Event staffing is scheduling on hard mode. The roster changes per event, the venue changes per week, and half the crew are people you booked eleven days ago over text. The agencies that keep clients are the ones that show up fully staffed and invoice accurately. ClockOut gives a temp crew the same scheduling and time-tracking discipline a permanent team gets, without asking anyone to install anything.
Where event staffing falls apart
- Confirmations that mean nothing.A “yes” by text eleven days out is not a commitment; you find out who meant it at call time.
- No-shows discovered at doors. By the time a supervisor counts heads, the backup list is at another gig and the client is watching you run short.
- Hours reconstructed after strike. Nobody remembers on Monday whether load-out ended at 1:15 or 2:00, but the invoice has to pick a number and defend it.
- One timesheet, five events. When hours do not split by event, per-client billing and per-event profitability are both guesses.
- A roster that swells and shrinks. Festival season triples the crew; paying software for the whole list year-round punishes you for it.
What ClockOut does for event staffing
Per-event scheduling with open shifts
Create the event’s shifts, then assign named staff or post open slots and let the crew claim them. The schedulelives in the same app people clock in with, so “I never saw the schedule” retires. Swaps route through approval instead of a group chat.
Confirmations before event day
Shift confirmation asks each person to confirm or decline their assignment in the app. By midweek you can see exactly which slots are confirmed, declined, or silent, and re-book the gaps while the backup list still answers the phone.
GPS clock-in at the venue
Staff open ClockOut in a phone browser and clock in when they arrive. Every punch records the GPS position and resolved address on every plan, and Starter’s geofencing can require punches inside a boundary you draw around the venue. In signal-dead loading docks and basements, punches save on the phone and sync later with their original tap time.
No-show alerts during load-in, not at doors
When someone is 30 minutes past call time with no clock-in, ClockOut raises a no-show exception. A coordinator sees the gap hours before the client does, which is the difference between a quiet substitution and an apology.
Hours by event, ready to invoice
On Starter and Pro, job codes attach every hour to an event or client, and exports break time down accordingly. Timesheets get reviewed and approved before export, so the invoice is built on verified punches. Pro adds payroll-formatted files for ADP, Gusto, and QuickBooks.
A roster that scales with the season
Pricing is per active person. Deactivate crew between seasons and they stop counting toward the bill; reactivate them when festival season returns and their history is intact.
ClockOut vs the usual setup
| ClockOut | Texts + spreadsheets | Generic time clock app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per-event crews with open shifts | ✓ | Group texts | ✗ |
| Confirm / decline before event day | Starter | Thumbs-up emoji | ✗ |
| GPS-verified venue clock-in | ✓ | ✗ | Sometimes |
| No-show alert at call time | ✓ | Head count at doors | ✗ |
| Hours split by event / client | Starter | Manual | Rarely |
| Offline punch sync in venues | ✓ | ✗ | Varies |
| Cost for a 20-person crew | $60 / mo | $0 + billing disputes | Varies |
Run the next event on ClockOut
- 01
Create the agency
Sign up at useclockout.com, free for up to 2 staff, no card needed.
- 02
Add the crew and the venue
Invite staff by link, add the venue as a work location, and set a job code for the event so hours land in the right bucket.
- 03
Build and confirm the crew
Create the event’s shifts, post open slots, and watch confirmations come in. Re-book the silent slots before event day.
- 04
Track, approve, invoice
Staff clock in at the venue, no-shows flag at call time, and after strike you approve timesheets and export hours by event.
FAQ
Do temp staff need to install an app?
No. ClockOut runs in any modern phone browser; staff tap an invite link and are in. That matters for crews with high turnover, where asking for an app-store download loses people before the first shift.
How do I know who is actually coming to an event?
Shift confirmation asks each assigned person to confirm or decline in the app, so days before the event you see confirmed, declined, and silent slots at a glance. At call time, no-show detection flags anyone 30+ minutes late with no clock-in.
Can I verify staff were at the venue?
Yes. Every clock-in records the GPS position and resolved address on every plan. On Starter, geofencing can require punches inside a boundary around the venue, and punches from dead-signal areas sync later with their original tap time, flagged for review.
Can hours be billed per event or per client?
On Starter and Pro, job codes attach hours to an event or client at clock-in, and exports report time by job code. One code per event, or per client with the event in the name, is the usual setup.
Do I pay for the whole roster in the off-season?
No. Billing counts active people only. Deactivate crew when the season ends and they stop counting; their history stays, and reactivating them for the next season takes a click.
Does ClockOut find or vet workers for me?
No. ClockOut is not a staffing marketplace. It manages scheduling, confirmations, time tracking, and exports for the crew you already have. Sourcing and vetting stay in your recruiting process.