Setting up Deputy for Veterinary Clinics
This article explains how veterinary clinics can decide whether Deputy is the right fit, plan their set-up, trial key workflows, and prepare for rollout across clinics, departments, after-hours work, payroll, and operations.
Before you read
- Target audience: This article is for users with System Administrator access.
- Plan restrictions: To check whether your plan includes this feature, see our plan guide.
This article covers:
- Who this guide is for
- What Deputy can help veterinary clinics manage
- Choosing a starting model
- Structuring Locations, Areas, access, and integrations
- Reviewing Location settings before rollout
- Setting access and approval responsibilities
- Preparing payroll, compliance, and reporting workflows
- Running day-to-day veterinary workflows
- Quick add-on and plan check
- Trial and rollout checklist
- Common mistakes to avoid
Who this guide is for
This guide is for veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, emergency vets, specialist veterinary practices, grooming clinics, and multi-site veterinary groups.
It is especially useful for businesses that manage vets, nurses, reception teams, surgery coverage, kennel teams, emergency work, after-hours call-outs, salaried and hourly staff, clinic-level approvals, or multi-clinic staff.
What Deputy can help veterinary clinics manage
Veterinary clinics often need to manage clinical and non-clinical teams across changing clinic coverage, surgery, reception, after-hours work, and payroll requirements.
Deputy can help veterinary clinics manage clinic rosters, kiosk clock-in, department coverage, timesheet approvals, overtime review, after-hours visibility, payroll preparation, Training Tags, communication with staff, task workflows, and labour reporting by clinic, role, or department.
Deputy is usually used alongside practice management, patient records, bookings, billing, clinical notes, reminders, inventory, and treatment systems. Keep those workflows in your specialist veterinary systems if they already sit outside Deputy.
What good looks like
- Staff know whether they are rostered as vet, nurse, reception, surgery, kennel, grooming, or after-hours support.
- Kiosk clock-in captures accurate start and finish times.
- Practice managers can review overtime, missed breaks, and after-hours work.
- Payroll teams receive approved timesheets with the right role or exception detail.
- Clinical qualifications or role suitability are visible before scheduling.
- Head nurses can manage daily coverage without necessarily seeing wages.
Choose your starting model
Start by choosing the model that best matches how your veterinary clinic works today. You can add more reporting detail later once your team is using Deputy consistently.
| Business type | Recommended starting model | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Single clinic | Clinic as the Location, with Areas for departments or roles | Most vet clinics |
| Large animal hospital | Department as the Location, with Areas for roles or shifts | Stronger permission separation |
| Multi-clinic group | Each clinic as a Location, with Areas for roles | Shared staff and clinic reporting |
| Emergency or specialist clinic | Clinic or emergency department as the Location | After-hours and emergency workflows |
| Clinic with grooming or boarding | Clinic as the Location, with Areas for service departments | Mixed clinical and non-clinical teams |
Structure Locations, Areas, and integrations
Many veterinary clinics use Locations to represent clinics, hospitals, branches, emergency sites, or departments.
Areas are usually used to represent coverage groups or roles, such as vet, nurse, reception, surgery, kennels, grooming, emergency, or after-hours.
| Deputy structure | Common veterinary examples | Things to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Clinic, hospital, branch, emergency site, or department | Use Locations for sites or departments needing separate approvals. |
| Area | Vet, nurse, reception, surgery, kennels, grooming, after-hours | Use Areas for coverage visibility and role reporting. |
| Export code | VET, NURSE, RECEPTION, SURGERY, EMERGENCY | Check payroll or accounting requirements. |
Option 1 — Clinic as a Location
This structure works well for most vet clinics.
Example structure and operational considerations
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Example Location
- Angle Park Veterinary Clinic
Example Areas
- Veterinarian
- Nurse
- Reception
- Surgery
- Kennels
What changes operationally
- Clinic coverage is easy to view.
- Kiosk setup is simple.
- Practice managers can approve the whole clinic.
- Department reporting is still possible through Areas.
- If department managers need separate permissions or wage visibility boundaries, department-as-Location may be worth considering.
Option 2 — Department as a Location
This structure works well for large animal hospitals or specialist teams.
Example structure and operational considerations
+
Example Locations
- Vets
- Nurses
- Reception
- Emergency
Example Areas
- Day Shift
- Evening Shift
- Senior
- Junior
What changes operationally
- Permission separation is stronger.
- Department managers can manage their own teams.
- Wage visibility can be controlled more carefully.
- Whole-clinic visibility may become harder.
Option 3 — Multi-clinic group
This structure works well for veterinary groups with shared staff.
Example structure and operational considerations
+
Example Locations
- North Clinic
- South Clinic
- Emergency Clinic
Example Areas
- Vet
- Nurse
- Reception
- Surgery
What changes operationally
- Clinic-level reporting is cleaner.
- Staff working across clinics need access to each Location.
- Payroll export should be tested carefully for shared staff.
- Multi-clinic staff must be assigned correctly before rostering and clock-in testing.
Option 4 — Emergency or after-hours Area
This structure works well for clinics with call-outs or emergency workflows.
Example structure and operational considerations
+
Example Location
- Main Animal Hospital
Example Areas
- Vet
- Nurse
- Reception
- Emergency
- After-hours
- Surgery
What changes operationally
- After-hours work is easier to identify.
- Payroll and approval review is clearer.
- Managers can see emergency coverage separately.
- After-hours work should not be treated like ordinary time unless payroll and approval workflows have been tested.
Review Location settings before rollout
Location settings control many of the defaults that affect scheduling, clocking in, timesheets, approvals, and reporting.
General Location settings to review: clinic name, address, operating hours, Location code, notes, and attachments.
For veterinary clinics:
- For emergency or after-hours clinics, operating hours and notes should be reviewed carefully.
- Accurate addresses support kiosk setup and staff clarity.
- Clinic notes can help store after-hours instructions or operational reminders.
Area settings to review: department or role names, Area export codes, Training Tags, and preferred staff.
For veterinary clinics:
- Use Areas for vets, nurses, reception, surgery, kennels, grooming, after-hours, and emergency coverage.
- Area export codes can support payroll or accounting workflows.
- Training Tags can help manage clinical qualifications, surgery suitability, emergency suitability, and specialist roles.
Scheduling settings to review: default shifts, breaks, shift swaps, shift offers, open shifts, notifications, and shift locking.
For veterinary clinics:
- After-hours and emergency coverage should be reviewed carefully before rosters are published.
- Open shifts should be controlled where clinical qualifications or role suitability matter.
- Shift locking can help reduce retrospective schedule changes after work has already happened.
Timesheet settings to review: kiosk clock-in, photo capture, employee timesheet edits, break settings, rounding, timesheet auto-approval, and unscheduled shifts.
For veterinary clinics:
- Most vet clinics should use kiosk or tablet clock-in with photo capture.
- Auto-approval should be avoided if managers need to review after-hours work, missed breaks, or overtime.
- Timesheet edit settings affect whether staff can add or amend their own time.
Set access and approval responsibilities
Access decisions should be made during set-up. The right access model helps managers control scheduling, timesheet approvals, payroll visibility, labour cost access, and clinic reporting.
| Veterinary role | Recommended Deputy access | Common responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Vets | Employees | View roster, clock in and out, and request leave |
| Nurses | Employees | View roster, clock in and out, and request leave |
| Reception | Employees | View roster, clock in and out, and request leave |
| Head nurses and team leads | Supervisor | Review daily attendance and exceptions |
| Practice managers | Location Manager | Manage rosters, approvals, and labour visibility |
| Payroll and bookkeepers | Advisor | Review approved timesheets and payroll exports |
| Owners | System Administrator | Manage account settings and structure |
Supervisor or Location Manager?
Use Supervisor for head nurses or team leads who approve time but should not see wage costs.
Use Location Manager for practice managers who need labour cost visibility, roster cost visibility, or broader clinic reporting.
Prepare payroll, compliance, and reporting workflows
Payroll systems and payroll workflows
Vet clinics may need to manage salaried vets, hourly nurses, casual receptionists, overtime, after-hours work, emergency call-outs, professional fee payments, missed breaks, public holidays, weekend rates, and leave balances.
Many veterinary clinics want payroll workflows that sit close to rostering, attendance, and approved timesheets. Deputy Payroll (AU) and Deputy Payroll (US) can help support that approach where available.
Compare payroll approaches
| Payroll approach | Common use case | Things to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Payroll (AU) | Australian clinics wanting payroll workflows connected to rostering, attendance, and approved timesheets | Deputy Payroll (AU) is an add-on. Review salaried vets, hourly nurses, after-hours work, emergency call-outs, public holidays, and payroll complexity. |
| Deputy Payroll (US) | US veterinary businesses wanting payroll workflows connected to workforce management | Deputy Payroll (US) is an add-on. Review operational workflows, reporting requirements, and payroll needs. |
| Third-party payroll integration | Clinics already using payroll or accounting systems | Review how Areas, export codes, after-hours work, and timesheet data should flow between systems. |
Payroll testing
Test payroll before your first live pay run using real veterinary examples.
- Salaried vet roster
- Hourly nurse shift
- Reception shift
- Overtime
- After-hours call-out
- Emergency shift
- Missed break
- Public holiday
- Weekend shift
- Employee working across clinics
- Employee working across Areas in one day
Qualifications, compliance, and Training Tags
Training Tags can help prevent staff from being scheduled into Areas where they are not trained, qualified, or suitable to work.
Common veterinary Training Tags include Veterinarian, Nurse, Receptionist, Surgery Trained, Radiation Licence, Anaesthetic Trained, Emergency Trained, Kennel Trained, First Aid, and Practice Induction.
If your clinic needs to collect onboarding documents, store employee records, manage policy acknowledgements, or track licence and certification expiry dates, Deputy HR can help support those workflows. Deputy HR requires an add-on.
Run day-to-day veterinary workflows
Clocking in and attendance
Most vet clinics should use kiosk or tablet clock-in with photo capture.
The mobile app is still useful for viewing rosters, availability, leave requests, and communication.
Scheduling and shift changes
Use Areas to show coverage across vets, nurses, reception, surgery, kennels, grooming, after-hours, and emergency work.
After-hours and emergency work
Decide how after-hours work should be identified before rollout.
- Separate After-hours Area
- Separate Emergency Area
- Manager review of timesheet notes
- Manual payroll adjustment
- Payroll-specific handling
Task management
Task management can help veterinary clinics standardise daily clinic routines and make sure important work is not missed.
Veterinary clinics commonly use Task management for opening checks, surgery preparation checks, recovery area checks, kennel checks, controlled drug checks, end-of-day clinic checks, shift handovers, and emergency readiness checks.
Communication
News Feed and Messaging can help with roster changes, emergency coverage, clinic announcements, after-hours updates, shift cover, and operational notices.
Labour visibility and analytics
Veterinary clinics commonly review overtime, attendance, after-hours work, labour trends, rostered versus actual hours, and labour by clinic or department.
Quick add-on and plan check
To check what is included in each plan or add-on, see our pricing plans.
| Do you need... | You may need... | Veterinary clinics may consider this when... |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding documents, clinical qualifications, policy acknowledgements | Deputy HR | Employee records need to connect to workforce set-up. |
| Overtime, attendance, after-hours trends, clinic reporting | Analytics Plus | Managers need deeper labour visibility. |
| Emergency coverage, roster updates, clinic announcements | Messaging Plus | Teams need faster communication. |
| Payroll workflows connected to approved timesheets | Deputy Payroll | You want payroll connected to Deputy, where available. |
| Advanced reporting, permissions, communication, or hierarchy | Deputy Pro | You manage complex clinics or multi-site operations. |
Trial and rollout checklist
| Stage | What to test |
|---|---|
| Stage 1 — Structure | Create one clinic Location and key Areas. |
| Stage 2 — Attendance | Test kiosk clock-in, photo capture, breaks, and missed clock-ins. |
| Stage 3 — Payroll and approvals | Test salaried and hourly workflows, overtime, after-hours, public holidays, and payroll export. |
| Stage 4 — Rollout planning | Review Training Tags, manager access, reporting, add-ons, and wider rollout. |
Avoid common veterinary clinic set-up mistakes
| Common mistake | Why it causes problems |
|---|---|
| Treating after-hours work like ordinary overtime without a plan | Can create payroll review issues. |
| Not using kiosk or photo capture | Reduces attendance confidence for fixed-site teams. |
| Giving head nurses wage visibility unnecessarily | Supervisor access may be enough. |
| Not separating clinic coverage Areas | Makes rostering harder. |
| Not testing salaried plus overtime workflows | Can create payroll issues. |
| Ignoring shared staff across clinics | Can create scheduling and payroll errors. |
Final recommendation
For most veterinary clinics, use the clinic as the Location and use Areas for vets, nurses, reception, surgery, kennels, grooming, emergency, or after-hours work.
Use kiosk or tablet clock-in with photo capture, Supervisor access for head nurses, Location Manager access for practice managers, and Training Tags for clinical qualifications and role suitability.
The goal is clear clinic coverage with clean handling of after-hours and mixed pay structures.
Need help? Use the help menu in your Deputy account to access support, online training, and guidance.