To create a new schedule, go to Schedule → Plan New Period. Then choose the start date for the period – note that for weekly planning, the period must start on a Monday. The length of the schedule is predefined in the settings by your admin.

After selecting the start date and clicking Start Planning, you will enter template mode. Here, you can create a base schedule for fixed shifts that repeat weekly throughout the period. Templates are especially useful for full-time employees, but are optional – for example, if you only have hourly employees. You can decide how many weeks your template should cover. Select one week if the same schedule will repeat every week. If your schedule varies in the second week, set the template to span two weeks.

To create a shift, click on an empty cell for the respective day and employee. Click on the timeline and adjust the shift length either by dragging the ends of the fragment or entering the details in Shift Details. You can also use favorite working hours (see guide here: https://helpapp.samesystem.com/en/articles/5562837-create-favourite-working-hours)

Here, you also select the break length. The break length can be predefined in the break settings by your admin, based on shift duration, and the system may block you from setting a break that's too short or too long. You can also assign a zone to the shift under Shift Details. Zones are predefined by your admin.

You can also use the Zone View, which requires your administrator to have set up zones (e.g. Cash Register, Stockroom, Kitchen, etc). This allows you to plan shifts without assigning them immediately – ideal if you know staffing needs but not who will take the shift. You can also apply the shift directly on an employee. Once the shift is planned, it has no owner until it is either rolled out or the schedule is published. After rolling out the plan, you can assign these shifts directly to an employee or make them available to specific (or all) employees when publishing the plan.

When planning in template mode, each employee's balance is shown. This number reflects whether the scheduled hours match their contract. For example, a 37-hour/week contract starts with a -37 hour balance. As you add shifts, the balance moves toward zero. To avoid major discrepancies, the balance should ideally be 0 before rolling out the plan. Otherwise, the -37 hours will be multiplied by the number of planned weeks, resulting in a significant shortfall against contracted hours. You can see the status of your planning vs. the contractual hours by hovering the mouse over the balance.

Once you're satisfied with the template, remember to save it with a recognizable name. This lets you easily reuse it later via Load in template mode.

You can now roll out your template for the schedule period. Several criteria need to be considered:

You can also exclude specific employees when using older templates.

Finally, click Confirm. The system will check for conflicts in the schedule, such as vacations. If an employee has leave during the rollout period, you can either remove the shifts on those days or convert them into open shifts, which work like the ones planned in zone view and can be later assigned or offered for pickup.

Once conflicts are handled, the rollout can proceed.

If you have Baseplan enabled, you can set up a fixed schedule for employees who follow a consistent working pattern. Baseplan functions similarly to a template but remains active indefinitely until it’s manually overwritten. For example, if you use a 16-week planning period with a template, it only applies for those 16 weeks until the template is reloaded. With Baseplan, the working pattern continues automatically across planning periods — no reloading is required unless the employee’s schedule changes.

Note: Baseplan is ideal for employees with long-term, recurring working patterns. For short-term schedules or seasonal rotations, templates may be more suitable.

After rollout, the schedule becomes visible with dates and week numbers. Balances are updated based on any deviations from contracted hours, emphasizing the importance of aligning with correct hours already in the template.

In the rolled-out schedule, you can make flexible adjustments such as adding absences (e.g., vacation or sick leave). You can also make the employee available for lend out to other departments, all done from the shift's Action Board.

To make changes for a full day, use the Add button – e.g., to register absence or lend out for the entire day. For specific shift fragments, use the tabs just below the timeline (Shift, Absence, Lend out). A fragment in this case means the day is split into multiple shifts – e.g., working in the stockroom first, then the cash register.

Such fragmentation is useful when employees switch zones or locations during a shift or leave due to absence.

All actions are logged in the shift's history on the Action Board.

Once all adjustments are made, publish the schedule via the Publish button. You'll know a shift is published when the blue border disappears.

Employees are now notified of their shifts and can view and bid on available shifts. If time registration is enabled (via browser or App), employees can now check in and out of their shifts.

Employees can also request absence, vacation, and indicate availability or unavailability for specific days. Marking availability serves only as a suggestion for the scheduler and won’t prevent shifts from being assigned.

As a manager, you're responsible for approving time registrations when there are discrepancies.

To review time registrations:

Once everything is reviewed, you can Confirm the Day at the bottom of the schedule to lock it for payroll approval.

Note: What you can see and edit in the HR section depends on your permissions. Your administrator defines which data (e.g., contracts, vacation balance, documents) you can access.

Under HR → Employees, you’ll find a list of all registered employees with information on:

You can filter by title, status, and department. If you have access to multiple departments, you can filter accordingly.

When hiring a new employee, add them to the employee list.

To create a new employee:

The employee is now in draft status – meaning no contract has been created, and they won’t appear in the schedule yet. In the employee profile, you can now create a contract, at minimum including the start date, title, and weekly contract hours. If the wage isn’t known yet, you can update it later.

Note: Some fields are optional. If you're unsure which ones to fill out, please check with your administrator.

Once the employee is created with a contract, they will appear in the schedule. A welcome email with a link to set a password will be sent automatically—unless you choose to delay it when creating the contract. The link is valid for 24 hours and can be resent by you, if needed.

You can access the employee’s profile to update personal info, correct contracts, or adjust vacation balances. If an employment condition changes (e.g., raise or change in contract hours), create a new contract rather than amending the existing one. Otherwise you risk overwriting or losing important historical data. For example, a new contract is necessary when an employee is transferred to a different store or when significant changes, such as modification of job roles or working hours, occur. These situations ensure precise alignment with operational and scheduling requirements, maintaining the integrity of employee records.

You can also send a password reset email from the employee’s profile if they’ve forgotten their password. The email includes a reset link that is valid for 1 hour.

You can plan future vacations via Schedule → Long-Term Planner. Here you’ll see requested and approved leave and can filter for specific views.

You can request vacation for yourself or others. Fill in the start and end dates, employee, and type of absence. You’ll see how much vacation is accrued, how much will be used, and how much remains. Vacation requests must be approved by a manager. If you’re requesting on behalf of someone else, you must approve it after submitting.

Approved vacation overrides any existing shifts or absences. If your admin has enabled the setting in General Settings, you can convert any overwritten shifts into open shifts.

Once all days in the schedule are confirmed, the hours are ready for payroll export.

Note: What you can see and do in the Payroll section depends on your permissions. Your administrator defines which features (e.g., approve hours, export payroll) you have access to.

We recommend approving the payroll period before exporting any data. This helps make sure all recorded hours have been reviewed and finalized. The export will reflect the hours as they appear at the time of approval, so it’s a helpful final check before processing.

Note: Before approval, an admin can reopen individual days in the schedule to make edits. Once the payroll period is approved, you’ll need to reopen the whole period to make any changes. This adds an extra layer of security, locking in the hours so the exported data reflects the finalized schedule.

Go to Payroll → Approve Hours/Payroll. Select the period and employees, then click View. You’ll see:

Scroll to the right to check if all days are confirmed. You cannot approve the payroll period until all days are confirmed.

Once approved, you can export the payroll file under Payroll → Export Payroll. Choose the payroll period and department, and check the boxes for schedule and bonuses. If absence is handled in a separate file, download that afterward. The export format is tailored to your payroll system by your admin.

Under Reports → Reports Hub, you'll find various reports. Each has a description, and filters allow you to narrow the results. For example, you can filter by employee and click Update. Graphs can be expanded and exported as images or CSV files.

Under Reports → Overviews, find KPIs (revenue, salary percentage, etc.) by day, week, or month. You can define custom periods.

This section also includes absence overviews. Choose a period, absence type(s), and click Calculate. Then filter by department, title, or employee, and optionally display the number of absence days. You can view this in SameSystem or export it to Excel, CSV, or PDF.

Under Reports → Statistics, you’ll find:

You can subscribe to reports and receive them automatically via email.

Under Home, you get an overview of your current and upcoming shifts. Here you can check in and out of your shifts if you have time registration enabled.

You’ll also see an overview of requests such as absence requests, shift swap requests, and open shifts awaiting your approval, as well as days in the schedule that are waiting for your confirmation.

Further down, you’ll find an overview of your own requests and an overview of schedule changes.

Under Calendar, you’ll get a monthly overview of your scheduled shifts. Dots indicate activities on specific days: blue dots represent shifts, and red dots represent absences. You can filter the calendar by the types of shifts you want to see. You also have the option to download your schedule to your personal calendar via Get iCalendar.

Under Department, you can access your department’s schedule. If you have access to multiple departments, you must choose which one you want to view. Here, just like in the web version, you can access schedules for different weeks. You can choose to see the weekly or daily view, and you can also view the zone view here.

In the daily view, you’ll get a summary of some key KPIs. You can also view a list of shifts in the department. The third view shows time registrations made in the department, where you can approve shifts directly in the app.

In the weekly view, you, as a manager, can create shifts and absences by clicking the + icon. To create a shift, first choose the department (if it’s not your default department), then select the date and time. You can use your favorite working hours from the web version for convenience. Then click Continue and assign the employee who will work the shift. For absences, you follow the same process - select the correct employee and then the date of the absence.

Here you can view the contact details of the company’s departments.

If the chat function is enabled, you can use the Chat menu to communicate with your employees, either individually or in group chats.

Under More, you can access various features: