Staff and roles

In the back office, Team › Staff lists everyone at your venue. It's where an admin adds people, changes their details and PINs, and switches them off when they leave. The last part of this page is a table of what each role can do, on the iPad and in the back office.

The staff list

Who can do this: admins and managers can open the list. Only admins see New staff, the Active switches, the edit pencils, Invite and Export CSV; a manager sees the notice "You're signed in as Manager — only admins can create or edit staff."

• Find someone: type in Search name or email, or pick a role in the role filter (All roles, Admin, Manager, Bartender, Server, Barback).
• Inactive people are hidden. Turn on Show inactive to see them.
• Export (admins): set the search, role and Show inactive filters to the people you want, then click Export CSV. The file has Name, Email, Role, Active and Pay rate (MXN/h) for the rows shown. Pay rates are in pesos with two decimals, blank when there's no rate.

What each row shows:

• Active people come first, then everyone by full name.
• The floor color dot (if set), the name, the role, and when they apply: Inactive, You on your own row, No rate and No PIN. Under the name, the email, or "—".
• The Access and links column shows each admin's and manager's back-office access — Not invited, Invited or Linked — and, for an admin looking at the list, an Invite or Resend button (see Give someone back-office access). Anyone else with a linked sign-in shows Linked too. The column also holds the schedule-link buttons, which appear once your venue has at least one shift on its schedule (see Time clock and schedule).

People can't be deleted, only deactivated.

The No PIN and No rate flags

Two amber flags on active rows warn you about what will go wrong later:

• No PIN: this person can't sign in on an iPad, use the time clock or approve anything. To fix it, click the pencil on their row, type a 4-digit PIN and click Save.
• No rate: Labor will show their hours but no pay. To fix it, click the pencil, type the Hourly rate and click Save.

Neither flag shows on inactive rows. People created by the TouchBistro history import arrive inactive, with no PIN and no rate, so they show both flags once you reactivate them.

Today has its own line for missing rates: "… has no pay rate, so Labor counts their hours but no pay". It names anyone, active or not, who clocked in during the last 14 days and has no rate, and links to Staff.

Add a staff member

A staff member can sign in on your iPads with a 4-digit PIN, and appears on the time clock, the schedule and the Labor report.

Who can do this: admins.

1. In the back office, go to Team › Staff and click New staff. The New staff member dialog opens: "The PIN signs in on the iPad. Admins and managers can also be invited to this back office by email, from the staff list."
2. Full name: required, up to 120 characters. This is the name the iPads and reports show, and receipts too when your receipt design shows who served.
3. Email: optional. Only needed for someone who will sign in to the back office (admins and managers): their invitation goes there. See Give someone back-office access.
4. Role: Admin, Manager, Bartender, Server or Barback. The dialog starts on Server.
5. PIN (4 digits): required for a new person. Exactly four digits.
6. Active: on to start with.
7. Hourly rate: the ordinary pay per hour in pesos, such as 41.67 — "Ordinary rate per hour. Overtime is calculated from it." Leave it blank if you don't want pay worked out.
   • Write the centavos after a dot: 41.67. A comma (41,67) isn't accepted: the save is refused with "Invalid input".
8. Floor color: optional. Pick a color, or type one such as #E05C4B. Clear removes it.
9. Click Create. "Staff member created" confirms it.

• A PIN must be different from every other active person's PIN at the venue. If it's taken, nothing is created: "That PIN is already in use at this venue — choose another."
• Nobody, admins included, can read a PIN back. It can only be replaced.
• A blank rate means no rate on file, which isn't the same as $0: Labor then shows the hours with "no rate" instead of a zero wage. A rate can be from $0 up to $100,000.00.
• Name and floor color changes reach the iPads on their own.
• Other messages: "The PIN must be exactly 4 digits.", "A name is required.", "That does not look like an email address.", "That pay rate looks too high.", "A pay rate cannot be negative.", "The colour must be in the form #RRGGBB."

Edit someone or change a PIN

Who can do this: admins.

Change someone's details

1. Click the pencil on their row. Edit staff opens with their details.
2. Change what you need and click Save. "Staff member updated" confirms it.

Set or reset a PIN

1. Open the person's Edit staff dialog. The field is PIN (blank = keep current) and shows dots; it never shows the current PIN.
2. Type the new 4-digit PIN and click Save. Leave the field empty to keep the PIN they have.
3. Tell the person their new PIN. The old one stops working at once for signing in, the time clock and manager approvals.

Rules to know

• The same checks apply as when adding someone.
• If a new PIN is refused (already in use, or not four digits), your other changes in the dialog have already been saved: only the PIN stays as it was. The error shows and the dialog stays open.
• On the iPad, a new role applies from the person's next sign-in. Closing the day, cash in and out and payment corrections follow the new role straight away.
• A role change also gives or takes away back-office access for someone with a linked sign-in.
• An admin can't take away their own admin role or deactivate themselves: "You can't remove your own admin access — the venue would be locked out." Another admin has to do it.
• The venue always keeps at least one active admin: "The venue must keep at least one active admin."
• Changing the Email of someone already linked doesn't change the address they sign in with. The exception is an invitation nobody has opened yet (Invited): correct the email, then click Resend on their row, and the new invitation goes to the corrected address.

Give someone a floor color

A floor color tints the tables a person is serving on the iPad floor ("the red tables are Juan's") and marks their shifts on the schedule.

Who can do this: admins. Everyone on the iPad sees the tints.

1. Open the person's Edit staff dialog.
2. Under Floor color, click the swatch and pick a color, or type a hex value such as #E05C4B in the box.
3. Click Save. Clear removes the color.

• An occupied table is tinted with the color of its tab's server. With no color, the table keeps its normal tint.
• On the schedule, the person's shifts get a colored left edge and a light tint; open shifts stay amber.
• Nothing stops two people from sharing a color.

Give someone back-office access

Admins and managers can sign in to the back office (app.barformpos.com). You invite them from the staff list: Barform makes their sign-in (or finds the one they already have), links it to their staff record and emails them a link. Nothing needs setting up anywhere else. A sign-in only opens the back office while the person is active with the role Admin or Manager; anyone else who signs in sees "No admin access".

Who can do this: admins invite. The person only opens the email.

Invite someone

1. In Team › Staff, add the person or edit their row. Set Role to Admin or Manager, keep Active on, type the Email they'll sign in with, and save. Their row shows Not invited and an Invite button.
2. Click Invite. The confirmation reads "Invite {name} to the back office?" — "We'll email {email} a link that lets them into this back office as {role}. Nothing else to set up." Check the address and click Send invitation.
3. "Invitation sent to {email}." The row shows Invited and a Resend button.
4. The person opens the email "{venue} invited you to the dashboard — Barform POS" and clicks Open the dashboard. The link works once and expires after one hour.
5. They land, signed in, on "Welcome to {venue}": "You're in the back office. Choose a password to sign in with next time — or skip it and use Magic link on the sign-in page whenever you need." They type a Password (at least 8 characters) and click Save and continue, or click Skip for now. Either way they're on Today.
6. In Team › Staff, their row now shows Linked, and their Edit staff dialog says "This person is linked to a sign-in — they can use the web admin."

Next time, they sign in with their password, or with Magic link and the same email.

If they already have a Barform sign-in

Someone who already signs in to Barform — a manager at another Barform bar, say — is invited the same way. Barform links the sign-in they already have instead of making a new one: "{email} already had a Barform sign-in — it now opens this venue too, and we emailed them a link." The row shows Linked at once, and the email's button signs them straight in to Today. With two venues, they get the venue switcher (see First steps).

If the invitation expired or went to the wrong address

An invitation's link lasts one hour. If it ran out, or went to the wrong address:

1. If the address was wrong, correct the Email with the pencil.
2. Click Resend on their row. A fresh link goes out, and the old one stops working.

Or the person signs in at app.barformpos.com with Magic link and the same email: their sign-in is already linked.

Access states

• Invite and Resend only show for an admin, and only on active admin and manager rows with an email. A manager sees the states only.
• If the invitation can't go out, the message says why: "Add their email first (pencil), then invite them.", "Switch them on first — inactive staff can't be invited.", "Only admins and managers sign in to the back office.", "That email already signs in as someone else on your staff.", "They already have a sign-in for this venue — they can sign in with it.", "That email address doesn't look right — check it with the pencil." or "Could not send the invitation. Try again."
• "Their sign-in is ready, but the email didn't go out. Press Resend to try again." — the row shows Invited; click Resend.
• The invitation email and the "Welcome to {venue}" page are in your Admin portal language (Settings › Venue).
• The person who set up the venue is already linked as its first admin.

If someone was added without an invitation

Someone whose staff record has their email but who was never invited can link their own sign-in:

1. They sign in at app.barformpos.com — with Magic link and the email on their staff record, if they have no password. The link creates their sign-in if they don't have one.
2. They land on No admin access and click Link my account. They land on Today.

Link my account links every active staff record with their email that has no sign-in yet — at two venues, both. If it doesn't work, the message says why: "Confirm your email address first, then try again.", "No staff record with your email is waiting to be linked — ask an admin to add you.", "This sign-in belongs to an iPad, not a person." or "Couldn't link your account — try again." Any role can be linked this way, but only Admin and Manager open the back office: a linked bartender, server or barback keeps seeing No admin access, and the page doesn't say the role is the reason.

Take back-office access away

Change their Role to Bartender, Server or Barback, or switch them to inactive. Either one blocks the sign-in at once. There's no "unlink": the link stays, and access comes back if you restore the role.

Deactivate and reactivate staff

Switch a person off when they leave, without losing their history: past tabs, payments, time entries and Labor rows keep their name.

Who can do this: admins.

Deactivate someone

Turn off the switch on their row. "Deactivated" confirms it, and the row leaves the list; turn on Show inactive to see it. You can also turn off Active in their Edit staff dialog and click Save.

Bring someone back

1. Turn on Show inactive.
2. Turn on the switch on their row. "Reactivated" confirms it. If they have a PIN that was set more than 10 minutes ago, the switch goes back off instead, with "To switch them back on, give them a new PIN — their old one may belong to someone else by now. Open Edit, type a new PIN and save with Active on."
3. In that case, open Edit staff, type a PIN in PIN (blank = keep current), turn Active on and click Save. The PIN is checked against the active staff first: "That PIN is already in use at this venue — choose another." if it's taken.

• This makes sure two active people never share a PIN. Their old PIN is fine to type again if nobody else has it.
• It applies even when you switched someone off by mistake a moment ago: type their PIN again. Someone with no PIN switches back on straight away.

While someone is inactive

They:

• can't sign in on any iPad, punch the time clock or approve anything with their PIN;
• can't sign in to the back office;
• see nothing on their schedule link — the link is kept and works again once you reactivate them;
• aren't offered in the schedule's Who list or in the time clock's Add entry. Their past entries still show their name and can still be edited;
• still appear in Labor for any shifts they worked in the dates you pick.

Their PIN stops counting as taken, so another person can be given the same PIN.

Limits

• You can't deactivate yourself: your own switch on the list is greyed out, and turning Active off in your own dialog shows "You can't remove your own admin access — the venue would be locked out."
• The last active admin can't be deactivated: "The venue must keep at least one active admin."
• Someone signed in on an iPad when you deactivate them stays signed in. Once they sign out, they can't sign in again.
• If they were on the clock, their time entry stays open, and they can no longer clock out themselves. Set the clock-out in Team › Time clock; see Time clock and schedule.

What each role can do

Barform has five roles: admin, manager, bartender, server and barback.

• On the iPad, admins and managers are the manager level. Signed in, they approve gated actions themselves. For everyone else, the iPad asks for a manager's PIN, and any active admin or manager types theirs.
• Bartender, server and barback can do exactly the same things. The role is a label on the iPad's More sheet, the staff list and Labor; the schedule sets its own position for each shift.
• In the back office, only admins and managers can sign in, and a few areas are the admin's alone.

To change what someone can do, an admin changes their Role in Edit staff. On the iPad it applies at their next sign-in.

On the iPad

"Approves" means they do it with no prompt; "Manager PIN" means the iPad asks for a manager's PIN; "—" means it isn't offered.

On a plan without inventory, Waste, Count and Purchasing aren't in More for anyone. Without the Reservations add-on, there are no reservations on the iPad for anyone (see Reservations).

The three drawer-count rows are for iPads on Barform 1.2.1 or later. On an older version, only admins and managers enter the opening float, and nobody can skip it. See Cash drawer.

In the back office

• Managers don't see the Venue, Hours & scheduling and Reservations settings tabs; opened by their address, those pages are read-only. Import, Billing and Your bars send them back to Settings.
• In Settings › Your bars, only the account's owner can add a bar; other admins see the list of bars (see First steps).
• Managers see everyone's pay and rates in Reports › Labor and its exports, even though the staff list keeps rates to admins.

Choose which iPad actions need a manager PIN

In the back office, go to Settings › Venue › iPads and service › Manager approval on the iPad. Only admins can change these.

If an iPad can't read these switches, it asks for a manager's PIN for voids, discounts and comps. For the iPad language switch and the rest of this screen, see Venue settings.

Related

• Time clock and schedule
• Labor report
• Signing in on the iPad
• Discounts and comps
• Venue settings, hours and targets