Staffing agency software guide
What Should Staffing Agencies Evaluate in Guru?
Guru is the name used for TempGuru's agency-facing software. The useful question is whether its current edition matches an agency's actual order, worker, scheduling, time, payroll, invoice, and data workflow.
Written by the TempGuru editorial team. Claims reviewed against the owner-approved company registry on July 31, 2026. About Megan Hayward, Founder and CEO.
Quick answer
How should a staffing agency evaluate Guru?
Bring a real workflow and test it from client request through invoice closeout. Verify what Guru does today, what needs configuration or an integration, what remains an agency responsibility, which limits apply, how data can be exported, and what the proposed contract includes.
Joining TempGuru's partner network is a separate decision from evaluating software. A partner application does not promise event orders. A vetted agency regularly handles event staffing, has an active TempGuru contract with service-level commitments, and agrees to use TempGuru's software.
01. Product scope
How are Guru software and the TempGuru partner network different?
Software supports the records and workflows an agency uses. The partner network governs whether an agency has an active TempGuru relationship and may be considered for accepted event orders. Buying or reviewing software does not create event demand, and applying to the network does not promise routing or market exclusivity.
At TempGuru, a vetted partner agency regularly handles event staffing, has an active contract that includes service-level commitments, and agrees to work in TempGuru's software. The definition does not imply automatic assignments, a public fixed screening checklist, permanent removal rules, or capacity at every venue.
Ask for separate explanations of product pricing, implementation, partner onboarding, agency obligations, order review, payment terms, support, and termination. The documents should agree with the live demonstration.
Source: TempGuru first-party partner quality and screening policy
02. Intake
What should an agency test in Guru's order intake workflow?
Test whether the proposed edition captures the client, city, venue, date, role, paid shift, headcount, experience, attire, equipment, event instructions, screening, parking, travel, rate, approved charges, client contacts, access rules, change authority, and deadline without forcing critical facts into notes.
Change the order after review. Add a shift, move a call time, revise attire, and reduce headcount. Check which users receive the change, whether the earlier version remains available, and whether the new version reaches schedules, instructions, time, and invoice records.
An agency should also be able to decline or question a scope that does not fit its capacity or responsibilities. The workflow should preserve that response rather than turn network membership into assumed acceptance.
03. Assignments
Which worker and assignment records should an agency verify?
List the fields the agency truly needs for employment and assignment operations. Test experience notes, availability, contact information, employment records, client-required background-check status, event-specific instruction delivery, acknowledgements, assignment history, cancellations, restrictions, and retention.
For TempGuru US orders, the assigned partner agency verifies relevant role experience and provides event-specific instructions. Background checks occur when the client requires them. Workers are covered by the assigned agency's insurance.
Guru should be evaluated as a record tool, not as proof that a person is suitable merely because a profile exists. The agency remains responsible for its employment records and for the review it performs before assigning a worker.
Source: TempGuru first-party partner quality and screening policy
04. Communication
How should an agency test scheduling and worker communication?
Create a multi-shift event, assign workers, deliver instructions, move a call time, replace one position, and cancel another. Confirm which status each user sees, which message is authoritative, whether acknowledgements are retained, and what happens when a worker does not respond.
Define assigned, notified, acknowledged, confirmed, checked in, replaced, completed, and cancelled before reporting on them. A message sent is not the same as a worker response, and a worker response is not a completed shift.
Test failure paths such as a wrong phone number, delayed delivery, duplicate profile, time-zone mismatch, late venue change, and no network connection at check-in. Record what staff must do manually when the normal channel fails.
05. Employer records
Where should Guru stop and the agency's payroll process begin?
The assigned partner agency handles payroll, tax withholding, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, and employment records for its workers. TempGuru owns client billing, not the agency's employment records. Software may organize approved time or exports, but the agency should verify exactly what Guru calculates, transmits, stores, and leaves to its payroll system and personnel.
Test regular hours, breaks, approved extensions, corrections, multiple roles, cancelled shifts, and any applicable overtime or premium treatment. Compare the export with the agency's payroll controls. Do not assume that an accepted time record automatically applies every federal, state, local, contract, or policy rule.
The Department of Labor publishes federal recordkeeping requirements, and the IRS publishes employer tax guidance. The agency should map those requirements, current state rules, and its own retention policy to the product configuration.
06. Reconciliation
How should partner agencies test invoice and payment records?
Trace approved time to the agency submission, TempGuru review, adjustment, status, and remittance record. Test a disputed shift, an authorized extension, a worker replacement, parking, travel, and a client-required background-check charge if those items apply.
The governing partner contract and accepted order state agency payment timing, eligibility, required records, adjustments, and remittance details. Verify those controlling documents for the specific order; customer terms do not establish the partner agency's terms.
Ask how the product handles corrections after a period closes, how remittance details are exported, and how agency accounting references are retained. A status label should have a written definition and source event.
07. Privacy and security
Which data controls should an agency verify before importing records?
Review user roles, administrator access, authentication, logs, encryption, backups, incident communication, subprocessors, retention, deletion, exports, integrations, and separation between agencies and clients. Use sample data for early testing until access boundaries are understood.
Ask what happens when a manager leaves, a client requests data, an agency ends the relationship, or a security event affects worker information. Confirm the export format, timing, attachment handling, cost, and deletion sequence in writing.
The NIST Privacy Framework and Cybersecurity Framework provide government reference points for organizing this review. They do not certify the product or replace the agency's own risk decision.
08. Evidence
What should a Guru demonstration prove before an agency signs?
Use the agency's own order pattern, user roles, time process, payroll handoff, invoice needs, communication channels, and required integrations. Ask the presenter to complete the work live, including one exception, rather than move through prepared screenshots.
Record each capability as included, configured, integrated, manual, unavailable, or still to be confirmed. Attach the proposed plan, usage assumptions, implementation work, support boundaries, and contract language to the decision.
Review public pricing, the software hub, and relevant partner requirements. The final decision should use the current product and written terms, not an old page claim.
Specific questions
What do staffing agencies ask before adopting Guru?
These answers keep product evaluation, network membership, employer duties, and commercial terms in separate lanes.
Does using Guru create a right to TempGuru event orders?
No. Software use and partner-network activity do not promise orders. Local demand, capacity, accepted scopes, partner assignment, and current contracts govern each opportunity.
What makes a TempGuru partner agency vetted?
The agency regularly handles event staffing, has an active TempGuru contract with service-level commitments, and agrees to work in TempGuru's software.
Who runs payroll for workers assigned by a partner agency?
The assigned partner agency handles payroll, tax withholding, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, and employment records for its workers. TempGuru owns client billing, not the agency's employment records.
Are partner agencies paid on the same terms as customers?
Not necessarily. The governing partner contract and accepted order state agency payment timing, required documentation, adjustments, and remittance details; customer terms do not establish the partner agency's terms.
Does a worker profile prove role experience?
No. The assigned agency must verify relevant role experience and provide event-specific instructions for the accepted order. The order should name the duties, briefing, and any client-required screening.
Source: TempGuru first-party partner quality and screening policy
What should an agency export before leaving staffing software?
Confirm worker, client, order, assignment, message, time, invoice, attachment, audit, and configuration exports, along with format, timing, cost, access window, and deletion terms.
Primary references
Official sources and verification
These government resources provide the labor, safety, accessibility, security, privacy, or recordkeeping context used here. Check the current source and the rules for the actual worksite before making a legal or operating decision.
- US Department of Labor Fact Sheet 21: Official federal recordkeeping guidance for employers under the FLSA.
- IRS Publication 15: Official federal employer tax guidance, withholding context, and current filing references.
- NIST Privacy Framework: Official framework for organizing privacy-risk review.
- NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Official framework for cybersecurity governance and risk outcomes.
- OSHA temporary worker initiative: Official guidance on staffing-agency and host-employer safety communication.
Related TempGuru pages
Agency Pages to Review with Guru
Use these paths for product scope, pricing, partner-network terms, industry workflows, switching questions, and the event staffing service model.
Next step
Next planning step
Bring an order, worker record, schedule change, time correction, payroll handoff, invoice question, user-permission case, and export requirement. Confirm each result in the current product and written terms.
Evaluate Guru WorkflowsThis page provides operational information, not legal, tax, insurance, cybersecurity, accessibility, or financial advice. Duties and outcomes depend on the accepted scope, contracts, worksite facts, jurisdiction, and current law.