Restaurant Scheduling That Doesn't Ruin Your Sunday
It's Sunday afternoon. You need to build next week's schedule. You know Sarah can't work Tuesday, John requested Friday off, and someone mentioned they might need to swap Thursday but you can't remember who. You're juggling texts, checking last week's schedule, and trying to remember who's reliable for Saturday night.
Then you post the schedule and wait. Someone always has an issue you didn't know about. Someone always forgets to check it. And someone definitely won't show up Saturday without telling you.
The Real Problems
You find out too late
Someone doesn't show up. You find out when the host calls twenty minutes before their shift. Now you're scrambling: texting people who might be available, calling in favors, or covering it yourself.
Making the schedule takes hours
You're cross-referencing availability texts, trying to remember who swapped last week, checking who worked the last three Saturdays, and making sure you're not scheduling someone who said they can't work mornings anymore. It's Sunday afternoon puzzle-solving you don't have time for.
Nobody confirms anything
You text "you working Saturday?" and get silence. Or "yeah" from some people and nothing from others. You don't know if they saw it, forgot, or just didn't respond. You're left guessing who's actually coming.
Payroll is copy-paste misery
After the week ends, you're comparing the schedule to what actually happened, copying hours into payroll, trying to remember who left early and who covered for someone. It's data entry that shouldn't exist.
What Actually Fixes This
People confirm their shifts in the app
When you publish the schedule, employees see their shifts. They tap "confirm" or "can't make it." You see who confirmed and who didn't. Twenty-four hours before Saturday, you know Sarah hasn't confirmed, so you have time to find coverage instead of scrambling at 5pm.
You know early when something's wrong
The app shows you who hasn't confirmed. Thursday afternoon you see three people confirmed for Saturday night and two haven't. You text those two. One confirms, one says they can't make it, but you have two days to fix it instead of finding out Saturday at 5pm.
Employees see their schedule on their phone
No more "I didn't see the schedule" or "I thought I was off." They get notified when the schedule is posted. They confirm their shifts before a deadline you set. You see who confirmed and who didn't.
Track what actually happened
Employees clock in and out from their phone. You see actual vs scheduled hours for each person. End of week, you export the hours. No copying, no comparing two different spreadsheets.
Manage multiple locations without losing your mind
You run two locations. You need to see both schedules, check who's confirmed, and occasionally move someone between locations. Instead of juggling two spreadsheets and group texts, you see everything in one place.
When It Actually Helps
Thursday before a Saturday night shift
You check confirmations. Two people haven't confirmed yet. You text them. One confirms immediately, one says they can't work, but it's Thursday so you have time to find someone. Without this, you find out Saturday at 5pm.
Sunday afternoon building next week
You see everyone's availability in the app. No digging through old texts. No remembering verbal requests. You build the schedule in twenty minutes instead of two hours.
End of pay period
You export actual hours worked. All the clock-ins, early leaves, and who covered what are already tracked. You send it to payroll. Done. No copying anything.
You need to move someone between locations
Multi-location in one dashboard. See both sites, who's confirmed where, and assign or adjust without switching spreadsheets.
How It Works
- You add employees once. They get the app on their phone.
- You build schedules in a table view. See the whole week at once. Drag to extend a shift, click to copy last week, type to add someone. The app warns you if someone's already scheduled or if you're about to double-book.
- Employees see their shifts immediately. They confirm or request changes.
- You see who confirmed. You get early warnings about problems.
- They clock in/out from their phone. You see actual vs scheduled hours.
- End of week, export to payroll.
That's it.
Common Questions
What if employees don't have smartphones?
They can confirm from any device with a browser, or you can mark them confirmed manually. Most restaurant staff have phones, but the system works either way.
Do I have to redo all my scheduling?
No. Most people copy last week's schedule and adjust. Or import your current schedule if you have it in a spreadsheet. You're not starting from zero.
What about kitchen vs front of house?
You can track different positions, set different rates, and tag shifts by role. Whatever breakdown you need for payroll — kitchen, floor, bar — this gives you the hours per role.
Is this only for restaurants?
No. But restaurants have specific chaos: weekend rushes, high turnover, shift swaps, multiple roles. So we built features that handle it. If you run a retail store or small business with shift workers, it works the same way.
What if someone can't work and tells me last minute?
Shift confirmation helps. You see who hasn't confirmed by your deadline, so you can chase those people early. Last-minute callouts still happen; you handle those as you do now.
Try It Out
90-day free trial. No credit card. Add your team, build a schedule, see if it makes your life easier.
If it doesn't save you time in the first week, don't use it.