Departments Setup in ShopView
Departments allow your shop to track internal, non-billable time such as shop cleanup, building maintenance, parts pickup, paid breaks, or any other internal activity. Adding departments helps you understand where your technicians spend time outside of active work orders and keeps time tracking clean and organized.
Purpose of Departments
Departments are used for internal time tracking. Technicians can clock into a department when they are performing tasks that are not tied to a customer work order. This keeps reporting accurately and ensures shop labor is accounted for separately from billable work. Common examples include shop cleanup, building maintenance, equipment setup, inventory tasks, and administrative time.
Creating a Department
To add a new department, go to Settings in the left menu and select Departments. Use the New Department option to create an internal category. Enter a descriptive name such as Shop Cleanup, Maintenance, Parts Run, Inventory, or Break Time. Enable the Time Clock option if technicians should be able to clock into that department. If you want this department to appear on your scheduling calendar, enable the Display on Schedule option. Save the department when finished.
Step-by-Step Navigation for Creating Departments
To create a department in ShopView:
Access Settings: Head to the left menu and select the gear icon for the Admin panel.
Locate the Departments Section: Navigate to "Departments" in the settings.
Add a New Department: Click "Create a new department," input a clear name, and enable the necessary configurations like "Time Clock" or "Display on Schedule."
Using Departments in Scheduling
If a department is marked to display on the schedule, it becomes available when creating scheduled events. This is useful for assigning technicians to internal work blocks, planned maintenance, or structured cleanup times. Using scheduling with departments gives technicians visibility into what they’re expected to do at specific times and keeps internal work organized.
Assigning Staff to Departments
After creating a department, assign technicians who should have access to it. Go to Staff, hover over the staff member on the listing in the column named Department to view current enrollments, or click on where it shows the number of departments. A modal will open up. Use the dropdown to select a Workplace and Department and enroll the staff member. Enrolled staff can clock into that department at any time, allowing them to properly log internal time. To assign departments in more detail:
Admin Panel Navigation: Access the Admin settings by clicking the gear icon and selecting "Staff."
Locate a Staff Member: Find the relevant employee in the Staff page list.
Assign a Department: Use the "Department" tag or dropdown next to their name to assign departments enabled for the time clock. Confirm to finalize.
How Technicians Use Departments
Once a staff member is assigned to a department, it appears as an available option when clocking in. Technicians select the department instead of a work order when performing internal tasks. This ensures internal time is accurately separated from billable labor, which improves reporting, payroll visibility, and productivity tracking.
Administrative Permissions for Managing Departments
Only users with administrative roles in ShopView can create, edit, or assign departments for time tracking. Ensure administrative access is granted before performing these actions.
Best Practices
Create departments only for internal tasks you actively want to measure. Keep department names simple and clear. Assign each technician only to the departments they realistically use to reduce menu clutter. If technicians perform multiple types of internal work, consider grouping similar tasks together under one department to keep reporting clean. Use the scheduler integration for any planned internal work to help manage workload and reduce downtime.
Troubleshooting Department Visibility Issues
If departments do not appear for employees to clock into:
Check Employee Assignments: Verify if the employee is assigned to the correct department on the Staff page.
Time Clock Activation: Confirm that the "Time Clock" feature for the department is enabled.
Validate Setup: Ensure all settings are correct by revisiting assigned departments and their attributes under the "Departments" and "Staff" sections.
Scenario-Specific Reviews: For instance, technicians will only see departments explicitly assigned to them, so double-check individual settings if issues persist.