A temporary staffing agency is a margin business run on timesheets: a worker placed with a client at a pay rate and a charge rate, hours that have to be agreed by the client, a payslip on Friday and an invoice on Monday. BOOK ON puts the pay rate and the charge rate on every shift, records the hours from the worker’s own book-on, builds the payroll and the client invoice from the same approved timesheet, and shows the margin by client on the finance dashboard.
What an agency needs
Workers on a compliant record
Right to work with its expiry, references, certificates and training per worker, with onboarding forms completed from the app.
Placements as shifts
Each placement is a shift at the client’s site with a pay rate and a charge rate; week-long bookings are copied forward.
Hours the client will agree
Workers book on and off from the app with the position recorded, so the timesheet is built from attendance, not from memory.
Fill the booking fast
Search workers within a radius of the client’s postcode, filtered by certificate, right to work and transport.
Payroll and invoice from one record
Generate payroll by period with payslips and fetch the client invoice from the same approved timesheets; no second spreadsheet.
Margin you can see
The finance dashboard shows revenue, cost, profit and margin by client and site, and the aged ledger shows who has not paid.
A placement, from booking to invoice
- The client’s booking goes on the rota as shifts at their site with the agreed charge rate; the worker’s pay rate sits on the same shift.
- The booking is filled from the postcode search and confirmed through the app.
- The worker books on at the client’s site; the consultant sees it on the live monitor.
- Book off closes the shift; planned against actual hours is on the timesheet for approval.
- Payroll and the invoice are generated from the approved timesheet, and the margin shows on the dashboard.
Compliance for agency workers
An agency has to show that each worker had the right to work, that references and checks were done, and for some sectors that a DBS or a licence was in date on the day. BOOK ON’s staff record holds the documents with their expiry dates, the profile completion rings show what is missing, and the new staff and document expiry reports show the position across the book. Where the client is a security company, the same SIA licence tracking and BS 7858 screening records apply. Agency Workers Regulations calculations and umbrella company arrangements are handled in your payroll process from the hours and rates BOOK ON records.
Agencies on BOOK ON at a glance
| Need | BOOK ON screen | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Worker onboarding | Staff record, onboarding forms from the app, documentation checklist | Compliance |
| Bookings | Client roster by site, Copy Roster, Near By Officers search | Consultants |
| Hours | Book on and book off from the app, timesheets, planned against actual | Consultants, clients |
| Pay and charge | Per-shift pay and charge rates, Master Payroll and Invoice report | Finance |
| Payroll and invoices | Generate Payroll, payslips, sales invoice from timesheets, aged ledger | Finance |
| Margin | Finance dashboard by client and site | Directors |
Staffing agency questions
Can the client approve the timesheet?
Timesheets are approved in BOOK ON by your team from the book-on records; client-side approval through a login is confirmed during onboarding.
Does it handle different charge rates per client?
Yes. Charge rate and pay rate are set per client and site and can be changed on a single shift for overtime or a bank holiday.
Can workers be placed with several clients in one week?
Yes. Each placement is a shift under the client’s site; the worker’s week shows all of them in the app.
Does BOOK ON run payroll or export to one?
It generates payroll by period with payslips from the timesheets; exports to an external payroll or umbrella provider are confirmed during onboarding.
Is it only for security staffing?
No. The security-specific records are used when the placement needs them; the rota, app, timesheets, rates and invoices are the same for any temp placement.
Related pages
Run one client’s bookings on the demo
Bring a week of placements with your pay and charge rates, and see the timesheet, the payslip, the invoice and the margin in BOOK ON.