The verdict in three sentences
A home care agency with 180 care workers and 1,200 clients often loses the equivalent of a full-time job in manual rescheduling, absence handling and re-keying visit verification data. A custom scheduling app connected to the electronic visit verification required by your funder typically pays back its build cost within 12 to 24 months against software billed at EUR 8 to 15 per care worker per month. The project succeeds when it starts from your real constraints: cover found in under 2 hours, optimised rounds and billing with no re-keying.
The hidden cost of manual scheduling
An agency this size bills around 38,000 hours per month to clients, insurers and local authorities. Every unplanned or badly recorded hour either goes unbilled or gets billed with a dispute. Coordinators spend most of their day on the phone: a care worker calls in sick at 7:30 am, three visits must be reassigned before 9 am, a hospitalised client's slots must be released.
| Indicator (2026 estimate) | On spreadsheets and generic tools | Target with a fit-for-purpose app |
|---|---|---|
| Rescheduling time per coordinator | 12 to 18 h per week | 4 to 6 h per week |
| Average time to cover an absence | 3 to 5 h | under 2 h |
| Unbilled hours (missing check-ins, errors) | 1.5 to 3% of hours | under 0.5% |
| Travel between visits per worker per day | 35 to 50 km | 25 to 35 km |
| Re-keying visit data for billing | 2 to 3 days per month | a few hours |
| Care worker turnover | 25 to 35% per year | reduced by stable rotas |
On 38,000 billed hours at an average of about EUR 25 per hour, 1.5% of lost hours equals EUR 14,250 per month. That figure, more than rota comfort, usually convinces the board.
What the app must include
The functional core fits in five modules, detailed in the specification before any pricing:
- Visit scheduling: recurrences, care plans, skills (personal care, meal support, transfers), client preferences, geographic areas.
- Cover engine: when someone is absent, the app suggests the 3 closest available workers who are qualified and under their hour cap, then pushes the offer to their phones.
- Visit verification: mobile check-in by geolocation, NFC tag or QR code at the client's home, exported in the format your funder and billing tool expect.
- Care worker mobile app: daily rota, instructions, care notes, offline mode for rural areas with poor coverage.
- Billing and payroll: export of delivered hours to your accounting and payroll software, weekend and bank holiday premiums, mileage.
Compliance is not optional: client health data, consent, access logs and certified health data hosting (HDS in France, equivalent frameworks elsewhere in Europe) when records contain medical information.
Off-the-shelf software or custom build: costed comparison
| Criterion | Specialist software vendor | Kolonell custom app |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | EUR 8 to 15 per care worker per month | priced by scope, no per-user fee |
| Annual cost for 180 workers | EUR 17,280 to 32,400 | maintenance of 35,000 to 120,000 FCFA per month (EUR 53 to 183) |
| 5-year cost | EUR 86,400 to 162,000 (excluding optional modules) | EUR 21,650 to 33,850+ (complex build + Premium maintenance), health data hosting in the quote |
| Cover engine | usually standard, little configuration | rules specific to your agency |
| Timeline | 1 to 3 months to roll out | 4 to 6 months |
| Data and code ownership | exportable data, vendor code | your code and your data |
Kolonell's build budget follows the 2026 grid: simple app 2,500,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA (EUR 3,810 to 6,100), medium 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (EUR 6,100 to 10,670), complex 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (EUR 10,670 to 22,870+). A project with visit verification, offline mobile and billing usually falls into the complex category. Connectors specific to your funder or payroll software are priced in the quote.
An off-the-shelf vendor remains a good choice if your operations are standard and you accept its rules. A custom build makes sense when your cover rules, care plans or mix of services do not fit generic software.
A 4 to 6 month rollout plan
| Phase | Duration | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Workshops with coordinators and care workers | 3 weeks | validated specification and mock-ups |
| Scheduling, clients, workers | 6 to 8 weeks | web version usable by the scheduling team |
| Mobile app and visit verification | 5 to 6 weeks | check-in and daily rota on phones |
| Cover engine and round optimisation | 3 to 4 weeks | automatic replacement suggestions |
| Billing and payroll exports, pilot on 1 area | 3 weeks | planned vs delivered hours reconciliation |
Piloting a single area with around 40 care workers lets you fix the rules before rolling out everywhere.
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Mini case study
Nathalie runs a home care agency in Bordeaux with 6 coordinators who each spend 15 hours a week rescheduling. With the app, she targets 5 hours a week.
- Time recovered: 6 × 10 h × 47 weeks = 2,820 h per year, about 1.7 full-time equivalents redeployed to supporting families.
- Billing hours recovered: going from 1.5% to 0.5% lost hours on 38,000 h means 380 h per month, or EUR 9,500 per month at EUR 25 per hour.
- Investment: complex build around EUR 20,000, plus Premium maintenance at EUR 183 per month and health data hosting priced in the quote.
With EUR 9,500 of recovered hours per month, the investment is covered in under 3 months, even if you double the budget to absorb surprises.
FAQ
Can the app send visit verification data to our funder?
Yes, provided we know the expected format (file or API) during the workshops. The connector takes 5 to 10 days to build depending on the documentation available.
Do care workers need a company smartphone?
It is recommended for traceability, but the app also runs on a personal phone with a dedicated profile. An entry-level smartphone costs EUR 120 to 200 in 2026.
What happens with no signal at the client's home?
Check-in and instructions remain available offline and sync as soon as the signal returns. Offline mode accounts for about 10 to 15% of mobile development effort.
How long does staff training take?
Allow half a day for coordinators and 1 hour for care workers, with an illustrated guide. Agencies with 150 to 200 workers usually switch area by area over 4 to 6 weeks.
Can we import history from our current software?
Yes, clients, care plans and workers can be imported from a CSV or Excel export. Migration is priced in the quote, usually 3 to 8 days depending on data quality.
Let's scope your project. Tell us how your areas are organised and what your visit verification constraints are, and we will scope the work with a 4 to 6 month plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
