Rostering software, like QuickBooks Time, helps small business owners streamline their scheduling, time tracking, and payroll processes. Automated solutions can help ensure that the business stays compliant and operates efficiently.
But how does QuickBooks Time actually help with rostering? Here’s everything you need to know about rosters and rostering software.
All small businesses need to create an employee schedule for a particular period, such as a week, a month, or a quarter, that shows who is working what shifts. This employee schedule is called a roster. Rostering, then, is the process of creating and managing these employee schedules.
The purpose of rostering is to create schedules so that there’s enough staff on hand to meet the needs of the business while also considering the preferences and availability of employees.
Effective rosters made by small business owners or managers can help in a minimisation of costs, a reduction of employee absenteeism, and improved customer satisfaction. Disorganised rosters can anger employees, leave the workplace understaffed, and ultimately cause the business to lose money.
Making a roster involves deciding shift patterns and determining which employees will work on which days and at what times. Businesses must schedule shifts based on business needs, employee availability, scheduling rules, and other factors.
A business can either do this manually or with the help of software.
In a manual rostering system, small business owners or managers use paper forms or spreadsheets to create schedules, track time off requests, and record employee hours.
This method requires a significant amount of manual effort, as managers make changes to schedules by hand and enter information manually into a payroll system.
Such a system is flawed because there is a lot of scope for human error, and it can be incredibly time-consuming and stressful for business owners to avoid any discrepancies or omissions. Businesses must also ensure they comply fully with Australia’s labour laws, which can be tricky to navigate without help.
By contrast, rostering software. like QuickBooks Time, can help small business owners streamline their entire rostering process. The software automates many manual processes related to timesheet tracking, reducing the effort and time involved in creating employee schedules.
With software, business owners remove much of the risk of human error as the software automatically takes care of many things, including essential elements like linking to payroll and ensuring compliance.
QuickBooks Time empowers businesses to manage their rosters on the go and features easy drag-and-drop scheduling by either shift or job and the ability to share with team members within seconds. QuickBooks Time can be used on the web or on the go via QuickBooks Workforce (the QuickBooks Time mobile app).
There are a few simple principles and steps to roster effectively in any business, regardless of industry or business size.
These include determining:
These form the basis of a suitable roster, ensuring enough staff to meet business demands during hours of operation, factoring in meals and break times for employees, and considering any preferred working hours and any availability restrictions for employees.
From this foundation, an effective roster also requires planning. Plan ahead and consider future holidays, special events, or busy periods to ensure the roster is stable and consistent, enabling all employees to prepare for future shifts. Perhaps an obvious point, but communicating the roster to employees clearly and in advance is also ideal.
While stability and consistency are the aim, effective rostering will also have in-built fluidity, allowing for agile adjustment to unexpected circumstances.
Finally, where possible, automate rostering to save time and effort.
Rostering on QuickBooks Time can help with all of the above.
QuickBooks Time offers several benefits for small businesses looking to calculate timesheets effectively and manage their employee schedules and payroll processes.
With QuickBooks Time, business owners can:
This level of functionality makes QuickBooks Time a powerful tool for rostering to help business owners save time and increase productivity. With the automation of so many manual processes involved in scheduling, QuickBooks Time makes it simple for small business owners to create, manage, and assign employee shifts.
It benefits employees too, who have access to clear and transparent schedules and real-time updates on shifts and availability.
With this level of transparency and clarity on rostering, many business owners notice a marked increase in employee satisfaction and retention.
Try QuickBooks Time today and see how it can simplify your scheduling processes. Sign up now for a free trial and experience the power of QuickBooks Time to see what it can do for your business.
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