Cleaning: note your clients and hours on the iPhone, and send each team member her schedule, with no paper and no Excel

A work schedule for a cleaner, or for a whole cleaning team

A good cleaning schedule answers three questions: who goes to which client, on which day, and from what time to what time. It is made week by week, because most clients come back every week.

Below is an invented week for a small cleaning business with three cleaners and four clients. Each colour is one person, each box one visit.

Work rules. Breaks, rest time and your employment contract depend on your contract and your canton. Check them in the official sources, for example SECO (see the sources at the end). The app helps you plan and inform; following the rules is the employer's job.

One client, one site: how to note everything

In cleaning, the "site" is the client's home or office. You create it once, with a name and an address. After that, a visit is always the same: one person, one site, one day, from this time to that time.

1. The cleanersName, phone or email
2. The clientsOne site per client, with the address
3. The visitsDay, start and end time, break
4. The sendingEach person gets only hers

You can also write a note on a visit, for example "key with the neighbour". It stays in the app, with the visit.

Visits that repeat, noted only once

Mrs Keller wants someone every Tuesday and every Friday? You note it once: "every week, on Tuesday and Friday". The app repeats the visit. Other rhythms exist: every day, every two weeks, every month, every year, with an end date if you want one.

The free version limits series. It has just one. With several clients who come back every week, you need Pro, which has no limit on series.

Sending each cleaner her schedule

When the week is ready, you send it. Each person gets only her own visits, not the others'. You choose the channel: WhatsApp, SMS, email or Share. The app can also send an image, or a calendar file (.ics, by email or Share).

The reason for a day off stays private: it never goes in the message, which only says "Day off". If you move a visit that was already sent, the next message adds a note "before → after".

By email, the app can send by itself at the time you choose, from your own address (Gmail or another provider). Nothing goes through a server of the app. There is no app for your cleaners: they get a message, as usual.

Travel: how many kilometres, how many minutes

With Pro, the app works out the trip between a cleaner's home and the client, using Apple Maps: the kilometres and the minutes. You enter each person's address once; the rate per hour and per kilometre is optional. On a visit you can also note the transport: own car, lift, public transport or none.

How many hours and kilometres is one client over a month? Try it with your own numbers.

When someone is sick, has a day off or wants to swap

The schedule always changes. Three gestures cover almost everything.

1. Long presson Ana's visit, Friday
2. "Swap shift"in the menu that opens
3. TapLea's visit, Saturday

The day, the hours and the site stay the same: only the people change. For a day off, you note the days (from… to…, inclusive); the app warns you if a visit falls on a day off. In the settings you choose whether a conflict is allowed, flagged as a warning, or treated as a conflict.

To move, duplicate or delete a visit, you also use a long press. If someone falls sick at the last minute, you move or swap the visit and send again: only the people affected get a message.

The month: hours and costs per person

With Pro, a management report shows, month by month, the hours and costs per person, using each person's hourly and per-kilometre rate. These are planned hours: the app has no time clock and does not calculate wages. It helps you see where each person's time goes, month by month.

• Hours per person and per monthTo see who works how much, without a spreadsheet.
• Costs with each person's ratesThe rate per hour and per kilometre, if you entered it.
• A PDF poster to printDay, week, month or year, from A6 to A3, for the office.

Send Planning: the cleaning schedule on your iPhone

Send Planning is an app for iPhone and iPad. You make the schedule for your small team and send each person her shifts. No account, no server: the data stays on your device, and the app works offline, except for sending.

• The whole team's weekTeam members, clients, hours and break, on one screen.
• Each person gets only her shiftsBy WhatsApp, SMS, email or Share.
• Swap shiftOne long press, and two people trade places.
• Travel and kilometres (Pro)From home to the client, with Apple Maps.
• Series and days offA visit that repeats, a day off whose reason stays private.
• Stays on the iPhoneLock with Face ID or a PIN.

Frequently asked questions