FAQ

Sentinel brings together the most challenging parts of the job into a single app. It covers finances, scheduling, and mental health support.

Sentinel is designed with first responders in mind, providing tools tailored to their unique schedules, pay structures, and needs. However, it is available for anyone to use.

You’ll need to have your most recent pay stub available.

Yes, you can update your information at any time in the settings.

Dashboard (summary), Calendar (day view), Log (add entries), Wellness (journaling/check-ins), Settings (configuration).

No. After download, your data is stored on your personal device. An internet connection is only needed for features like iCloud backup or updating the app.

Shifts are automatically generated based on the rotation you enter in the app. If a shift is deleted by mistake, you can restore it by going to Log → Log Pay → Shift Restore.

Log → Log Pay → (your designated OT category). Enter the hours, and they’ll be automatically added to your earnings.

Yes. When logging income you can create a custom category by going to Manage Pay Tags → (+). Once added, it will be saved and available for future use.

Log Pay → (your designated payment category) → enable “One-Time” Lump Sum → enter the cash amount. This payment will be recorded as income.

Open the entry from the Calendar and edit or remove it. Your totals recalculate automatically.

Settings → Pay Rates & Salary.

Shift Differentials are additional pay rates for specific shifts, such as night or weekend shifts. You can create and configure up to three differentials in Settings → Extras & Stipends, then apply them to eligible shifts.

A retroactive raise is a pay increase that takes effect from an earlier date. Sentinel automatically handles the adjustment by recalculating eligible shifts based on your logged hours and adding the difference as back pay to Regular Pay.

OIC pay stands for Officer-in-Charge pay. It is a built-in pay category that allows you to log additional earnings when you work in an officer-in-charge role.

Your financial summary, leave balances, hours worked, and current pay-period hours.

Yes. The Check Auditor (Reconcile Check) lets you pick a date range and see an itemized breakdown of what you earned, so you can compare it to your actual check.

Your Dashboard total is calculated from the income and deductions you have entered into Sentinel. If the amount does not match your paycheck exactly, the difference may be due to:

• Missing or incomplete entries
• Payroll deductions, taxes, or other adjustments handled by your payroll provider
• Timing differences between when earnings are logged and when they appear on your check

The Check Auditor (Reconcile Check) tool can help you identify and review any discrepancies.

Keep in mind that every company or department may use different payroll software, and each system may calculate and round amounts differently. Payroll systems can vary in how they handle decimal values, such as rounding by day, rounding by hour, or rounding up or down. These small calculation differences can sometimes affect the final paycheck amount. Payroll providers are required to follow rules that prevent rounding practices from unfairly favoring the employer.

Yes. You can reorder tiles and hide ones that you don’t use.

Yes. There is a toggle to show or hide zero-balance banks.

Leave balances track the available hours in each leave bank. When you log a leave day, Sentinel automatically deducts the hours from the corresponding bank. Your current balances are displayed on the Dashboard.

Settings → Hours & Leave → Add Leave Category.

A balance becomes negative when the amount of leave used exceeds the available hours in that bank. You can correct it by adjusting the leave entry or updating the bank balance.

Yes. You can manually update a leave bank balance by going to Settings → Hours & Leave and adjusting the hours for the appropriate bank.

Yes. You can manually delete a leave bank by going to Settings → Hours & Leave and swipe left on the one you want to remove.

A recurring stipend is automatically added each pay cycle starting from the selected start date. A one-time stipend is a single payment that you manually enter when received. Both are included as part of your total pay.

Settings → Extras & Stipends → Add Recurring Stipend.

There are two ways to create a one-time stipend:

1. Go to Settings → Extras & Stipends → Add One-Time Stipend and enter the stipend details.
2. Go to Log → Log Pay → Manage Pay Tags → (+), add the stipend information, and enable the One-Time Stipend option.

Yes. To pause a recurring stipend, go to Settings → Extras & Stipends, select the stipend you want to pause, and toggle Active off. The stipend will stop being added until you enable it again.

Yes. You can rename a stipend by going to Settings → Appearance → Customize Labels and selecting the stipend. Changing the label updates the displayed name while keeping your existing records and history unchanged.

Yes. You can set up your rotation (or pick a built-in schedule) and the Calendar projects your work days forward.

Department schedules are pre-built rotation patterns designed for common first-responder shift cycles. They help project upcoming scheduled workdays but do not automatically add earnings or post pay on their own.

Yes. You can create your own custom rotation by going to Settings → Schedule & Rotation → Add Custom Rotation.

There are two ways to log a swap or mutual:

1. Go to Log → Mutuals & Swaps → Log Swap or Log Mutual.
2. From the Calendar, press and hold the date of the scheduled swap or mutual, then select Mutuals / Swaps → Log Mutual or Log Swap.

Go to Log → Mutuals / Swaps → History.

Yes. Tap the day in the Calendar to see scheduled shifts and everything logged for that date.

Yes. You can customize the way category names are displayed by going to Settings → Appearance → Customize Labels. From there, you can rename items across different sections, including Dashboard, Log, Calendar, Wellness, and Settings.

Yes. You can customize the emojis by going to Settings → Appearance → Emojis. From there, you can update the emojis used throughout the app for different categories.

Yes. Sentinel includes multiple themes that you can choose from. To change your theme, go to Settings → Appearance → Theme and select your preferred option.

The Wellness tab includes tools for journaling, tracking stressors and incidents, and completing periodic check-ins. It provides a private space to reflect on and monitor your well-being alongside your work-related information.

Yes. It stays on your device with the rest of your data.

Go to Wellness → Check-In → New Entry and record the details of your experience.

Box breathing is a controlled breathing technique used to help calm the body, improve focus, and manage stress. It involves breathing in, holding, breathing out, and holding again for equal counts, creating a “box” pattern.

Your Readiness Score combines key wellness metrics, including your HRV, activity goal, exercise goal, and sleep score, to provide an overall view of your current recovery and readiness. The score will decrease when a critical incident has been logged within the past few days, helping reflect the impact of recent stressors on your wellness.

Your data is stored on your device and designed to remain private and accessible only to you.

There are two ways to back up your data:

1. Go to Settings → Backups → Back Up to iCloud.
2. Go to Settings → Backups → Save Backup File to create a backup file.

To move your data to a new phone, create a backup on your old device, then restore that backup on your new device.

The Year-End Summary provides a recap of your year, including earnings and highlights. It will become available at the appropriate time as a yearly overview of your activity.

Go to Log → Incident → Critical Incident.

Go to Log → Incident → On Duty Injury.

Go to Settings → Certifications & Awards → Add Certification / Add Award.

To switch to military time, go to Settings → Appearance and enable 24-Hour Time (Military Time).

A free trial is available before starting a subscription. After the trial, you can choose a monthly or yearly subscription to unlock the full app experience. You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time through your App Store subscription settings.