Whenever a roster change might affect payroll, the system can flag it for the finance team to review on the Finance > Notifications page. There are two ways a notification gets created:
You explicitly tick "Notify Finance" when saving a shift.
The system automatically detects that the change is risky and flags it for you — even if you didn't tick the box. This article explains exactly when the system will auto-flag a change so finance know what to expect.
The three severity levels
Badge | What it means |
Critical (red) | The change touched something that directly affects pay or has already been processed. Finance should review urgently. |
Warning (amber) | The change is meaningful but not urgent. Finance will want to know. |
Info (blue) | The editor manually toggled "Notify Finance" without triggering any auto-flag rule. No automatic risk detected. |
Compounding rule: If three or more warning-level reasons fire on the same shift, the notification is automatically promoted to Critical.
What auto-flags a notification as Critical
These reasons will create a notification automatically — you don't need to tick "Notify Finance":
Past shift edited
You edited a shift that has already started or finished. Pay may have already been calculated for it.
Already exported
This shift was included in a timesheet PDF that was already exported. The numbers in the exported file and the database now disagree — finance needs to reconcile.
Pay period closed
The shift falls inside a pay period whose end date has already passed (based on the staff member's pay calendar). Re-exporting could double-count.
Pay-rate-affecting type change
You changed the shift type in a way that affects the pay rate — for example, swapping a Sleepover shift for an Awake or Day shift, or vice versa.
Staff swapped after clock event
You changed the staff member on a shift after the original staff had already clocked on or off. Their recorded hours now belong to a shift assigned to someone else.
Allowance removed
Your edit caused the system to remove a Sleepover or First Aid allowance from the shift (e.g. you changed the shift type from Sleepover to Day Shift, or removed a staff member with a valid First Aid certificate).
What auto-flags a notification as Warning
These are noted but not urgent:
Large duration change
You changed the shift's duration by more than 2 hours.
Leave type changed
You added, removed, or changed the leave type on the shift. Affects leave balances and pay.
Broken-shift toggle
You toggled the "Broken shift" flag on or off. Affects how break and penalty rates are calculated.
Remember: three or more warnings on the same shift bumps the whole notification up to Critical.
What also creates a notification
Beyond editing a shift, these actions also flow through to the finance notifications page:
Deleting a shift — always creates a notification. Critical when deleting a published shift, a past shift, or one that's already in an exported timesheet.
Manually adjusting clock times — always Critical, because admin-edited clock times feed payroll directly.
Approving or unapproving a shift — only flagged when the shift is already exported or in a closed pay period.
Bulk roster updates — surface as a single grouped notification covering every affected shift.
Adding a note for finance
When you tick Notify Finance, an optional note field appears below it. Use this to give finance context, for example:
"Manager approved this last-minute swap"
"Pay impact already discussed with Adam"
"Shift retroactively created for sick cover" The note is shown prominently on the notifications page so finance can read it before deciding whether to acknowledge.
What happens after a notification fires
You'll see a single save toast like "Shift saved successfully. Also sent to finance: flagged for finance because the shift has already started or finished."
The finance menu item in the sidebar shows a red badge with the count of unacknowledged notifications. Critical ones turn the dot red; warning-only counts are amber.
The Notifications tab under Finance shows the same count next to it.
Anyone with
read:staff_financepermission gets a real-time update — no refresh needed.
Auto-resolve
If you flag a change and then a follow-up edit reverts it back to its original state (e.g. you changed start time to 10am, finance see it, then someone changes it back to 9am), the original notification is automatically marked as Auto-resolved. Finance don't have to acknowledge what no longer needs reviewing.
Acknowledging notifications
On the Finance > Notifications page each row has a Review button. Reviewing lets you:
Acknowledge — record that finance has reviewed the change. Optionally leave a note.
Dismiss — mark the notification as not relevant (e.g. a false positive). When the same shift has multiple notifications grouped together, one Review acknowledges all of them at once.
Quick reference
You did | Did you tick "Notify Finance"? | Fields actually changed? | Notification created? | Severity |
Edited a future, published, normal shift's break | No | Yes | No | — |
Edited a future, published, normal shift's break | Yes | Yes | Yes | Info |
Edited a past shift's break | No | Yes | Yes (auto) | Critical |
Changed Sleepover to Day Shift | No | Yes | Yes (auto) | Critical |
Swapped staff on a shift that already had a clock-on | No | Yes | Yes (auto) | Critical |
Toggled the broken-shift flag, changed leave type, AND changed staff (3 warnings) | No | Yes | Yes (auto) | Critical (compounded) |
Deleted any shift | n/a | n/a | Yes (auto) | Warning (or Critical if past/exported/published) |
Admin-adjusted clock times | n/a | n/a | Yes (auto) | Critical |