> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://schoolmanagerp.gitbook.io/schoolmanagerp-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://schoolmanagerp.gitbook.io/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/attendance/staff-attendance.md).
# Staff attendance and leave
Record teachers' and staff attendance every day, check your own leave balance, request leave, and approve requests.
**Go to:** **Attendance → Staff attendance** in the left menu. For leave, the **Leave** button at the top of that page. **Before you start:** the people whose attendance you take must have a staff profile ([Staff](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/students/staff.md)). You also need your own staff profile to request leave.
Student attendance is taken by section ([Taking attendance](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/attendance.md)). Staff attendance is one list for the whole school, once a day. When a leave request is approved, those days become **Leave** in this list on their own.
[Today's attendance](#task-main) · [My leave](#task-my-leave) · [Request leave](#task-request) · [Approve](#task-approve) · [Problems and fixes](#trouble)
**On this page**
* [How you get here](#arrive)
* [Take today's staff attendance](#task-main)
* [How to know attendance was saved](#confirm)
* [Other situations](#other)
* [An earlier day's attendance](#task-other-day)
* [See my leave balance](#task-my-leave)
* [Request leave](#task-request)
* [Approve or reject a leave request](#task-approve)
* [Cancel approved leave](#task-cancel)
* [Problems and fixes](#trouble)
* [Who can do what](#roles)
* [Learn more](#more)
***
## How you get here
**From the left menu:** **Attendance → Staff attendance**. The staff list opens on today's date; start at step 2 below.
**From search:** in the search box at the top (Ctrl+K) type "Staff attendance" and choose it. How search works: [Finding any page](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/start/find-anything.md).
***
## Take today's staff attendance
Admins and academic coordinators see all staff. Everyone else sees only their own row ([who can do what](#roles)).
1. In the left menu press **Attendance**, then **Staff attendance**.
→ The top says **Staff attendance**, and below it "12 staff members". Each person shows their name, their role, and a status button on the right. The counts at the top read **Present 0**, **Absent 0**, **Late 0**, **Leave 0**, **Unmarked 12**.
2. Press the **name** of everyone who came. → They become **Present**. Press again and they become **Absent**.
3. For someone late or on leave, press the **status button** at the right of the row and choose **Late** or **Leave**.
4. At the bottom left see how many are left, for example "2 unmarked". Then press **Save attendance**.
→ The button says **Saving…**, then at the left it says **Attendance saved**.
> **Keep in mind:** nothing is sent for people you did not mark. You can save without marking everyone, and come back later to mark the rest.
***
## How to know attendance was saved
| State | How you can tell | What next |
| ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| **Changed on screen only** | A mark sits next to the name, and the bottom says "… unmarked". You lose it if you change the date or leave the page. | Press **Save attendance**. |
| **Reached the school's system** | At the bottom left it says **Attendance saved**. | Done. |
This page cannot save without internet. If saving fails it says **Couldn't save attendance. Try again.** The marks stay on screen; press save again.
***
## Other situations
### An earlier day's attendance
1. In the **Date** box at the top choose the day. → The list empties and opens for that day.
2. Mark people and press **Save attendance**.
Rules:
* On a future day you can only give **Leave**.
* Nothing saves on a day the school is closed.
* To change a day that already has attendance and is older than the school's correction window (usually 2 days), a **Why are you changing this day?** box appears above **Save attendance**. Write a reason of at least 3 characters; other staff can see it.
Changing the date throws away marks you had not saved for the previous date.
### See my leave balance
1. At the top of the **Staff attendance** page press **Leave**.
→ The **My leave** page opens: "How many days of each kind of leave you have left this year". The **My leave** table lists each type (for example **Casual**, **Sick**), **Annual quota (days)**, **Used (days)** and **Remaining (days)**.
If there is no quota it shows **No limit**. Only approved leave counts as **Used**, and only on school days.
### Request leave
1. At the top of the **My leave** page press **Request leave**.
→ The new application form opens, with the type **Staff leave** already chosen.
2. Enter the type of leave and the start and end dates, then submit the application.
The request goes to the admin and the academic coordinator. Your balance does not go down until it is approved.
### Approve or reject a leave request
Admins and academic coordinators only. Nobody can approve their own request.
1. At the bottom of the **My leave** page press **Pending leave applications**. → The list of pending staff leave requests opens.
2. Open a request.
3. Press **Approve** or **Reject**.
When you press **Approve**, the app checks:
| Check | If it fails |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------ |
| At least one of the dates is a school day | Not approved |
| It is no more than the year's remaining leave | Not approved |
| It does not overlap other leave already approved | Not approved |
Once approved, those days become **Leave** in **Staff attendance**; if they were marked **Absent** before, they become **Leave** too. If the person is a teacher, arrange cover for their classes: [Substitute teachers](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/classes/routine-substitutions.md).
### Cancel approved leave
An admin or academic coordinator can open the request and press **Cancel leave**. The person who requested it cannot cancel it themselves. When it is cancelled, the **Leave** marks on the days still to come are removed.
***
## Problems and fixes
| What you see | What to do | Who can help |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------ |
| **Couldn't load staff for this day.** | Check your internet and reload the page. | Admin |
| **Write a reason of at least 3 characters.** | The day is older than the correction window. Write why you are changing it in the box, then save. | — |
| **No staff yet** | Press **Add staff**, or give people a staff profile ([Staff](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/students/staff.md)). | Admin |
| One staff member is missing from the list | They have no staff profile. Add one from the [Staff](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/students/staff.md) page. | Admin |
| **You have no staff profile** | Leave is tracked for staff only. Ask an admin to create your staff profile. | Admin |
| **No leave rules yet** | The school has not set up leave types and quotas. | Admin |
| **Couldn't save attendance. Try again.** when saving | Check your internet. It will not save for a day the school is closed, or a mark other than Leave on a future day. | Admin |
***
## Who can do what
| Role | Take staff attendance | Own leave balance and requests | Approve and cancel leave |
| -------------------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------ |
| Admin | Yes, all staff, any day | Yes | Yes, except their own |
| Academic coordinator | Yes, all staff, any day | Yes | Yes, except their own |
| Teacher | Only their own, only today | Yes | No |
| Accountant | Only their own, only today | Yes | No |
| Office staff | Only their own, only today | Yes | No |
| Exam controller | Only their own, only today | Yes | No |
**Staff attendance** is in every role's menu. Teachers, accountants, office staff and exam controllers can give only their own attendance, only for today, and only once. The **Pending leave applications** link is seen only by admins and academic coordinators.
***
## Learn more Parts of the page — Staff attendance
1. **Staff attendance** — the title, with how many staff below it.
2. **Date** — which day's attendance; today is filled in.
3. **Leave** — the button that goes to the leave page.
4. **Counts** — present, absent, late, leave, unmarked.
5. **Staff list** — name, role, status button.
6. **Save attendance** — with how many are unmarked at the left.
Keyboard shortcuts (on a computer)
While on a name:
| Key | What it does |
| ------- | ---------------- |
| `Enter` | Present |
| `L` | Leave |
| `Space` | Present ↔ absent |
| `Tab` | Next cell |
What each field means
| Field | What to enter | Required? |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------- |
| Date | Which day's attendance. Today is filled in. On a future day, only Leave. | Yes |
| Status (each person) | Present, Absent, Late or Leave. | No — nothing is sent for unmarked people |
How staff attendance and leave connect
Staff attendance and leave
* The leave balance is worked out fresh each time: the quota minus that year's approved leave days.
* If one leave spans two years, each year is counted against its own balance.
**Related pages**
* [**Staff**](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/students/staff.md) — add staff and their profiles.
* [**Taking attendance**](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/attendance.md) — students' daily attendance.
* [**Substitute teachers**](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/classes/routine-substitutions.md) — who takes the class of a teacher on leave.
* [**Dashboard**](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/dashboard/dashboard.md) — today's summary.
* [**Applications**](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/applications.md) — Submit school applications such as leave, fee waiver, transfer certificate, testimonial and section change, enter a guardian's paper.
* [**Application reports**](/schoolmanagerp-docs/en/collections-report/applications.md) — application reports, including staff leave counts
***
*Version 0.1.0 · Last verified 2026-10-25*
