4 ways to automate proof of attendance

#1 - The basic check

Who it's for: Solo cleaners proving they showed up, and small firms that just need a record of who was on which site and when.

Available on: Basic.

What it is: A GPS and time-stamped clock-in and clock-out the cleaner fires on arrival at a site and again when they leave. Three steps on a phone: pick whether this is a clock-in or a clock-out, tap to capture the location, type the site name. Each completion is one stamped record. The cleaner runs the canvas at the start and end of every visit, and the proof is the pair of stamps that bracket the time on site.

In practice: Take a solo office cleaning contractor with eight regular contracts across town. At the first site they open the canvas, pick "Clocking in", tap the location step, type "Maple Street office", and submit. Server time-stamp captured, location pinned. Two hours later, on the way out, they fire it again at "Clocking out" with a fresh location pin. Eight sites in a day, sixteen stamped records, no paper timesheet and nothing to fill in back at home that evening.

Why it works: The location pin is the proof. The clean itself does not have to change. What changes is that there is now a server-side, time-stamped, GPS-tagged record at the start and end of every visit. When a client questions whether anyone turned up on Tuesday, the answer is a pin on a map at a known time, not a memory or a hand-written timesheet that could have been filled in anywhere.

Steps included:

• 1 single-choice step (2 options: Clocking in, Clocking out)
• 1 location step (GPS capture)
• 1 text input (site name)

When to upgrade:

1. Add written guidance (#2) once more than one cleaner uses it, so everyone clocks in and out at the right moments and names sites the same way.
2. Add photo evidence (#3) once a client wants to see it was the cleaner on site, not just a phone that happened to be there.
3. Add a signature (#4) once attendance disputes need a signed trail tying the visit to the tasks that were meant to be done.

#2 - With written guidance

Who it's for: Multi-cleaner firms with staff spread across many sites who need everyone clocking in and out the same way.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The basic check plus two guidance panels woven through the canvas. The panels tell the cleaner when to clock in and out, and why the location is captured. A new starter on their first round gets the same instruction as a cleaner who has been on the contract for years, without a manager having to ride along and explain it.

In practice: Take a school cleaning team with fifteen cleaners covering nine sites across a trust. One cleaner might do a single large secondary school all evening, another might cover three small primaries in a row. The first guidance panel reminds every cleaner to clock in the moment they arrive and clock out when they leave, every visit. The location panel explains that the pin is what settles it if the trust ever asks whether a site was covered, and that if there is no signal the location saves on the phone and uploads later. The clock-ins stop drifting between people, and the office gets one consistent record from the whole team.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A "when to clock in and out" panel that tells the cleaner to clock in on arrival and clock out on leaving, every single visit.
2. A "why we capture location" panel that explains the pin is what settles an attendance dispute, and that it saves offline and uploads when signal returns.
3. A consistent record across a whole team, because everyone reads the same instruction at the moment they clock in.

Why it works: Written guidance sits inline at the moment the cleaner is about to act. The cleaner reads the timing guidance the first time they clock in, and it is right there again at the next site. It is not a one-off induction talk they had weeks ago and half-remember. It is on the screen at the moment of the task, every time.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (when to clock in and out)
• 1 single-choice step (clocking in or out)
• 1 location step (GPS capture)
• 1 text input (site name)
• 1 guidance panel (why we capture location)

When to upgrade: Move to Proof of Attendance #3 once the location pin alone is not enough. Once a client wants to see that it was the cleaner who attended, and not just a phone left on a windowsill, a coordinate by itself starts to look thin.

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Clients who want visual confirmation of attendance, not just a coordinate on a map.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The guided clock-in plus an optional selfie taken at the same moment as the location pin. The cleaner takes a quick photo of themselves on site, and that photo lands in the same record as the pin and the time-stamp. It confirms it was the cleaner who attended, not just their phone.

In practice: Take a retail cleaning firm that services twenty high-street shops before they open. A cleaner arrives at a clothing store at 6am, picks "Clocking in", taps the location step, and takes a quick selfie inside the shutters they have just come through. The photo lands in the attendance record alongside the location pin and the time. When the area manager runs the weekly check, they see a coordinate, a time, and a face, so there is no question that a real person walked the floor before the doors opened.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A selfie step after the location step.
2. A second, independent confirmation that it was the cleaner on site, not just a phone in the right place.
3. Visual proof a client can glance at, which a coordinate on its own does not give.

Why it works: A coordinate says a phone was there. A selfie says a person was there. The two together answer the question a client actually asks, which is not "where was the phone" but "did my cleaner turn up". Captured at the same moment, on the same device, the photo cannot be added after the fact to cover a missed visit.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (when to clock in and out)
• 1 single-choice step (clocking in or out)
• 1 location step (GPS capture)
• 1 text input (site name)
• 1 guidance panel (why we capture location)
• 1 photo (quick selfie)

When to upgrade: Move to Proof of Attendance #4 once attendance disputes also need to tie the visit to the work. Once a client wants a signed confirmation that the scheduled tasks were done, not just that someone was on site, the photo and pin alone leave a gap.

#4 - With photo and signature

Who it's for: Contracts where attendance disputes need a signed trail tying the visit to the tasks that were meant to be done.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The photo-backed clock-in plus an end-of-shift sign-off signature at clock-out. The cleaner signs to confirm they completed their scheduled tasks for that visit, and the signature attaches to the same record as the time-stamp, the location pin, and the selfie. Four pieces of proof on one visit: time, place, who, and a signed confirmation the work was done.

In practice: Take a care-home housekeeping team working under a contract that pays per completed visit. At clock-out, every cleaner signs the end-of-shift sign-off on the touchscreen, confirming the rooms and communal areas on their list were done. The signature is time-stamped and attached to the same record as the location pin and the selfie. When the home's facilities lead reviews the month, they pull any visit at random and see a time, a place, a face, and a signature against the tasks, so a query that used to take a week of back-and-forth is settled in a minute.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. An end-of-shift sign-off signature at clock-out.
2. A signed confirmation that the scheduled tasks were done, not just that the cleaner attended.
3. A defensible trail that ties the visit to the work, which the time, pin, and photo on their own do not.

Why it works: The signature is what closes the loop. The other three stamps say a cleaner was here, at this time, and it was really them. The signature adds: and the work on the list was done. Captured on the same device, at the same moment, in the same record, the four together are what settles a contract dispute without anyone having to take a side on trust.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (when to clock in and out)
• 1 single-choice step (clocking in or out)
• 1 location step (GPS capture)
• 1 text input (site name)
• 1 guidance panel (why we capture location)
• 1 photo (quick selfie)
• 1 signature (end-of-shift sign-off)

When to upgrade: The next variations layer Poppi on top. A Poppi briefing that surfaces the site's open issues from the last visit. A Poppi gate that flags a clock-in from the wrong location. A Poppi action that posts a missed clock-in straight to the supervisor's channel. Coming in the next post update.

How to pick the right version

You do not need to know how the canvas builder works to pick the right version. You only need to answer three questions about how your team runs.

Is it just you running this, or do other people run it too?

If it is just you, the basic check (#1) is enough. You know when to clock in and out, you name your own sites the same way every time, and you do not need the canvas to coach you.

If anyone else uses it (a colleague, a new starter, a round of relief cleaners), go to #2 onwards. The guidance panels are what stops the clock-ins drifting and the site names going inconsistent across people. You write the guidance once and everyone reads it inline.

Do you need a photo as proof, or is the tapped-and-typed record enough?

If your clients trust the coordinate and the time, the typed record is enough. Go to #1 or #2.

If a client wants to see that it was your cleaner who attended, and not just a phone in the right postcode, the pin alone is rarely enough. Go to #3. The selfie at the moment of the clock-in confirms a real person was on site.

Do you need someone to sign off at the end?

If the visit is about attendance and nothing more, a record is enough. Stick at #3.

If the contract pays against tasks done, and a dispute would hinge on whether the work was completed, the signature is the lock. Go to #4. The end-of-shift sign-off ties the visit to the tasks on the same record as the time, location, and photo.

Related workflows

• Cleaning quality audit
• Washroom checks
• Defect reporting
• Cleaning site induction
• Deep clean sign-off

Conclusion

Proof of attendance is a GPS and time-stamped clock-in and clock-out the cleaner fires on arrival and on leaving, so a client can see the cleaner was on site for the hours they paid for. The version a multi-site firm runs settles a billing query in a minute instead of a week, because every visit carries a time, a location, a face, and a signature on one record.

Pick the version that matches how your contracts run today, not the most thorough one you can imagine running someday. Open each template in the playground above and try it on a real visit this week.