> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Onboard a new employee

> A repeatable checklist for adding someone to your workspace: invite, role, group, schedule, rates, project access and their first tracked hour.

Do these eight things in this order and the new person can do real work on day one.

The order matters for one reason: **a time entry snapshots the rate that applied on its date**. Set the rate before they track anything, or their first week has no value on it.

<Info>
  **The example:** Jonas Bergman joins Northwind Studio as a developer. Tom Whitfield (Admin) onboards him. Maya Ellis (Owner) sets his rates.
</Info>

## Before you start

<Note>
  **Plan and seats.** Adding a person is free up to **3 people**. That count includes staff, contractors, client portal contacts and every outstanding invitation. The fourth person is the paid wall. See [Seats](/billing/seats).
</Note>

## Who does what

| Step            | Who          | Capability          |
| --------------- | ------------ | ------------------- |
| Invite          | Tom (Admin)  | `member.invite`     |
| Set role        | Tom (Admin)  | `member.changeRole` |
| Add to group    | Tom (Admin)  | `group.manage`      |
| Assign schedule | Tom (Admin)  | `schedule.manage`   |
| Set rates       | Maya (Owner) | `rate.manage`       |
| Add to projects | Priya (PM)   | `project.manage`    |

## The checklist

<Steps>
  <Step title="Tom invites Jonas">
    Send the invitation to his work email and pick his role at the same time.

    Every role can be invited except Owner. A **Client** can only be invited from the client company's own page, because a portal contact has to belong to a company.

    → [Invite a member](/team/invite-a-member) · [Pending invitations](/team/pending-invitations)

    <Warning>
      An open invitation **is access**, and it counts as a seat from the moment you send it. If someone never accepts, revoke the invite rather than leaving it open. See [Pending invitations](/team/pending-invitations).
    </Warning>

    <Tip>
      Need to assign work before their email is set up? Add them directly without an address, and invite them later. See [Add a member directly](/team/add-a-member-directly).
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tom gives Jonas the right role">
    Pick the narrowest role that lets him do his job. Roles are a strict subset chain, so a lower role can do everything a narrower one can and no more.

    | Role            | Give it to                                             |
    | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
    | Admin           | Operations people who configure the workspace          |
    | Project Manager | Anyone who runs delivery and approves time             |
    | Finance         | Anyone who invoices and records payments               |
    | **Member**      | A regular employee. **Jonas gets this one.**           |
    | Contractor      | A freelancer. No client visibility, no report building |
    | Client          | An external portal contact at a client company         |

    → [Roles and capabilities](/concepts/roles-and-capabilities) · [Change someone's role](/team/change-someones-role)

    <Note>
      Do not hand out Admin to save a conversation. An Admin can change everyone's rates and budgets.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tom adds Jonas to a group">
    Jonas joins **Engineering**.

    A group is a standing team. It makes assigning people quick, and it feeds [supervision scope](/concepts/supervision-scope) – which is what puts Jonas's timesheets into Priya's approval queue.

    → [Groups](/team/groups) · [Groups settings](/settings/groups)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tom assigns Jonas a schedule">
    Put him on the standard 40 hour week, Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00, in his own timezone.

    Without a schedule there is no expected-hours figure, so his timesheet has nothing to compare against and a short week looks normal.

    → [Assign a schedule](/schedules/assign-a-schedule) · [Working hours and days off](/schedules/working-hours-and-days-off) · [Schedule timezones](/schedules/schedule-timezones)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Maya sets Jonas's rates">
    Both of them, before he tracks an hour.

    | Rate     | Value      | What it means                     |
    | -------- | ---------- | --------------------------------- |
    | Billable | \$120/hour | What clients pay for Jonas's time |
    | Cost     | \$60/hour  | What Jonas costs Northwind        |

    Margin on Jonas's time is **\$60 an hour, or 50%**.

    → [Set a person rate](/rates/set-a-person-rate) · [Billable rates](/rates/billable-rates) · [Cost rates](/rates/cost-rates)

    <Warning>
      Set rates on day one. Hours tracked before a rate exists carry no billable value, and fixing them later means an admin adjusting every entry. See [Rate snapshots](/rates/rate-snapshots).
    </Warning>

    <Note>
      Jonas cannot see his own cost rate. Seeing cost needs `rate.viewCost`, which the Member role does not have. See [Rate permissions](/rates/rate-permissions).
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Priya adds Jonas to his projects">
    Project membership decides which projects he can pick when tracking time, and it drives [project visibility](/projects/project-visibility).

    Add him to **Bluebird Coffee – Website Redesign** and **Harbor Logistics – Mobile App**.

    → [Project members](/projects/project-members)

    <Tip>
      If Jonas has a different price on one client, set a project member rate there rather than changing his default. The most specific rate wins. See [Project and client rates](/rates/project-and-client-rates).
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Priya assigns Jonas his first tasks">
    Give him two or three real tasks with estimates on them. A person with nothing assigned has nothing to track time against, and will invent something.

    → [Create a task](/tasks/create-a-task) · [Assignees](/tasks/assignees) · [My tasks](/tasks/my-tasks)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Jonas sets himself up and tracks his first hour">
    His first fifteen minutes, on his own:

    1. Accept the invitation and sign in.
    2. Fill in his profile. → [Your profile](/account/your-profile)
    3. Check his schedule looks right. → [Your schedule](/account/your-schedule)
    4. Set his notification preferences. → [Your notification settings](/notifications/your-notification-settings)
    5. Run the product tour from the dashboard checklist. → [Product tour](/getting-started/product-tour)
    6. Start a timer on a real task. → [Track your first hour](/getting-started/track-your-first-hour)

    The dashboard shows a short checklist with three items – track your first hour, create a real project, invite your group – and it ticks itself off as he goes.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What to tell them on day one

Four sentences cover almost everything a new person needs.

| Tell them                             | Why                                           |
| ------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Track time as you work, not on Friday | Reconstructed hours are wrong hours           |
| Submit your week by Friday end of day | It is the deadline everything else depends on |
| Mark work billable or not, honestly   | It is what a client can be charged for        |
| Approved time is locked               | Fix it before you submit, not after           |

→ [How to track time](/time-tracking/how-to-track-time) · [Billable vs non-billable](/concepts/billable-vs-non-billable) · [Weekly timesheet routine](/guides/weekly-timesheet-routine)

## Variations

| Situation                          | What changes                                                                                               |
| ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Freelancer, not employee**       | Use the Contractor role. See [Manage contractors](/guides/manage-contractors)                              |
| **Part time**                      | Assign a part-time schedule so expected hours are right                                                    |
| **New timezone**                   | Put them on a schedule set to their region. See [Setup for a remote team](/guides/setup-for-a-remote-team) |
| **They will approve time**         | Project Manager role plus supervision scope. See [Supervision scope](/concepts/supervision-scope)          |
| **Client contact, not staff**      | Invite from the client's page. See [Invite a client contact](/portal/invite-a-client-contact)              |
| **They need one extra permission** | Change it on the person, not the role. See [Per-person permissions](/team/per-person-permissions)          |

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The invitation never arrived.">
    Check the pending invitations list first – the invite may be sitting there unaccepted. Then check spam. You can revoke and resend. See [Pending invitations](/team/pending-invitations) and [Email not arriving](/troubleshooting/email-not-arriving).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does a pending invitation use a seat?">
    Yes. An open invite is access, so it counts from the moment you send it. Revoke invitations that will never be accepted. See [Seats](/billing/seats).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I add someone before they have an email address?">
    Yes. Add them directly and you can assign work to them straight away. Invite them properly when their address exists. See [Add a member directly](/team/add-a-member-directly).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Jonas cannot see a project. Why?">
    He is probably not a project member. Check that first, then [Project visibility](/projects/project-visibility), then whether the app is switched on at all. See [I cannot see a feature](/troubleshooting/i-cannot-see-a-feature).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I change someone's role later?">
    Yes, at any time. It changes what they can do from that moment. Their history stays exactly as it was. See [Change someone's role](/team/change-someones-role).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Where do I see everything about one person?">
    Their member record – role, groups, schedule, rates and employment details in one place. See [Member record](/team/member-record).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Offboard an employee" icon="user-minus" href="/guides/offboard-an-employee">
    The reverse checklist, when they leave.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Manage contractors" icon="handshake" href="/guides/manage-contractors">
    Onboarding a freelancer instead.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Weekly timesheet routine" icon="calendar-check" href="/guides/weekly-timesheet-routine">
    The habit to teach them in week one.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Set up a new workspace" icon="rocket" href="/guides/set-up-a-new-workspace">
    Everything that had to exist first.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Setup for a remote team" icon="globe" href="/guides/setup-for-a-remote-team">
    Hiring into a new timezone.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>