Clocking out happens on the shift itself: the caregiver opens the shift and taps Clock Out, then fills in a short form. Here's what's required, what they can simply explain, and how an admin can step in.
When a caregiver can't clock out
A few things can hold up a clock-out. Some must be finished first; others the caregiver can just note and continue. Which ones apply depends on the client's care plan and your agency's settings.
Must be finished first
Required care tasks. If the client's care plan is set to require a response on every task, the clock-out screen shows "Complete required tasks first" with a Complete tasks button. The caregiver records the remaining tasks, then comes back to clock out. (If the care plan doesn't require every task, this won't appear.)
A care summary — when the client's care plan is set to require one. The caregiver adds a short summary of the visit before finishing.
The caregiver's own signature — only if your agency requires employee signatures. This one can't be skipped.
Can note and still clock out
Client signature. If your agency requires it but the client can't sign, the caregiver checks "Check this box if the client cannot provide a signature" and continues.
Clocking out early or late. They add a quick explanation of why, then continue. (The recorded time itself still has to fall within the clock-out time limits below.)
Outside the client's location. They add an explanation — it's a flag, not a block (see below).
So if a caregiver says they "can't clock out," it's almost always one of the must-finish items — check for unfinished required tasks, a care summary the care plan requires, or a required signature. Each of these only applies when the care plan or your agency's settings call for it. If the app is instead rejecting the clock-out time — an error saying the time can't be in the future, or can't be more than 12 hours after the scheduled end — that's a time limit, not a task or signature; see the next section.
Clock-out time limits (wrong dates and forgotten clock-outs)
Careswitch validates the clock-out time entered on the form — not the moment the caregiver taps the button. Two limits apply to caregiver clock-outs:
The time can't be in the future. The app shows: "Clock-out time cannot be in the future. If the shift already ended, check that the clock-out date is correct."
The time can't be more than your clock-out window after the scheduled end. The window is 12 hours by default, measured from the shift's scheduled end (or from the actual clock-in, if the shift started later than its scheduled end). The app shows: "Clock-out time cannot be more than 12 hours after the scheduled end of the shift. Check that the clock-out date is correct, or contact your agency if the shift actually ran longer."
These limits exist because the most common culprit is a wrong date: a caregiver who forgot to clock out opens the shift the next day, the form's date defaults to today, and a time-of-day that looks right actually lands a full day after the visit — creating an incorrect visit record for EVV and billing. The limits catch that at entry, before it can affect anything downstream.
The fix: enter the time care actually ended
A caregiver who forgot to clock out can still clock out later — even the next day. On the clock-out form, they set the clock-out to the date and time care actually ended (the app shows a date field whenever the shift could span more than one day). The limit is on the recorded time, not on when they submit: as long as the actual end time is within the window, the clock-out goes through.
If the visit really ran longer than the window
When a shift genuinely ended more than 12 hours after its scheduled end, the caregiver can't record it themselves. An office admin completes the shift instead — Shifts → open the shift → Mark Completed (see the section on completing a shift manually below). Admin completions aren't limited by the clock-out window. No one, admins included, can record a clock-out time in the future.
Adjusting the window
Go to Settings → Policies → Shift Boundaries. Under Clock Out Rules, Latest allowed clock-out sets the window in minutes. The default, 720 minutes (12 hours), is also the maximum — you can tighten the window for your agency, but not extend it. The same page sets the Earliest allowed clock-in (how early a caregiver may clock in before the scheduled start — 3 hours by default) and the thresholds for requiring early/late explanations.
Geofence / "outside location" warnings
The app compares the caregiver's location to the client's address. If they're outside the verified location, the app asks for a quick explanation but still lets them finish — it's a flag, not a block.
The client's GPS pin is slightly off
An admin can fine-tune the client's coordinates: go to Clients → open the client → the Profile tab → Basic Information → Edit, and adjust the Latitude and Longitude fields. As the on-screen note says, only change these if there are geofence issues; clearing them resets to the address-based location.
Can office staff clock in or out for a caregiver?
Yes — clocking a caregiver in on their behalf is now built in. On the shift, open the More menu and choose Mark In Progress. This clocks the caregiver in for them — useful when they forgot to clock in, or their phone or signal wasn't working. (Clocking out on their behalf is done by completing the shift — see below.)
Mark In Progress is available on a shift that is Scheduled, Late, or Incomplete and has a caregiver assigned. It opens a short form: pick a Reason for clocking in on their behalf, confirm the Clock In Time (it defaults to the scheduled start, and you can change it to any time that isn't in the future), add an optional Note, and click Mark In Progress. The visit is recorded as a manual entry with no GPS location. To then clock the caregiver out, finish the shift with Mark Completed (or let the caregiver clock out themselves). And if a caregiver couldn't use the app at all, you can still record the whole visit after the fact in one step: Shifts → open the shift → Mark Completed, enter the Clock In Time and Clock Out Time (plus the care summary, and travel/mileage if you bill them), and click Complete Shift.
Heads-up: the form warns that a manual completion won't capture app-based GPS/EVV location or the caregiver/client signatures — so for Medicaid/EVV-required visits, use it sparingly and prefer having the caregiver clock in/out themselves.
FAQ
Can a caregiver clock out if the client won't sign?
Yes — if your agency requires a client signature, the caregiver checks "Check this box if the client cannot provide a signature" and clocks out as normal. (The caregiver's own signature, when required, can't be skipped.)
Can a caregiver clock out with unfinished tasks?
Only if the client's care plan doesn't require a response on every task. If it does, they'll need to record the remaining tasks first — the clock-out screen will say so and link them straight to the tasks.
Is a care summary always required?
It's required when the client's care plan is set to require one. Many care plans do, so encourage caregivers to summarize the visit either way — it's the record of what happened.
Can a caregiver add tasks or a care note after the shift ends?
Yes. After clocking out, a caregiver can reopen the shift from their Schedule and update the care summary or record/adjust task responses — handy when something was missed or needs a note added later.
What if a caregiver couldn't clock in because they had no connection?
Clocking in needs a connection to go through (the app shows when it's offline). Once they're back online, they can clock in and set the Clock in time to when care actually started — the time is editable — and add a quick "clocking in late" explanation if it's past the scheduled start. So a brief connectivity gap doesn't lose the real start time.
Does a manual completion still record EVV?
It still creates the visit record, but without the app-captured GPS and signatures.
A caregiver forgot to clock out yesterday — can they still clock out today?
Yes. They open the shift and clock out, setting the clock-out date and time to when care actually ended. If they leave today's date on yesterday's shift, they'll see the "more than 12 hours after the scheduled end" error — correcting the date resolves it. If care truly ended more than 12 hours after the scheduled end, the office completes the shift with Mark Completed instead.
Why does the app reject a clock-out time as too long after the scheduled end?
That's the clock-out window (12 hours by default — see the time limits section above). Usually the date on the form is set to today while the shift ended yesterday; fixing the date fixes the error. It is not a Shift Review rule — those only flag a shift after it's completed and never block the clock-out itself.