The bell in the app header is where Work Planner collects what's waiting for you: new text replies from customers, approvals and texts waiting on you, messages that couldn't be sent, and, depending on your role, time off requests, tax reminders, vehicle reminders and problems, and what customers have done themselves. It lets you see what needs you without leaving the page you are on.

What The Bell Tells You

The dot: a dot on the bell means something is waiting for you, in any of the popup's sections. It also lights for something waiting in a business you don't have selected at the moment.
Replies: only inbound text replies count, not outgoing texts and not email.
Your own list: what's waiting is tied to you, so another team member reading a reply or dismissing something does not clear it for you.

What Happens When You Click It

Clicking the bell opens the Notifications popup, with a section for each kind of thing waiting in the businesses you have selected. When there's nothing, it says You're all caught up. New text replies are under Unread replies, so you can decide what to open next without going straight to the full communications history.

Recent replies: each row shows the customer name when Work Planner could match it, the message excerpt, and the time received.
Mark read: clears that one reply from your unread list without affecting anyone else.
Reply: opens a reply box on that row so you can answer the customer without leaving the page you are on. It shows the credit cost as you type, and sending clears the reply from your unread list.
Communications: opens the main communications history and jumps straight into the matching record.
Customer and Job: quick links that open the linked customer or job when those records were matched successfully.

Replies sent here go out from your business's number, the same one your texts come from, so they continue the existing thread: its own number if it has a Business Mobile Number, otherwise the shared Work Planner number. If SMS is not on your plan, or you have run out of credits, the reply box says so instead of sending.

Tax Reminders

If your role can send your business's tax, with Submit under HMRC, which owners and admins have, the popup lists your tax reminders under Tax, with how many there are, just above Vehicles. Each one says what's due and when, such as VAT return due in 3 days and For 1 July to 30 September 2026, due by 7 November 2026., with when it came and a label: Tax for a deadline, or HMRC for the HMRC connection. With several businesses selected, it says which business too.

VAT returns, Income Tax updates and final declarations: you're reminded a fortnight before one is due, three days before, and once if it's overdue, each time at 8am, and each reminder takes the place of the last one for that deadline. See VAT Returns and Income Tax.
HMRC connection: HMRC connection needs renewing a month before HMRC's permission for Work Planner runs out, and HMRC connection has stopped working once it has, or once HMRC won't renew it. See Accounts and Tax Settings.
Opening one: click it to open the page it's done on, for the business it's for: the VAT page, the Income Tax page on the update's or final declaration's tax year, or Settings > Accounts & tax for the HMRC connection.
Dismiss: clears that one from your list without affecting anyone else.
Dismiss all: clears every tax reminder waiting for you, including any further down than the list shows.

A reminder leaves the bell by itself once it's been dealt with. Sending a return, update or final declaration from Work Planner, or marking a VAT return as sent, takes it away straight away. With HMRC connected, one sent another way, such as by your accountant, goes as soon as Work Planner sees HMRC no longer lists it, which it finds out when someone opens the VAT page, the Income Tax page or Accounts > Home. Connecting HMRC again takes away what was said about the old connection. Anything else drops off after six weeks.

Tax reminders are emailed to you too. If you'd rather not have them, turn off Tax reminders in your notification settings, which also stops the notifications and the emails.

Downloads

When a download you asked for on For your accountant has been made, the popup lists it under Downloads, with how many there are: Download for your accountant ready, with a Ready label, or Download for your accountant not made, with a Not made label, saying which period it covers. It's only in your own bell. Click it to open For your accountant, for the business it's for, to download it or make it again. Downloading it takes it out of the bell, and Dismiss or Dismiss all clears it too. Turn off Downloads for your accountant in your notification settings if you'd rather not hear about them.

Expenses

If your role can add expenses, the popup lists what's happened to the SMS credits you buy under Expenses, with how many there are, just above Vehicles. With several businesses selected, each one says which business it's for.

SMS credits added to your expenses: with an Added label, saying what was bought, what it cost and its category, such as 200 SMS credits from Work Planner, £9.00, is in your expenses under SMS Credits. Click it to open the expense. See Expenses List.
Add your SMS credits to your expenses: with a To add label, for a business that uses euros. Work Planner charges in pounds, so it doesn't add them itself, and says what you paid and when. Click it and Add expense opens with the date, the description and the SMS Credits category filled in: put in what it cost you in euros, as on your bank or card statement, and add it. Once it's added it leaves everyone's bell, so nobody adds it twice.

Dismiss or Dismiss all clears them from your own bell, and anything left drops off after a month. Turn off Expenses added for you in your notification settings if you'd rather not hear about them.

Vehicles

If your role can see vehicles, the popup lists what needs seeing to on your vans under Vehicles, with how many there are, just above Customer activity. Each one names the van, says what's happened and when, and has a label for the kind of thing it is. With several businesses selected, it says which business too.

Key date: the MOT, road tax, insurance, service or breakdown cover is coming up or has gone by, such as MOT due in 7 days or Insurance overdue. You're reminded a month before, a week before, the day before, on the day, and once when it's overdue, each time at 8am, and each reminder takes the place of the last one for that date. See Vehicle Reminders.
Problem found: a daily check found something wrong with the van, and says what. See Daily Vehicle Checks.
Unsafe: whoever checked the van said it isn't safe to drive. See Daily Vehicle Checks.
Tax and MOT: the DVLA or DVSA reports a change, such as the road tax running out, no valid MOT, a failed MOT or a safety recall. See Registration Lookup.
Opening one: click it to open the van's popup at the part it's about, such as its key dates.
Dismiss: clears that one from your list without affecting anyone else.
Dismiss all: clears every vehicle item waiting for you, including any further down than the list shows.

Things that have been put right leave the bell by themselves: renewing a date takes its reminders away, fixing the problems a check found takes that check away, a van that's safe again is no longer flagged, and selling a van clears everything about it. Anything else drops off after a month. Whoever did a check isn't told about what they found, as they know already. If you'd rather not see these, turn off Vehicles in your notification settings, which also stops the notifications.

Customer Activity

The popup also lists what your customers have done themselves, under Customer activity: paying you online, setting up a Direct Debit through a link you sent, saving a card through a set-up link, cancelling their Direct Debit at their bank, disputing a card payment, and accepting or declining a quote through its link. Everyone who can see payments in the business sees them, and each row says what happened and when.

Customer name: opens the customer, where the payment or Direct Debit is recorded. For a quote it opens the quote instead, named for whoever it was for, as they may not be a customer yet.
Needs a customer: someone set up a Direct Debit through your GoCardless sign-up link, but Work Planner couldn't be sure who they are. Choose customer opens your GoCardless settings, where you link it to a customer. It leaves the bell once it's linked, dismissed or cancelled.
Dismiss: clears that one from your list without affecting anyone else.
Dismiss all: clears every one waiting for you, including any further down than the list shows.

Anything you leave drops off after two weeks. The payments themselves stay on the customer and on the debt list, and the quotes on the quotes list. If you would rather not see these at all, turn off Customer payments, Direct Debits and quotes in your notification settings, which also stops the notifications. Direct Debit sign-ups from your website have a setting of their own.

Time Off Requests

If your role can manage time off, the popup lists time off waiting for approval under Time off requests, with how many there are. Each one says who asked, what for and which days. Approve books it, and Decline asks for a reason, which they're told. Clicking the request opens it on Work > Team, and Open Team opens the whole list there.

Like approvals, they stay until someone answers them, even if you turn off the Time off requests notification. See Time Off Requests.

Business Mobile Numbers

If your account is billed to you, the popup says when a Business Mobile Number you bought is ready, or couldn't be set up, under Business Mobile Numbers. A ready number has a Ready label and says which business texts from it, or that you can choose one, and Open Settings › SMS takes you there. One that couldn't be set up says whether your setup fee has been refunded, and Open Bolt-Ons opens the Bolt-Ons page.

Dismiss clears one from your bell, and anything left drops off after two weeks. Turn off Billing and automatic top-ups in your notification settings if you'd rather not see these.

Notifications When The App Is Closed

The bell only helps while Work Planner is open. To be told about these things when it is not, turn on notifications for your phone or browser from the Notifications section of your Profile page, where you can also choose which types you want and set quiet hours.

If you use Work Planner for more than one business, notifications cover all of them, while this popup lists the businesses you currently have selected. When something is waiting elsewhere, the popup tells you how many and in which business, and opening a notification switches you to the right one.

When To Use It

Quick reply triage: useful when you just need to see whether a customer has replied before deciding what to do next.
Answer on the spot: useful when the reply needs a short answer and opening the full history would slow you down.
Jump to the right record: useful when you want to go straight to the related customer or job instead of searching manually.
Stay on your current screen: useful when you are in the middle of another task and only need a quick check.

Communications: the full history page the popup links into when you need more detail.
Customer Detail View: where matched customer replies can also be reviewed on the Communications tab.
Job Detail View: where matched job replies can also be reviewed on the Communications tab.
Message Customers Popup: where the texts these replies usually answer are sent from.
Notification Settings: how to be told about these things when Work Planner is closed, and how to set quiet hours.
Time Off Requests: approving and declining time off.
Vehicle Dates Widget: the vehicle dates that need attention, on the Dashboard.
Vehicle Reminders: when each vehicle reminder comes, and what clears it.
Daily Vehicle Checks: where the problems found and unsafe vehicles come from.
VAT Returns: sending the VAT returns that tax reminders are about, or marking them as sent.
Income Tax: sending the quarterly updates and final declarations that tax reminders are about.
Accounts and Tax Settings: connecting HMRC again when it needs renewing.

Articles

Unread Replies Badge

Communications