Time Tracking Visits

Sarah does three drop-in visits a day for the Petersons' cat while they're away, and every afternoon she gets the same text: "Did you make it over?" Visit tracking answers that for her. She taps Start when she arrives and Complete when she leaves, the times are recorded for her, and if she likes, the Petersons get an email the moment each visit wraps.

Turning on visit tracking

Visit tracking is set per service, so you decide where it makes sense. Turn it on for drop-ins, walks, and overnights, and leave it off for services where a timestamp doesn't matter.

1. Open the service from your Services list.

2. Switch on Visit Tracking.

Two client-notification options appear underneath once it's on. Those control the optional emails to your clients, covered at the bottom of this article.

Starting a visit

Open the appointment from your schedule (or from the booking) and press and hold Start Visit. The hold is on purpose: a stray tap while your phone is in your pocket can't start a visit by accident.

Scritches records the exact time and which team member started it.

While a visit is underway

A live timer counts up, and a green dot pulses on that appointment in your calendar so you can see at a glance who is out on a visit right now. If the service has a set length, you'll also see how much time is left.

For example: on a 30-minute walk you'll see "12m left" partway through, then "+4m over" in orange if you run long.

Completing a visit

Press and hold Complete Visit. The finished visit shows the total time, the start and end times, and who handled it.

If you've already started a report card for the visit, you'll see an Also send the draft report card option right here, so you can finish the visit and send the recap in a single step.

Fixing a mistake

Tapped Complete too soon, or started the wrong visit? Hit Undo on the completed visit. Undo is available for 24 hours, and only until the booking has been invoiced (once it's on an invoice, the times are locked in).

If the client was already emailed that the visit finished, Scritches checks with you before undoing.

Visits that close themselves

Forget to tap Complete? Scritches closes the visit out on its own after about twice the scheduled length (and no later than 8 hours in), so a walk you forgot to end doesn't run all night.

These are marked Auto-completed with a small yellow flag so you can tell them apart from a real check-out, and no client email goes out for them. If you catch it within the 24-hour window, hit Undo and complete the visit properly to record the real end time.

Keeping clients in the loop

Back in the service settings, the two options under Visit Tracking control automatic emails to the client:

• Notify on start sends a "visit started" email with the start time, who is there, and how long you expect to be.

• Notify on complete sends a "visit complete" email with the start, end, and total time.

Both stay off until you turn them on, and you set them per service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the client see the live timer? No. Clients only get the start and complete emails, and only if you've turned those on.

Can I edit the check-in or check-out time after the fact? Not directly. If a time is wrong, use Undo (within 24 hours, before invoicing) and complete the visit again.

What if one person starts the visit and another finishes it? The completed visit shows both, for example "Started by Sarah, Completed by Mike."

Do I have to turn this on for every service? No, it's per service. Turn it on only where check-in and check-out times are useful.

Does tracking change what the client is charged? No. The timestamps are a record of the visit, not a billing input. Pricing still comes from the service and its options.