Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for caregiver agencies.
A checklist built from how caregiver agencies work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Caregiver pool and credentials
- Family brief and care needs
- Matching and trial shifts
- Rota with live-in rest days and relief
- Shift check-in and weekly timesheets
- Family billing and carer pay
- Concerns and incident log
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For the agency owner
- For coordinators
- For carers
- For accounts staff
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Placements active by carer and by family
- Uncovered shifts and relief offered
- Carer documents expiring this month
- Signed and unsigned weekly timesheets
- Margin per placement for the month
- Family balances outstanding
- Complaints and incidents by carer
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- SMS
- Accounting export
- Card and bank payments
- Mobile check-in
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is this for a placement agency or an employing agency?
- How does matching work?
- Can it handle live-in rest days?
- What happens when a carer calls in sick?
- Do families get a login?
- How are document expiries handled?
- Can the weekly timesheet be signed on a phone?
- Can we import our existing carer list?
- Who owns the carer and family records?
- What does it cost?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- A carer’s absence leaves a family alone
- Matches rest on the coordinator’s memory
- Carer documents expire unnoticed
- Timesheets and bills disagree
- Complaints and incidents are untraced
Prefer to talk it through? See the caregiver agencies page.