NEW! Mobile App Attendance: Setup and Usage

Quickly take attendance anywhere! 

Designed for small groups and classes as well as large services and events, the Mobile App Attendance module empowers your team to:

• Take, Update, or View both Individual Group Attendance or Total Attendance
• Easily add guests while taking Individual attendance—whether complete profiles or simple first/last-name records
   

Enable Attendance in Your Mobile App

Note: Attendance is a feature of our integrated People (ChMS) software. To enable this tool within your mobile app, you must integrate your Giving Software with your ChMS.

Never used Attendance before? Start here! 

In the left sidebar, expand Modules and select Enable Modules.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and under Enable People Features, toggle on the Attendance Slider.

Note: By default, Attendance will appear at the last position within your mobile app menu. You can reorder Attendance to a different menu position as desired.

Customize the Name and Icon

In the sidebar menu, click Attendance.

Like other modules, you can customize the display name or icon for Attendance by selecting the Pencil icon or clicking the Menu Icon box. Change the icon or name to something of your choice. Note: 12-character limit.

Visibility to App Users

• Important: The Attendance menu item will only appear in your mobile app if an individual:
• Is logged into the Mobile App
• Has appropriate ChMS permissions to manage attendance.

User Permissions

Again, attendance permissions are managed with People (ChMS). This includes:

• Whether a Group is set up for individual or Total Attendance
• Actions a user can take within the Attendance Module
   

Permissions Example: In the permission set below, when recording attendance, Group Leaders would have the ability to:

• Take individual attendance
• Add or remove individuals from their group, whether existing people records or brand-new individuals.

Pro-Tip: For individual attendance, we suggest you set up a Leader Role in People (ChMS) to easily manage all your Group Leader permissions en masse. (Also see Permission Definitions.)

Overview: Take and Manage Attendance

• On your mobile app, tap Attendance, and you'll see a list of groups for which you can take or manage attendance. 
• If the list is long, tap the search box and start typing a group name to filter the list.

• Note: If you have administrative permissions to People (ChMS), every group will appear, so the list will likely be long. Why? By default, every group is pre-configured for total attendance. 
  
  Again, a quick text search will narrow down your results effortlessly.

• Tap on the Group Name, and either the Individual or Total Attendance screens will appear, depending on your Group Attendance Settings. (below)
• 
  
   
  • Total Attendance: Enter a number or use the plus or minus icons.
  • Individual Attendance: For each person present, tap the checkbox next to their name.
• Tap Save, and all Attendance is saved immediately and is visible in both the ChMS and your Mobile App. 

Update Existing Attendance Records

• From the Attendance List screen, find and tap the Group whose attendance you need to edit.
• Tap on the Date field at the top of the screen.
• On the calendar that appears, select the date of your previous attendance session (below).
• Attendance from that day will appear, whether individual or total. 
• Make your changes and click Save.

Individual Attendance Details

In most cases, to take individual attendance, all you'll need to do is simply:

• Select a Group
• Select a Date 
• If a person is present, tap the checkbox next to their name.
• If a person is absent, don't tap the checkbox next to their name. 
• Tap Save.

What happens to blank attendance checkboxes?

If a checkbox is left blank, it will adhere to the Group Absence Settings you've set up for each Group within People (ChMS). 

• Example: If you've selected "Mark all group individuals who aren't present as "absent," any individual whose checkbox is left blank will be marked as absent. 
  
  
  
  In the Mobile App, if you change the date and then reselect it, you'll notice that the blank checkbox now displays a red X, and "Absent" appears under each person's name who was not marked present.

How to Apply Custom Excused Options

Custom Excused reasons can be set up within People (ChMS) under Settings > Absence > Excused Options. 

To apply these:

1. On the Individual Attendance Screen, swipe left on a person record.
2. Tap on the gray Options button that appears.
3. Custom Excused Options will appear at the bottom of the screen.
4. Tap an option name to apply it to the person.
5. A red X icon will display, and the Custom Excused Option will appear under the person's name.
    

Add Visitor Attendance Records

• When taking individual attendance, click the + Add Visitor button at the top right. 
  
  
   
  • Existing Profiles: Type a person's name in the Search field, then tap their profile to add them as Present (below left).
     
  • New Profiles: On the Add Visitor screen, tap the white Plus icon in the top-right corner. 
  • Next, on the Add Visitor (Placeholder) screen, input the visitor's first and last name, then click Save.
     
• Back on the Individual Attendance screen, all visitor records will appear under the Visitor heading at the bottom of the list. 
• Make sure to click Save to commit your changes. 

Updated October 17, 2025 14:11