The setup checklist

Setting InstructorHUB up is quick when you do it in the right order, and slow when you do not. This checklist walks the sequence that works: each step produces something the next one needs, so you never have to double back to fill in a gap you skipped.

The logic is simple. Work types come before rates because rates hang off them. Staff come before the schedule so imported or synced class names have someone to pay. The schedule comes before pay because pay is built entirely from it. Follow the steps top to bottom and setup is a single clean pass.

When you reach the end you will have a studio that turns its schedule into correct pay every period. For who in your team can do what once it is running, see Who can see what.

How it works

Start with work types, the kinds of paid work your studio has, such as a group class, a private lesson, or admin time. They come first because your rates attach to them. Set up the handful you actually use; you can add more the moment a new kind of work appears.

Add each person and choose whether they are included in this pay process. A person can stay assigned to classes while excluded from payroll, for example when they are an owner, salaried outside InstructorHUB, a volunteer or paid another way. For each person who is included, set the employment or payout path that applies.

Give each payroll-included person a rate, either a default across their work or a specific rate per work type. An excluded person does not need a nominal rate. This keeps the timetable accurate without creating a false pay task.

Bring your timetable in by importing it from a spreadsheet, as covered in Import your timetable to get started. InstructorHUB now knows what is being taught and by whom, which is everything it needs to build pay.

Open the schedule and check it looks right: the classes are there, each has an instructor, and each payroll-included instructor has an applicable rate. A holding, charge-only or on-demand class should be excluded from the recurring timetable, hours and payroll path. InstructorHUB then flags only genuine gaps, such as a regular class with no instructor, before they reach a pay run.

With work types, staff, rates, and a schedule in place, open the pay run. The hours are already generated for you, so you review them, route each person's pay, and record the period. Follow Run your first pay period for the first run in full.