Adding a staff member gives someone a way to sign in and sets the system's record of what an hour of their time is worth.
Add a staff member
Open Setup, then Staff, and create a new member. At a minimum you need their name and email, since the email is both their sign in and where notifications go. You can add a phone number, a job title, and a profile photo so colleagues recognize each other in assignments and comments.
- Enter their details. Name and a working email address are the essentials. Use a real inbox they check, because assignment and reminder emails go there.
- Choose whether they can log in. Active staff can sign in; you can also add someone as a non-login record if you only need them for assignment or reporting for now.
- Assign a role. The role sets their starting permissions. Roles are covered in their own article, so pick the closest fit now and refine later.
- Save, and let them set their password. New staff receive an email to finish setting up their own sign in, so you never handle their password.
Set the hourly rate
Each staff profile has an hourly rate field. This is the number the system reaches for when their time entries turn into an invoice, so setting it once means billing does the math for you instead of someone calculating it by hand.
Set the rate that reflects how you actually bill that person's time. A senior lawyer, an associate, and a paralegal will usually each carry a different rate, and because the rate lives on the profile, every time entry they log picks up the correct figure automatically.
Set rates before anyone starts logging billable time. The rate is read when time becomes an invoice, so having it right from the first entry saves you reviewing early invoices line by line.
What the rate does and does not do
The hourly rate governs how time converts to money on invoices. It is separate from any pay or payroll figure; what you charge a client for a lawyer's hour is not the same as what you pay that lawyer, and those live in different places. Keep the staff rate focused on client billing.
You can also override a rate for a specific matter where you have agreed special pricing with a client. The profile rate is the sensible default that applies everywhere unless a matter says otherwise.
Keeping the list tidy
As your firm changes, deactivate staff who leave rather than deleting them. Deactivating removes their access while keeping their historical time entries and assignments intact, so past invoices and matter records still make sense. Deleting a person who has logged work can leave gaps in your history.
The email you enter is the login. If someone mistypes it, the invitation goes nowhere. Double check the address before saving a new member.