The problem
Many agencies build the rota in one place, then re-key hours into a payroll spreadsheet and invoices for the council and private clients. With 20 carers and 45 clients, that can take 14 hours a month, and a few changed or extra visits slip through unbilled: 8 one-hour visits at $37£28€33A$54C$53 is $298£224€267A$430C$421 a month lost.
What the AI does
CareLineLive's eRoster plan is for agencies that only need scheduling, invoicing and payroll. Its site lists automated invoicing and gross payroll from client and carer contracts (hourly, pro-rata, unsocial and fixed rates), mileage, holiday pay and travel time calculations, split billing for part private and part council funding, and export to Xero, Sage, CM2000 and ContrOCC. Because pay and invoices come from the same rota, a visit added or changed in the rota appears on both. The office still checks each pay run and invoice batch before it goes out.
A worked example
A home care agency in Stockport has 20 carers and 45 clients: 30 funded by the council, 12 private and 3 split between the two. The office manager moves the rota into CareLineLive eRoster and runs pay and invoices from it every four weeks, exporting them to the Xero account the agency already uses.
Before
14 hours a month re-keying hours, plus about 8 visits a month missed off invoices
After
4 hours a month checking pay and invoice batches, and changed visits billed from the rota
What it's worth
About $532£400€476A$768C$752 a month: $239£180€214A$346C$338 of office time and about $293£220€262A$422C$414 of visits that were going unbilled. The time is 10 hours at an assumed $24£18€21A$35C$34 an hour; the visits are 8 a month at $37£28€33A$54C$53. Unbilled visits count in full because the care has already been delivered and paid for in wages. Against that, eRoster is $215£162€193A$311C$305 a month (20 carers at $10.77£8.10€9.64A$15.55C$15.23, above the $160£120€143A$230C$226 minimum), plus a one-off onboarding fee of up to $399£300€357A$576C$564.
How to set it up
- Write down every contract type you have: council rates, private hourly rates, split funding, mileage rules and carer pay rates.
- Set those up as client and carer contracts in CareLineLive, then build the regular rota.
- Run payroll and invoices in parallel with your old method for one cycle and compare every difference.
- Agree that any change to a visit is made in the rota, not in a spreadsheet, so pay and invoices stay in step.
- Export invoices and pay data to Xero or Sage, and have a second person check totals before payment or sending.
What goes wrong
- eRoster bills from the planned rota. If carers' actual times differ and aren't updated, invoices and pay will be wrong; the Bring Your Own Device plan ($26.20£19.70€23.44A$37.82C$37.04 a carer) adds carer check-in, which the site says can inform invoicing and payroll.
- Contracts are typically 12 months, and onboarding is up to $399£300€357A$576C$564 plus VAT, so run the parallel month during the trial period you agree.
- Holiday pay and National Minimum Wage rules for travel time are your responsibility. Check the software's calculations against your own advice before the first live pay run.
- Councils differ in the invoice format they accept. Confirm yours works with the CM2000 or ContrOCC export before switching.