Rostering software for cafes
The morning is the business. Rostering a cafe is really about covering 7 to 10 without carrying that many people through a quiet 3pm, and doing it with a team whose availability changes every term.
| Who | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nadia O.Manager | 5:30–2 | 5:30–2 | 5:30–2 | 5:30–2 | 7–3 | off |
| Mei L.Barista | 6–2 | 6–2 | 6–2 | 6–2 | 6–2 | 7–3 |
| Priya V.Barista | 7–12 | 7–12 | 7–12 | 7–12 | off | 8–2 |
| Callum B.Floor | 9–3 | off | 9–3 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 8–4 |
| Sam T.Closer | 12–5 | 12–5 | 12–5 | 12–5 | 12–5 | 2–5 |
Three on through the rush, one from three o’clock. Priya is unavailable Friday, so the shift is not filled by her.
What makes a cafe hard to roster
Four things that come up in every one of these weeks, and what happens here instead.
What changes once it is running
What cafes get back, in the terms this trade measures it in.
A week in a cafe
What it is used for in a cafe
Specific things people in this trade do with it, rather than a list of modules.
- A 5:30 open and a 3pm close on the same day, rostered as two people rather than one long shift
- Three on coffee between seven and ten and one from three, stacked in the same week grid
- A barista’s semester timetable kept by them, so a Tuesday lecture is never rostered over by accident
- Saturday priced at your weekend rate while you are still deciding on the fifth person
- A swap between two baristas that only moves the roster once you have approved it
- Clock in at the counter on their own phone, one tap, before the first grind
- Last week copied forward, because a cafe week changes in detail rather than in shape
The week two baristas had exams
One cafe, eleven on the books, five of them studying.
| When | What happens | What you do here |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 4pm | Exam timetables land in the group chat, where they will be lost by Thursday. | They set their own unavailable hours instead, and the roster has them from that moment. |
| Thursday 2pm | Next week is built with two people effectively gone. | A shift placed over an exam flags with the reason, before anything is published. |
| Thursday 2:20pm | Saturday morning is one barista short. | The estimate shows what the fifth person costs on a Saturday, while it is still a choice. |
| Saturday 6:55am | The opener is running late and rings ahead. | The shift stays hers. The late clock in is recorded against it rather than argued about later. |
| Monday 8:30am | The week is closed before the first coffee goes out. | Two rows need a decision, the rest are already right, and the hours go to payroll. |
Two exam weeks, one late open, and nobody rostered into a lecture.
The jobs that stop being jobs
Where the hours in a week like this go. No stopwatch: the left column is what the work takes without it, and the right is what is left of the same task.
| The job | Usually | Here |
|---|---|---|
| Collecting availability every semester | Asking eleven people twice and writing it on the back of a docket | Each person keeps their own hours, and the roster reads them as you place a shift |
| Covering the 5:30 open | Hoping the opener wakes up, and finding out at 6:10 that they did not | A reminder at the interval you choose, and an unclocked shift visible at 5:40 |
| Deciding on the fifth person for Saturday | A guess, then a look at the bank account on Monday | The day total on the estimate, before the roster is published |
| A swap arranged between two baristas | A roster that no longer matches who is turning up | Offered to one workmate, accepted, approved, and only then changed |
| Monday morning timesheets | A book behind the till and a calculator | The exceptions first, then approve the week together |
What the record shows, and what stays yours
Roster Flow keeps the record. Meeting the obligation is still the workplace's job, and these are the parts of it nothing here decides for you.
- Each clock in and clock out, with how far from the shop it happened
- Late starts against the rostered start, morning by morning
- Shifts somebody worked without being rostered, held for approval
- The reason on every correction, and the name of whoever decided it
- Approved weeks locked, so a change afterwards is visible as a change
- Casual loading, weekend penalties and what a public holiday is paid at
- Junior rates, and the birthday that changes one
- Breaks on a shift that runs past five hours
- Keeping the records for as long as the law requires
What has to be kept, and for how long, is set out by the Fair Work Ombudsman. Nothing here interprets an award or certifies that a workplace complies with one.
Who is usually on the team
Usually six to fifteen people: an owner or manager, one or two full-timers, and a bench of casual baristas and floor staff who are studying.
What drives the wage cost
Weekday mornings at base, Saturday at your Saturday loading, and public holidays at whatever you have set. The estimate moves as you add each shift, so a fifth person on Saturday is a decision rather than a surprise.
Questions people in cafes ask
Can I roster two short shifts for one person in a day?
Yes. A split like 6 to 11 and 4 to 7 is two shifts on the same day, and the timesheet handles both without counting the gap.
Our baristas swap shifts between themselves. Does that work?
A swap is offered to a specific workmate with a reason. They accept, then you approve, and only then does the roster change. Nothing moves because two people agreed in a group chat.
Do staff need an app?
No. It runs in the browser on the phone they already carry, and they can add it to their home screen. Clock in is one tap at the counter, with a photo if you ask for one.
How do I cover the seven to ten rush without paying for full shifts?
You roster the hours you need rather than the shifts you are used to. Short overlapping shifts stack in the week grid, so you can see whether eight o’clock has two people on coffee or one, and the estimate moves as you add each one.
A barista sleeps through a 6am open. Do I find out in time?
They get a reminder before they are due, at an interval you set, which prevents most of it. If somebody is late enough to count as a no show you are told and given a shortlist of who is free and usually on time, and the dashboard shows who has actually clocked in.
We pay weekly. Does approving keep up with that?
The hours arrive as they happen rather than in a pile on Sunday night. Monday is the two or three exceptions, a missing clock out or a late finish, then approving the rest together and sending the week to Xero.