🔐 To approve or sign a Start Pack, you'll need either Circus Admin, Admin, or Manager access and be added to the Chain of Approval. Learn more about Managing Permissions and the Chain of Approval. This feature is only accessible to 🖥️ desktop users.

Overview

Circus aims to accelerate the repetitive tasks of signing Start Packs because we know for a fact that you're an incredibly busy individual, whether it's supporting a team of 5 or 500. That's why we've implemented the automated Chain of Approval as well as bulk signing. This guide not only helps you approve or sign, but also helps you navigate the user experience when viewing each submission.

Accessing a Start Pack

To access a Start Pack that requires your review, you'll receive an email notification – click the Review button. Alternatively, you can log in, click on the production you're working on from your main dashboard, then in the navigation on the left, click on the Start Packs icon.

By default, you'll land on My Approvals, which are all the Start Packs that require your review. Hover over the Start Pack you'd like to review, then click on the OPEN button.

Pro Tip: If you do not see an OPEN button when hovering over a Worker it means the Start Pack has been generated by the Worker but not submitted yet, so it cannot be reviewed for privacy reasons.

Navigating a Start Pack

Clicking the OPEN button will load the entire Start Pack, together with all of the documents signed by the Worker and also any mandatory documents provided for their employment, such as licenses, certificates, proof of residency documents, etc.

Left Navigation

The left navigation is where you can control what you see in the Start Pack.

To navigate back to the Start Packs Overview page, click on the Back Icon in the top left of the Start Pack next to the Worker's name.
Use the More (3 dots) Icon to quickly Dispute a Start Pack or Delete it.
To toggle between the multiple Start Packs that a Worker may have submitted, use the dropdown to choose an alternate role.
Under the dropdown, you's see an area for Flags and Tags.
- Tags are user-generated and can be applied by anyone with access to the Start Pack. To learn more about how tags work, use this guide.
- Flags are Circus-generated labels that highlight certain aspect of the Start Pack. For example:
  - Above-Scale - Based on the union tier the production is on, we'll flag any above-scale Start Packs and the amount it is above-scale.
  - Conflict - This means the Worker has indicated they have a conflict on the Conflict of Interest Questionnaire.
  - Contractor - This person needs to be processed through Accounts Payable instead of Payroll.
  - Corp < 50% Revenue - The Worker is a loan-out company for payroll and that the income the Worker earns account for less than 50% of the total revenue of the company for tax credit purposes in Canada.
  - Kit or Allowance - You'll see this flag when a kit or allowance is a part of the deal points on this Start Pack.
  - Loan Out - The Worker is a loan-out company for payroll
  - Multi-Shareholder - The Worker is a loan-out company and there are more than one shareholders in that company for tax credit purposes in Canada.
  - New Corp. - The Worker has a new loan-out company and has not been able to file taxes so they do not have a Corporate Notice of Assessment for tax credit purposes in Canada.
  - Non Union - This person onboarded without any union affiliation.
  - No TD-1 or Form W-4 - This flag means the Canadian or American taxpayer chose to bypass uploading the form that verifies the amount of deductions on their payroll and they'd like basic deductions applied only.
  - Pay to Agent - The Worker has requested their payment to go to their agent.
  - Pay by Check - The Worker has requested their payment be made via check.
  - Pay by Direct Deposit - The Worker has requested their payment to be made via direct deposit
  - Self-Onboarded - This flag is present when a Worker used the open invite link or QR code and set their own deal points. Make sure it's as per deal.
  - Upgraded - The Worker’s Start Pack was fully approved but was then disputed. An upgraded start pack is only accessible in the walkie event history of the more current start pack.
  - Work Permit - The Worker is eligible to work in the country through an immigration work permit.

You can also see the entire Start Pack organized into their respective categories below. Click the expand (+) icon to open a category and and collapse (-) icon to close a category. Click on any document from an opened category in the navigation to load it.
- Approval Required will have only the documents that require your signature if you're a counter-signer. You most likely will not see if this if you're an approver rather than a counter-signer.
- Memo (or Legal) Documents will have all the contracts generated by the production company. You'll typically only see this if you're an approver, not a counter-signer.
- Residency will have declaration forms, licenses and other proof of residency documents.
- Union will have union deal memos and permit forms.
- Kits & Certificates will have certificates, other licenses, inventory lists, and box kit rental insurance documents.
- Miscellaneous will be any other document uploaded to the Start Pack by someone in the production office.
To close this panel, give yourself more room, and expand the document, click on the collapse icon.

Tool Bar

At the top of the Start Pack, you'll see a tool bar with a few options:

Left Arrow - Navigate to the previous document within the Start Pack
Download - Download the document you're currently viewing
Rotate - Rotate a document by 90 degree angles each time it's clicked
Delete - Permanently remove a document from a Start Pack
Right Arrow - Navigate to the next document within the Start Pack

Walkie

To access Walkie, click on the Walkie icon or Expand icon in the top right. This is where you can:

View an audit log of the Start Pack's history
Dispute the Start Pack. Use this guide to learn more about Disputing Start Packs.
Code the Start Pack

Circus will summarize each event associated with the Start Pack together with the timestamp and who might've been associated with an event, such as approvers or counter-signers.

To add an internal note that is accessible only to elevated users, click on the Internal note field, enter the note, then either hit enter on your keyboard or click on the Add (+) icon. To remove the note click, on the Trash Can icon next to the note.

Pro Tip: Workers can only see Dispute Notes emailed to them. Internal Notes are only available to elevated users such as Accountants, PMs, Line Producers, Producers and Studio Executives.

Pro Tip: Use this guide to learn more about Disputing Start Packs when there is an error with the deal points or any document uploaded by the Worker. Use this guide to learn more about Coding Start Packs.

The Action Bar

The fun part – The action bar at the bottom of the centre panel is where you can upload documents to a Start Pack, download the Start Pack and most importantly, review and sign.

Upload Document

To include documents that may not have been submitted by a Worker you may want to upload it rather than disputing the entire Start Pack. This is often the case when someone has just recently acquired a new valid license, proof of residency document, or a revised Form I-9.

Click the upload icon, then click Choose File and locate the document you'd like to upload from your browser. Once uploaded you can change the name of the file by clicking on the field and typing a new name.

You can click on the Trash Can icon to delete the document and try again but if you're satisfied, click on the Choose Category dropdown and select the category (ie. Legal, Residency, Payroll, Kit, etc) you'd like the document to appear in.

Then click Upload to Start Pack.

The document will appear in the left menu navigation and amongst the chosen category. To Delete the document, use the tool bar above and click on the Trash Can Icon.

Download Start Pack

The Tool Bar is where you can download a single document but the Action Bar is where you can package the entire Start Pack of a Worker.

Click on the Download Icon, then choose either:

Download PDF - Circus will merge all the documents in the Start Pack into one PDF file.
Download ZIP - Circus will organize all the documents in the Start Pack into their respective categories and zip it up into one file.

📖 Learn more about Downloading Start Packs

Approve

Click the Approve All button to approve the Start Pack and transfer it to the next approver. If you're last in the Chain of Approval, the Start Pack will now be binded and complete.

Sign or Bulk Sign

If you're a signer, you'll have two options:

Sign Document - Click this button to sign only the document selected. Use this method when you want to either sign each document individually in the Start Pack or need to continue reviewing the Start Pack at another time but you'd like to sign one document for now, such as a Start Slip to process it for payroll sooner.
Approve & Sign All - Click this button to sign all documents in the Start Pack. Use this method if you're 100% satisfied and would like to quickly bulk sign the entire Start Pack. One the button is clicked, you will automatically be taken to the next Start Pack that requires your review, but allow a moment for it load when there are a lot of documents.

If there are no more Start Packs left to review, you will automatically be taken back to the Start Packs overview page.

Pro Tip: The Top Sheet (first page of the Start Pack) contains all the details and deal points of each Worker and is distributed amongst all applicable documents in the Start Pack. So if you're happy with the Top Sheet you can confidently Sign All to expedite approving Start Packs.