrong — go back to ELIGIBLE WORKERS and put a different name forward.

Once every vacancy on the shift has been filled, the SELECTED WORKER tab shows Congratulations! You've successfully fulfilled this shift. You cannot suggest/accept more workers for this shift.

Tip: Before you suggest anyone, glance at their booked hours in the calendar view. Putting forward a worker who is already close to their contracted hours is how avoidable overtime and compliance problems begin.

Checking what the shift is worth

Once a worker has been allocated, the job panel shows a Job Estimate section. The table shows how the figure is built up, line by line:

Blocks — each block of the shift, shown separately.
Hourly Rate — the rate applied to that block.
No of hours — the hours charged for that block.
Total — the value of that block.
(-) Unpaid Breaks — unpaid break time, deducted as a negative line.
Estimated Total — the estimated value of the whole shift.

Please note: This is an estimate, worked out from the average worker fees defined by Care Hires. The final figure can differ from your contract once any additional contract fees are applied, so treat it as a guide rather than as an invoice.

Once the shift has been invoiced, this section becomes a Billing Summary. It is laid out in the same way, but ends in the Invoiced Total and uses the hours and breaks from the approved timesheet rather than the booking.

Getting the timesheet submitted and approved

Every shift needs an approved timesheet before it can be invoiced. You can handle this from the job itself, which is the quickest route when you are dealing with one shift.

Opening the timesheet

Once a worker is allocated, select Timesheets at the top of the job panel. The panel switches to the timesheet card for the worker, showing:

The worker type, the worker's name, their worker reference and their agency.
Rate Card — the rate card the shift is billed from, for example CL-RC-2025-AA-00048.
Start and End — the dates and times of the shift. The banner turns green once the timesheet is approved.
Summary — the Job and Timesheet figures side by side: Duration, Paid Break Duration, (-)Unpaid Break Duration and Total Billable Hours. The job column is the estimate from the booking, and the timesheet column is what was actually worked.

Select Job Summary at any point to go back to the shift details.

Following the timesheet through

Submit the hours. Select SUBMIT TIMESHEET. In Edit Timesheet, check the times, breaks and any expenses, attach proof, and select UPDATE. The job moves to APPROVAL PENDING.
Approve or dispute. Check the Summary, then select APPROVE TIMESHEET and confirm with Approve, or select DISPUTE TIMESHEET if the hours need correcting.
Wait for the invoice. Once approved, the job shows as COMPLETED and the card shows Approved and Pending Invoice. Once billing has been processed, the card shows Completed and Invoiced, and the job shows as INVOICED.

Once the timesheet is approved, the bottom of the card shows the Billed Total, the billable Hours, the Worker Fee, your Agency Margin and any Agency VAT. The Actual Charge column in your list is filled in at the same time.

Our guide How to review and approve timesheets covers every step in detail, including expenses, breaks, bulk approvals, manual approvals, disputes and what each billed figure means.

Tip: Submit your timesheets before the cut-off time in your provider agreement. Miss it and the shift rolls into the following week's invoice, which delays your payment by a week.

Posting a new job

You can create a shift from either view:

Select + Post Job at the top right of your schedule.
Or, in the calendar, select + Post Job in an empty cell to create a shift for that worker on that day, with the date already filled in for you.

Complete the shift details — client and site, date and times, blocks, breaks, worker type, skills and the number of vacancies — then post it. The shift appears in your schedule as an open job, ready to be allocated.

Please note: Posting jobs for your own direct clients requires an active Agency Accelerator Pro licence. Without it you can still set up and manage your client profiles, but not schedule work against them.

Learn more about posting shifts in How to create a job post.

If something looks wrong

Most of what you see on a job comes either from the provider or from your agreement, so it is not always something you can change yourself.

The rate looks wrong — check the agreement reference shown on the worker card, or the Rate Card on the timesheet, against your agreement. If the two do not match, contact our Support Team quoting that reference.
A worker is missing from ELIGIBLE WORKERS — check that their profile is approved, that they hold the worker type and skills the shift requires, and that they are linked to the right location.
A worker is missing from the calendar — open Advance Filter and set Show All Workers in Calendar to Yes.
You cannot find a job you expected — check the Date Range, clear anything typed into Search client, pro…, and make sure you are looking at the right set of jobs, Care Hires Jobs or Direct Client Jobs.
The PO number is wrong on a completed job — it can no longer be edited at this stage. Contact our Support Team with the job reference.
A timesheet will not save — check the paid and unpaid breaks do not add up to more than the shift, and that the start and end times are in the right order.
A job is stuck in one status, or a shift you were expecting has not appeared — contact our Support Team with the job reference number, for example JB-2026-AA-25999.
The charge or the timesheet does not look right — check the hours and breaks on the timesheet first, as they drive every billed figure. Get in touch before the invoice is raised, as it is far easier to put right at that point.

You can reach us using Raise a ticket, Knowledge base or Email us on your Overview page, or by phone during our support hours.