Quick Guide

1. Getting Started

Registering Your Business

1. Go to the Timello login page and click Sign Up Your Business.
2. Fill in your Business Name, First Name, Last Name, Email, and Password.
3. Click Register.
4. You are now the Master account holder for your business. You'll be taken straight to the calendar.
5. A welcome email will be sent to your email address with next steps.

Accepting a Staff Invitation

If you've been invited to join a business on Timello:

1. Open the invitation email from Timello.
2. Click the Set Your Password button (the link expires after 7 days).
3. Choose a password and confirm it.
4. You'll be logged in and taken to the calendar.

Logging In

1. Go to the Timello login page.
2. Enter your email and password.
3. Click Log in.
4. You'll be taken to the calendar.

If your account has been deactivated, you'll see a message asking you to contact your administrator.

2. Understanding Roles

Timello has three user roles. Your role determines what you can see and do.

3. The Calendar

The calendar is the heart of Timello. It's a wallchart-style view showing staff members down the left side and dates across the top.

Layout

• Staff column (left side): Shows each staff member's name and their remaining holiday allowance in a coloured circle - green means days remaining, red means over allowance, grey means zero days.
• Date columns: Shows 30 days at a time, scrolling horizontally.
• Department headers: Staff are grouped by department. Your department appears first.
• Your row: Highlighted with a faint indigo background so it's easy to find.

Navigating

• Use the left and right arrow buttons at the top to move forward or back by 30 days.
• The date range label between the arrows shows which period you're viewing.
• The calendar can go back to January of the previous year and forward to January of the next year.

What the Cells Mean

Filtering by Department

If your business has multiple departments, a department filter dropdown appears at the top of the calendar. Select a specific department to show only staff in that department, or choose All Departments to see everyone.

Legend

Click the View Leave Types button at the top of the calendar to see a colour key showing all your business's leave types with their colours and icons.

4. Requesting Leave

Requesting a Single Day

1. Click on an empty cell on your row for the date you want.
2. The leave request form opens showing your name and the selected date.
3. Choose a duration:
   • Full Day - the entire day
   • Morning (AM) - first half of the day
   • Afternoon (PM) - second half of the day
4. Select a leave type from the dropdown (e.g. Annual Leave, Sick Leave).
5. Optionally add notes (visible to your manager/approver only).
6. Click Submit Request.

Requesting Multiple Days (Date Range)

1. Click on an empty cell on your row.
2. Tick the Request date range checkbox.
3. Choose the start period:
   • Full Day - leave starts from the morning
   • PM Only - leave starts in the afternoon (morning is working)
4. Select an end date using the date picker.
5. Choose the end period:
   • Full Day - leave ends at the end of the day
   • AM Only - leave ends at lunchtime (afternoon is working)
6. The form will show you the number of working days in your range (excluding weekends, non-work days, and blackout dates).
7. Select your leave type and optionally add notes.
8. Click Submit Request.

What Happens Next

• If your leave type requires approval and you don't have auto-approve enabled, your request goes to your approver as pending. It appears on the calendar in a lighter colour with a dashed border.
• If the leave type doesn't require approval, or you have auto-approve enabled, the request is approved immediately and appears in a solid colour.
• Your approver receives an email notification for pending requests.

Allowance Checks

• If the leave type deducts from your allowance, Timello checks you have enough days remaining before submitting.
• If you don't have enough days, you'll see an error message showing how many days you have left and how many the request needs.

5. Cancelling Leave

Cancelling Your Own Leave

1. Click on a cell on your row that has leave booked.
2. The leave details panel opens showing your bookings for that date.
3. Click the Cancel button next to the booking you want to remove.
4. Confirm the cancellation.

Staff members can only cancel leave on future dates. If you need to cancel past leave, ask your administrator.

Cancelling a Date Range

If your leave was booked as a multi-day range:

1. Click on any cell in the range.
2. You'll see a Cancel Range button showing the total number of days.
3. Click it to cancel all days in the range at once.

Managers/Masters Cancelling Approved Leave for Staff

1. Click on the cell with the staff member's approved leave.
2. Select View/Cancel Leave from the action menu.
3. Click Cancel next to the booking.
4. A cancellation form appears where you can enter an optional reason for cancellation.
5. Click Cancel Leave to confirm.
6. The staff member receives an email notification with your reason.

6. Approving and Denying Leave

This section is for Managers and Masters only.

From the Calendar

1. Click on a cell for a staff member who has pending leave.
2. The action menu opens. If there are pending requests, you'll see them listed with Approve and Deny buttons.
3. To approve: Click the green Approve button. The leave is approved instantly, the cell updates to a solid colour, and the staff member receives an email.
4. To deny: Click the red Deny button. A form opens where you can enter an optional reason for denial. Click Deny Request to confirm. The request is removed and the staff member receives an email with your reason.

From the Alerts Page

1. Go to the Alerts page (click "Alerts" in the navigation bar).
2. The Pending Leave Requests section shows all requests awaiting your approval.
3. Each request shows the staff member, date(s), leave type, any notes, and when it was submitted.
4. Click Approve or Deny as described above.

Approving/Denying Date Ranges

Multi-day requests appear as a single row showing the date range and total days. You can approve or deny the entire range at once using the Approve Range or Deny Range buttons.

Who Can You Approve For?

• Masters can approve leave for anyone in the business.
• Managers can only approve leave for staff who have them set as their individual approver, or staff in departments where they are the department approver.

7. Alerts and Notifications

The Alerts Page

The Alerts page has two sections:

Pending Leave Requests (Managers and Masters only)

• Shows all pending leave requests from staff you can approve.
• Approve or deny directly from this page.

Your Alerts (All users)

• Shows status updates for your own leave requests:
  • Approved - shown with a green tick
  • Denied - shown with a red cross, with the reason if one was given
  • Cancelled - shown with a red cross if your approved leave was cancelled by a manager, with the reason if given
• Click Dismiss to remove an individual alert, or Mark all as read to clear them all.

The Alert Badge

A red badge appears on the Alerts link in the navigation bar showing your unread count. This includes:

• Unread leave status alerts (all users)
• Pending leave requests awaiting your approval (Managers and Masters)

8. Managing Staff

Master accounts only.

Go to Manage Staff from the dropdown menu in the top-right corner.

Adding a Single Staff Member

1. Fill in the Email, First Name, and Last Name fields.
2. Optionally select a Department from the dropdown.
3. Click Add Staff Member.
4. The staff member is created and receives an invitation email with a link to set their password.

Importing Staff from CSV

1. Click Download CSV template to get the correct format.
2. Fill in the template with your staff data:
   • Email (required)
   • First Name (required)
   • Last Name (required)
   • Department (optional - departments are created automatically if they don't exist)
3. Upload the completed CSV file and click Import.
4. You'll see a summary showing how many staff were imported, any duplicates skipped, and any errors.
5. Each imported staff member receives an invitation email.

You can import up to 1,000 staff at a time. Your subscription plan also limits the total number of staff.

The Staff List

The staff list table shows all active staff with:

• Name and Email
• Role - change between Staff, Manager, or Master using the dropdown
• Department - assign or change using the dropdown
• Approver - set who approves this person's leave (Department Default, Auto Accept, or a specific Manager/Master)
• Allowance - shows their effective holiday allowance
• Edit - link to the detailed edit page
• Remove - deactivates the staff member (their data is kept for audit purposes)

Exporting a Staff Leave Report

Click the Export CSV button at the top of the staff list to download a report showing each staff member's leave usage broken down by leave type, along with their total and remaining allowance.

Editing a Staff Member

Click Edit on any staff member to open their detailed edit page, where you can:

• Staff Details - Update their name, email, role, department, approver, and calendar visibility.
• Holiday Allowance - Set a custom allowance (supports half-days like 25.5). Leave it empty to use the business default.
• Carry-Over (if enabled) - Manually set carried-over days from the previous year, or leave empty for automatic calculation.
• Work Days - Toggle Override business work days to set custom work days for part-time workers.
• Holiday Summary - View their allowance, usage (approved and pending), remaining days, and all leave requests for the current year.

Removing a Staff Member

1. Click Remove next to the staff member.
2. Confirm the removal.
3. The staff member is deactivated (not deleted) - their leave history is preserved for audit purposes.
4. Their pending leave requests are deleted and any approver references are cleared.
5. They will no longer be able to log in.

You cannot remove yourself or the last Master account.

9. Managing Departments

Master accounts only.

Go to Manage Departments from the dropdown menu.

Adding a Department

1. Enter the department name in the text field.
2. Click Add.
3. The department appears in the list below.

Importing Departments from CSV

1. Click Download CSV template to get the format.
2. Fill in department names (one per row).
3. Upload the file and click Import.
4. See a summary of departments added and any duplicates skipped.

Editing a Department

1. Click Edit next to a department.
2. Change the name and/or set a department approver from the dropdown of Managers and Masters.
3. Click Save.

Department approvers act as the default approver for all staff in that department (unless a staff member has an individual approver set).

Removing a Department

1. Click Remove next to a department.
2. Confirm the removal.
3. Staff in that department become unassigned (they are not removed).

10. Managing Your Business

Master accounts only.

Go to Manage Business from the dropdown menu.

Business Name

Update your business name and click Save.

Holiday Allowance

Set the default number of annual leave days for all staff (e.g. 25 days). Supports half-day increments (e.g. 25.5). Individual staff members can have their own allowance set on the Edit Staff page.

Holiday Carry-Over

Enable holiday carry-over to allow staff to carry unused leave into the next holiday year. Set a cap on the maximum number of days that can be carried over (e.g. 5 days). Staff can have individual overrides set on their Edit Staff page.

Holiday Year

Set the start and end dates for your holiday year. For example:

• January 1 to December 31 (calendar year)
• April 1 to March 31 (financial year)
• September 1 to August 31 (academic year)

Allowances and usage are calculated based on these dates.

Work Days

Select which days of the week are work days for your business. At least one day must be selected. The calendar uses this to determine which cells are clickable and to calculate working days in date ranges. Individual staff can have custom work days set on their Edit Staff page (e.g. for part-time workers).

Calendar Display

Control who can see whom on the calendar:

• All Staff - everyone can see all colleagues on the calendar.
• Department Only - staff can only see members of their own department.
• Self Only - staff can only see their own row.

Masters always see all staff. Managers also see anyone they are set as approver for, regardless of this setting.

Deactivating Your Business

To deactivate your business account, please contact us at [email protected].

11. Leave Types

Master accounts only. Found on the Manage Business page.

Leave types define the categories of leave your staff can request (e.g. Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Training).

Default Leave Types

Every business starts with four default leave types:

• Annual Leave (green, umbrella icon) - deducts from allowance, requires approval
• Sick Leave (red, thermometer icon) - does not deduct, requires approval
• Compassionate Leave (pink, heart icon) - does not deduct, requires approval
• Unpaid Leave (amber, ban icon) - does not deduct, requires approval

Default types can be edited but not deleted.

Adding a Leave Type

1. Enter a name for the leave type.
2. Select a colour from the dropdown (each colour can only be used once).
3. Optionally select an icon from the available options.
4. Tick Deducts from allowance if this type should count against the staff member's holiday entitlement.
5. Tick Needs approval if requests for this type require manager approval. If unchecked, requests are auto-approved.
6. Click Add.

You can have up to 20 leave types per business.

Editing a Leave Type

1. Click Edit next to the leave type.
2. Update the name, colour, icon, deduction setting, or approval setting.
3. Click Save.

Removing a Leave Type

1. Click Remove next to a custom leave type.
2. Confirm the removal.

You cannot delete a leave type that has existing leave requests. Cancel the relevant requests first. Default leave types cannot be deleted.

12. Blackout Dates

Master accounts only.

Blackout dates block specific dates on the calendar, preventing staff from requesting leave on those days. They appear as dark grey/black cells.

Creating a Blackout Date

1. On the calendar, click on an empty work-day cell.
2. Select Blackout Date from the action menu.
3. Choose the scope:
   • Staff Member Only - blocks just this one staff member on this date.
   • All Staff - blocks the entire business on this date.
4. Click Apply Blackout.

You cannot blackout a date that already has leave requests. Cancel the existing requests first.

Removing a Blackout Date

1. Click on a blacked-out cell on the calendar.
2. Select Remove Blackout from the action menu.
3. Confirm the removal.
4. The cell returns to normal and staff can now request leave on that date.

13. Subscription Plans

Master accounts only.

Timello offers four subscription plans:

Viewing Your Current Plan

Go to Manage Business. The Current Plan section shows your plan name, a badge, and your staff count versus your limit.

Upgrading Your Plan

1. Click Change Plan on the Manage Business page.
2. A modal shows all available plans with their features and pricing.
3. Click Upgrade on your desired plan.
4. You'll be redirected to Stripe to complete payment.
5. After payment, you're returned to Timello with your new plan active immediately.

Downgrading Your Plan

1. Click Change Plan on the Manage Business page.
2. Click Downgrade on a lower plan.
3. Confirm the downgrade.
4. The downgrade is scheduled for the end of your current billing period - you keep your current plan until then.
5. A notice appears showing when the downgrade will take effect, with an option to Cancel Downgrade if you change your mind.

If you downgrade to a plan with a lower staff limit than your current staff count, the calendar will be blocked until you reduce your staff numbers.

Managing Billing

Click Manage Billing to open the Stripe customer portal where you can update your payment method, view invoices, and manage your subscription.

14. Your Profile and Settings

Updating Your Profile

1. Click your name in the top-right corner and select Profile.
2. Update your Name or Email and click Save.

Changing Your Password

1. Go to Profile.
2. In the Update Password section, enter your current password, new password, and confirm it.
3. Click Save.

Dark Mode

1. Click your name in the top-right corner and select Settings.
2. Toggle the Dark Mode switch on or off.
3. The change applies immediately and is remembered in your browser.

Dark mode is on by default. Toggle it off if you prefer the light theme.

15. Email Notifications

Timello sends email notifications to keep everyone informed. You don't need to configure these - they happen automatically.

16. Frequently Asked Questions

How do I reset my password?

On the login page, click Forgot your password?, enter your email, and follow the link sent to your inbox. The link expires after 60 minutes.

Can I book half days?

Yes. When requesting leave, choose Morning (AM) or Afternoon (PM) instead of Full Day. Half days count as 0.5 towards your allowance.

Why can't I click on a cell?

Cells are not clickable if:

• It's a non-work day (grey background)
• It's a blackout date (dark grey/black)
• You don't have permission (staff can only click their own row)

Why is the calendar blocked with a warning?

Your business has more staff than your subscription plan allows. The Master account holder needs to either upgrade the plan or reduce the number of staff.

What happens when a staff member is removed?

They are deactivated, not deleted. Their leave history is preserved for audit purposes. Their email can be reused for a new account. They can no longer log in.

How do I deactivate my business?

To deactivate your business account, contact us at [email protected] and we'll take care of it for you.

How does the approval chain work?

When a staff member requests leave:

1. If they have a personal approver set, that person is notified.
2. If not, the department approver is notified (if one is set for their department).
3. If neither is set, all Master accounts see the request.

What does "Auto Accept" mean?

When a staff member's approver is set to "Auto Accept", their leave requests are approved immediately without needing someone to approve them manually.

What does "Needs approval" mean on a leave type?

When a leave type has "Needs approval" turned off, all requests for that type are automatically approved regardless of the staff member's approver settings. This is useful for types like sick leave where you want to record it without requiring approval.

How is carry-over calculated?

If carry-over is enabled, unused leave days from the previous holiday year are automatically added to the staff member's allowance for the current year, up to the carry-over cap. Masters can manually override this per staff member on the Edit Staff page.

Where can I find my invoices and payment history?

Click Manage Billing on the Manage Business page to open the Stripe customer portal where you can view and download invoices.