Free download
Shift handover template
One sheet per handover: what's in progress, what's waiting for an answer, what needs doing in the next few hours.
Both files are free to use, with no form to fill in and no account to open. Below: the six points to pass on at every team change, a filled-in example, and what a paper sheet won't do.
Spreadsheet in Excel format, also opens in Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice. Printable A4 version, one sheet per handover, with both signatures.
3pm handover
What the morning front desk leaves for the afternoon team.
Guest moved to 121, technician expected tomorrow morning. Call back if nobody's there by 10am.
Picked up by the front desk
Guest expected around 11:30pm, key prepared in an envelope in the safe.
Picked up by the night team
Till counted at 2:45pm, €5 variance noted and reported to management.
Done
What the sheet contains
Seven columns, not one more. A handover sheet gets filled in standing up, in five minutes, while the phone is ringing.
The subject
Three words naming the matter. It's what lets whoever is starting their shift scan the sheet and instantly see what concerns them.
The room or location
Where the matter gets sorted out. Without it, whoever picks it up has to ask where to go, and a handover exists precisely so nobody has to ask.
Where things stand
What's already been done, not the original problem. This column is what stops the next person making a call that's already been made.
What's left to do
An action, not an intention. "Call the technician back" is clear; "follow up on it" never gets done.
By when
A time, or a point in the day. "As soon as possible" isn't a deadline, and won't be treated as one.
By whom, and done
The department or person picking up the matter, and the box that closes it. A line with no name belongs to everyone, so to no one.
An example handover
Three lines as they'd be written at 3pm. The file already contains them, as an example to replace with your own.
| Subject | Room or location | By when | By whom | Where things stand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air conditioning broken | Room 118 | Tomorrow 10:00 | Front desk | Guest moved to 121, technician expected tomorrow morning. |
| Late arrival | Room 305 | Tonight | Night team | Guest expected around 11:30pm, key prepared in an envelope. |
| Starting float | Front desk | At handover | Front desk | Till counted at 2:45pm, €5 variance noted and reported. |
The six points never to skip
These are the ones that come up when a handover has gone wrong. A sheet that covers all six keeps a handover doable in five minutes.
Special arrivals and departures
Late arrivals, groups, early departures, guests who need special attention. These are the only bookings the next shift needs in mind before they even open their screen.
Unavailable rooms, and why
An out-of-order room with no reason written down ends up resold by mistake, or stays blocked three weeks after the repair.
Ongoing issues and who's already been called
The name of the contractor notified and the time they're expected. Without it, the next person calls again and the property looks like it doesn't talk to itself.
Guest requests still without an answer
A request promised and never followed up on is the most common front desk complaint. It doesn't get passed on verbally, it gets written down.
The state of the till and any documents handed over
The float counted, any variance found, documents left in the safe. This is the part most often disputed later, and disputed badly.
What the next shift should expect
A delivery, a repair visit, an inspection. Someone expecting something without knowing it lets the delivery driver leave.
Where the paper sheet stops
This sheet beats a handover done from memory at the counter, and it's enough for plenty of small teams. It has limits worth knowing before you rely on it the day a note really matters.
- It only exists as one copy: whoever is off tomorrow won't know what was said tonight.
- It can't be searched. Finding what was passed on about room 118 three weeks ago means going through the whole pile.
- Nothing proves it's been read, and a signature at the bottom of a sheet gets given without reading it.
- A matter that crosses three handovers gets copied out three times, losing a detail each time.
- Housekeeping and maintenance never see it: it stays at the front desk.
- Nobody's notified when something urgent comes up after the team has left.
Handovers, without copying anything out
In Front Desk, the handover happens on the notes themselves: whatever isn't closed stays in front of the next team, without being rewritten.
- Everyone writes under their own name, with the time set automatically.
- You see by name who has read a note and who hasn't opened it yet.
- A search brings back what was said about a room, months later.
- Housekeeping and maintenance write from their phones, into the same log.
- The free plan opens the shift log with no time limit, for the whole team.
Questions about this template
What's the difference from a shift log?
The log is written throughout the day: every fact is noted as it happens. The handover sheet is a snapshot, taken the moment a team changes, and it only carries what isn't finished yet. Many properties keep both: the log all day, the sheet at every handover, filled in from whatever lines in the log are still open.
How should we organise handovers at our property?
The guide on shift handovers covers the three handovers in a hotel's day, the four-step routine, and the six ways it goes wrong. It answers the question of organisation, where this page gives you the document.
How long should a handover take?
Five to ten minutes is enough when the sheet has been filled in throughout the shift. What makes a handover longer is preparing it right as you're leaving: then you have to remember the whole day, and that's when details disappear.
Does the sheet need to be signed?
The printed sheet carries two signature lines, one for the person handing over and one for the person picking up. It isn't a formality: it's what forces both people to actually read the sheet together, instead of leaving it on the counter.
Is the template really free?
Yes, with nothing asked in return: we don't ask for an email address or an account to give it to you. Once downloaded, it's yours, including to edit and share across your group.
The sheet is yours, and so is what comes next
Take the file, it's free to use. The day copying out the same matter at every handover starts to feel like a chore, Front Desk's shift log is free with no time limit.