Start and end your day
Start the working day with a photo of your odometer before you check in anywhere, and end it the same way, or let it close on its own.
Each morning you start your day in the app, with a photo of your vehicle's odometer and its reading. Check-ins stay closed until you do. At the end of the day you can end it with a second photo and reading, and SalesYatra works out how far the vehicle went. If you don't end it, the day closes on its own at the time your administrator sets.
Only check-ins wait on the day. Writing reports for earlier check-ins, orders, plans and approvals all work whether or not your day is started.
Starting your day is also your attendance: a day you start is a day present, and one started after the working day's start is marked late. See Attendance.
Start your day
Open Start day
On Home, the card at the top reads Start your day. Tap Start day. The same button is at the top of Visits, where Check In would be.
Say how you're travelling
Under How are you travelling today?, leave My own vehicle selected, or tap No vehicle today if you're going by bus or train, getting a lift, or working from the office. A day with no vehicle needs no photo and no reading: skip to the last step.
Photograph the odometer
Under Photo of the odometer, tap Take photo and photograph the meter so the reading can be read. The photo has to be taken with the camera there and then. There is no gallery button, because a photo from the gallery could be of any day. Tap Retake photo if it isn't clear.
Enter the reading
Type the number the meter shows under Odometer reading (km), for example 42180 or 42180.5. A reading has at most 6 digits before the point, so the highest is 999999.9. Leading zeros the meter shows, as in 042180, are fine.
Tap Start day
Until the photo and the reading are both in, the app says what's missing, for example "Add a photo of the odometer and the reading to start." Your position is recorded with the day if the phone can get one. The day still starts without it.
The card on Home changes to Day started at the time you started, with your reading, and Check In opens on the Visits tab.
With no signal
The day is saved on the phone first, like a check-in, and sent as soon as there's a signal. You can start the day at home with no coverage and check in at schools straight away. The card shows WAITING TO SYNC until it has gone. The start is always sent before the check-ins you make after it. See Working offline.
End your day
Ending the day is optional, but it's the only way the closing reading is recorded.
Open End day
On Home, or at the top of Visits, tap End day on the day's card.
Photograph the odometer and enter the reading
The screen shows this morning's reading. Take the photo and type the reading as you did in the morning. It can't be lower than the morning's. When it isn't, the app says so under the box. Once the reading is in, the app shows how far you went, for example "51.5 km today".
A day you started with No vehicle today needs neither.
Tap End day and confirm
The app asks you to confirm, because ending the day closes check-ins until tomorrow. Tap End day again.
The card changes to Day ended at the time, with the kilometres on the odometer.
Your travel claim
When you end a day you started with My own vehicle, SalesYatra files the day's drive as a travel claim on Daily Expenses for you. You don't type the readings again on the portal. The claim is:
- Travel, by Personal vehicle, from this morning's reading to the closing one.
- Worked out at the company's rate per kilometre, as any per-kilometre claim is.
- Sent with both odometer photos.
- Marked Mobile, so you and your manager can tell it from a claim typed on the portal, which is marked Web.
If a travel plan covers the day, the claim goes on that plan's day, as one you added there would.
SalesYatra doesn't file the claim in these cases. Add it yourself on Daily Expenses if it's owed:
| When | Why |
|---|---|
| You already claimed Personal vehicle for that day | The meter ran all day, so the same kilometres would be claimed twice. |
| The day is on a travel plan that isn't open to claims (waiting for approval, or with your manager for validation) | The plan decides when its claims may change. |
| The day is Leave, Holiday, Weekly Off or No Plan on your plan | Nothing is claimed on a day nobody worked. |
| The drive comes to more than the limit for a single claim | The portal would refuse it too. |
| The reading didn't move | There is nothing to claim. |
A day that closes on its own has no closing reading, so no claim is filed for it.
When the day closes on its own
A day you don't end closes on its own at the time your administrator sets under Settings, 21:00 unless they've changed it. The card then reads Day closed at that time. A day that closes on its own has no closing reading, so no odometer distance is worked out for it.
You can't start a day after the closing time. If you open the app later than that, the start screen says "The working day closes at 21:00, so it cannot be started now."
What the day changes
| Before you start | While it's under way | After it ends | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check In | Closed. Start day is in its place. | Open | Closed until tomorrow |
| Write report for an earlier check-in | Open | Open | Open |
| Location readings for Team on the road | None | Every three minutes while the app is on screen | None |
| Orders, plans, approvals | Open | Open | Open |
SalesYatra applies the same rule to a check-in that reaches it from the phone. A check-in sent with no day started, or after the day ended, is refused with the reason, for example "Start your day in the app before checking in — open Visits and tap Start day."
What your manager sees
Your manager and administrators see your day on Team on the road: when you started and ended, both readings with their photos, and the kilometres on the odometer next to the distance the phone's location readings add up to. The travel claim the day files shows under My team on Daily Expenses, marked Mobile.
The claim is checked against your check-ins. If the kilometres are well over the route your check-ins make, or you ended the day long after your last check-in, it's marked Flagged for a look with the reason. It's still paid. See Flagged drives.
If something goes wrong
| The app says | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Camera permission is needed to photograph the odometer." | Allow the camera for SalesYatra in Android Settings → Apps → SalesYatra, then try again. |
| "You started this day already, at 09:12." | The day was started earlier, perhaps on another phone. Pull down on Home to refresh, and the started day appears. |
| "An odometer reading has at most 6 digits. Check the reading." | You typed a seventh digit. Check the meter and type the reading again. |
| "The reading now (42100 km) is lower than this morning's (42180 km)." | Check the meter and the morning's reading, and type the reading again. |
| "Your day already closed on its own at 21:00." | The day closed before you ended it, so no closing reading is taken. |
| "The phone's date does not match its clock." | Set the phone's date and time to automatic in Android Settings, then start again. |
When a start or an end saved with no signal is refused later, the reason appears on the day's card. Do it again from the card.
Good to know
- One day per date. You can't start a second day on the same date, even after ending the first.
- Starting and ending the day is in the app only. The portal shows the day but doesn't start or end it.
- The times shown are your phone's: a day started with no signal keeps the time you started, not the time it synced.
- The photos are stored with the day, in the same private storage as visit photos.
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