Getting Started
Updated
How Kwilio Scheduling works
Kwilio Scheduling has two sides:
- The office app on Mac. This is where you set up your business, build schedules, approve hours and run reports.
- The employee app on iPhone. Your team sees their shifts, clocks in and out, requests open shifts and messages the office.
Everything syncs through iCloud. There's no Kwilio account to create and no server to manage. The office Mac that sets up the business is the owner's Mac. You can invite more office users to manage scheduling on their own Macs (see Office Users & Permissions).
The iPhone app is free for employees, and clocking in is never limited on any plan.
Setting up, in order
Some things depend on others, so set up in this order:
- Departments and locations: how your team is organised, and the job sites they work at. A location's address is used to check clock-ins.
- Services: the kinds of work you do, such as "Office Clean", with what you charge the customer.
- Employees: add your team, by hand or from a CSV.
- Pay rates: give each employee a pay rate for each service they can do. An employee can only be assigned to a shift if they have an active pay rate for that shift's service.
- Schedules and shifts: build your schedule and assign people to it.
- Invite employees to the iPhone app: send each employee their invite link.
Steps 1 to 4 are covered in Setting Up Your Business. If you already have your team in a spreadsheet, Import Data brings in departments, locations, services and employees in one go.
The sidebar
| Group | Section | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | Dashboard | Today's shifts, active employees, open shifts and hours this week |
| Management | Employees | Your team, their pay rates, documents and iPhone invites |
| Schedules | Build schedules, add shifts and recurring patterns | |
| Calendar | Every team member's day on one hourly timeline | |
| Open Shifts | Shifts posted for employees to request. A badge shows pending requests | |
| Visits | Every shift assignment and its clock-in status. A badge shows exceptions | |
| Analytics | Time Tracking | Review and approve clock-ins and clock-outs |
| Burnout Risk | Who's working too much | |
| Reports | Timesheets, hours, billing, visit verification and attendance | |
| Communication | Messages | One-on-one conversations with employees |
| System | Settings | Business setup, time rules, permissions and your plan |
| Audit Trail | Every change to schedules, hours and employees |
The Dashboard
The Dashboard is the first thing you see. Across the top are four cards: Shifts Today, Active Employees, Open Shifts and Hours This Week. Click a card to jump to the matching section.
Below that are:
- Shifts Overview: scheduled, completed, open and unassigned shifts over time, with totals for assignments, hours worked, open shifts and coverage rate
- By Location: how your shifts are split across job sites
- Upcoming Shifts: what's coming up next and who's on it
- Top Employees: who's worked the most shifts and hours this month or last month
Click New Shift to add a shift without leaving the Dashboard.
Requirements
- Mac: macOS 26 or later, signed in to iCloud
- iPhone: iOS 26 or later, signed in to iCloud
- Apple Intelligence features need a device that supports Apple Intelligence