The problem
Casual waiting and bar staff text their hours after each event, and the owner rebuilds timesheets from messages and memory, with arguments over finish times. If assembling timesheets takes 3 hours a month and sorting disputes another hour, that's 240 minutes, 4 hours a month, and hand-written times tend to be rounded up.
What the AI does
RotaCloud is rota software with a Time & Attendance add-on. Its pricing page lists mobile and on-site clocking in, GPS restrictions, automatically generated timesheets, a comparison of scheduled and worked hours, automatic lateness flagging, and a payroll report and export. You put each event's shifts on the rota, staff clock in on their phone when they arrive at the venue and out when they leave, and the timesheet builds itself. You check the differences, agree any changes with the person, and export the payroll report.
A worked example
A caterer in Surrey has 15 casual event staff plus the owner and a head chef, 17 people in all, covering about 60 shifts a month. Staff clock in on their phones at each venue and the owner runs payroll from the export.
Before
Timesheets 180 minutes plus disputes 60 minutes = 240 minutes, 4 hours a month, with finishing times rounded up by about 15 minutes on many of the 60 shifts
After
About 60 minutes a month checking flagged shifts and exporting payroll, with times taken from the clock-in
What it's worth
About $359£270€321A$518C$508 a month saved, against about $77£58€69A$111C$109 for RotaCloud. That's 3 hours of the owner's admin (240 minus 60 = 180 minutes) at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour, $100£75€89A$144C$141 plus about $259£195€232A$374C$367 of hours no longer rounded up: 60 shifts x 15 minutes = 15 hours at an assumed $17£13€15A$25C$24 an hour. The rounding is an assumption; check your own timesheets. For 11 to 20 employees RotaCloud Standard is $53£40€48A$77C$75 a month and the Time & Attendance add-on is shown as $24£18€21A$35C$34 for that band.
How to set it up
- Count everyone who will use it, including you and the head chef, to find your price band, and start the 30-day free trial.
- Add the Time & Attendance add-on and set up your regular venues, with GPS restrictions where they work.
- Put each event's shifts on the rota so the app can compare scheduled and worked hours.
- Tell staff they clock in on arrival and out when they leave, and that the clock-in is the record for pay.
- Each pay period, check flagged lateness and differences, agree changes with the person, and export the payroll report.
What goes wrong
- Pricing goes by headcount band including you: 11 to 20 people is $53£40€48A$77C$75 plus $24£18€21A$35C$34 and a 21st person moves you to $80£60€71A$115C$113 plus $36£27€32A$52C$51. The page doesn't say whether the add-on price is monthly, so check before you commit.
- Pay for all working time, not just clocked time. Setting up before the clock-in or required travel between venues can count for National Minimum Wage.
- Location data is personal data under UK GDPR. Tell staff what is recorded and why, and use it only for clocking in.
- Some venues have no signal. Agree a fallback, such as the event lead noting times, and check how GPS restrictions handle a new venue.