ShiftLog User Guide

Start here

ShiftLog keeps your hours, miles, job notes, receipts and expenses on your phone, and works with no signal. Find yourself below; everything else in this guide is there when you need it.

My employer sent me an invite code

1. On your phone, open boxridgesoftware.com/shiftlog.
2. Tap Sign in on the orange banner, enter the code, check the company and your name, then choose a password (more).
3. Add ShiftLog to your home screen. Log your hours as you go; they reach the office whenever you have signal (how).

I have my own Boxridge account

1. Open boxridgesoftware.com/shiftlog, tap ☰, then Sign in with the email and password you use on the website.
2. Add it to your home screen (how). Everything you log is shared with Ledger on your PC.

Just trying it out

Open the address above and start logging; nothing to sign up for. Without a plan, everything stays on this phone.

Where things are

The tour shows every part of the screen with a picture. The everyday jobs are logging a shift and adding a receipt or expense.

Set up your phone

Put it on your home screen

1. Open boxridgesoftware.com/shiftlog in Safari (iPhone) or Chrome (Android).
2. iPhone: tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen. Android: tap the ⋮ menu, then Add to Home screen or Install app.
3. Open ShiftLog from the new green cube icon from now on. It opens even with no signal.

Sign in (with a plan)

Tap ☰ (top right). The Boxridge account box is at the top.

• I have an invite code: type the code (capitals and the dash don't matter), tap Next, check the company and your name, enter your email, choose a password (at least 10 characters) and tap Join.
• Sign in: your email and password. Owners use the email they signed up with on the website. Tap Show in the password box to check what you typed.
• Your account isn't in a company yet? ShiftLog says so and shows Start your company: type the company name and tap Start my company. You're signed in as the owner (30 days free, no card), and Ledger's Crew tab signs in with the same email and password.
• Forgot your password? Tap Forgot password? under Sign in. The website's reset page opens with your email filled in; the email it sends has a link to choose a new one.
• Bought software from us before? That account may not have a password yet. ShiftLog's sign-up asks you to choose one, and Account → Settings on the website shows Set a password.

The first time you sign in, everything already on the phone is uploaded to your account. On a new phone, signing in brings all your entries back.

Your settings

The screen at a glance

ShiftLog is one long page you scroll down, made of blocks. Here's every block, top to bottom: what it's for and how you'd use it on a normal day. The numbers match the picture. Tap any picture to see it full size; tap again to close it.

1. 

   The top bar

   Your version number, whether everything has Synced, What's new and this User guide. 📷 Receipt opens the camera straight away for a receipt; ☰ opens Settings (your account, phone storage, rates, invoice details, job details, recently deleted).

   Use it: bought something? Tap 📷 Receipt, take the picture, type the amount, tap + Add Expense. Glance at the sync line before you leave a job.

2. 

   Log New Shift

   Your day on a job: date, job, hours (or time in and out with a break), odometer start and end, what you did and notes. The bottom part, Material Cost, logs a purchase for that job at the same time, with its receipt photo.

   Use it: at the end of the day pick the job (recent jobs are one tap), fill in the times and miles, tap Add Entry. Interrupted? It keeps what you typed; Save for Later does it on purpose.

3. 

   Quick Task Add

   Adds a short task (15 minutes to 2 hours) to today's entry for a job, with a note of what it was.

   Use it: a quick hardware run or a callback that doesn't need a whole new shift.

4. 

   Prep List - Things to Bring

   A checklist for each job of tools and materials to bring. It also shows the job's details (customer, address, door codes).

   Use it: the night before, pick tomorrow's job and add what you'll need; tick things off as you load the truck.

5. 

   Job History

   Everything logged for one job: every day, hours, miles and notes.

   Use it: when a customer asks "when were you here?" or before you invoice, to check nothing's missing.

6. 

   Expenses & Receipts

   Money you spent: amount, category, vendor, job and the receipt photo (📷 Take Receipt Photo or 🖼️ From Photos). Totals for the week, month and year, by tax category, and Export Expenses CSV. The list is folded away under Expense list.

   Use it: every receipt, the same day. After + Add Expense you'll see ✓ Saved. One receipt for two jobs? Tap Same receipt for another item.

7. 

   Invoice Items

   Things you charge the customer for that aren't hours, like a fixture you installed, with a price and whether it's taxable.

   Use it: add items as you go; they're picked up when you make that job's invoice.

8. 

   Invoice Generator

   Builds an invoice for a job and dates from your hours, mileage (if you bill it), expenses and items. Then Share as PDF (text or email it from the phone), print, or Save & Sync it so the office sees it in Ledger. Mark Billed Through remembers how far you've billed.

   Use it: pick the job and dates, tap Generate Invoice, check it, then Share as PDF. With a plan, the invoice gets your company's next number.

9. 

   Weekly Log Summaries

   Each week's shifts with hours, miles and pay, newest first. ✏️ edits an entry, 🗑️ deletes it (it goes to Recently Deleted first). Manual CSV Export and Print / PDF for a timesheet.

   Use it: at the end of the week, check your hours before payday.

10. 

    ☰ Settings

    Your Boxridge account and Sync Now, 📱 Phone storage, your rates and week start, invoice details (business name, address, logo, footer), job details (customer, door codes, client contact, payment link, billed through) and Recently Deleted.

    Use it: once at the start (rates and invoice details); after that, mostly to add a job's details or bring back something deleted by mistake.

At the very bottom: ShiftLog by Boxridge Software, the version, and a link to help and support.

Log a shift

The Log New Shift form is at the top of the screen.

1. Date is today. Job Name: type it, or tap one of the jobs you worked this week.
2. Enter Time In and Time Out and pick the Unpaid Break/Lunch. Hours Worked fills itself in (overnight shifts too). Or just type the hours.
3. Odometer: Start Miles fills in from your last entry with the same vehicle. If the odometer says something else (you drove somewhere in between), type the real number; it stays. Type End Miles and the trip miles are worked out.
4. Forgot the end miles yesterday? Just put in today's start: yesterday's end miles are filled in from it, and a note shows the miles so you can lower them if part of that drive was personal.
5. Shifts already saved with a start but no end count 0 miles. A 🛣️ Fill in missing end miles button appears above Weekly Log Summaries; it shows the list first, then fills each one from the next shift's start. Approved shifts are locked, so they're only pointed out: unlock them in Ledger (Crew tab → Approved → Unlock) or ask the office, then fill them in.
6. Drive more than one vehicle? Type it in Vehicle (Truck, Van, Car…). Miles only ever carry over within the same vehicle, and Ledger gets the vehicle with each shift. Leave it blank if you only drive one.
7. Don't track your own hours? ☰ → What I use ShiftLog for → Miles, expenses and notes. Each entry becomes a trip: where you went, vehicle, odometer and the business purpose (the IRS asks for it), with no hours or pay. 🚚 Mileage Log under Weekly Log Summaries saves the miles for the period shown as a spreadsheet. This choice is for owners and people using ShiftLog on their own: a crew member's phone always logs hours, so the choice isn't shown there.
8. Own rentals, or building or renovating homes? Once the properties are set up in Ledger (Settings → I own properties), a Property box shows on shifts and expenses. Pick which property the work or the purchase was for, or type a new one.
9. Weekly Log Summaries: this week is open; tap an older week to open it. Show picks the period: This week, Last 4 weeks, This month, Last month, This year or All.
10. Add a Work Description (it can go on the invoice) and any Materials & Notes.
11. Tap Add Entry.

• Got interrupted? The form saves itself as you type. Next time you open ShiftLog it says Picked up where you left off. 💾 Save for Later does the same on purpose. The material cost and its receipt photo are kept too.
• Bought something for the job? Fill in 💰 Material Cost under the shift (item, amount, vendor, and 📷 Take Receipt Photo) and tap + Log This Material Cost. It's saved as an expense for that job and date.
• Small extra task? ⚡ Quick Task Add adds 15 minutes to 2 hours to today's entry for a job, with a note of what it was.
• Door codes and gate codes: type one in Door Codes / Quick Ref and it's remembered for that job and filled in next time.
• Fix or delete: tap ✏️ or 🗑️ on any entry. Deleted shifts go to ☰ → Recently Deleted, where ↩️ brings them back.

Expenses and invoices

Expenses and receipts

Fastest way: tap 📷 Receipt at the top of ShiftLog. The camera opens; take the picture and you're dropped into the expense with the photo attached and the cursor in Amount.

1. In 💰 Expenses & Receipts, enter the amount, pick a category, and add the vendor and job if you like.
2. Tap 📷 Take Receipt Photo to open the camera, or 🖼️ From Photos to use a picture you already took.
3. Tick Taxable if you'll bill it to the client with sales tax, then + Add Expense.

Interrupted? If the app closes before you tap + Add Expense (the Back button, a call, the phone going to sleep), the expense you were filling in, receipt photo and all, is waiting when you open ShiftLog again, with a note saying so. Clear throws it away. A photo taken with ShiftLog's camera button is not saved in your phone's Photos, so this is what keeps it.

After + Add Expense a green ✓ Saved line shows the amount, vendor and whether the receipt photo went with it, and the form clears, photo too. Splitting one receipt between jobs? Tap Same receipt for another item on that line: the photo and vendor come back for the next one. Totals for this week, this month and all time are shown underneath, and Export Expenses CSV saves them as a spreadsheet.

Room for photos. Receipt photos are kept in the phone's photo storage, which has room for thousands. With a plan, photos older than 90 days that are safely in your account keep a small preview on the phone; tap it to see the full photo (it's fetched from your account, so that needs signal). ☰ → 📱 Phone storage shows how full ShiftLog's storage is, and a warning appears at the top well before it's a problem.

The expenses themselves are folded away under Expense list so the page stays short. Tap it to open; it shows the last 7 days, with Last 30 days and All to see more (ShiftLog remembers your choice). Billable items work the same way under Item list.

With a plan, each receipt photo is also saved to your company's account (right after its expense, whenever there's signal). The office sees it in Ledger, it's attached to the expense when approved, and a new phone gets it back. Until it's uploaded, the sync line says 📷 1 receipt photo waiting to upload.

Things you charge for

🏷️ Invoice Items is for things you bill the client for (a ceiling fan you installed, a service call fee), not things you paid for. Taxable items get your sales tax rate.

Make an invoice on the phone

1. In 🧾 Invoice Generator, pick the job. The start date fills in from the day after you last billed it.
2. Choose the end date and what to include (mileage, materials, billable items), then tap Generate Invoice to see it.
3. Send it: 📤 Share as PDF (text it or email it as a real PDF), ✉️ Email Invoice, or 🖨️ Print / Save as PDF. Sending several? + Add to Share Batch, then 📤 Share All.
4. Tap ✅ Mark Billed Through End Date so next time starts where this one ended. Ledger sees the same date.
5. With a plan (or Ledger sync), ☁️ Save & Sync Invoice sends it to Ledger as a draft and gives it the company's next invoice number.

Save a client's details (phone, email, address, a Stripe payment link) under ☰ → Manage Job Details and they appear on the invoice, with a 💳 Pay Now button when there's a payment link.

The same invoice as Ledger's. A phone invoice has Ledger's layout and exactly the lines Ledger gets: one labor line with what you did each day, mileage, each expense and each item. With a plan, your business name, address, email, logo, footer and sales tax rate come from Ledger's Settings, so every phone's invoices match. Once saved and synced, it shows the company's invoice number (the same series as Ledger's, so no two invoices ever share a number).

Jobs, prep lists, history

• Manage Job Details (in ☰): customer name (so several jobs for one client group together), phone, email, job site, payment link, door codes and the billed-through date. Tap the address for directions or the phone number to call.
• 🎒 Prep List: things to bring to a job (ladder, paint samples). Unchecked items show in an orange bar at the top of the screen and as a number on ☰.
• 🔍 Job History: everything ever logged for one job.
• Weekly Log Summaries: each week's hours, miles (with their dollar value) and pay. Tap the heading to open it. Manual CSV Export saves all your shifts; Print / PDF prints calendar pages.

Syncing and no signal

Everything is saved on the phone first, so ShiftLog works in a basement, a field or on a plane. Each change waits in line and is sent, in order, the moment there's signal (and every minute while the app is open). The line under the ShiftLog title and the account box tell you where things stand:

What the office's decisions look like

• Waiting for approval under an entry: the office hasn't looked at it yet.
• When you save (ShiftLog 3.48.23), ShiftLog says where it went: a crew member's shift is sent to the office for approval and can be changed until it's approved; the owner's own goes straight into the books, with no approval needed (it shows ✔ In your books).
• ↩ Sent back: with the office's note. An orange box at the top of the screen lists everything sent back; tap Fix it to open the entry, change it, and it goes back for review.
• 🔒 Approved: it's in the books and locked. To change it, ask the office to unlock it.

Sync Now in the account box sends and checks right away. Sign out of this phone keeps everything on the phone.

If something looks wrong

Still stuck? boxridgesoftware.com/support.

Questions people ask