diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index 24b7a9503..a75ad5296 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -77,6 +77,68 @@ Start the containers using the following command
     docker-compose up
 ```
 
+## Background Job Scheduling
+
+OSPOS includes a background job queue (Office → Job Queue) for long-running tasks such as large CSV imports. It supports three trigger modes, configured on the Job Queue → Settings tab:
+
+- **Web** (default) — no setup required. Jobs are processed via a request hook after page loads, using `fastcgi_finish_request()` where available. Works out of the box on shared hosting, VPS, and Docker.
+- **Auto** — a cron entry (Linux/Mac) or Task Scheduler task (Windows) triggers processing on a fixed interval. Recommended for VPS/dedicated servers with cron access.
+- **Manual** — an admin clicks a "Process All Jobs" button on the Job Queue → Utilities tab. Always available regardless of mode, useful for debugging.
+
+### `auto` mode: Linux/Mac cron
+
+Add the following entry to your crontab (`crontab -e`), adjusting the path to your OSPOS install:
+
+```
+* * * * * cd /path/to/ospos && php spark tasks:run >> /dev/null 2>&1
+```
+
+### `auto` mode: Windows Task Scheduler
+
+1. Open Task Scheduler and create a new task.
+2. Trigger: `Daily`, check `Repeat task every: 5 minutes` (the fastest interval the GUI allows), `for a duration of: Indefinitely`, no expiration.
+   - Don't use a `One time` trigger with a fixed repeat duration (e.g. `1 day`) — it stops repeating once that duration elapses instead of running forever.
+3. Action: start a program.
+   - Program/script: `php.exe` (full path, e.g. `C:\php\php.exe`)
+   - Arguments: `spark tasks:run`
+   - Start in: **must be the OSPOS project root — the directory containing the `spark` file** (e.g. `C:\laragon\www\opensourcepos`, or `C:\wamp64\www\opensourcepos\public\..`). This is NOT your PHP installation directory. If `Start in` is wrong or blank, `spark` fails immediately with `Could not open input file: spark` and the window closes before you can read it.
+   - Alternatively, avoid relying on `Start in` altogether by giving the full path to `spark` directly in Arguments: `Arguments: C:\laragon\www\opensourcepos\spark tasks:run`.
+4. On the **General** tab, select **"Run whether user is logged on or not"**. Without this, the task runs in your interactive session and briefly flashes a console window every time it fires.
+   - You'll be prompted for your account password to save the task. If it's rejected (common with Microsoft accounts using Windows Hello — fingerprint/PIN/face login won't work here), check **"Do not store password"** instead. This limits the task to local computer resources only, which is sufficient for `spark tasks:run`.
+5. Save the task. It will invoke the scheduler every 5 minutes — less frequent than the once-per-minute cron example above, so jobs are processed in 5-minute batches instead.
+6. Before trusting the scheduled task, verify it manually: open `cmd.exe`, `cd` to the same `Start in` directory, and run the same `Program/script` + `Arguments`. You should see `Running Tasks...` then `Completed Running Tasks`, and a new heartbeat line in `writable/logs/`.
+
+### `manual` mode
+
+No setup is required. Set Mode to Manual on the Job Queue → Settings tab, then use the "Process All Jobs" button on the Utilities tab whenever you need jobs processed.
+
+### Docker considerations
+
+Docker containers are single-process by default, so cron does not run inside the OSPOS container out of the box — this is why **Web mode is the default** and works with zero extra Docker configuration.
+
+If you want `auto` mode under Docker, pick one of the following:
+
+**Option 1: separate worker container (recommended)**
+
+Add a second service to your `docker-compose.yml` pointing at the same database:
+
+```yaml
+worker:
+  image: opensourcepos
+  command: php spark tasks:run
+  depends_on:
+    - db
+  restart: unless-stopped
+```
+
+**Option 2: supervisor inside the container**
+
+Add supervisor to the image and configure it to run both the web server and the scheduler. Works, but goes against the one-process-per-container convention — acceptable for simple single-container setups.
+
+**Option 3: cron sidecar container**
+
+Run a minimal sidecar container that fires `php spark tasks:run` every minute via cron, sharing the same network and database as the main container.
+
 ## Nginx install using Docker
 
 Since OSPOS version `3.3.0` the Docker installation offers a reverse proxy based on Nginx with a Let's Encrypt TLS certificate termination (aka HTTPS connection).
diff --git a/app/Models/JobThrottle.php b/app/Models/JobThrottle.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..032b3caa9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Models/JobThrottle.php
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Models;
+
+use CodeIgniter\Database\ResultInterface;
+use CodeIgniter\Model;
+
+/**
+ * JobThrottle class
+ */
+class JobThrottle extends Model
+{
+    protected $table = 'job_throttles';
+    protected $primaryKey = 'throttle_id';
+    protected $useAutoIncrement = true;
+    protected $useSoftDeletes = false;
+    protected $allowedFields = [
+        'max_count',
+        'period',
+        'deleted'
+    ];
+
+    /**
+     * @param int $throttleId
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function exists(int $throttleId): bool
+    {
+        $builder = $this->db->table('job_throttles');
+        $builder->where('throttle_id', $throttleId);
+
+        return ($builder->get()->getNumRows() >= 1);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param array $throttleData
+     * @param int $throttleId
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function saveValue(array $throttleData, int $throttleId): bool
+    {
+        $throttleDataToSave = [
+            'max_count' => $throttleData['max_count'],
+            'period'    => $throttleData['period'],
+            'deleted'   => 0
+        ];
+
+        if (!$this->exists($throttleId)) {
+            $builder = $this->db->table('job_throttles');
+            return $builder->insert($throttleDataToSave);
+        }
+
+        $builder = $this->db->table('job_throttles');
+        $builder->where('throttle_id', $throttleId);
+
+        return $builder->update($throttleDataToSave);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return ResultInterface
+     */
+    public function getAll(): ResultInterface
+    {
+        $builder = $this->db->table('job_throttles');
+        $builder->where('deleted', 0);
+
+        return $builder->get();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Deletes one throttle
+     */
+    public function delete($throttleId = null, bool $purge = false): bool
+    {
+        $builder = $this->db->table('job_throttles');
+        $builder->where('throttle_id', $throttleId);
+
+        return $builder->update(['deleted' => 1]);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index f12384fa4..a21b79c23 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
         "php": "^8.2",
         "ext-intl": "*",
         "codeigniter4/framework": "4.7.4",
+        "codeigniter4/tasks": "^1.0",
         "dompdf/dompdf": "^3.1.6",
         "ezyang/htmlpurifier": "^4.17",
         "laminas/laminas-escaper": "2.18.0",
diff --git a/composer.lock b/composer.lock
index 661a34712..cd4fa86b7 100644
--- a/composer.lock
+++ b/composer.lock
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
         "Read more about it at https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md#installing-dependencies",
         "This file is @generated automatically"
     ],
-    "content-hash": "caa6ba9519694ccf54b8a487640e87fd",
+    "content-hash": "7f9d30d341a97be2979b62b5732ee285",
     "packages": [
         {
             "name": "codeigniter4/framework",
@@ -83,6 +83,183 @@
             },
             "time": "2026-07-07T09:23:35+00:00"
         },
+        {
+            "name": "codeigniter4/queue",
+            "version": "v1.0.1",
+            "source": {
+                "type": "git",
+                "url": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/queue.git",
+                "reference": "87f736a69a0d64bce0c40bcb1a3f966250f70f03"
+            },
+            "dist": {
+                "type": "zip",
+                "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/codeigniter4/queue/zipball/87f736a69a0d64bce0c40bcb1a3f966250f70f03",
+                "reference": "87f736a69a0d64bce0c40bcb1a3f966250f70f03",
+                "shasum": ""
+            },
+            "require": {
+                "php": "^8.2"
+            },
+            "require-dev": {
+                "codeigniter4/devkit": "^1.3",
+                "codeigniter4/framework": "^4.3",
+                "php-amqplib/php-amqplib": "^3.7",
+                "phpstan/phpstan-strict-rules": "^2.0",
+                "predis/predis": "^2.0 || ^3.0"
+            },
+            "suggest": {
+                "ext-redis": "If you want to use RedisHandler",
+                "php-amqplib/php-amqplib": "If you want to use RabbitMQHandler",
+                "predis/predis": "If you want to use PredisHandler"
+            },
+            "type": "library",
+            "autoload": {
+                "psr-4": {
+                    "CodeIgniter\\Queue\\": "src"
+                },
+                "exclude-from-classmap": [
+                    "**/Database/Migrations/**"
+                ]
+            },
+            "notification-url": "https://packagist.org/downloads/",
+            "license": [
+                "MIT"
+            ],
+            "authors": [
+                {
+                    "name": "michalsn",
+                    "homepage": "https://github.com/michalsn",
+                    "role": "Developer"
+                }
+            ],
+            "description": "Queues for CodeIgniter 4 framework",
+            "homepage": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/queue",
+            "keywords": [
+                "codeigniter",
+                "codeigniter4",
+                "database",
+                "predis",
+                "queue",
+                "redis"
+            ],
+            "support": {
+                "issues": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/queue/issues",
+                "source": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/queue/tree/v1.0.1"
+            },
+            "time": "2026-07-23T17:03:38+00:00"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "codeigniter4/settings",
+            "version": "v2.4.0",
+            "source": {
+                "type": "git",
+                "url": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/settings.git",
+                "reference": "7cbd2e2146e32211cc8194d9c35632631500adad"
+            },
+            "dist": {
+                "type": "zip",
+                "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/codeigniter4/settings/zipball/7cbd2e2146e32211cc8194d9c35632631500adad",
+                "reference": "7cbd2e2146e32211cc8194d9c35632631500adad",
+                "shasum": ""
+            },
+            "require": {
+                "php": "^8.2"
+            },
+            "require-dev": {
+                "codeigniter4/devkit": "^1.3",
+                "codeigniter4/framework": "^4.3"
+            },
+            "type": "library",
+            "autoload": {
+                "psr-4": {
+                    "CodeIgniter\\Settings\\": "src"
+                },
+                "exclude-from-classmap": [
+                    "**/Database/Migrations/**"
+                ]
+            },
+            "notification-url": "https://packagist.org/downloads/",
+            "license": [
+                "MIT"
+            ],
+            "authors": [
+                {
+                    "name": "Lonnie Ezell",
+                    "email": "lonnieje@gmail.com",
+                    "role": "Developer"
+                }
+            ],
+            "description": "Settings library for CodeIgniter 4",
+            "homepage": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/settings",
+            "keywords": [
+                "Settings",
+                "codeigniter",
+                "codeigniter4"
+            ],
+            "support": {
+                "issues": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/settings/issues",
+                "source": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/settings/tree/v2.4.0"
+            },
+            "time": "2026-07-30T16:03:46+00:00"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "codeigniter4/tasks",
+            "version": "v1.0.1",
+            "source": {
+                "type": "git",
+                "url": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/tasks.git",
+                "reference": "30a329a040f86e49d723b7c2eaa64836a703eb55"
+            },
+            "dist": {
+                "type": "zip",
+                "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/codeigniter4/tasks/zipball/30a329a040f86e49d723b7c2eaa64836a703eb55",
+                "reference": "30a329a040f86e49d723b7c2eaa64836a703eb55",
+                "shasum": ""
+            },
+            "require": {
+                "codeigniter4/queue": "^1.0",
+                "codeigniter4/settings": "^2.0",
+                "ext-json": "*",
+                "php": "^8.2"
+            },
+            "require-dev": {
+                "codeigniter4/devkit": "^1.3",
+                "codeigniter4/framework": "^4.3"
+            },
+            "type": "library",
+            "autoload": {
+                "psr-4": {
+                    "CodeIgniter\\Tasks\\": "src"
+                },
+                "exclude-from-classmap": [
+                    "**/Database/Migrations/**"
+                ]
+            },
+            "notification-url": "https://packagist.org/downloads/",
+            "license": [
+                "MIT"
+            ],
+            "authors": [
+                {
+                    "name": "Lonnie Ezell",
+                    "email": "lonnieje@gmail.com",
+                    "role": "Developer"
+                }
+            ],
+            "description": "Task Scheduler for CodeIgniter 4",
+            "homepage": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/tasks",
+            "keywords": [
+                "codeigniter",
+                "codeigniter4",
+                "cron",
+                "task scheduling"
+            ],
+            "support": {
+                "issues": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/tasks/issues",
+                "source": "https://github.com/codeigniter4/tasks/tree/v1.0.1"
+            },
+            "time": "2026-03-30T05:38:19+00:00"
+        },
         {
             "name": "dompdf/dompdf",
             "version": "v3.1.6",
@@ -5546,5 +5723,5 @@
         "ext-intl": "*"
     },
     "platform-dev": {},
-    "plugin-api-version": "2.9.0"
+    "plugin-api-version": "2.6.0"
 }