Why It's Time to Switch to Roster Management Software

by Deputy Team

Key takeaways

• Manual rostering costs Australian businesses hundreds of hours per year in admin

• Digital roster management cuts labour costs, improves staff retention, and supports compliance with modern awards

• Gen Z now makes up 41% of Australia's shift workforce, making mobile-first rostering non-negotiable

• Businesses using Deputy have saved up to $160,000 per year in admin costs alone

Contents

1. The hidden cost of manual rostering

2. How roster management software cuts your labour costs

3. Build smarter rosters with demand forecasting

4. Slash admin time and boost productivity

5. Keep your team engaged with mobile-first rostering

6. Stay on top of compliance with Australian modern awards

7. What to look for in roster management software

8. How businesses across Australia are making the switch

9. Getting started with roster management software

The hidden cost of manual rostering

If you're still managing rosters on a spreadsheet, or worse, with pen and paper, you're pouring hours into a process that should take minutes. You're not alone, but that doesn't make it any less costly.

Australian employers spend an average of 5.5 hours per week on admin tasks like rostering, payroll, and employee recordkeeping. That adds up to 284 hours a year you could put back into running your business.

Think about what that time is really worth. Every hour you spend manually filling in roster gaps, fielding availability texts, or fixing payroll errors is an hour you can't spend on your customers, your team, or your growth plans.

The compounding cost is significant. Over five years, manual rostering can drain more than 1,400 hours of productive time from your business. For small hospitality and service businesses operating on tight margins, that's time you simply can't afford to waste.

Switching to a digital roster management platform gives you that time back. It replaces guesswork with real-time data, automates repetitive tasks, and gives you a clear view of your labour costs before you publish a single shift.

How roster management software cuts your labour costs

Labour is likely your biggest operating expense. With wage costs rising 3.3% over the past year, getting your rostering right has never been more critical. Without reliable data, it's also one of the hardest costs to control. When you can't see wage hours, shift patterns, or cost-per-shift performance in real time, it's easy to overspend or misallocate resources.

Roster management software changes that. It surfaces real-time labour costs as you build your roster, so you can spot inefficiencies before they hit your balance sheet. You can see exactly how much each shift costs and adjust on the fly to avoid overstaffing quiet periods or understaffing your busiest times.

The Peel Inn Hotel used Deputy to reduce weekly wage hours from 330 to 280, saving up to $2,000 per week in the process.

That's 50 hours that were unaccounted for. Now we can better predict our spend, and our team have more consistent hours.

Drew Schofield, owner, Peel Inn Hotel

When you can clearly see how labour is being used, and where it's being wasted, you can build rosters that align with both service standards and cost expectations. You get less financial waste, more stability for your team, and more headroom for growing your business.

Build smarter rosters with demand forecasting

Rostering isn't just about plugging names into time slots. It's a strategic function that impacts your team's productivity, your customers' experience, and your bottom line.

Without visibility into availability, cost, or demand, it's easy to overstaff quiet periods or fall short during peak times. Manual rostering methods simply can't keep up with today's fast-moving businesses.

Digital roster management software gives you the insight and control you need to build cost-effective, demand-aligned rosters without the guesswork. With smart forecasting tools at your fingertips, you can make confident decisions about how, and when, you staff your team.

With digital rosters, you can easily:

• Automatically factor in employee availability, skill sets, and hourly rates

• Forecast staffing needs based on historical sales, foot traffic, or delivery demand

• Create templates and repeat successful rosters without starting from scratch

You have full control of costing, which is everything. Deputy shows you your labour percentage, which helps us know how many staff we need.

Patrick Agostinelli, co-owner, Bar Milano

Whether you're rostering for a restaurant, retail store, or job site, smarter rostering means better business outcomes. It puts control and clarity in your hands, so you can build rosters that support your staff, your customers, and your financial goals.

Slash admin time and boost productivity

Manual admin is both a time drain and a significant hit to productivity. When you're stuck reconciling timesheets, tracking attendance across paper rosters, or resolving pay disputes, you're not focusing on growing your business or supporting your team.

For growing businesses especially, these tasks only get more complex. But with digital rostering and time tracking, you can dramatically cut down on admin and redirect that time and energy toward what really matters.

Azzurri Concrete moved to Deputy and streamlined timesheet admin from six people to one, saving $160,000 per year.

Three benefits of better planning with automation

• You eliminate time wasted and errors tied to outdated processes, including ones that can put you at risk for non-compliance

• With everything in one system (rostering, attendance, and approvals), you can run a tighter operation and free up your people for higher-value work

• You remove the need for manual, paper-based management of tasks like rostering, payroll, and labour forecasting

We're now a lot more proactive rather than reactive about getting the right number and type of worker on each site.

Peter Martino, CEO, Azzurri Concrete

Keep your team engaged with mobile-first rostering

Rostering plays a bigger role in employee satisfaction than you might think. When staff don't know when they're working, struggle to swap shifts, or feel like they're constantly in the dark, morale takes a very real hit.

In industries like hospitality where turnover is high and competition for talent is fierce, poor rostering experiences can quickly impact your bottom line. Your team wants to see their shifts in real time, receive updates instantly, and request time off or pick up extra shifts on their own.

The data backs this up. According to Deputy's Big Shift Report 2026, Gen Z now represents 41% of all shift workers in Australia. This generation expects a mobile-first experience in every part of their lives, and rostering is no exception.

The same report found that poly-employment is at a decade high, with Gen Z accounting for 72% of poly-employed shift workers. When your team members are juggling multiple jobs, they need instant access to their rosters from their phones. A paper roster pinned to the breakroom wall simply won't cut it.

With a digital rostering app, your team can view shifts, swap with colleagues, and manage their availability from anywhere. It builds trust, saves time, and creates a better experience for everyone.

The ease of finding available staff has changed everyone's life. They love literally seeing their shifts in their hand.

Alex Loaney, business manager, F45 Opulent Group

Stay on top of compliance with Australian modern awards

Navigating Australia's complex labour laws and modern awards can be stressful, especially when compliance mistakes come with steep financial and reputational costs.

Even accidental errors can lead to backpay issues, Fair Work investigations, or penalties. Every business owner wants to avoid these outcomes, but keeping up with changing award conditions manually is difficult and error-prone.

A workforce management platform like Deputy is designed to support your compliance efforts by giving you the tools to apply the right pay rates, overtime, and penalty loadings to the right people. With built-in award interpretation, you get access to features like:

• Award interpretation for penalty rates and overtime

• Real-time shift data that feeds directly into payroll

• Support for multiple awards and employee types

Deputy has helped us become totally efficient in resource allocation. We can rely on Deputy to help manage complex pay rules and simplify compliance.

Brendon Ford, franchise business manager, Rashays

These tools help you reduce the risk of underpayment, support audit readiness, and stay on top of your obligations under the Fair Work Act. You remain in control of your compliance responsibilities, and Deputy gives you the data and tools to support those workflows.

What to look for in roster management software

Not all rostering tools are created equal. If you're evaluating roster management software for your Australian business, here's a checklist of the features that matter most:

• Drag-and-drop roster builder so you can create and adjust rosters quickly without technical expertise

• Award interpretation for Australian modern awards, so you can apply the correct pay rates, penalties, and overtime rules

• Integration with payroll platforms like Xero and MYOB to reduce double handling and manual data entry

• Mobile app for staff so your team can view rosters, swap shifts, and manage availability from their phones

• Real-time labour cost reporting that shows you exactly what each shift costs as you build your roster

• Shift swap and availability management so you can fill gaps faster and give your team more flexibility

• Multi-location support if you operate across more than one site, so you can manage all your teams from a single platform

When you're comparing options, look for a platform that covers all of these areas in one place. The fewer tools you need to stitch together, the less admin you'll deal with and the fewer errors you'll make.

How businesses across Australia are making the switch

Businesses of all sizes across Australia have already moved to digital roster management, and the results speak for themselves.

• Bar Milano gained full control of labour costing, helping the team roster with confidence and keep wage percentages in check

• Peel Inn Hotel reduced weekly wage hours by 50, saving up to $2,000 per week

• Azzurri Concrete cut timesheet admin from six people to one, saving $160,000 per year

• F45 Opulent Group transformed how they find and roster available staff, giving their team instant visibility of shifts

• Rashays streamlined resource allocation and used Deputy's tools to support compliance workflows across their franchise locations

Each of these businesses replaced manual, paper-based processes with a single digital platform. The common thread? They all saved time, reduced costs, and created a better experience for their teams.

Getting started with roster management software

Making the switch doesn't have to be complicated. Here's a practical path to get started:

1. Assess your current process. How much time do you spend on rostering each week? Where do errors and miscommunications happen most? Write down your biggest pain points.

2. Identify your top priorities. Do you need better labour cost visibility? Faster shift filling? Award compliance support? Knowing what matters most will help you pick the right platform.

3. Trial a platform. The best way to know if roster management software works for your business is to try it. Look for a free trial that lets you test real features with your real team.

Deputy gives you everything you need to roster smarter, cut admin, and support compliance with Australian modern awards. You can start building your first digital roster in minutes.

Try Deputy for free and see how it can help transform the way you roster, manage, and lead your teams.

FAQs

What is roster management software?

Roster management software is a digital tool that helps you create, manage, and optimise staff rosters. Instead of using spreadsheets or paper, you build rosters in a platform that factors in employee availability, labour costs, and compliance requirements. Deputy's roster management software also includes time tracking, shift swapping, and payroll integration, so you can manage your entire workforce from one place.

How does roster management software help with Australian award compliance?

Roster management software like Deputy includes built-in award interpretation that helps you apply the correct pay rates, penalty loadings, and overtime rules for your team. It surfaces potential issues before you publish a roster, so you can catch errors early and reduce the risk of underpayment. While you're still responsible for compliance, Deputy's tools are designed to support your compliance efforts and help you stay on top of your obligations under the Fair Work Act.

Can roster management software integrate with Xero or MYOB?

Yes. Deputy integrates directly with popular Australian payroll platforms including Xero, MYOB, and others. This means your timesheet data flows straight into payroll without manual re-entry, reducing errors and saving you time every pay cycle.

How much time can roster management software save?

The time savings depend on the size of your team and how you currently manage rosters. Australian employers spend an average of 5.5 hours per week on admin tasks like rostering and payroll. Businesses that switch to Deputy have reported saving up to $160,000 per year in admin costs, and many see immediate reductions in the time they spend building and managing rosters.

Is Deputy suitable for small businesses?

Deputy is built for businesses of all sizes, from single-location cafes to multi-site franchises. Small businesses often see the biggest impact, because every hour saved on admin goes directly back into running the business. You can start with a free trial and scale up as your team grows.

How does Deputy help with last-minute roster changes?

Deputy makes it easy to handle last-minute changes. When a team member calls in sick or a shift needs filling, you can instantly see who's available and qualified, then send a shift offer to the right people with one tap. Your team can also swap shifts directly through the app, so you don't need to play middleman. Push notifications keep everyone in the loop, and your roster updates in real time.

Important Notice

The information contained in this article is general in nature and you should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs. Legal and other matters referred to in this article are of a general nature only and are based on Deputy's interpretation of laws existing at the time and should not be relied on in place of professional advice. Deputy is not responsible for the content of any site owned by a third party that may be linked to this article and no warranty is made by us concerning the suitability, accuracy or timeliness of the content of any site that may be linked to this article. Deputy disclaims all liability (except for any liability which by law cannot be excluded) for any error, inaccuracy, or omission from the information contained in this article and any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.