If you're still managing rosters on a spreadsheet — or worse, with pen and paper — you’re not alone; for many businesses, manual rostering has been, and continues to be, the norm for how they operate.
But there’s just one problem: you’re not doing your business any favors. Australian employers spend an average of 5.5 hours per week on admin tasks like scheduling, payroll, and employee recordkeeping (MYOB, 2019). That’s 284 hours a year you could put back into your business.
Switching to a digital rostering solution like Deputy is more than just a tech upgrade — it’s a smart investment in your time, your team, and your bottom line.
Let’s take a look at how modern rostering software helps Australian businesses like yours operate more efficiently, boost staff morale, and stay on the right side of compliance.
Roster smarter, so you can spend less
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. After all, manual rostering methods simply can’t keep up with today’s fast-moving businesses.
Digital rostering gives managers the insight and control they need to build cost-effective, demand-aligned schedules without the guesswork. With smart 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 also helps put control and clarity in your hands, so you can build rosters that support your staff, your customers, and your financial goals.
Regain control of your staffing costs
When labour is often your biggest operating expense, it can very easily become one of the hardest to control without reliable data. Without visibility into wage hours, shift patterns, or cost-per-shift performance, it’s easy to overspend or misallocate resources. Before you know it, you’re running into challenges with reduced margins, unpredictable payroll, and operational stress.
Digital rostering helps you take a proactive approach. It surfaces real-time labour costs as you build rosters, so you can spot inefficiencies before they hit your balance sheet.
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. The result? Less financial waste, more stability for your team, and more headspace for growing your business.
Better planning means better productivity
Manual admin is both a time suck and a significant drain on productivity. Consider that, 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.
At Azzurri Concrete, moving to Deputy allowed the company to streamline timesheet admin from six people to one, saving $160,000 per year.
3 benefits of better planning with automation
You eliminate time and errors tied to outdated processes (ones which can put you at risk for non-compliance, too)
With everything in one system — scheduling, attendance, and approvals — you can run a tighter operation and free up your people for higher-value work
There’s no 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
Create better experiences that keep your employees sticking with you
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.
And in industries where turnover is high and competition for talent is fierce, this can quickly impact your bottom line.
With a digital rostering app, your team can see their shifts in real time, receive updates instantly, and even request time off or pick up extra shifts on their own. It builds trust, saves time, and creates a better experience for everyone.
According to Deputy’s 2023 State of Shift Work Report:
50% of shift workers want to feel valued and recognised
39% seek a culture of trust, openness, and compassion
81% are under age 40, making mobile-first rostering essential
In our latest Big Shift Report, our reach also found that:
32% of Gen Z employees want more advancement opportunities from current employers
Poly-employment is on the rise, as more shift workers look for flexibility in holding multiple jobs
With digital rostering solutions (like Deputy), business owners can help create better experiences that engage and retain employees — like improving communication, strengthening team culture, and supporting a better work/life balance for staff, especially those from younger generations that are working more than one job.
“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 compliant (even as labour laws change)
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, which every business owner would ideally love to avoid.
Fortunately, a workforce management solution can help you mitigate any potential issues when it comes to compliance.
“Deputy has helped us become totally efficient in resource allocation... We can rely on Deputy to help automate complex pay rules and simplify compliance.”
— Brendon Ford, Franchise Business Manager, Rashays
For example, with Deputy, you get access to features like:
Automated award interpretation for penalty rates and overtime
Real-time shift data that feeds directly into payroll
Support for multiple awards and employee types
Deputy also offers built-in award interpretation that ensures you’re applying the right pay rates, overtime, and penalty loadings to the right people, automatically.
Discover why Deputy is Australia’s leading rostering software
From reduced admin and lower wage costs to stronger team engagement and effortless compliance, the benefits of switching to digital rostering speak for themselves. Businesses like Icebergs, Bar Milano, Peel Inn Hotel, Azzurri Concrete, F45, and Rashays have all streamlined their operations and improved outcomes using Deputy.
If you’re still relying on paper-based rosters or disconnected systems, it’s time to make the switch.
Try Deputy for free and see how we can help transform the way you roster, manage, and lead your teams.
