Rota budget calculator
This week's forecast in, the hours you can afford out.
Rota budget calculator
This week's forecast in, the hours you can afford out.
750 hrs
to build this week's rota with
£12,000 labour budget at 30% of £40,000
Why the answer is in hours
Nobody builds a rota in pounds. Managers think in shifts and hours, so a labour budget only works if it arrives in hours. Set the budget before the rota gets built, and the rota has a number to hit instead of a feeling.
The hours round down on purpose. Rotas that round up overspend by a shift a week.
Where £16 an hour comes from
For a mostly minimum wage team, the true cost of an hour is the wage plus holiday pay plus employer's National Insurance. That lands around £16. If your room runs on higher rates, put your own blended number in.
For the forecast, start with the same week last year and adjust for how the last month has actually run. An honest forecast beats an optimistic one, the rota spends real money either way.
Common questions
How much does a minimum wage employee really cost per hour?
About £16 once you add holiday pay and employer's National Insurance to the wage. Budgeting rotas at the headline wage rate is how labour lands 20% over.
How many staff hours can my restaurant afford?
Forecast sales times your target labour percentage, divided by your true cost per hour. £40,000 at 30% and £16 an hour is 750 hours for the week.
How do I forecast sales for a rota?
Start with the same week last year, then adjust for how the last four weeks have run and anything you know is coming, weather, events, closures. Honest beats optimistic.
Built by Jack Applebee. 11 years running restaurants at Borough Market and the Southbank.
If labour keeps landing over target no matter what the rota says, that is a system problem. I fix those.