Delete sample data
Delete the sample data Kenjo creates automatically before you set up your company or add real employees, departments, offices, or teams.
Go to Settings > Overview.
Click Delete sample data (only visible to admins while the account still contains sample data).
Confirm the deletion in the dialog.
Important: before this step, do not assign any real employee to a sample department, office, team, or manager. If a real employee gets linked to one of these sample entities and the sample data is deleted afterwards, Kenjo automatically removes that link during deletion, without warning: the employee stays in the system but loses their structure assignment.
Create a holiday calendar
Always choose the calendar for the specific federal state instead of a general country template, so all regional holidays are captured correctly.
Go to Settings > Public holidays > Holiday calendar and click (+) to create a new calendar.
Give it a name and choose the template that matches your federal state.
If regional or company holidays are missing (for example, a half day on Dec 24), add them via (+) as a custom holiday with a name, date, and duration (morning, afternoon, or full day).
Note: if an employee has an office assigned, that office's calendar applies instead of the company calendar (order: virtual office > office > company). Custom holidays only apply to the year they were added and must be re-added every year.
Set up your company
When your account is created, Kenjo automatically sets up a first company with sample data. Complete this before setting up further areas.
Go to Settings > My Company and enter your company details.
Under Full time employee (FTE), set the working days and weekly working hours of a full-time employee.
Assign the appropriate holiday calendar to the company (see the previous section "Create and assign a holiday calendar").
Note: a company cannot be deleted on its own. Contact Kenjo support and make sure no employees are still assigned to it first. Use the (+) next to Company to create additional companies if needed.
Create offices, divisions, departments, and teams
Set up at least one office or location, even if you only have a single company site, since this also matters later for shift planning. Divisions, departments, and teams are optional, but they let you filter employee lists and reports later on (for example, to show only a specific job group).
Go to Settings > My Company > Offices, fill in the relevant information, and assign a holiday calendar to each office.
Optionally, create divisions under Settings > My Company > Divisions.
Optionally, create departments and teams under Settings > My Company > Departments: default suggestions are already available for departments, which you can adjust or delete.
An employee can be assigned to multiple divisions and teams at the same time, but only to one department. Offices, divisions, departments, and teams are independent of each other and do not form a hierarchy. You can only delete an item once no employees are assigned to it.
Add employees
Add employees one by one as long as your organization has no more than 20 employees; for larger data volumes, the Excel import is worth using (see the next section).
Go to Employees and click (+) Add employee.
Enter the employee's basic personal details (name, date of birth, gender, nationality).
Assign the employee to a Company and enter their business email address: it's used as the login and is therefore the most important field in this step. Use a private address first if needed.
Set the hire date, contractual weekly hours/days, and a preliminary work schedule.
Optionally, enter the salary type (hourly or fixed) right away to avoid manual work later.
Time off policies can be assigned directly during normal operation, but they must first be configured when setting up the account. For this, see the article "Step 3: Set up time off."
Turn on the Send invitation toggle once access should start: ideally not before the employee's first working day, to avoid confusing them. Without a sent invitation, the profile shows as "Not activated" and can be unlocked at any time afterwards via Actions > Activate employee.
Import employee data (optional)
From around 20 employees onwards, the Excel import is more efficient than adding employees one by one.
Create any custom employee fields you need in advance (for example, key number, company equipment) so they can be included directly in the import template. To do this, go to Settings > Employee fields.
Go to Settings > Data import and choose the import type Employees.
Download the template, fill it in with the employee data, and upload it again afterwards. Don't change the template's column structure.
In the next step, match each column to the correct Kenjo field (green checkmark = matched, black X = still open), then confirm the import.
Note: once the import is finished, you'll get an email with the result. If the template contains errors, you can download the error report under Recent imports and correct them individually.
Configure profiles and permissions
Profiles determine who can see and edit which data in Kenjo, regardless of their actual position in the company.
To start, use the default profiles under Settings > Profiles and permissions: Admin (full access), HR Admin, Recruiter, Finance Admin, Manager (sees their own data and that of their reports, without payroll), and Employee. These profiles cannot be edited.
Map your management structure using the Reports to field on the employee profile: the person entered there automatically gets management visibility into that employee's data.
If the default profiles aren't enough (for example, to restrict access to a specific department or office), create a custom profile via (+) and define your own filter rules.
To test the employee view without leaving your admin account, create a dummy employee (for example, "Max Mustermann") and log in temporarily with their credentials: switching directly to an employee view as an admin isn't possible in Kenjo.
Customize home widgets and features (optional)
Settings also let you control which modules and home widgets are visible for your company: to keep things manageable, only activate what you actually need at the start.
Go to the gear icon in the bottom left under Settings to activate or deactivate modules (for example, Attendance, Performance Review).
On the Home page, use the icon on the right to activate, deactivate, or reorder home widgets by drag and drop.
Note: an activated home widget is visible to all employees, but its content is automatically filtered by profile and permissions. For example, if an employee doesn't have access to Recruiting, that widget stays empty for them.
Manage billing
You manage your plan, payment methods, and cancellation yourself directly in Kenjo, without needing to contact support.
Go to Settings > Billing to view and edit your current plan, invoice details, and VAT ID.
Add a credit card or SEPA direct debit mandate via (+) Add payment method.
You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel (at the end of the billing period, at the end of the trial, or immediately) yourself at any time.
Tip: the monthly Kenjo fee only applies to active employee profiles: deactivated users aren't charged.
Frequently asked questions
Which holiday calendar should I choose?
Always choose the template for the specific federal state, not the general Germany template, so that all regional holidays are captured correctly.
Do I have to use divisions, departments, and teams?
No, divisions, departments, and teams are optional. However, using at least one of these categories is recommended, since it lets you filter employee lists and reports later on.
From what point is the Excel import worth using instead of adding employees manually?
With fewer than about 10 to 20 employees, adding them manually is usually faster. For larger data volumes, the Excel import saves significant time.
Why can't an employee request time off or track their time yet?
Without an assigned time off policy or activated time tracking, these features aren't available to the employee. Both can be added later at any time in the employee profile.
The default profiles don't fit our organization: what now?
Create a custom profile under Settings > Profiles and permissions and define your own permissions and filter rules, for example to restrict access to a specific department or office.
Is the Kenjo fee also charged for inactive employees?
No, the monthly fee applies exclusively to active employee profiles.