The dashboard is an overview page that can be individually edited and customized. The dashboard offers the possibility to create a general dashboard (system dashboard), which can only be edited by administrators (or the designated group of people). In addition to the system dashboard, every user can create one or more personal dashboards. To customize the dashboard, widgets can be added. Besides adding widgets, you can change their color and position, as well as edit each individual widget using the pencil icon at the top right. More detailed information can be found in our video tutorials.
If multiple dashboards are created or used, they can be selected in the left menu. The menu also shows which dashboard you are currently in.
In addition to the "classic" event planning, CrewBrain also offers the possibility to create tasks. These tasks can be created both independently of jobs and dependent on jobs. You can find the task area in the main menu. Here you can create new tasks, book working hours for individual tasks, and mark tasks as completed. To keep track, task lists can be created and shared with other users.
Already created tasks can be edited at a later time. Depending on access rights, you can also assign tasks to employees. Similar to jobs, you can also create subtasks for tasks.
The calendar is the heart of the software and provides exactly the overview you need through various views and filters. In every view, you will find four icons at the top right that allow you to create a new calendar entry, search for an entry, print the calendar, or download it. In every view, you can select the desired date at the top right. Depending on the view, you select the year, month, calendar week, or day. By choosing forward or back at 'Today', you can navigate through years, months, weeks, or days, depending on the view. In every view, it is possible to set filters, which makes your display even clearer.
Jobs and events are identical. Which term is used depends on the settings. The term ‘job’ will be used below. When creating (in the calendar at the top right via the plus or by clicking on a specific date), jobs are initially solo jobs, for which a date and time must always be specified. When a subjob is created, the previous solo job automatically becomes the main job. Together with projects, up to three levels can thus be mapped.
Example:
In a job, you can request, enter, or book directly employees. Once an employee is firmly booked, their working hours can be recorded manually or via time clock.
In each individual job, you can create tasks, write comments, upload documents, create invoice inserts, specify travel expenses, view statistics, and much more. Using the corresponding icons, you can plan and manage your jobs.
Here, all employees get a quick overview of their upcoming jobs. As an administrator, you can view the jobs of all employees and subcontractors and, if necessary, print them as a list for the employees. When you hover over one of the jobs with your mouse, its information is displayed on the right. Clicking on a job opens its full form. Depending on access rights, you can edit the job. Click on the printer icon to print a tabular view of all jobs in PDF format or download the data in CSV or XLSX format. The date of the displayed jobs can also be set manually at the top right.
Under My Account, all personal information is entered. This information is only visible to the respective employee and is relevant for quick coordination. In addition to the classic personal data, further data can be recorded here. For example, time-off can be created and submitted, calendar subscriptions can be stored, or password settings can be made.
In the base data, you can record employees, freelancers, subcontractors, vehicles, clients, and locations. This allows you to create a data pool that you can access anytime when creating projects and jobs. If you have already saved your employees' data in an Excel file, you can upload it in the employee base data via a button at the top right.
CrewBrain supports various options for employee statements and time recording. These options relate to the employment relationship of the employee. Freelancers are billed according to hours and flat rates, while permanent employees, mini-jobbers, working students, i.e., all those bound to your company by a contract, have a flexitime account. If this is stored in the base data, monthly statements can be created and times can be recorded (manually or via time clock).
To ensure that the historical time account is displayed correctly even after a conversion (e.g., from an employee to a freelancer), the type of the employee at the time of the period is stored. Therefore, after converting an employee or freelancer, a new period must be created so that the time account is calculated correctly.
In the Notification Center, which is available both in the app and in the desktop version, you have access to the notifications sent to the user by e-mail or push notification. This allows you to view the information from the notifications afterwards.
The time clock is only displayed when a statement period has been configured for the user under Base Data > Statement, Time Recording and Time-Off Periods.
Time recording via time clock can be done via the menu item “Time Clock”, in the App or via a central time clock (e.g., on a tablet). Under Base Data > Statement, Time Recording and Time-Off Periods > Time Recording, you can specify for each employee which time clock they can use to record their time. With the time clock, times can be recorded for projects, main jobs, subjobs, tasks, and independent times.
See here how to configure the time clock.
In addition to personnel, vehicles can also be planned in jobs. To do this, create the vehicles in the base data. Under Administration > Vehicles > Categories, you can also create categories for your vehicles. The vehicles stored in the base data can be assigned to these categories and, analogous to the employee categories, used for planning. This way, it is possible to record the demand for vehicles in advance in a job. Later, the suitable vehicles can be scheduled like employees in the job dispatched. If the number of seats of the vehicle is stored in the base data, you can select a driver and, if applicable, passengers. Furthermore, you can manage vehicles at different branches and create inspections and maintenance as well as "time-off periods" in case the vehicle is, for example, in the workshop.
Here you can create travel expense reports. You can also see an overview of all your travel expense reports, which can be printed or downloaded.
As an administrator, you can see the travel expense reports of all employees and their status – approved or paid out. Additionally, you can display an overview for each individual employee, which can also be printed or downloaded.
The recording of travel distances takes place via the time clock in the course of time recording. For this, the additional function “Route” must be activated for at least one time category under Administration > Statement & Time Recording > Time Categories. Go to the time clock and specify the time category with the above-mentioned additional function. Click on “In”, and you will automatically enter the driver's log, select a vehicle there, and enter the start mileage. When clocking out, you will be asked for the end mileage. The trips are automatically stored under My Account > Driver's Log and for the respective vehicle in the base data.
In the administration, you can make individual configurations for all areas.
Among other things, you can change or add terms, types, or categories according to your needs, create individual fields with additional information, or define which data should be transferred in jobs or subjobs.
Get a visualized overview of projects, jobs, employees, vehicles, personnel costs, and working hours.
Here, changes to base data, jobs, tasks, and many other objects are logged. The log shows all relevant information, any changes, and who created this information when in a clear overview. This way, you can trace which changes were made when and by whom. The log can be found in every area (task, jobs, base data, etc.) usually at the bottom left of a view.
CrewBrain is available both as a Web App and an App.
You get the WebApp by entering your own domain.crewbrain.com in the browser of your mobile phone. You can then add it to your home screen. The WebApp is not available in the Play or App Store.
The app, on the other hand, can be found for Android in the Google Play Store, for iOS in the App Store. Through this app, you also receive push notifications.
The smartphone apps are mainly intended for employees who use them to record their working times and get an overview of their jobs, tasks, travel expense reports, and – depending on the type of statement – their hours or wages. Of course, employees can also record travel expenses, tasks, time-off, and much more themselves. Employees can also register themselves for jobs and manage their own account.
Functions for administrators and schedulers, such as creating jobs and projects, dispatching employees, and managing base data are of course also possible there.
For data exchange between different systems, an open API interface is necessary. CrewBrain already has a comprehensive and well-documented API at (https://www.crewbrain.com/en/api-reference). Additionally, we have created a version 2 of the API, which, for example, also maps the OpenAPI specifications and is thus quite easy to use.
Version 2 is automatically active in all accounts in parallel to the current API. The new API is still under development, so the available endpoints are still somewhat limited. With upcoming versions, the API will be gradually expanded and optimized.
The documentation is written as an OpenAPI specification and can be read directly from the API in your account. Simply replace "demo" in the following link with your account subdomain: https://demo.crewbrain.com/api/v2/
Switching to the new API for your integration is possible at any time. Since the API is still under development, we cannot completely rule out that general changes may still be necessary and the structure may change slightly again.
The current API interface will continue to be supported in the future, and there are currently no plans to discontinue this support. Therefore, switching to the new API is not mandatory.