Event shifts with details built in

> Cost: Paid. Homebase plans run $30 (Essentials), $70 (Plus) or $120 (All-in-One) per location per month, and payroll is an add-on at $49 a month plus $6 per employee paid ($29 for teams up to 5). Basic is free only for one location and up to 10 employees.

Honest note: Rules, not AI. A vendor customer story (Homebase); figures are vendor-reported. "About 70% less time" and "at least 10 hours a week" are management estimates with no baseline hours and the page does not reconcile them. Pay-law flag: the story pays a quarterly bonus tied to on-time percentage. The US Department of Labor treats attendance bonuses as nondiscretionary, so for non-exempt staff the bonus must be included when overtime is calculated (Fact Sheet #56C); some states add rules. Talk to a payroll adviser before launching it. Privacy flag: geofencing records location at clock-in; tell employees in writing what is collected and limit it to paid time (some states, such as New York and Connecticut, require notice of electronic monitoring).

Prerequisites

• Homebase Essentials or higher (mobile clock-in and geofence need Essentials or higher; Homebase: Basic is free for 1 location and up to 10 employees; Essentials $30, Plus $70, All-in-One $120 per location per month; payroll is an add-on at $49/month plus $6 per employee paid.).
• Employees' phones with location services allowed for the Homebase app.
• A written attendance and bonus policy approved by whoever advises on payroll.

Step-by-step setup

Step 1. Everyone installs the app. Staff download the Homebase app and sign in with the email or phone on their profile. In Settings → Time Clock Options make sure the mobile clock is on.

Step 2. Put event details in the shift. In Shifts → Schedule click + in a cell → Add Shift, set times and role, and add the address, timing and client contact in the shift note (Homebase says notes show on the shift and when employees clock in; I could not verify the exact label of the notes field, so look for it in the Add Shift pop-up). Publish so staff are notified.

Step 3. Turn on the geofence. Settings → Time Clock Options → check Enable Geofence → type the kitchen address → choose a radius (150 ft, one block or five blocks) → drag the pin to be exact → Save Changes. Only one geofence per location is allowed, and clock-ins outside it are blocked with an alert to you. For event staff who start at another site, you may need the unscheduled mobile clock-in option or a looser setting; test first.

Step 4. Review hours and run payroll. Clear Timesheets → Daily Review → Needs review, then Start Payroll → check hours → Net Pay → Review & Submit.

Step 5. Attendance report and bonus. Open Operations → Reports → On-Time Arrival to see each person's on-time shift percentage. If you adopt the story's quarterly bonus, add it in payroll under Other Earnings → +Add and apply the overtime rule above.

Homebase has no official connector that I could verify (a third-party MCP server exists, but it is not Homebase's own), so the steps below are done by hand in Homebase.

What success looks like

Staff find their event details in the app instead of the chat, you can run payroll in a few clicks after one review, and the on-time report shows each person's percentage. Track admin hours for a month to see your own saving.

Common issues & fixes

• Clock-in blocked at a real work site: adjust the radius or location, or use the unscheduled clock-in option.
• People clock in from the car: this is why the story turned on geofencing.
• Bonus disputes: use the written policy, not memory.

Optional: Maintenance

• Monthly: review the on-time report for patterns.
• Quarterly: reconcile bonus pay with your adviser's rule.

Copy-paste prompt

Use this prompt with any AI chat to draft the shift-notes template.

Write a one-paragraph shift note template for catering event staff with these fields: event name, address, arrival time, dress code, client contact role, load-in notes, parking. Keep each field to one line, so I can paste it into Homebase shift notes.

Sources

• Case: Homebase customer story: Los Angeles charcuterie and event catering company. Credit: the co-founder of a catering company (vendor customer story)
• Homebase pricing
• Homebase help: How to Set Up the Mobile Time Clock
• Homebase help: Choosing a Time Clock
• Homebase help: How to View Reports in Homebase
• Homebase help: How to Run a Regular Payroll
• US Department of Labor Fact Sheet #56C: Bonuses under the FLSA