Skip to content

Set up Halmsian, A to Z

Everything from signing up to your first live shift, in 19 steps. Each step says who does it and roughly how long it takes. After account and security setup you choose Starter or Business, and your free trial starts when you choose, so setting up never uses it up.

Start free trialRoles and permissions

Setup phases

  1. Phase 1Account and securitySteps 01 to 05
  2. Phase 2Company and peopleSteps 06 to 09
  3. Phase 3Daily operationsSteps 10 to 13
  4. Phase 4Pay and connectionsSteps 14 to 17
  5. Phase 5Billing and go-liveSteps 18 to 19

Phase 1

Account and security

  1. Step 1

    Sign up your business

    Who does this
    Owner or the person authorised to act for the business
    Estimated time
    About 15 minutes

    Tell us who you are, where you trade and who will look after Halmsian. Australian businesses are checked against the Australian Business Register.

    1. Region: choose the country you operate in, your language and time zone, and confirm you are authorised to set up the account.
    2. Business: enter your ABN, trading name and contact phone. Outside Australia you enter your legal name, registration number and tax identifier instead.
    3. Verify: for Australian businesses, Halmsian looks up your ABN with the Australian Business Register and you confirm the details it returns.
    4. Administrator: name, email and phone of the person who will look after Halmsian.
    5. Profile: display name, business category, operating address, currency and the day your week starts.
    6. First venue: the name, address, time zone and phone of your first site.
    7. Team: roughly how many people you employ, your venue type, departments, role groups and whether you run more than one site.
    8. Review: check everything and submit. A sign-up that is not finished expires after 7 days.
    Start free trial

  2. Step 2

    Verify your email and secure your sign-in

    Who does this
    Every person, starting with the administrator
    Estimated time
    About 10 minutes

    Confirm your email, set a password and add a second factor before you can see any business data.

    1. Open the verification email and confirm your address.
    2. Set your password.
    3. Add a second factor: a passkey (recommended) or an authenticator app.
    4. Save your recovery codes. They are shown once, and each code works only once.
    5. Read and accept the policies that apply to you, then you land on your home screen.

  3. Step 3

    Set up company security

    Who does this
    Company administrator
    Estimated time
    About 20 minutes

    A short security wizard sets the rules everyone signs in under and makes sure the company can never be locked out.

    1. Login rules: confirm how people sign in and the second-factor rules for your company.
    2. Owner recovery: have a second administrator join and set up a second factor. Halmsian checks this from real accounts, so two administrators with a second factor are required.
    3. Security contacts: name the people we contact about security matters.
    4. Network location: set the networks your venues use, or mark it as not needed.
    How we protect your data

  4. Step 4

    Pass the activation checks

    Who does this
    Automatic, based on what the administrator has done
    Estimated time
    Seconds after the last check is met

    Halmsian activates your company automatically once each check is genuinely met. Nobody ticks these off by hand.

    1. Owner email verified.
    2. Owner password set.
    3. Owner second factor enrolled.
    4. Owner recovery codes issued.
    5. Terms accepted.
    6. Access set up for the administrator.
    7. Company security configured.
    8. Policies accepted.

    Your company moves from created, to owner verified, to security configured, to policies accepted, to active.

  5. Step 5

    Choose Starter or Business and start your 14-day trial

    Who does this
    Owner or company administrator
    Estimated time
    A minute

    Once your company is activated, you choose Starter or Business and your 14-day free trial starts the moment you choose. Setting up never uses up the trial, and no card is needed.

    1. No plan is picked for you. The trial clock waits while you finish account and security setup.
    2. When the activation checks pass, Billing shows Starter and Business. Choose one and your 14-day trial starts straight away.
    3. You have 14 days after setup to choose. If no plan is chosen by then, the account becomes read-only until you choose one.
    4. You can use every feature of the plan you chose during the trial. Payroll, finance, suppliers and integrations come with Enterprise, which we set up with you.
    Compare plans

Phase 2

Company and people

  1. Step 6

    Work through the company setup wizard

    Who does this
    Company administrator
    Estimated time
    About 30 minutes

    Eight steps that take you to the right screen for each part of setup. Company details, venues and inviting staff are required. The rest can be skipped and finished later.

    1. Company details (required): confirm the company name and details.
    2. Branding (optional): upload your logo.
    3. Venues and structure (required): at least one active site.
    4. Roles (optional): the standard roles are ready to use, or adjust them.
    5. Approvals (optional): choose how requests are approved.
    6. Invite staff (required): invite at least one other person.
    7. Suppliers (optional): choose whether to manage suppliers in Halmsian, whether they take part or you just keep their records, and if they take part, secure links, supplier accounts or both. You can change this later in Settings.
    8. Features (optional): your plan's default features are ready as they stand.

  2. Step 7

    Add your venues and structure

    Who does this
    Company administrator
    Estimated time
    10 to 30 minutes, depending on venues

    Model your business the way it actually runs, so access, rosters and costs line up with real places and teams.

    1. Add each venue as a site with its address and time zone.
    2. Group sites into regions or areas, and add departments, teams and cost centres where you need them.
    3. Set a site boundary (geofence) so phone clock-ins can be checked against the venue location.

    Starter covers one venue. Business and Enterprise cover unlimited venues.

  3. Step 8

    Confirm roles and approval rules

    Who does this
    Company administrator
    Estimated time
    About 15 minutes

    Decide who sees what and who approves what. Everyone uses the same product; roles change only what a person can see and do.

    1. Review the standard roles and who holds each one.
    2. Choose your approval mode: requests go straight to managers, or supervisors approve first.
    3. If supervisors approve first, set the overtime limit they can approve on their own.

    Approvals are included on Business and Enterprise.

    See every role

  4. Step 9

    Invite staff or import employees

    Who does this
    Company administrator or HR
    Estimated time
    5 minutes to invite, about 30 minutes to import

    Bring your people in one at a time, or import your structure, sites and staff from a spreadsheet.

    1. Invite people by email. They verify their email and secure their sign-in on first use.
    2. Or import from CSV: org structure, sites and people.
    3. Check the import preview before anything is saved, then confirm.

Phase 3

Daily operations

  1. Step 10

    Set up rostering

    Who does this
    Manager
    Estimated time
    About 30 minutes for the first week

    Save the shape of a normal week once, then build and publish rosters from it.

    1. Create shift templates for the patterns you run every week.
    2. Collect staff availability.
    3. Build the week, fix any warnings the roster checks raise, then publish it to staff.
    Rostering features

  2. Step 11

    Set up clock in/out and kiosks

    Who does this
    Company administrator
    Estimated time
    About 10 minutes per venue

    Choose how staff record time at each venue: on their phone, at a shared kiosk, or both.

    1. Turn on the clock methods you want: phone, kiosk with PIN, QR code, and offline capture for patchy connections.
    2. Enrol each kiosk device at its venue.
    3. Give staff a clock PIN for kiosk use.
    Clock in/out features

  3. Step 12

    Set leave policies

    Who does this
    HR or company administrator
    Estimated time
    About 15 minutes

    Define the leave types your staff can request and the policy behind each one, so balances and requests follow your rules.

    1. Set up the leave types you offer.
    2. Attach a policy to each leave type.
    Leave features

  4. Step 13

    Get timesheets ready for approval

    Who does this
    Manager
    Estimated time
    About 10 minutes

    Clock events become timesheets, which are checked against the roster and approved before pay.

    1. Confirm who approves timesheets for each venue.
    2. Run a test shift: clock in, clock out, then review and approve the timesheet.
    Timesheet features

Phase 4

Pay and connections

  1. Step 14

    Set up payroll and pay settings

    Who does this
    Payroll or finance
    Estimated time
    About 45 minutes

    Set your pay calendar and payroll settings, then run pay from approved timesheets.

    1. Set your pay calendar and pay periods.
    2. Enter payroll settings, tax and superannuation details, and bank details.
    3. Run a test pay run, then export payments as an ABA bank file or CSV.

    Payroll is included on Enterprise.

    Payroll features

  2. Step 15

    Decide how suppliers take part

    Who does this
    Company administrator
    Estimated time
    About 5 minutes

    Choose whether to manage suppliers in Halmsian and whether they take part, or whether your team just keeps their records.

    1. Answer the supplier question in the setup wizard, or later in Settings > Suppliers.
    2. Records only: your team keeps supplier details, orders and invoices. Suppliers never see Halmsian.
    3. Secure links: send a link for one purchase order, delivery, invoice, certificate request or payment advice. Links expire after 7 days (30 for certificates) and can be cancelled.
    4. Supplier accounts: invite a supplier contact to sign in with a password and an authenticator app.
    5. Bank detail changes always go through finance approval and a call-back check.

    Supplier links and accounts are included on Enterprise.

    The supplier role

  3. Step 16

    Connect your accounts and tills

    Who does this
    Finance or company administrator
    Estimated time
    About 10 minutes per connection

    Connect accounting and point of sale so labour cost and sales sit next to each other.

    1. Connect Xero or MYOB to send finance data to your accounts.
    2. Connect Square or Oracle MICROS Simphony for point-of-sale data.

    Integrations are included on Enterprise.

    All integrations

  4. Step 17

    Tune notifications

    Who does this
    Each person, with defaults from the administrator
    Estimated time
    About 5 minutes

    Decide which updates people get and how often, so managers see what needs action without noise.

    1. Review the notification preferences.
    2. Choose a digest where a single summary is better than one message per event.

Phase 5

Billing and go-live

  1. Step 18

    Add payment details

    Who does this
    Owner or company administrator
    Estimated time
    About 5 minutes

    Before your trial ends, add payment details through our secure Stripe checkout, monthly or annual. You can move to another plan at the same time.

    1. Open Billing and confirm your plan, monthly or annual.
    2. Add payment details through Stripe checkout.
    3. You are billed per active staff member, and your staff count is kept in step automatically.
    4. Update payment details later in the secure billing portal.

    If the trial ends without payment details, your account becomes read-only. You can still see your data but cannot make changes. After 14 days read-only, the account is suspended. If a payment fails, you have a 7-day grace period to fix it.

    See pricing

  2. Step 19

    Go live

    Who does this
    Owner, administrator and managers
    Estimated time
    One shift

    Run through the checklist below, publish your first real roster and let your team start clocking in.

    1. Publish the first live roster.
    2. Brief staff on how to sign in, check shifts and clock in.
    3. Approve the first week of timesheets and review them before your first pay run.

Go-live checklist

Tick these off before your first live shift. Anything left can be finished while the business runs.

See plansAll features
  • Two administrators have a second factor set up
  • Every venue is added with the right time zone
  • Roles are assigned and approval rules chosen
  • Staff are invited or imported
  • Kiosks are enrolled and clock PINs issued
  • Leave types and policies are in place
  • The first roster is published
  • Pay calendar and payroll settings are complete (Enterprise)
  • Integrations are connected (Enterprise)
  • A plan is chosen and payment details added

Setup questions

How long does setup take?

Most single-venue businesses can sign up, secure the account and publish a first roster in an afternoon. On Enterprise, payroll and integrations take a little longer to set up.

Do I need a credit card to start?

No. After account and security setup you choose Starter or Business, and your 14-day free trial starts when you choose. You have 14 days after setup to pick a plan, and you add payment details through Stripe before the trial ends.

What happens if my trial ends before I add payment details?

Your account becomes read-only, so your data stays visible but nothing can be changed. If no payment details are added within 14 days, the account is suspended.

Why do I need two administrators?

So your company can never be locked out. Halmsian checks that two administrators each have a second factor before company security is complete.

Can I import my staff instead of inviting them one by one?

Yes. You can import your org structure, sites and people from CSV, and check a preview before anything is saved.

Start setting up today

Choose Starter or Business after setup and try it free for 14 days. No card needed.

Start free trialTalk to us