Workforce Management Software for Security Companies

It's Monday morning and running the business means six things open at once: the rota spreadsheet, a WhatsApp group asking for Saturday cover, the SIA register in another tab, a folder of incident reports a client wants by Wednesday, and the timesheets someone will type into payroll again on Friday.

What workforce management means in a security company

In most trades, workforce management means rotas and timesheets. In guarding every shift also carries a legal condition and a client who wants proof. So the job is really four things:

• the right guard, with a valid SIA licence for the role, on the right site
• a record that they turned up, and where they were when they clocked in
• a report of what happened on shift that a client or an ACS assessor will accept
• hours that reach payroll and the client's invoice without anyone retyping them

If you're running that on a general rota app, a spreadsheet and a group chat, you'll know the rota is the easy part. The licence checks, the proof and the paperwork still happen somewhere else, by hand.

The workforce management tools in TacDesk

TacDesk puts those four jobs in one system, with an app your guards use on their own phones and a dashboard for the office.

Rota and scheduling

Build the week by guard and site. Put a guard on a shift that clashes with one they already have and TacDesk flags it before you save it. Assign a guard whose SIA licence has expired or been revoked and that's flagged at the point you assign them. Guards see their shifts in the app, with the site, the times and your notes. More on how it works: security guard scheduling software.

SIA licence checks

TacDesk checks each guard's licence number against the SIA register every day and records the status and when it was last checked. An expired, suspended or revoked licence shows up without anyone opening a browser. See SIA licence tracking.

GPS clock in and out

Guards clock in on their phone when they reach site, and the location is recorded with the clock-in. If you've set a geofence for the site and the location doesn't match, it's flagged rather than quietly accepted. The Guards on Duty list shows who is clocked in right now. See GPS clock in and out.

Incident reports and patrols

Guards file an incident report from their phone while they're stood there, with photos, time and location attached. Patrols are recorded by GPS on every plan, and NFC checkpoint tags come with Enhanced Patrols. Any report can go out to the client as a branded PDF.

Client portal

On paid plans your client gets their own login to read the reports you've reviewed and their site's occurrence book, instead of waiting for you to email them. See the client portal.

Compliance

The Compliance module, on every paid plan, tracks BS 7858 vetting, mandatory training and the evidence an ACS assessor asks for, with a PDF audit report when they ask for it.

Payroll and invoicing

Connect Xero and your guards' clock records become draft timesheets in Xero payroll, ready to review and approve. See Xero payroll integration. On paid plans you can also invoice clients from the shifts actually worked.

Live dispatch

Dispatcher Mode puts every guard on shift on one live map, with open incidents beside it, so the desk can see who's free and send the right person.

Why one system matters in guarding

Gaps get found while you can still fill them. A clash or a lapsed licence shows up when you build the rota on Thursday, not when a site is empty on Saturday night.

The evidence already exists. When a client asks whether the patrol happened, or an assessor asks how you check licences, the record is there with a date on it.

Hours are typed once. With Xero connected, the hours a guard clocked are the hours that reach payroll as a draft timesheet.

What it costs to start

Rota & Scheduling, GPS clock in/out, SIA licence tracking, incident reporting and PDF exports are on every plan, TacFree included, so you can start free and run a real rota before you pay for anything. Client Portal, Compliance, Shift Marketplace and Internal Messaging start on TacStarter. Dispatcher Mode, Xero payroll and NFC patrols are included on the higher plans or available as add-ons. There's no setup fee, and onboarding and training are free on every plan. The pricing page has the current position.

Choosing workforce management software for a security company

Whichever platform you look at, these questions sort the security tools from the general ones:

• Does it check SIA licences against the register itself, or only store the number you typed in?
• What happens when a guard clocks in away from site, or doesn't clock in at all?
• Can your client read reports without you emailing them PDFs?
• Do the hours worked feed payroll and invoicing, or does someone retype them?

For a side-by-side look at the UK options, read our honest comparison of guard management software.