There are several ways to add employees to Teamsly. Every employee needs an email address or a phone number (or both). You don't need to create a username or password for them.

Employees added with only a phone number sign in to the Teamsly mobile app and web app by entering their phone number and a 4-digit code that Teamsly texts to them, so they never need an email address or a password.

To get started, open the Employees tab from the left navigation and click the Add Employee dropdown in the top right. You'll see these options:

Add single employee — Enter a single employee at a time
Add multiple employees — Type or paste many employees at once from a spreadsheet
Bulk upload employees — Upload a CSV file to add employees
Import From Other Locations — Copy employees from your other locations (only shown if your account has more than one location)

The first three options are also available in the Add your employees step of the Quick Start Guide. If your account is connected to Square, you can also import your Square team (see Option 5).

[[insert Add Employee dropdown screenshot here]]

Email, Phone Number, or Both?

What you enter for each employee decides how they sign in and how their invite is sent:

Email only — The employee signs in with their email address and a password. Their invite is an activation email with a link to set their password.
Phone number only — The employee signs in on the mobile app or web app with their phone number and a 4-digit code sent by text message. No email or password is needed. Their invite is a text message with links to download the app.
Email and phone number — The employee can sign in either way. Their invite is sent by email.

📱 Each email address and each phone number can belong to only one Teamsly account. If you see "Sorry, that phone number is already in use." or "Sorry, that e-mail address is already in use.", that number or email is already attached to another Teamsly user.

⏱️ Phone number sign-in isn't available on the Shared Time Clock (kiosk). There, employees clock in with their 4-digit Login PIN, or their email and password. Employees who only have a phone number should use their PIN — see Login PINs for the Shared Time Clock below.

Option 1: Add Single Employee

Use this to add one employee at a time. Select Add single employee to open the Create Employee panel. The banner at the top reads: "Email address or a phone number is required. The employee can log in with either."

[[insert Create Employee panel screenshot here]]

Fill in the employee's details:

First Name and Last Name (required)
Email Address and/or Phone Number — at least one is required. Use the flag dropdown to pick the country code (it defaults to US +1).
DOB (date of birth)
Start date
Payroll ID
Locations — if your account has more than one location, choose where the employee works
Roles — choose one or more roles for each location. If you choose more than one, pick a Primary Role.
Wage Type — Hourly (enter an hourly wage for each role) or Annual (enter the annual wage and whether the employee is OT Eligible)
Access level — Employee by default. If you have permission, you can choose Manager, Admin, or any custom access level your company has set up. See Setting Up Permissions and Access Levels.

Check Send Activation Email/Text if you want to invite the employee right away, then click Create Employee. The button stays disabled until the employee has an email address or phone number and at least one location.

🔢 Every new employee automatically gets a random 4-digit Login PIN for the Shared Time Clock. You can view or change it on their profile.

Option 2: Add Multiple Employees

Add several employees at once by typing into a grid, or by copying and pasting directly from a spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets, etc.).

Select Add multiple employees from the dropdown. The Add Employees page opens with 10 empty rows.
Type employee details into the grid, or copy the rows from your spreadsheet and paste them in. Teamsly fills in the columns automatically and matches role names to the roles in your account.
Use the More columns dropdown to add Payroll ID or Wage Type (which adds Wage Type, Wage, and OT Eligible columns).
Click Add 5 more rows if you need more space.
Check Send employees an invite if you want everyone invited right away.
Click Save.

The grid has columns for First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone Number, Roles (one column per location), DOB, Start Date, and Access level. Each row needs an email address or a phone number — the banner reads: "Either an email address or a phone number is required. The employee can log in with whichever one you provide." Use the country selector in the Phone Number column, or paste numbers that include their country code (for example, +44 20 7946 0958).

[[insert Add Employees grid screenshot here]]

⚠️ If a row can't be saved — for example "Error: Email is already in use." or "Error: Phone number is already in use." — it stays in the grid with the reason shown so you can fix it and save again. Rows that save successfully are removed from the grid.

Option 3: Bulk Upload Employees (CSV)

Use this to import employees from a CSV file. This is ideal for large teams or when moving from another system.

Select Bulk upload employees from the dropdown.
Click Download user upload template to get the CSV template.
Fill in one row per employee. Use the names listed under Accepted locations, Accepted roles, and Accepted access levels in the panel.
Click Bulk upload users and choose your completed .csv file.

The template has these columns: Email, FirstName, LastName, PhoneNumber, Roles, Locations, Dob, StartDate, PayrollID, AccessLevel.

Keep every column header, even if you leave some cells blank.
To add an employee who signs in with a phone number only, leave Email blank and fill in PhoneNumber.
Include the country code in phone numbers (for example, +1 512 555 0134). Numbers without a country code are treated as US numbers.
Separate multiple roles or locations with commas.
AccessLevel is optional. Leave it blank to add the person as an Employee.

Anyone who couldn't be imported is listed under Users Not Uploaded! with the reason.

[[insert Bulk Upload panel screenshot here]]

📧 Bulk upload doesn't send invites. After uploading, send invites from the Employees page (see Inviting Employees below).

Option 4: Import From Other Locations

If your Teamsly account has multiple locations, you can copy employees from one location to another without re-entering their information.

Select Import From Other Locations from the dropdown.
Check the box next to each employee you want to bring into this location (or use Select All). You can search by name.
Click Import.

Imported employees keep their existing profile, email or phone number, and Login PIN, and sign in the same way as before.

Option 5: Import Your Team From Square

If your account is connected to Square (available on the All-In-One plan), you can import your Square team members instead of adding them by hand.

Go to Settings → Integrations and open the Team tab in the Square section.
Select the team members you want to import.
Check Send activation invites if you want them invited right away.
Click Import.

Names, email addresses, phone numbers, jobs, and pay come from Square. Imported employees get the Employee access level and a new Teamsly Login PIN (Square PINs aren't copied). Invites go by email, or by text message when Square only has a phone number for that person.

Inviting Employees (Activation Email or Text)

Employees aren't invited unless you choose to invite them. You can send invites:

When you add them — check Send Activation Email/Text (single employee), Send employees an invite (multiple employees), or Send activation invites (Square).
From the Not Activated tab — click Send Activation Email (or Send Activation Text for employees with only a phone number) next to a person, or Send All Activation Invites to invite everyone on the tab.
From the Staff list — employees who haven't activated their account show a Not Active status and a Send Invite button.

What the employee receives:

Activation email (employees with an email address) — a link to the Activate your account page, where they set a password. The link expires after 48 hours; if it has expired, send a new invite.
Text message (employees with only a phone number) — "Teamsly: [your name] has invited you to join [company]. Download the app and sign in with this phone number." followed by App Store and Google Play links. They don't set a password — they sign in with their phone number and a code.

💡 Employees who have both an email and a phone number receive the activation email only, but they can sign in with their phone number at any time. Employees with a phone number can sign in by phone as soon as they've been added — the invite text simply lets them know and links to the app. Signing in with their phone number for the first time activates their account, so they move from the Not Activated tab to Staff.

Login PINs for the Shared Time Clock

The Shared Time Clock (kiosk) doesn't support phone number sign-in. Employees clock in there with their 4-digit Login PIN, or with their email address and password. Because phone-only employees don't have an email or password, they use their PIN at the Shared Time Clock.

Every employee gets a random Login PIN automatically when they're added, whichever method you use. If an employee doesn't have a PIN (for example, someone added before PINs were assigned automatically), open their profile, edit it, and enter a Login PIN.

A PIN must be exactly 4 digits and can't be the same as another active employee's PIN in your company. Employees can find their PIN under More → Personal information in the mobile app.

Good to Know

Employees can't add themselves. The Sign Up link on the login page creates a brand-new company account and requires an email address. Employees must be added by an admin or manager.
Adding employees is done on the web. The mobile app doesn't have an add-employee screen.
Free plan limit — the Free plan includes up to 10 employees. You'll be asked to upgrade to add more.
You can change sign-in details later. Add, change, or remove an employee's email or phone number from their profile — at least one must remain.

Adding Employees (With an Email or Phone Number)