As remote workplaces, growing employee preference for flexible, project-based work and diverse employee types create unique business challenges around scheduling and correct employee classification, professional services (PS) firms are making wholesome changes to their workforce management processes.
In fact, data from the Global Talent Trends Study reveals that 48% of global firms are prioritizing improving their workforce planning to better inform buy/build/borrow talent strategies. This entails either investing time and resources to build talent pipelines internally or recruiting them from the external market to overcome shortages. Additionally, firms are increasingly borrowing talent by onboarding freelancers, consultants, gig workers, etc.
There are several factors transforming the workforce management landscape at a tremendous pace. Here are some key drivers of this change and trends to watch out for in 2025 and beyond:
Key Workforce Management Trends
1. Rise of the Gig Economy
The gig economy has grown since the pandemic came knocking, as employees sought flexibility to work from anywhere and freedom from longer-term organizational commitments. Employee fatigue, burnout and growing tech adoption have also fueled the trend. There is also an economic angle: the shortage of highly skilled knowledge workers has led to a massive spike in wages, helping boost the gig economy.
On the business front, clients now prefer an “outcomes-based” payment model over a “volumes-based” payment model, putting additional pressure on PS firms to deliver results while keeping their profits intact. This is also attracting PS firms toward freelancers and part-time employees as they can onboard talent faster, reduce the time-to-hire and lower their workforce-related expenses. This explains why the global gig economy is predicted to grow from $646.77 billion in 2025 to $2.1 trillion in 2033.
2. Hiring of Global Workforces
Even as businesses operate in limited geographies and markets, they are hiring globally more than ever. As mentioned, the ongoing war for talent, pressure on revenues and an employee-driven shift toward gig work have forced organizations to look beyond their traditional workforce catchment markets.
Such an approach will become more mainstream as firms cater to increasingly complex project requirements. Growing access to digital technologies is also opening up hitherto untapped workforce markets. This change is helping PS firms build resilience with a diverse employee pool to ensure business continuity and insulate themselves against frequent regional and global disruptions.
3. AI and Automation
AI, gen AI and automation have evolved from buzzwords to the backbones of organizational operations and workforce management. Most organizations wish to employ AI in some form to streamline workflows, automate administrative tasks, overcome resourcing unpredictability and identify and address revenue leakages.
65% of firms suggest that AI adoption remains a strategic organizational priority, but only 10% believe they are fully prepared to adopt AI, blaming the lack of data foundation and access to high-quality data.
Such firms can start small by automating simple business processes such as time tracking to understand how AI can benefit their business processes while making better sense of vast tracts of data. A unified time-tracking software can help firms better manage resource scheduling and forecasting processes and staffing requirements.
AI and automation will assume a more prominent role in workforce management as organizations adopt AI-powered time tracking and resource management solutions for a real-time view of their global resources and their current and future allocation levels.
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Fast-changing skills requirements are a critical catalyst for a transforming workforce management landscape. 68% of organizations report initiating employees’ skills journey and establishing ways to track and manage their skills. Firms now seek employee skills like communication, collaboration, resilience, AI literacy, data analysis, complex problem solving and learning agility. Meanwhile, skills like manual bookkeeping, basic accounting, data entry and basic coding and programming are in less demand.
As the skills needed in the workplace change rapidly, many organizations struggle with skills gaps—one of the biggest obstacles to business transformation. To address this, companies should take a strategic approach to upskilling and reskilling their employees.
Instead of relying solely on top-down initiatives, organizations can empower teams and managers to take a bottom-up approach, identifying the specific skills their groups need most. For PS firms in particular, it’s important to manage employees’ workloads carefully to ensure they have the time and capacity to participate in these important development efforts. Technology can help by assessing current skills and identifying both immediate and future skill needs.
5. Predictive Workforce Planning
According to the latest SPI Report, PS organizations that faced the least employee attrition of 9% in 2024 also reported meeting the highest percentage of annual revenue target at 93.6%. High employee churn, changing client preferences and new and complex project requirements can disrupt even the most well-staffed organizations. Therefore, PS firms need to utilize their existing employee strength while accurately predicting future workforce requirements. They can do so by making sense of historical employee data and predicting their productivity and performance levels to anticipate workflows.
Getting it wrong can be a double-whammy for businesses as they may have to hire quickly, often paying over budget to avoid project delays. Or they may have to bench employees and pay them without assigning them any projects. Either way, they stand to lose – why getting predictive workforce management right should be a business priority.
Want to learn more about key workforce management trends in 2025 and beyond? Looking for an actionable workforce management framework and a maturity model checklist to assess your firm’s standing in the journey to becoming future ready? Learn all that and more with a comprehensive whitepaper that decodes the future of workforce management in professional services.
Projects can be used for many purposes, such as invoicing clients, calculating costs, tracking productivity, monitoring progress, resourcing, budgeting and forecasting, aiding audit compliance, and determining profit.
You’ll need Project Manager permissions to create and manage projects. Anyone who’ll be working on projects needs Project Resource permissions.
Adding a new project
To add a project:
Select Projects from the side menu.
Click the + Project button located at the bottom, right-hand corner of the page.
Complete the fields in the dialog that displays, then click Add Project.
Tasks – add tasks to the project and assign resources to those tasks
Linked Projects – allows you to link this new project to other projects. You can also link projects when initially adding the project.
Projects you’ve added are available on the Projects > Timeline or Projects > List pages.
You must click the Edit button at the top of the page before you can edit project settings.
All new projects are set as Managed by default, but you can change this. You can also update and customize the project’s status.
FAQs
Where is my project?
If you can’t see your project at Projects > Timeline, you might be looking at the wrong project type list. Try clicking the Managed/Unmanaged toggle located at the top, right-hand corner of the page, and see if your project appears.
According to the most recent industry benchmark data, professional services firms reported shrinking profit margins and declining resource utilization rates last year, while billable utilization dropped to just 68.9%, down from 73.2% in 2021. These challenges have put businesses under tremendous pressure to ramp up efficiencies, bill clients accurately, deliver projects on time and within budgets and manage resources effectively.
Organizations seeking agility and robust scheduling capabilities are increasingly leveraging scheduling software to bill clients accurately, deliver projects on time and within budgets and manage resources more effectively.
What Is Employee Scheduling Software?
Employee scheduling software automates the staff scheduling process and helps organizations create, track and maintain schedules. Scheduling software also helps organizations manage labor costs, ensure shift coverage and adhere to regional and global labor and wage regulations.
Benefits of employee scheduling software include automating the staff scheduling process, optimizing labor costs, preventing payroll-related errors and eliminating back-and-forth communication with employees, thereby minimizing scheduling conflicts.
Overview of 20 Best Employee Scheduling Software
An exclusive and detailed list of the best employee scheduling software with a rundown of their features and pros and cons.
What follows is a detailed list of the 20 best employee scheduling software tools for 2025 and beyond along with a rundown of features and pros and cons. The list is derived from reviews in directory sites such as G2, the largest and most trusted software marketplace, and Capterra.
Deltek | Replicon’s modern, AI-powered workforce management platform helps businesses manage their scheduling needs across globally dispersed workforces. Using this industry-leading platform, project-based businesses can manage time and attendance, overtime, complex scheduling, leave management and labor compliance to drive efficient job costing and accurate gross pay calculations.
The solution simplifies shift creation, prevents schedule overlaps and helps identify the best employee for open job schedules using AI-powered scheduling insights. With the AI-powered platform, organizations can efficiently manage shift scheduling across job roles, skills and locations, preventing last-minute scheduling changes.
What separates Replicon from other scheduling software is its built-in AI capabilities. Its AI-powered timesheets automatically capture employee time and attendance data from apps that organizations use daily, simplifying time capture and enhancing accuracy.
With its single platform, organizations can easily manage their end-to-end scheduling needs, all while aligning with global and regional labor laws for scheduling in 145+ jurisdictions across 75+ countries. Businesses can reduce non-compliance risks and manage complex job schedules effectively – all within a single platform.
It also tracks and manages labor costs at the shift level and provides real-time visibility into labor costs to help businesses stay within budget. Its versatile mobile application helps employees view the latest schedule, pick up open shifts, trade shifts with colleagues and request time off anytime, anywhere.
Features
Identify the ideal employee for open shifts based on skills or cost using AI-powered scheduling insights
Allow managers to view and modify schedules and shifts in real time to fill unexpected gaps
Get notified about shift overlaps to avoid double booking
Simplify shift swapping with colleagues using the mobile app
Manage and track labor costs at the shift level
Create tailored scheduling rules to meet unique needs and complex bargaining agreements
Minimize compliance risks by aligning with global and regional labor laws for scheduling
Pros and Cons
Pros
User-friendly interface and visibility into real-time labor costs
Creates conflict-free schedules using AI-powered scheduling insights
Notifies about shift overlaps
Cons
A slight learning curve as it comes with a broad range of features for better scheduling
This employee scheduling software offers quick schedule creation, time tracking and a communication platform. Deputy has several features that enable managers to create the best schedules.
Its robust reporting functionality helps managers gain a 360-degree view of the resource pool and make smart scheduling decisions.
Features
Allows automated scheduling with breaks and real-time tracking and timeclock
Shift swapping and leave management
Seamlessly integrates with multiple POS, HR and payroll software
Pros and Cons
Pros
Mobile applications in iOS and Android versions and a user-friendly interface
Staffing data analysis feature
Easy integration with several other applications
Cons
The revenue-based scheduling feature is reported to have occasional glitches
Humanity helps organizations manage business operations by monitoring labor costs, streamlining scheduling and handling time off requests. The automated employee scheduling software empowers employees to swap shifts and request time off. Plus, it allows employers to approve or deny requests on the go.
Features
Customized scheduling, instant alerts and a time clock feature
Pre-built reports to monitor scheduling aspects and mobile application to manage and track shifts on the go
Seamless integrations with human capital management (HCM), calendar apps, etc.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Easy-to-use software
Automatic scheduling and the ability to integrate with scheduling and calendar apps
This scheduling software has a suite of tools to help businesses of all sizes with staff scheduling and shift planning. Sling offers all basic features that streamline the scheduling process, such as role-based scheduling and a time clock to track time in a user-friendly interface.
The application also alerts managers if it identifies the possibility of clopening shifts, ensuring that schedules are conflict-free and align with applicable rules.
Features
Built-in time clock feature and auto-assigning feature for faster scheduling
In-app messaging feature and mobile application to swap or pick up shifts and set the employee availability status
Reporting and analytics tools to get insights into labor costs
Pros and Cons
Pros
Intuitive user interface and in-app messaging for teams
Shiftboard scheduling software helps organizations schedule shifts that provide maximum operational coverage while ensuring adequate work-life balance for employees. The software comes with features like automated scheduling, schedule distribution, shift swapping, two-way texting and mobile clock in and out at a price that’s accessible and affordable for small and medium businesses.
Features
Labor demand planning tools
Intelligent scheduling suggestions
Automated scheduling and leave management solution
Pros and Cons
Pros
Good for labor cost management, managing complex employee schedules and budget forecasting
Flexible automated scheduling and intelligent scheduling suggestions
Efficient labor demand planning tools
Cons
Difficulty in scheduling shifts of longer hours
Changes in shifts sometimes don’t automatically update without being refreshed
Homebase uses automatic scheduling to create conflict-free schedules on the fly, from anywhere and allows managers to share them instantly with the teams. Its drag-and-drop feature helps managers tweak schedules in real time and update them instantly.
The software keeps a tab on the resources’ availability and roles and apprises the employers/managers if they accidentally schedule any resource for an unsuitable role or shift.
Features
Automatic shift reminders and requests for time off by employees and approval by managers directly through the app
Enables employees to swap shifts with their colleagues while keeping managers in the loop
Integrates data from applications such as Clover and Square to forecast labor costs
Pros and Cons
Pros
Intuitive UI and an in-app messaging platform
Best scheduling app for contractors, freelancers and hourly workers
This scheduling software uses an auto-scheduling feature and shows multiple views based on different categories, facilitating managers to create schedules that best serve their needs.
It provides an updated overview of the schedule to check which employees are working on specific tasks during which shifts at which locations. The tool allows teams to request time off and book and swap shifts using the proper approval path.
Features
Auto scheduling and customizable scheduling templates
Monitors and manages labor costs
Integrates with payroll, accounting and data management software
Enables employees to swap shifts and update their availability
Pros and Cons
Pros
Allows easy setup, customization and use of employee profiling
Findmyshift is an intuitive scheduling app designed to meet the scheduling requirements of multiple industries based on personas. This work schedule tool helps organizations manage schedules and communicate shifts to employees anytime, anywhere.
Features
A built-in messaging app and flexible schedules to accommodate diverse employee types
Customized templates and integration with several apps
Employees can request time off directly from the app and managers can approve or deny them
Pros and Cons
Pros
Easy to use
Useful integrations
Automated reminders and shift notifications
Cons
Steep learning curve
Minor issues faced when working with Apple devices
Workfeed is a scheduling and time-tracking tool that leverages the auto-assign feature to create a new schedule according to preferences and requirements within seconds. It also has an ‘employee insights’ feature that allows managers to view sick days, shift drops, etc.
Features
Auto scheduling feature
Clock-in via the app
In-built chats to swap and pick up open shifts
Pros and Cons
Pros
Auto scheduling available
A well-designed UI and easy to set up
User-friendly app
Cons
No drag-and-drop functionality
Organizations with a large workforce may face challenges in scheduling
7shifts is cloud-based shift scheduling software designed specifically for restaurants and the hospitality industry to schedule employee shifts. Designed for employee communication and engagement, this software also provides tailored solutions to meet the specific scheduling needs of the food and beverage industry.
Features
Facilitates communication via a messaging app
Facilitates saving shift templates for recurring schedules
Offers forecasting tools to predict staffing needs
Pros and Cons
Pros
Easy to track and schedule shifts and request time off
Detailed reporting feature for decision-making
Demand forecasting tools to predict staffing needs
Cons
The mobile app could have more sales and labor analytics
More than 30 employees are required to avail of the top-tier plan
ZoomShift is a scheduling software solution designed specifically for hourly employees. It’s popular with small retail shops and franchises but is also useful for restaurants and the hospitality sector. This user-friendly platform takes minimal time to learn and set up.
With robust features such as automated time-off requests, scheduling and shift rosters, this software helps businesses manage their workforce and save time in manual schedule curation.
Features
Automated scheduling and time clock functionality
Managers can view staff availability, time off requests, scheduling conflicts and shift swaps from the dashboard
Allows employees to swap shifts and syncs with most calendar applications
Pros and Cons
Pros
Easy scheduling and shift swapping
Mobile scheduling app for instant visibility
Employee schedules can be synced with multiple calendar apps
QuickBooks Time’s employee scheduler offers a ‘who’s working’ feature that provides a holistic view of the team’s allocation, availability and which employee is doing which shift. The application allows managers to assign and change shifts with a drag-and-drop feature.
It also alerts the manager in case of a discrepancy, ensuring each shift gets coverage without any double booking or conflicts.
Features
Creates schedule based on employee availability, shift requirements and job roles
Employees can share their availability to allow managers to schedule shifts accordingly
Shift reminders and reporting and analytics feature
Snap Schedule is cloud-based employee scheduling software that is ideal for enterprise-level businesses with a large workforce. It is designed to effortlessly streamline the process of creating, changing and managing work schedules.
With built-in communications tools and tailored reporting, Snap Schedule offers best-in-class solutions to enterprises.
Features
Offers tools for assigning shifts, managing employee availability and adjusting schedules with a drag-and-drop interface
Reporting and analytics tools to assess labor costs and other metrics
Seamlessly integrates with payroll, calendar and time-tracking software
Pros and Cons
Pros
Automated scheduling
Customized shifts based on configured rules and criteria set
Calendly offers features that make scheduling easier than ever, including automation and adaptability that facilitate creating schedules aligned with business needs and preferences.
Features
Automated scheduling
Automatic reminders to employees for upcoming schedules
Seamlessly syncs with calendar applications
Pros and Cons
Pros
Automated scheduling
Seamlessly integrates with calendar apps and business tools
This innovative free scheduling app facilitates businesses by automating their employee scheduling processes. This versatile scheduling software is designed to serve startups and agencies and uses an algorithm-based scheduling approach to manage a large workforce and keep labor costs in check.
Features
Uses advanced algorithms to create and optimize schedules
Forecasts labor needs by analyzing historical data
ClickUp is a robust scheduling tool designed for teams and businesses of all sizes. Its calendar view helps everyone check team goals, work schedules and shift allotments in one place. The tool also provides a library of scheduling templates that businesses can use without creating them each time from scratch.
Features
Offers numerous collaboration tools and multiple work schedule templates
Gantt chart view to schedule employees with drag-and-drop action
Seamlessly integrates with Google Calendar and other tools
Pros and Cons
Pros
Has a reminder feature
Gantt chart view for work visualization
Drag and drop functionality and multiple customized scheduling templates
This full-featured employee scheduling software streamlines shift planning for small and medium-sized businesses. Its easy-to-use, all-in-one app helps managers create employee schedules within seconds and make changes or adjustments on the fly.
With the private and group messaging features of OpenSimSim, managers can share the schedule with one click and coordinate with employees effortlessly.
Features
An intuitive drag-and-drop interface
Allows employees to request shift swaps with colleagues with proper approval from managers
Allows employees to request time off and tracks labor costs
Pros and Cons
Pros
Drag and drop feature for scheduling
Facilitates shift swapping
Built-in messaging and notifications platform
Cons
Admins sometimes face difficulty in disabling chats and removing chat rooms from the platform
Connecteam is a budget-friendly scheduling software solution known for its advanced scheduling, time clock and communications tools for businesses with large workforces. This all-in-one employee scheduling software provides robust tools to create and manage schedules even on the fly. Its advanced customization helps users create shifts catering to their unique business needs.
Features
Auto scheduling feature and premade scheduling templates for recurring shifts
Automatic shift conflict alerts to notify scheduling errors
Intuitive drag-and-drop employee scheduler
Pros and Cons
Pros
Tools for blast notifications, team chats and polls
Intuitive drag-and-drop employee scheduler
Gantt chart view for work visualization
Cons
Certain advanced functionalities and integrations are missing
Wrike streamlines planning, scheduling, task allocation and labor cost monitoring for project teams. Over time, it has evolved to include several tools and features, including scheduling, task management, interactive Gantt charts, time and budget tracking and reporting.
Wrike is mostly known to work best for businesses with complex scheduling requirements.
Features
Creates and assigns tasks to team members
Gantt chart view to visualize scheduling
Allocates the right resources across projects
Reports and analytics for insights into workforce performance and scheduling metrics
Pros and Cons
Pros
Gantt chart visualization for better visibility
Detailed reports and analytics and customized scheduling templates
Cons
Expensive for small teams
Delayed notification from some integrated applications
Buddy Punch has gained popularity with its robust tools and features, such as drag-and-drop scheduling, shift trades and covers, punch limiting and job codes. Its chats and notifications features help keep employees, administrators and managers on the same page regarding changes in scheduling.
Moreover, its integration with popular payroll software makes it easy to transfer employee scheduling data for payroll, billing and invoicing purposes.
Features
Drag-and-Drop scheduler
Punch limit to prevent scheduling employees for extended hours
Paid time-off tracking and management
Seamlessly Integrates with other software like Zapier, ADP and Quickbooks
Pros and Cons
Pros
User-friendly UI and easy-to-learn setup
Automated time tracking and scheduling
Analytics and reporting tools for detailed insights
Cons
Incorrectly punched time is difficult to correct
Ratings
G2: 4.8/5
Capterra: 4.8/5
What Makes a Great Employee Scheduling Software?
Ease of Use
The employee scheduling software you implement should be easy to use and require minimal training to operate. Software with steep learning curves often makes shift scheduling more complex and may also lead to frustration among employers and managers.
Streamlined Communication
Seamless communication between managers and employees is imperative for effective collaboration and schedule management. The scheduling software should have features such as built-in chats, real-time interaction, comments and file sharing.
Seamless Integration
The scheduling software you choose to implement should be able to integrate with other software used in the organization, such as calendar apps, accounting software, project management software, payroll software, etc., to maximize scheduling efficiency.
Customization
The software you use must be customizable, i.e., it should allow employers/managers to configure the system according to their scheduling needs and preferences.
Mobile Accessibility
The work scheduling software you choose must also facilitate remote accessibility via an online mobile application. The app should allow employees to view their schedules and empower employers to create, change and adjust the schedule as well as approve the shift swap and time off requests in real-time through the app anytime, anywhere.
Flexible Shift Swapping
The software should allow employees to request shift swapping at their convenience and also allow managers to approve or deny the request. Equipped with the software, your employees can raise a request for shift swap while others can show interest in shift trading, and finally, managers can approve it.
Compliance
The scheduling software you choose to implement must have an in-built pay rule library to help support compliance with the applicable laws and regulations of the region you operate in.
Several laws that are applicable in the region, including federal, state and local labor laws, require you to stay compliant with scheduling regulations that may include overtime laws, break laws, clepening laws, etc. Thus, the software you use should support compliance with all the necessary laws and regulations.
Time off Management
Scheduling software must offer a feature through which employees can request time off and managers can approve or deny it instantly. The absence tracking features in employee scheduling software can help shift managers approve, deny or track employees’ time off requests so they don’t schedule the employees in a shift during their time off.
Shift Templates
Employee scheduling software should also have the feature to create and save a schedule, especially for recurring shifts, so that managers or employers can reuse it without creating another schedule from scratch. This way, they can reuse the same schedule templates without creating a new schedule every week, saving time.
Reporting Functionality
The employee scheduling software should enable scheduling managers to generate detailed scheduling reports to have visibility into scheduling metrics, including overtime, gross pay, resource allocation, labor costs, shift distribution, etc.
Benefits of Using an Employee Scheduling App
Increased Efficiency
Scheduling software does the heavy lifting by creating conflict-free schedules tailored to the organization’s needs within a brief period, liberating managers from the hassle of creating schedules for employees each day.
The software considers employee availability, skill sets and other such parameters to ensure that the right people with the right skills/roles work in the right shifts. Employee scheduling software prevents double booking and alerts managers in case of any likelihood.
Automated Time Off Requests and Approval
With a few clicks, scheduling software lets employees apply for time off and enables managers to approve the request with a proper validation process. This streamlines time-off management and helps managers keep track of employees’ time-off requests, frequency and absenteeism patterns, if any.
Compliance Options
Scheduling software has options, such as a pay rule library, to support organizations with labor compliance and regulations in the region where they operate.
Thus, such software scrutinizes overtime, breaks, rest periods, etc., to help organizations stay compliant with laws and regulations irrespective of their geographical location.
Reduced Labor Cost
This software can help you cut down on the costs associated with manual schedule processing. It offers insight into overstaffing and understaffing, thus helping managers make informed decisions about resource management and staffing requirements.
It also accurately tracks total hours, time offs, overtime hours, breaks and other differential pay so that employers can process payroll accurately and calculate invoices correctly. This way, they can minimize errors that can contribute to cost overruns.
Real-Time Updates
Scheduling software provides real-time insights into resource allocation, scheduling, shift swapping and other such data. Thus, managers get real-time visibility into the current schedule, recent changes or any major updates in shift allotments.
Streamlined Communication
Employee scheduling software with built-in communication or chat features enables employees to stay in touch with their colleagues and managers to discuss or enquire about their respective schedules.
The software allows employees to communicate with each other so they can trade shifts and coordinate for work-related discussions. It also enables them to get in touch with the scheduling manager instantly to reduce no-shows and last-minute scheduling conflicts.
Better Schedule Management
Employee scheduling software allows employers to configure the system with certain parameters, such as the limits of total work hours in a day, overtime hours, how frequently employees’ shifts can rotate and the number of shifts employees work within a timespan.
Thus, the software allows employers to set certain rules or limits to create a suitable and predictable schedule and ensure that employees don’t get burned out by working under the maximum number of hours/shifts.
Bottom Line
There are tons of scheduling software out there that also offer mobile accessibility via the mobile application, but choosing the best employee scheduling software that helps you create and manage schedules as per your requirements, aligns with your business needs and is budget-friendly is somewhat tricky.
Though all software mentioned helps streamline staff scheduling and comes with unique features, Deltek | Replicon’s Workforce Management Solution tops the list due to its AI/ML capabilities with an intelligent recommendation engine. The solution can help manage your global workforce effectively by tracking their accurate time and creating cost-optimized schedules while supporting labor regulations standards.
Wish to Learn More About Managing Workforces Proactively?
Check out our AI-powered unified workforce management solution.
The product information in this listicle is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute advice in any manner. We strive to provide accurate and up-to-date information for which we will update the information in this listicle periodically. Please note that the inclusion of any product/software/solution in this list does not imply any endorsement, affiliation, or partnership; and the pros and cons of each product are sourced from multiple review websites that provide publicly available information. We encourage users to do their own research and take a free trial to thoroughly assess and choose the product that caters to their unique business requirements and aligns with their budget.
Currently in Polaris, you can allocate resources to projects, and you can assign resources timesheet access to tasks.
But soon, you’ll be able to allocate resources directly to tasks.
This will allow project managers to check resource availability when planning tasks and to view actual hours worked per task versus the allocated hours.
Hiring integration with Talent Management in Polaris
Currently in Polaris, if no suitable resource is available to fulfill an allocation request, the resource manager can mark that role as To Be Hired. However, since HR and hiring capabilities are beyond the scope of Polaris, managers have to manually handle hiring requests and allocations outside of the app.
Soon in Polaris, we’ll be introducing an integration with Deltek Talent Management (DTM) that enables automated requesting, fulfillment, and allocation of new hires.
Time off visibility for project managers in Replicon
Project managers will soon be able to view time off for members of their project teams. This should help managers better understand resource availability, and better plan their projects and forecast revenue.
On the Team > Time Off tab for a project, they’ll be able to see time off that is either awaiting approval or has been approved, for all team members who are assigned to that project as individuals.
Timesheet template effective dates in Replicon and Polaris
Sometimes, administrators need to change which timesheet template a user or group of users is assigned – for example, if users change departments or locations.
Soon, when administrators assign new templates to users in their user profiles, they will be able to choose when the assignment takes effect. This has two main benefits:
It allows admins to set up new timesheet templates before the new template takes effect
It allows a record of old template assignments to be saved when a template is changed
Improved support for punch functionality in Polaris
Currently, when punch users access Polaris, they don’t see a Time Punches tab in their My Work section, but instead have to follow a roundabout path – navigating from Reports to My Replicon – to find that tab.
We’ll soon be improving the user experience for those using Replicon time punches in Polaris. To see these changes, customers must be using Replicon’s Workforce Management or Time Attend Plus products, together with Polaris.
In Q1 of 2025, we added the option to allow approval when a user attempts to book time off, for each time off type.
Soon, we’ll be adding a new setting that lets administrators require approval for only past or only future bookings.
We’re introducing this option to support the common scenario of allowing deletion of future time off without approval, while requiring approval when deleting past time off, since past time off has more impact on other data.
New deletion of submitted bookings option in Replicon
Currently, for each time off type, administrators can choose to allow all bookings, no bookings, future bookings, or past bookings that have been submitted to be deleted.
Soon, we’ll be allowing an additional option: Bookings up to X months in the past only.
Soon, project managers will be able to carry out shift scheduling in Replicon, without needing schedule manager or supervisor permissions.
This will allow PMs to directly schedule their project team members, from the projects they own only. This is helpful in cases where the PM handles all shift scheduling for their team, and can also help filter shift workers if one manager acts as both PM and supervisor.
Soon in Replicon, we’ll be offering a new report template and default report called Shift Assignment Audit Trail, that shows all changes (add, modify, and delete) made to shift schedules.
For example, you might use this new report to confirm when the shift was scheduled, if an employee complains that a shift was updated right before it occurred so they didn’t receive enough notice.
Replicon and Polaris’s ZeroTime™ feature enables automatic collection of work hours and activities that users can apply to their timesheets.
Now, ZeroTime offers an Auto Populate feature. This feature allows time and related data to be collected and allocated to timesheets without any manual intervention by the user, resulting in literally zero time spent populating the timesheet.
ZeroTime™ suggestions based on historical timesheets, favorites, and defaults
Currently, when an employee starts using ZeroTime™, it can take a few days for our machine learning algorithm to train on their usage patterns.
So, this quarter, we’ll be speeding things up a bit, by adding data from the user’s historical timesheets, timesheet favorites, and timesheet custom field defaults to the algorithm.
Administrators will soon be able to set effective dates when assigning holiday calendars to users. This will allow you to retain historical data when you have to switch calendars, and will allow you to set up calendar assignments in advance.
Plus, we’ll be offering a new option that will let you update all automatically-generated holiday bookings to match the new assignment.
New approval date/time column in Time Entry Details report
We’re adding a Time Entry Approval Date/Time column to the Time Entry Details report template.
This column will allow customers with multiple downstream ERPs, who therefore use reports to transfer data to their ERPs, to filter time entries essentially in real time, so hours can be billed for as quickly as possible.
To help project managers better predict project risk, we’ll soon be launching Dela Project Analytics, an AI-powered tool that will show project managers:
Whether a delay is likely, and
A predicted completion date, with a confidence threshold percentage
A summary of current risks and mitigation plan
PMs will also be able to set their risk tolerance on a per project basis, meaning fewer warnings will display if your tolerance is high.
In Q1, we’ll be launching a feature that allows project managers to link projects that are related together. Links can be categorized as change requests, phases, or simply ‘relates to’.
Linking projects will allow you to instantly view hours, cost, and revenue totals for all linked projects, on the Linked Projects tab.
Currently in Polaris, when a child task’s dates change, their parent task’s date range doesn’t update.
So, if a child task is delayed or finishes more quickly than expected, sub-task dates may extend beyond the date range of their parent task. This can create confusion and make project estimation and planning more difficult.
Therefore this quarter, we’ll be launching a new setting that, when enabled, will automatically adjust parent-level dates to match their earliest and latest child task dates.
This quarter, we’ll be adding a new role to Polaris: Cost manager. Users assigned this role will be allowed to approve, force approve, reject, reopen, and delete time and expense sheets.
This role is similar to the cost manager role we currently offer in Replicon, and will allow customers using it to more easily upgrade to Polaris.
If you use time off in lieu (TOIL) in Replicon, for each pay code employees can select when allocating TOIL, you’ll soon be able to set an associaed time off type. This change should make it easier for employees to submit TOIL, and should reduce errors.
New time off booking validation rule: Ensure a gap between two bookings
This quarter, we launched a new time off booking validation rule called Ensure a gap between two bookings that checks that there is, at minimum, an amount of time you specify between two time off bookings.
