Rostering software for salons and barbers
Most stylists work set days rather than a full week, Thursday runs late, and Saturday is the day the money is made. The roster is really a map of who is in, so the bookings can be filled around it.
| Who | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nadia O.Owner | 9–5 | 9–5 | 10–8 | 9–5 | 8–4 |
| Mei L.Stylist | 9–5 | off | 10–8 | 9–5 | 8–4 |
| Kirra D.Stylist | off | 9–5 | 10–8 | 9–5 | 8–4 |
| Tom H.Apprentice | 9–5 | 9–5 | off | 9–5 | 8–4 |
| Ruby N.Desk | off | 9–3 | 12–8 | 9–5 | 8–4 |
Thursday runs to eight. The apprentice is at trade school on Thursdays, which is held as unavailable rather than remembered.
What makes a salon 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 salons and barbers get back, in the terms this trade measures it in.
A week in a salon
What it is used for in a salon
Specific things people in this trade do with it, rather than a list of modules.
- Stylists who work set days, each keeping their own days current
- A late night rostered once a week, at the rate you have set for it
- An apprentice whose trade school day is held as unavailable rather than remembered
- A Saturday swap that only changes the roster once you have approved it
- The desk rostered as its own person, so the floor is not answering the phone
- A chair that sits empty on a quiet Tuesday, visible before the week is published
The Saturday a stylist swapped and nobody told the desk
A five chair salon, two stylists, an apprentice and somebody on the desk.
| When | What happens | What you do here |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 6pm | A stylist asks a workmate to take her Saturday. | She offers it to that person with a reason, rather than settling it in a group chat. |
| Wednesday 7:30pm | The workmate accepts. | Nothing has changed yet. The swap waits for a manager to approve it. |
| Thursday 9am | You approve it, and the desk sees the new Saturday. | The published roster is the one that is true, which is the whole point of approving it. |
| Saturday 8:00am | The right person walks in and the desk is not surprised. | Her clock in goes against the shift she took, so the hours land on the right person. |
| Monday | The week is approved with the swap in it. | Two people, one Saturday, and a record that shows who actually worked it. |
A swap that happened properly, and a desk that knew before the client did.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rostering people who work different days | Asking every fortnight and writing it on the appointment book | Each stylist keeps their own days, and the roster reads them |
| A Saturday that changes hands | A conversation two people had, and a roster that still says otherwise | Offered, accepted, approved, then published |
| Trade school on a Thursday | Remembered until the week somebody forgets | Unavailable hours that flag a shift as it is placed |
| Pricing a late night and a Saturday | Working it out from the takings afterwards | Your evening and weekend rates in the estimate as the week is built |
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.
- Who actually worked a shift after a swap, not who was first rostered for it
- Swap requests, who offered, who accepted and who approved
- Clock in and out for each stylist, against the hours the salon was open
- Unavailable hours that were in place when the week was built
- Every correction with its reason, and the approved week locked afterwards
- Apprentice rates and what a trade school day is paid at
- Commission, chair rent and anything paid on takings rather than hours
- Penalty rates for a late night and a Saturday
- Whether a swapped shift changes anybody’s entitlements
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
Three to fifteen: the owner, stylists on their own days, an apprentice and somebody on the desk.
What drives the wage cost
Base rates midweek, your evening rate on the late night and your Saturday loading on the busiest day. A small floor means one extra person on Saturday moves the number noticeably.
Questions people in salons and barbers ask
Does it handle client bookings?
No. It rosters staff and records their hours. Bookings stay in whatever your clients book through, and this tells you who is in to take them.
Can chair renters be on the roster?
You can roster anybody you add, but this counts hours rather than commission or chair rent. What somebody is paid is worked out in your payroll or accounting system.
Can stylists see next week from home?
Yes, once it is published. It is a web page on their own phone, with their shifts, their hours and their leave.
Stylists work the same set days. Do I rebuild that every week?
No. Copy last week and the pattern comes with it, including who does not work Mondays, then change the handful of things that actually moved.
Thursday runs late and Saturday is the money. Are those rates in the estimate?
They are, at whatever loading you have set and only for the people you said it applies to. The day totals as you place each stylist, so a fifth person on Saturday is a decision rather than a discovery.
A stylist swaps their Saturday with somebody. Do I lose track of it?
The swap is offered to a specific workmate with a reason, they accept, and then you approve it. Only then does the roster change. What is published is always what is true.