Skip to main content
Welcome to absentify! This Quick Start Guide will help new administrators get started by walking you through the key steps to set up your workspace, invite users, configure leave policies, and more.
1

Step 1: Register your company

Signing up for absentify happens in two phases. First you authenticate, then a short setup wizard creates your workspace.1. Authenticate
  1. Enter your work email: Visit absentify.com and open the page Create your account. Enter your work email and select Continue.
  2. Select how to sign in: The next screen shows Continuing as your email. Select Change if you need a different address. Then pick one of the two options:
    • Sign up with Microsoft 365: Select this button. The line Recommended · full Microsoft 365 integration appears under it. Microsoft opens with the email you entered, so you only confirm your password or MFA.
    • Continue with email: Use this if Microsoft 365 login is not available. You land on the signup page, which opens the setup wizard or shows matching workspaces to join. A confirmation email is sent in parallel (must be confirmed within 14 days).
If you open absentify in Microsoft Teams, you first see Checking your Microsoft 365 session…. If Microsoft can complete sign-in, the form is skipped. If not, your Teams email is filled in and you start on the sign-in method screen.If your organization already uses absentifyIf absentify finds an existing workspace for your Microsoft tenant or email domain, you see Welcome with Your company already uses absentify. and how many teams were found. Each matching workspace is listed with its name and member count. You can request to join one or create your own:
  1. Request to join an existing workspace: Select Request to join next to the workspace, optionally add a message, then select Send request. A message is optional, but if you add one it must be between 5 and 1,000 characters.
  2. Create a new team: Choose to start fresh for your team to skip joining and continue to the setup wizard below. This option appears only when your tenant allows creating a new workspace.
If you signed up with email, confirm your address before sending a join request. Otherwise you see Please confirm your email address before sending a request.After you send a join request, absentify takes you to Request sent! 👍. An administrator of that workspace will review it. From there you can still create a new team (when allowed), select Request to join another team, or open a chat with support from Not sure?.
During the 5-minute cooldown, Request to join and Send request are disabled. After it ends, sending again to the same workspace updates that pending request instead of creating a duplicate. You can have up to 5 pending requests across workspaces at a time. If sending fails, a message tells you why.
Some organizations are configured so that new sign-ups from their tenant can’t create a separate workspace while one already exists. If that applies to you, creating a new workspace isn’t offered and joining the existing workspace is the only way to get started.
2. Complete the workspace setup wizardAfter signing in, a short wizard guides you through workspace creation. Each step has a single focus, and you can go Back at any point to change earlier answers — your progress is saved in the browser if you reload.
  1. Company — Enter the name of your company or workspace. For Microsoft sign-ins this is pre-filled from your tenant; you can edit it.
  2. Location — Pick the country (and region/state, where applicable) your team is based in. absentify uses this to pre-configure regional settings such as date format, time format, week start, and timezone. You can add more locations with their own holiday calendars later in Settings.
  3. About you — Tell us how big your team is and, optionally, your role at the company (for example, HR Manager, Founder, IT Admin). The role field is optional and can be skipped.
  4. Referral — Let us know how you found absentify. This helps us reach more teams like yours.
  5. Review and create — Check the summary of your company, location, language, team size, role, and referral source. Use the Edit links to jump back to the matching earlier step. To fine-tune timezone, date format, time format, week start, and fiscal year start before creating the workspace, expand the Advanced regional defaults section. When everything looks right, select Create my workspace.
Recommendation: Use a Microsoft work account to ensure proper integration with Teams and Outlook and to utilize all automations.
2

Step 2: Configure initial settings

Once registered, configure your workspace by navigating to the Settings section in the absentify admin dashboard:
  • Set up departments: Go to Settings > Departments, select Add new department, and assign department managers.
  • Create leave types: Go to Settings > Leave Types, select Add a new leave type, and define available options like vacation or sick leave.
  • Assign public holiday calendars: Manage public holiday calendars under Settings > Public holidays and assign them to users under Settings > Users.
Proper initial configuration ensures a seamless experience for all users.
3

Step 3: Add and invite users

Add users to your workspace using one of the following methods:
  • Manually add users: Go to Settings > Users, select Invite a new user, and enter their email, first name, last name, display name, and department. Save the profile as inactive and activate it later when details are finalized.
  • Bulk import via Excel: Download the template from Settings > Users > Import Users, fill in user data, and upload it for validation before inviting users.
  • Sync with Microsoft Teams or Entra ID: Enable synchronization under Settings > Integrations > Microsoft Teams/Entra ID, and link groups to departments to auto-create users.
Tip: Inactive users allow you to finalize profiles before sending invitations, ensuring a smooth onboarding experience.
4

Step 4: Configure leave policies

Customize your leave policies to align with company requirements:
  • Set allowances: Create the allowance types under Settings > Allowances and add an allowance rule for each policy you use, for example a standard contract and a part-time contract. Under Settings > Users > Default User Settings, in Allowance rules for new employees, pick the rule new users receive per allowance type; per department you can select a different rule under Settings > Departments.
  • Set approval workflows: Customize approval processes for leave requests under Settings > Departments or directly within individual user profiles.
This ensures all absence requests and allowances are properly tracked and approved.
5

Step 5: Test and launch

Before launching absentify to your team:
  1. Submit a leave request as an admin or manager to ensure everything works as expected.
  2. Verify calendar integrations to confirm absences sync correctly with Microsoft Teams or Outlook.
  3. Send invitations to users and provide them with links to the Employee Guide for assistance.
Planning a larger rollout? First run a user acceptance test (UAT) with a few test users. You can test any plan free of charge for one month.
For further help, explore the Admin Documentation or contact our Support Team.