Attendance app user guide – web and mobile | FreshQR

FreshQR attendance app user guide

This attendance app user guide covers both sides of FreshQR: the web app where you run the company and the mobile app your employees clock in with. Choose your role and find the task you need help with. Every guide opens with a short answer, followed by step-by-step instructions with screenshots.

Šimon Skotnický, founder of FreshQR Updated
Who is this guide for

How FreshQR works

  1. Step 1

    A QR code at the workplace

    Print the clock-in and clock-out QR codes and put them up at your branch or on site.

  2. Step 2

    Employees scan with their phone

    Each employee scans on their own phone in the FreshQR app. No account or password needed – the company code or the first scan is enough.

  3. Step 3

    You see the attendance

    Time, branch and GPS location show up on the web straight away. Export reports to Excel or PDF for payroll.

Start here

  1. Getting started after sign-upInstalling the app, the first scan and printing a QR code.
  2. How to add employeesThe first scan, the company code or the app link by email.
  3. Clock-in and clock-out QR codesPrinting, custom style and regenerating codes.
  4. Monthly employee report and PDF for signingHours worked, absences and export.

Get started in 15 minutes

Six steps for a new administrator. Signing up, a test scan and printing the codes take about a quarter of an hour. The rest follows once your team starts scanning.

  1. Sign up your company

    Enter your company name, email and a password – no payment card. You immediately get a main branch with Clock in and Clock out QR codes, a default work schedule and absence types. Details: Sign-up and the 30-day trial.

  2. Print the QR codes

    Under Attendance (QR Codes) you download both codes of a branch as one PDF and put them up by the entrance. Before printing you can try a scan straight from your screen, as shown in Getting started after sign-up. If your staff work at client sites, add a project with its own QR code for each site. Printing and regenerating codes: Clock-in and clock-out QR codes.

  3. Send the app to your team

    Employees install the FreshQR app on their own phones and scan the Clock in code. That first scan adds them to Employees automatically – no account or password. Anyone who can’t get to a code yet joins with the company code. More in How to add employees.

  4. Check Scan Details

    After the first clock-ins, open Scan Details. Each record shows the time, the branch and how far from the branch the scan was made. Add a missing clock-out from the three dots at the end of the row. How it works: Scan details – reviewing and editing attendance.

  5. Set the work schedule

    In My Company › Work Schedules adjust the default schedule: working days, daily hours, the automatic break and rounding. Overtime and the length of absences are calculated from it. Guide: Work schedules, rounding and breaks.

  6. Run the month-end report

    In Table Reports › Per employee you download each employee’s monthly timesheet as a PDF with signature fields, or an Excel file for whoever runs payroll – for one person or everyone at once. See Monthly employee report and Export to Excel and PDF.

Branches or projects?

FreshQR tracks attendance at fixed workplaces (branches) and on jobs (projects) – you can use one, the other or both at once. That decides which QR codes you print and what your employees scan.

Branches
restaurant, shop, production floor, office
Projects
construction site, field service, cleaning, installations
How to decide: branches or projects →

Common tasks

Topics – web app

For employees

Did your employer send you here? Install the FreshQR app on your own phone – it is free for employees – and join your company by scanning the Clock in QR code at work. You don’t need to sign up, and you don’t need an email or a password. The full walkthrough is in Installing the app and joining your company.

Each time you arrive and leave, tap Scan QR and point your phone at the code (clocking in and out with a QR code). If you work at a client site, you also scan that site’s project code. With no signal, the scan is saved and sent later. You see your hours on the Home tab and a monthly summary under Reports, if your employer shows them (day overview, reports in the app).

You request time off under Absences (requesting leave). The app doesn’t notify you when a request is approved – the colour of the icon shows its status. Forgot to clock out? Tell your manager; they correct it in the web app. If the camera or location won’t work, see Scanning problems.

Frequently asked questions

Does every employee need their own phone?

Yes. Each employee scans the QR code on their own phone and the scan is linked to their profile. The app is free for employees on Android and iPhone.

Do employees need an account and password?

No. After installing the app they scan one of your company's QR codes or enter the company code in the settings. They then appear in your employee list automatically.

What if an employee has no internet connection?

The scan is saved on the phone and sent automatically once the phone is back online. The app lists unsent scans in the Scan Queue, so the employee knows nothing was lost. Leave requests, however, need a connection.

How do I stop people from scanning at home?

Every scan stores the GPS location and the distance from the branch. You can also require a workplace photo with each scan and get an email alert about distant scans.

Does the app track employees’ location all day?

No. The location is read only at the moment of a scan, never during the shift. A scan is never rejected because of distance – it is saved, and a distant scan is flagged in the web app. What you do about it is up to you.

What if an employee forgets to clock out?

If you turn on the clock-out reminder in the mobile app settings, their phone reminds them after a set number of hours. You can also set rules that close forgotten clock-outs automatically, and the Checks report shows days with a missing scan.

How do I correct a missing or wrong attendance record?

In Scan Details, click the three dots at the end of the row and choose Edit. Add a whole missing day with + Create. Every change is written to the Change Log, and the employee gets no notification about it.

How do I get attendance to payroll?

In Table Reports you export Excel or PDF for all employees at once. For payroll systems used in Slovakia and Czechia (Olymp, MRP, Helios, MKSoft) there are ready-made exports, which FreshQR support switches on.

Can my accountant have their own access to the reports?

Yes. In My Company › User accounts, create an account for them with the role Reports: View Only, and they can download the reports themselves. FreshQR doesn’t email exports automatically.

Can a site supervisor see only their own team?

Yes, if you give them the Project Manager role, or Branch Manager for a fixed location. They then see and edit only the records of their own projects or branches, with fewer report tabs. An account linked to an employee sees only that employee and their subordinates.

Can I use FreshQR across several sites and branches?

Yes. Each branch has its own Clock in and Clock out codes, so you see who worked where, and one person can work at two branches in a day. Client sites and jobs use projects with a single QR code that both starts and ends the work. Branches and projects can be combined.

Can employees see their own hours?

Yes, if you allow it. In the mobile app settings you decide whether they see attendance reports, overtime or salary.

Can I change a setting for one employee only?

Yes. Most mobile app settings can be overridden in the employee's profile – for example the required photo or whether the salary is shown.

How does an employee request leave?

In the mobile app they pick the absence type and the days and send the request. You find it under Absences, where you approve or decline it; the employee then sees the new status in their app.

Is the employee notified when I approve their leave?

They don’t get a push notification. They see the status in the app under Absences by the colour of the icon – green for approved, red for declined. Email notifications are meant for administrators and managers.

Can I try FreshQR without printing any QR codes?

Yes. After sign-up the wizard walks you through a first scan straight from your computer screen. You only need to print once you bring in your team. The test scan also creates your own profile in the employee list.

What happens when the 30-day trial ends?

If you don’t buy credits, the web app is restricted: Dashboard, Table Reports, Scan Details, Absences, Event Calendar and Notes are greyed out. Settings and My Company keep working, so you can still buy credits. Your employees keep scanning in the mobile app, and their attendance is still recorded. The end of the trial deletes nothing, and everything opens again after the purchase.

How much does it cost?

The first 30 days are a trial. After that you pay with credits per active employee – see the pricing page for details. The mobile app is free for employees.

Glossary

Branch
A fixed place of work – a restaurant, shop or office. It says where someone works; attendance is calculated against the branch schedule. An employee can work at several branches in one day.
Project
A job or site with a start and an end. It says what someone works on; the report shows hours for each job separately. There can be several per day, even alongside a branch.
Scan
One scan of a QR code – clock-in, clock-out or a break.
Scan Details
The web app menu with every clock-in and clock-out. This is where you review and correct attendance.
Company Code
A code that connects an employee’s app to your company without a scan, for example from home before their first day. You then assign their branch and supervisor.
Scan Queue
Scans on the phone that are waiting to be sent while there is no internet connection.
Absence
Leave, sick leave, a doctor's appointment or any other time away from work.
Absence pool
A shared yearly or monthly limit for one or more absence types, such as the annual leave allowance.
Schedule
Planned working hours, used to calculate overtime and breaks.
Rounding & Hooks
Hooks anchor a scan shortly before the start or after the end of a shift to the planned time. Rounding adjusts scan times, for example to 15 minutes.
User account
A login to the web app for owners, managers or your accountant. Its role decides what the account can see. Employees who only scan don’t need one.
Credit
The billing unit; 1 credit covers one active employee for one month.

About this guide

This guide is written by Šimon Skotnický, founder of FreshQR. Every procedure is walked through in the app on a demo company, Brightway Facility Services Ltd in Dublin, so the screenshots show real screens rather than mock-ups. Whatever the guide says about how the app behaves is checked in the app itself.

Each page reflects the app as of the “Updated” date under its heading. When the app changes, we revise the affected pages and move that date. New features are listed on the What's new page. Features marked Beta may still change.

If something in a guide doesn't match what you see in your company, email us at info@freshqr.online or message us on WhatsApp.

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