Check costs before the week begins
Review projected wages while adding or adjusting shifts. Consider service coverage and required skills together with cost; the cheapest roster is not necessarily the roster your operation needs.
Labour cost planning
See projected labour costs while you can still change the roster.
Put the wage estimate beside the working week. Compare the planned coverage with your budget before publishing, then use recorded attendance to review what changed.
For café, restaurant, retail and other shift-team managers who need to understand scheduled wage costs before committing to the week.
$1 for 30 days. Cancel anytime. No setup fee. Card required for the $1 trial.
Review wage estimates beside the rosterReal app view
What changes in the working week?
Use a consistent budget definition
A roster wage estimate is not automatically the full cost of employment. Decide how your budget treats superannuation, leave, management salaries and other on-costs, and keep that definition consistent when comparing results.
Explain changes after the shift
Compare rostered work with recorded attendance and approved hours. Finishing later, changing coverage or recording an additional break can affect the comparison, so investigate the records before drawing a conclusion.
How it works
A process the team can follow.
- 1
Confirm the inputs
Check staff rates and configured pay rules. Choose a realistic labour allowance using your own trading expectations and agree the cost definition with your payroll adviser or bookkeeper.
- 2
Review coverage and projected wages
Build the week, check the estimate and adjust shifts where appropriate. Confirm that changes still cover the work, required skills and availability before publishing.
- 3
Compare the plan with confirmed work
After the shifts, review attendance and approve timesheets. Compare the period consistently with the original budget and investigate the reasons for a difference before planning the next week.
A practical check
A percentage alone can hide the reason
Labour cost percentage is labour cost divided by sales, multiplied by 100. Lower sales can increase that percentage even if staff work exactly the planned hours. Review both the wage amount and sales from the same period so you can distinguish a coverage decision from a sales shortfall.
Build a weekly labour budget →
Work through a fictional café example and use the free worksheet to plan your own numbers.
Questions before you try it.
Does ShiftRova predict customer demand or sales?
No demand or sales forecast is promised here. Managers decide the coverage needed using their own trading information. ShiftRova helps them review projected wages and configured budget information alongside the roster.
Are projected wages the final payroll amount?
No. Estimates depend on configured rates, rules and scheduled hours. Actual attendance, approved corrections and your payroll configuration can change the result. Validate the settings and review payroll separately.
What labour percentage should my business aim for?
There is no universal target on this page. Choose a definition and target that suit your operating model, service requirements and financial position with your bookkeeper. The linked worksheet illustrates the calculation with fictional figures.
See the setup for your industry: Hospitality, Security, NDIS Support or all industries. Optional industry tools depend on organisation settings.
Explore the workflows
Connect the rest of the workflow.
Staff rostering
Build staff rosters around availability, leave and shift skills. Review coverage and projected wages before publishing with ShiftRova.
Time & attendance
Record clock-ins, clock-outs and breaks with GPS and configured location checks. Review attendance against rostered shifts before approving hours.
Timesheet approval
Review employee timesheets, check hours and breaks, approve records and prepare Xero reference CSV or MYOB payroll import files with ShiftRova.
Try it with your own working week.
Start an organisation trial or explore the hospitality demo with sample staff and shifts first.
$1 for 30 days. Cancel anytime. No setup fee. Card required for the $1 trial.