What is the difference between Care Hires Clients and Direct Clients?

Agency Accelerator works with two types of client: Care Hires Clients and Direct Clients. Both appear in your client list, and you can work shifts for both, but who manages them, what you can change and which tools you can use are different for each.

Direct Clients are an Agency Accelerator Pro feature. On Agency Accelerator Free, you work with your Care Hires Clients only and cannot create your own clients.

Knowing which type of client you are looking at saves time. It tells you whether you can edit a profile yourself, which jobs and timesheets view to open, which workers can cover a shift and how the client is invoiced.

The two types of client at a glance

Care Hires Clients

Care Hires Clients are the providers you supply through Care Hires. Care Hires manages their profiles, so they are read only for agency users. You can view their details, but you cannot edit, deactivate or reactivate them.

• Their shifts sit under Care Hires Jobs. These work exactly as they always have.
• Only Care Hires verified workers can cover them. A worker you are using for your own clients while Care Hires reviews their profile cannot take Care Hires jobs until their profile is approved.
• Their timesheets sit under Care Hires Timesheets, where you filter by Select Provider.
• Their invoices are Care Hires invoices. As well as Approval and Payment, these show a Payout stage, so you can see when payment is on its way to you.

Please note: If a Care Hires Client's details look wrong, contact our Support Team rather than trying to change them.

Direct Clients

Direct Clients are the care providers your agency works with outside Care Hires. You set them up and manage them yourself in Agency Accelerator, which gives you full control over their profile, rates, shifts and invoices.

Direct Clients are only available on Agency Accelerator Pro. With an active Pro licence and the right permission, you can:

• Create a Direct Client, starting with their Business Registration Number so the platform can check the business with Companies House and fill in its official details.
• Set up their profile, sites and billing, then add a rate card and activate them.
• Edit their details using Update Profile.
• Set what you charge with rate cards, by site, worker type and skills, including night, weekend and holiday rates and cancellation fees.
• Manage their settings, such as special rate times, job notification emails and PO number rules.
• Keep their records in one place: documents with expiry dates, notes, calls, emails and tasks on the Client Activity panel, and a full Audit Log of changes.
• Track them on your Client Pipeline as the relationship develops.
• Deactivate them with a reason when you stop working with them, and reactivate them if things change.
• Share their rota and let them see the workers you are sending to their sites.

Every Direct Client has a profile status, shown as a badge in the top right of their profile: Draft, Client Profile Complete, Active or Inactive. The status tells you whether you can post jobs, schedule workers and raise invoices for them yet. Statuses only apply to Direct Clients.

• Their shifts sit under Direct Client Jobs. You can cover them with your own internal workers as well as Care Hires verified workers, which gives you more room to move when a shift is hard to fill.
• Their timesheets sit under Direct Client Timesheets, where you filter by Select Client.
• Their invoices come from your agency. Most are generated for you from completed jobs on your direct client billing schedule, and you can also create, edit and send them yourself.

Please note: Direct Clients are an Agency Accelerator Pro feature. If your agency is on Agency Accelerator Free, you cannot create Direct Clients or post jobs for them, and you work with your Care Hires Clients only. To work with your own clients, speak to your account manager about upgrading to Pro.

How to tell them apart in Agency Accelerator

• Client list. Tick Care Hires Clients Only to show just your Care Hires Clients. Untick it to see all your clients again, including your Direct Clients.
• Jobs. Switch between Care Hires Jobs and Direct Client Jobs. On each shift card, the Care Hires logo marks a Care Hires Client and the building icon marks a Direct Client.
• Timesheets. Switch between Care Hires Timesheets and Direct Client Timesheets at the top right of the screen.
• Invoices. The building icon marks a direct client invoice and the Care Hires logo marks a Care Hires invoice. Use Filter By Type to show one or the other.

Tip: Your Direct Client information stays with your agency. Care Hires and Agency Accelerator run on two separate databases, so Care Hires cannot see your Direct Clients.

If something looks wrong

• You cannot edit a client. Check whether it is a Care Hires Client. Care Hires Clients are read only for agency users, and only Direct Clients can be edited.
• A client is missing from your client list. Clear the search and untick Care Hires Clients Only.
• A job or timesheet is missing. Check you are looking at the right view: Care Hires Jobs or Direct Client Jobs, and Care Hires Timesheets or Direct Client Timesheets.
• Inactive is missing from the three dot menu. Care Hires Clients cannot be deactivated by agency users. For a Direct Client, check you have permission to manage clients.
• You cannot create a Direct Client. Check your agency is on Agency Accelerator Pro. Free users cannot create their own clients. If you are on Pro, check you have permission to manage clients.
• You cannot post a job for a Direct Client. Check your agency has an active Agency Accelerator Pro licence and that the client is Active.

If something still does not look right, contact our Support Team with the client's name or reference number.