Rotas out of the group chat.
Staff rota software built around your team, not someone else's
Shifts, holidays, swaps and who can work when, all in one place your team can check from their phones. We build staff rota software around how your business runs, then hand you the hours at the end of the month, ready for payroll.
Where the rota lives now.
If your rota started life as a free rota template in Excel, you'll know how this goes. The spreadsheet is on the office computer, a photo of it is in the group chat, and underneath is a string of messages asking to swap Saturday. Holiday requests arrive by text, in person and on a sticky note by the till. By Friday, nobody's quite sure which version is the real one.
Staff rota software built for your business puts all of that in one place. Everyone sees the same rota, every request goes to the same list, and when you change a shift, the person it affects is told straight away.
What your team sees on their phones.
Staff open the rota in the browser on their phone. There's nothing to install and nothing to remember except a link.
Their shifts and the week ahead.
Each person sees their own shifts, where they're working and who else is on. When the rota is published or one of their shifts changes, they get a text or email telling them, so nobody finds out by turning up.
Holiday requests.
Pick the dates, add a note and send. Staff can see how much of their allowance is left and whether the request has been approved, without having to catch you on a busy morning.
Shift swaps.
A swap is offered to colleagues who are free and able to do that shift, accepted by one of them, then approved by you. The rota updates itself, and nobody swaps into a job they haven't been trained for.
Availability.
Staff mark the days and times they can't work, such as school runs, college or a second job. When you build the rota, those gaps are already shaded out, so you're not booking someone who told you months ago they can't do Tuesdays.
From a blank week to payroll.
Your screen is an online rota planner with everyone down the side and the days across the top. Drag a shift onto a person, copy last week's rota and tweak it, or start from a pattern you use every week. Approved holidays and availability are already on it, so clashes show up before you publish, not after.
Along the bottom you can see the hours booked for each day against the cover you need, so a thin Saturday or an overstaffed Tuesday stands out. If you set a weekly limit for anyone's hours, the rota flags it when you go over. When it's right, press publish. Everyone's told, and there's a printable version for the staff room wall.
At the end of the week or month, the system adds up the hours each person worked, including overtime, holiday and any sickness you've recorded. If staff clock in and out, those times are used; if not, the rota hours are, with any changes you've made. You check the timesheets for payroll on screen, then download them as a spreadsheet laid out the way your bookkeeper asks for.
Built around your business, not a template.
For a lot of small businesses, the rota isn't just a grid of shifts. It's tied to the vans, the jobs, the events or the bookings, and that's where a rota built for you pays its way.
Crews and vans.
For trades and removals, the rota is really about who's in which van with whom. Build crews for each day, see which jobs each crew is on, and give every crew leader a printed day sheet.
Events and one-off dates.
Caterers and event businesses staff up for particular dates. Add the event, say how many people it needs and which roles, and offer the shifts to staff who are free. Accepted shifts go straight onto the rota.
Skills and roles.
Mark who's trained for what, such as the till, the jet wash, driving the van or opening up. The rota warns you if a shift has nobody on it who can lock up at the end of the day.
Linked to your bookings.
If you take bookings through a system we've built, the rota and the diary work together, so customers can only book times when someone's in to do the work, and a sick day shows which bookings need moving.
When a ready-made rota app is the better choice.
Tools like RotaCloud, Deputy, Planday and Sling suit plenty of businesses. If you run straightforward shifts in one place and a ready-made staff rota app does what you need, that's the sensible choice, and you should start there.
Bespoke rota software for small business makes sense when the rota is tangled up with the rest of the business: crews tied to jobs, drivers tied to delivery runs, staff tied to event dates or bookings. It also makes sense when the rota is one part of a bigger system you need anyway, so it may as well live in the same place.
What you get, and what you own.
You get a rota system set up with your team, your roles and your way of working, on your own web address. It's made for your business, and you own it.
The rota and the requests.
The week view for building rotas, the staff view on their phones, and one list of holiday requests, swaps and availability changes waiting for your yes or no.
Messages and printouts.
Texts or emails when a rota is published or a shift changes, a reminder the night before a shift if you want one, and a printable rota for the wall or the van.
Hours for payroll.
A weekly or monthly summary of hours, overtime, holiday and sickness for each person, ready to check and download as a spreadsheet in the layout your payroll needs.
A record you can rely on.
Every rota, change and approval is kept, so if there's a question about who agreed to what, the answer is on screen rather than buried in a chat. Hosting and upkeep costs are agreed before we start.
Free tool
Just need a rota this week?.
Our free rota maker runs in your browser, with no sign-up. Stamp on the shifts, check breaks and cover, then send your team a link, a picture or their shifts for their phone calendar.
Questions about staff rotas.
How much does staff rota software cost to build?
It depends on the size of your team and how tangled the rota is with the rest of the business, so there's no price list. We'll talk it through, then give you a fixed quote before anything is built. You could start with the rota and holiday requests, and add swaps, clocking in or payroll hours later, once you've seen the first part working.
Do my staff need to download an app?
No. The rota opens in the browser on any phone, so staff tap a link, log in and they're in. They can add it to their home screen so it sits alongside their other apps. Anyone who'd rather not use their phone can still check the printed rota on the wall, and you can put their requests in for them.
Can you bring across our current rota spreadsheet?
Yes. Staff names, contact details, roles, contracted hours and holiday already booked can usually be brought across from a spreadsheet, so you don't start from a blank page. If you're moving from another rota app and it lets you export your data, we can use that file too. We'll check it first and tell you if anything, like missing phone numbers, needs filling in.
Can staff swap shifts without asking me?
Only if you want them to. You can let staff swap directly for certain shifts, or have every swap come to you for a yes or no. Either way, a swap is only offered to people who are free and able to do that shift, and the rota updates as soon as it's agreed. The copy on the wall is the only thing that needs reprinting.
Can it keep track of holiday allowance?
Yes. You set each person's allowance and when your holiday year starts, and the system keeps count as requests are approved. Staff can see what they've got left, and you can see who else is off before you say yes. If part-timers or people who started mid-year need working out differently, we'll build it the way your bookkeeper or HR adviser tells us to.
Can staff clock in and out?
They can, if you'd like them to. Staff tap in and out on their phones or on a tablet by the door, and the times sit next to their planned shifts, so late starts and early finishes are easy to spot. You approve the hours before they go to payroll. If you'd rather keep it simple, the rota hours are used instead.
Staff rotas for your trade.
Some of the trades we build for. Or see everyone we help.
Got something that's slowing you down?
Tell us what's eating your time, in your own words. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and what it would take.