How to Use Service Items in VeriClock for Tracking Sub-Tasks

This guide explains how to configure and use Service Items in VeriClock to track sub-tasks, work phases, or specific activities within a job. Service Items allow businesses to capture detailed labor data at the time of clock-in — improving job costing accuracy, reporting visibility, and payroll integrity.

In this article, you’ll learn how to:

• Enable Service Items for employee clock-in

• Create and manage Service Items

• Assign Service Items to specific jobs or employees

• Configure advanced Service Item settings for job costing and reporting

• Strengthen payroll export accuracy with structured time entry validation

Enabling Or Disabling Service Items For Clock In

A service item can be Disabled, set as Optional, set as Required, or set to Custom Rules. To set the status of a service item, go to the tabs Settings → Service Items → Rules. By default, under Service Items On Clock In, service items are set to disabled in your account and will need to be enabled for your employees to start using service items.

• If Disabled, employees will not see service items on their clock-in screen.
• If Optional, employees can choose to select a service item or leave the service item untouched on their clock-in screen.
• If Required, employees will not be able to clock in until they select a service item. It is recommended to add a service item first before setting the clock-in rule to required.
• If setting to Custom Rules, see Custom Service Item Rules for more information.

Note: There is no save button on the Service Item Rules page. Under Service Items On Clock In, when you click a button next to the four options (Disabled, Optional, Required, or Custom Rules) the change to your account is immediate.

How To Add A Service Item

To add a service item, go to the tabs Settings → Service Items → Add Service Item. When creating a service item, only the name field is required. All other service item settings are optional.

• Service Item Name - The name is a required field, so it is best to use a name employees will recognize when they select from the service item list at clock-in.
• Service Item Code - This code must be entirely numeric and is used in our system to differentiate service items from one another. (Leave blank to have a code auto-generated)
• Parent Service Item - Parent service items can be used to group multiple service items under a single parent. This is an optional field.
• Hourly Rate - An hourly rate can be set per service item if needed. If using, service item rates can be totaled in your reports to calculate the cost of hours per service item.
• Description - The description field can be used to note specifics about each service item. Employees can be given permission to view service item description information if enabled in each employee’s profile, or this description can be kept private for admin and managers with permission to view.

Assigning a Service Item to a Job or Employee

In some cases, you may only want a Service Item to be available to certain employees or only available if an employee is adding time to a particular job.  **Service item assignment is only available when clocking in from the VeriClock app, or when using the Time>Add Time Grid tab from a web browser.**

Employee Assignment and Job Assignment options:

• Assign To All Employees/Assign To All Jobs - This is the default setting when creating a service item. Leaving this set as assigned to all employees and/or all jobs will mean that the service item can be selected by all employees when clocking into any job.
• Assign Employees From List/Assign Jobs From List - Changing your employee and/or job assignment to this setting will limit access for this service item to only the employees, groups and/or jobs listed. This setting can also be used when a service item should only be used by a manager or admin.
• Block Employees From List/Block Jobs From List - This setting can be used to block specific employees, groups and/or jobs from using this service item. Blocked employees or groups will not be able to select the service item at clock in. Blocking a job means that once the job is selected on the clock in screen the service item is hidden from the dropdown list.

Additional Settings

• Allow Assigned Managers To Use This Service Item When Creating Shifts For Any Group, Employee or Job - This setting is necessary for administrators and managers to be able to select the service item for clock events for employees who do not have access to the service item. If the employee or job assignment is set to Assign/Block Employees From List, this setting allows admin and managers to still use the service item on an employee's timesheet.
• Exempt From Overtime - Any service item can designate a shift to be exempt from overtime. If Exempt From Overtime is selected, the time an employee is clocked into this service item will not contribute to overtime calculations. 
• Exempt From Automatic Deductions - Any service item can be excluded from automatic & scheduled deductions. If Exempt From Automatic Deductions is selected, automatic or scheduled deductions won't apply to any hours worked for this service item. (optional)
• Other tab- there are 3 other Information fields available that can also be added to a Service Item - this information can be used within Reports. (optional)

For information on using jobs, see Adding and Editing Jobs   & Job Rules For Clock In.