FAQ

What happens to my data when I switch from the demo account to a real plan/Tarif?

You can already fill the demo account with your real data because the demo account seamlessly transitions to a real plan when you switch.

However, if you have entered so much test data that you would prefer to reset the account, please contact our support team. They can delete the demo account early so that you can start with a new demo account using the same domain.

How can I get the employee master data into the system as quickly as possible?

The fastest way is through our upload feature, which you can find in the master data sections for employees, freelancers, clients, etc. You can upload an Excel or CSV file here. If you want to upload categories or additional information directly, please remember to create them in CrewBrain beforehand so the corresponding fields can be filled out. You can create additional information under Administration > Personnel > Additional Information, and you can adjust categories under Administration > Personnel > Categories.

If you are working with an interface, some employees can be imported through it. However, in most cases, only those already assigned to jobs will be imported.

Why aren't employees receiving request or any booking notifications?

Only employees who are listed with access and user group in the master data can receive notifications.

Open the job from which the employee did not receive a request or booking notification. Is there an envelope icon with a red "x" next to the employee's name. If so, the corresponding notification has not been sent manually yet. To send it, click the email icon in the top right and select the appropriate notification. Once it is sent, the envelope icon with the red "x" will disappear, indicating the employee has received the notification. You can verify this within the job itself by clicking the three dots next to the employee and selecting "Request Details." The entire request process is documented there.

The reason these notifications are not sent automatically is due to our drag-and-drop system. If you accidentally release the employee too early, they might end up in the wrong category. An automatic notification in such a case could confuse the employee. Therefore, the notification must be triggered manually as described above.

If the employee does not receive the email or push notification even after manual triggering, it could be that the notifications have either been suppressed by the employee or turned off globally. You can check the former in the master data of the respective employee under "Access & Settings" at "Adjust Notifications." The employee can also set this in their own account under "Notifications." For global settings, go to Administration > System > Email > Types to see if the corresponding notification is set to "never."

How can the numerous notifications from CrewBrain be regulated?

The purpose of CrewBrain is to ensure that everyone is initially informed about everything in the system. Therefore, it is preset to receive notifications for everything. Each employee should adjust their own notification preferences under My Account > Notifications to specify what they want to be notified about. Those with access to the master data can adjust the notifications for all employees under "Access & Settings."

If certain notifications should not be sent at all, they can be turned off globally under Administration > System > Email > Types.

Please always ensure that no important notifications are turned off.

How can employees sign up for jobs themselves?

To enable this, check the box under Administration > Jobs > Requests & Bookings for "Employees may sign up for jobs themselves." This will provide employees with an extra button on all jobs they see in the calendar, allowing them to sign up on their own.

Why is my flex-time account incorrect or not working?

The flex-time account always depends on what was set up in the master data under "Billing & Time Tracking." When we talk about the flex-time account, the billing type "Time tracking with flex-time account" is set up there.

• How many workdays have been checked off? Typically, we assume a 5-day workweek here, which corresponds to the number of days the standard working hours are calculated for. However, this doesn't exclude the possibility that the employee may work on days that are not checked off here. Especially in the event industry, many jobs take place on weekends. But if all days are checked off here, standard working hours will be calculated for 7 days per week. This can lead to a negative balance in the flex-time account.
• What has been set under "Working hours" here? Hours per day or per month? If hours per month are set here, the system only knows on the last day of the month how many hours should be deducted from the employee at the end of the month. In other words, until the last day of the month, all recorded hours are initially credited to the flexitime account, only to be deducted on the last day. This leads to a high number of flex-time hours throughout the month, which is why it's clearer to divide the monthly hours into "workdays."
• If you have divided the working hours into "workdays" or have entered the working hours per day, it's advisable to leave the values for "Vacation, Sick, and Days off" as "0." If you enter a value here, it can also lead to changes in the flex-time account.
• Take a look at our video tutorials for this as well. Video number 4 deals with the settings of the billing periods.

How do you quickly create sub-jobs?

Whether on the project to main job level or from main job to sub-job level, creating the lower level always follows the same process, using Quick Entry. There, you can quickly create many more sub-jobs by simply entering the title, date, and personnel requirement on the right. If you use "+ Add Sub-job" at the bottom, a completely new form opens where you have to re-enter all the information for each additional sub-job. This is not necessarily time-saving.

How do you set up "Home Office," "Child Sick," or "Parental Leave," as well as other vacation and absence categories?

In CrewBrain, you can create custom vacation and absence categories under Administration > Vacation & Absence > Categories. This includes categories for situations like "Home Office, "Child Sick, "Parental Leave," and more. When creating a new category, choosing the appropriate time account is crucial to ensure, for example, that someone doesn't lose a vacation day when working from home. Here, the different time accounts are explained.

For "Home Office," you might select the "Block" time account. This account has no impact on time tracking. The employee works as usual and logs their working hours, but they are not available for any requests on that day; they are essentially blocked.

For "Child Sick" or "Parental Leave," you would choose the "Leisure" time account. For the "Child Sick" category, it's advisable to check the "Document" box so that you can upload the corresponding sick note. For the "Parental Leave" category, remember that the vacation account will be reduced accordingly in the billing period, as the employee is not entitled to vacation during this time.

What is the difference between users with and without access?

In CrewBrain, we distinguish between users with and without access. In terms of our pricing, all those "with access" are counted and billed. All "with access" are assigned to a user group in the master data under "Access and Settings" and thus have their own CrewBrain account, receiving all system notifications and, for example, participating in time tracking.

Those listed in the master data under "Access & Settings" as "without access" are only included in the system for informational purposes for you. While you can book them for jobs, they do not receive any system notifications. They also do not have their own account and, for instance, cannot participate in time tracking. This is intended, for example, for freelancers with whom one collaborates very rarely. You can create as many of those "without access" as you like.

How can you link two CrewBrain accounts together?

If two companies are using CrewBrain, they can link their accounts so that all inquiries and bookings are automatically synchronized between the systems.

For this, the companies need to add each other as "service provider" and "customer" in the master data. In the customer's profile, you'll find the "Service Provider Connection." The companies click on "Link Accounts Now" there, and input the domain, username, and password of the other service provider, and then click "Link Accounts Now" again.

Can I connect my Outlook calendar to CrewBrain?

If you want to make your appointments from another calendar visible in CrewBrain, you can do so through our calendar import feature. You can find this under My Account > External Calendar. You can learn how to import the most common calendar formats here.

If you want to see CrewBrain jobs or tasks in your own calendar, that's also possible. To do this, go to My Account > Subscriptions > Subscription, create the URL via "add another subscription," and then add it to the corresponding calendar.

How do you manually add breaks?

In the app: Go to the "More" page and then select "Time Tracking". Choose the month in which the break is to be added. Scroll all the way down to "Add Time". Instead of selecting "Work Time", choose "Break", enter the appropriate time, and click "Add". The break time has now been added.

Alternatively, break time can also be added directly in the time clock itself if the break is to be added for the current day. Clicking on "Clock In" creates a new column with "Work Time" that can be edited. To do this, click on the grey arrow on the right. Change the category from "Work Time" to "Break" and enter the corresponding "from" and "to" times. Confirm this with the checkmark in the upper right corner.

On the desktop: Go to the time tracking section and click on the plus sign at the top right. Select "independent times". Choose "Break" as the category and enter the corresponding time.

If the break needs to be logged within a specific job, project, or task, go through the plus sign and select "Work Times". Choose the relevant job (project or task) there, and click below the already logged work time to create a new entry. Once again, select "Break" as the category, input the time, and click "Change Time" to save the times.

Is there a DATEV interface?

Yes, there is.

To set it up, go to Administration > Time Tracking > DATEV Export and create the different DATEV profiles, such as the wage types, for example, for permanent employees and mini-jobbers. Your tax advisor should be familiar with these wage types if you're unsure. These DATEV profiles can then be assigned to each employee in the payroll periods.

In the overview of the time tracking, you can then download the data in DATEV format and forward it to your payroll office.