Guides
Paper sign-in sheets vs QR clock-in
Most independent venues start with a sheet by the door, a group chat or a spreadsheet. They work until the week someone forgets to write down a finish time. Here is where each one breaks, and what changes with a QR code and a PIN.
Updated
Why the manual methods stop working
A paper sheet, a group-chat message and a spreadsheet share one weakness: a person writes the time down, some while after it happened. Forgotten clock-outs, times rounded to the nearest quarter of an hour and handwriting nobody can read all end up as the same job at the end of the week: rebuilding the hours from memory.
The retyping is the second cost. Hours written on a sheet get typed into a spreadsheet, and then typed again for payroll. Each step is a chance for a wrong number that nobody can trace.
Side by side
| Sheet, chat or spreadsheet | QR code and PIN | |
|---|---|---|
| Recording a start time | Written by hand, or typed later | Staff scan the location’s QR code and enter a PIN; the time is stamped when they do |
| A forgotten clock-out | Guessed at the end of the week | Shows as an open shift; the manager adds the finish time with a reason |
| Correcting a mistake | Crossed out or overwritten, so the original is lost | The correction is recorded with a reason and the original stays visible |
| Who is in right now | Ask in the chat, or look at the sheet | A live Today view of who is clocked in and where |
| Getting hours to payroll | Retyped into a spreadsheet or a payroll tool | A CSV export per period and per location |
| What staff need | A pen, or the group chat | A phone browser or a shared tablet; no app and no account |
What stays the same
Someone still has to review the hours. A QR clock-in records and exports time; it does not calculate pay, overtime, holiday pay or tax, and it is not rota or HR software. It replaces the writing down and the retyping, not the payroll decision.
Switching in a week
You do not need to stop the old method on day one. Run both for a few days, then compare.
- Add the venue as a location and put its QR code where staff arrive: the door, the pass or the staff room.
- Add the team and give each person their own four-digit PIN.
- Keep the paper sheet alongside for a few days so nobody feels exposed.
- At the end of the week, compare the two, correct anything that differs, and export the hours.