What do you need help with?
Open an answer here first. Links are included only when you need to continue in another part of RotaSmart.
I am setting up RotaSmart for the first time
What to complete before relying on rotas, costs or payroll outputs.
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start here: finish the basic site setup before using rota generation or payroll reports.
- Check Settings for site profile, opening times, roles, rota areas, break rules and cover rules.
- Add current staff, then complete role, trained areas, pay rate, worker type and contract details.
- Enter a sales forecast before building the rota, so staffing demand has something to work from.
- Use Reports only after setup, sales and rota data are for the same week and site.
I need to build and publish a rota
The normal weekly sequence from forecast to published rota.
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- Select the correct site and week.
- Check Sales has a forecast for that week.
- Review availability, time off, open shifts and staff training before assigning shifts.
- Build, edit or fill shifts, then check warnings for cover, fatigue and fairness.
- Publish only when the rota is ready for staff to see.
I need to manage staff requests
Availability, time off, sickness and staff details.
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- Open the staff or rota request view for the selected week.
- Check whether the request affects cover, fairness or an already-published shift.
- Approve or decline the request in the existing workflow; do not create a second manual record elsewhere.
- If a pay calculation is blocked, fix the missing Staff or Settings field before payroll review.
Approved holiday and recorded sickness feed the server calculation records used later by Payroll.
Sales or actuals need checking
Forecast setup, actual sales capture and report accuracy.
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- Confirm the top bar shows the correct site and week.
- Use Forecast setup before rota planning; use Actuals capture after trading has happened.
- If importing, preview the CSV mapping before saving.
- If reports look wrong, check whether actuals were saved for the same week you are viewing.
Payroll or employment setup needs review
What to check before previewing, exporting or finalising payroll.
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- Finish Shift Sign-Off so worked time is approved.
- Check Staff has pay rate, worker type, contract details and sickness/holiday setup.
- Open Payroll preview and review blockers before exporting.
- Use server package values as the payroll source of truth; browser estimates are not the authority.
Something looks wrong
Quick checks before raising a support issue.
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- Check the selected site and week first.
- Refresh the page and retry the action once.
- Check for missing setup warnings or blockers on the page.
- Use Ask Help with the page name, staff member, week and exact message shown.
Most common tasks
Add a new employee
Create a usable staff record, not just a name.
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- Open Staff and add the person's name, email or phone, and current status.
- Assign their role, rota area or trained areas so they can be scheduled correctly.
- Complete pay rate, worker type, contract type, contracted hours and normal working days.
- Invite or verify them if they need RotaSmart Team access.
- Save, then refresh the rota if they do not appear immediately.
Approve time off request
Check cover before approving holiday or absence.
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- Open the request from Staff or the rota time-off view.
- Check the dates, leave type, rota cover and any overlapping shifts.
- Approve only if the business can cover the absence; otherwise decline or discuss it.
- After approval, check any calculation status or blocker before payroll review.
Approved holiday should remain in the same Time Off workflow. Do not create a separate manual holiday process.
Build a rota
Use demand, availability and cover warnings together.
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- Check the forecast for the selected week in Sales.
- Review availability, approved time off and required cover before creating shifts.
- Use Build rota or Fill open shifts, then review the result instead of publishing immediately.
- Resolve uncovered areas, fatigue warnings and obvious fairness issues.
Publish a rota
Final checks before the team can see it.
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- Confirm you are on the correct week and site.
- Check every trading day has the intended cover and no accidental open shifts.
- Review staff conflicts, availability warnings and time-off clashes.
- Publish only when the rota is ready to be visible in the staff app.
Review payroll readiness
Find missing setup before payroll export.
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- Complete Shift Sign-Off first so worked hours are approved.
- Check Staff for missing pay rates, worker types, contract details and sickness/holiday setup.
- Open Payroll preview and review any blocker messages before exporting.
- Do not finalise payroll if statutory values are unavailable or only shown as estimates.
Set up holiday, sickness and tips
Quick setup checklist for worker type, absence pay and tips/tronc.
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staff fields: set worker type, contract type, contracted hours, normal working days, pay rate, holiday method, SSP qualifying-day method and tip treatment.
settings fields: set the leave year, rolled-up holiday setting, company sick pay, tips/tronc policy and payroll export treatment.
normal workflow: keep using Time Off, sickness recording, Shift Sign-Off and Payroll. RotaSmart calculates from those records.
blockers: fix missing setup before payroll. Do not treat a blocker as zero pay.
Detailed field-by-field help is in the full manual, but this checklist is enough for the normal setup order.
Check employment health
Understand what a setup warning means.
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- Open the staff record named in the warning.
- Look for missing employment fields such as worker type, pay rate, normal days or qualifying-day method.
- Fix the missing setup and save the staff record or policy.
- Return to the original page and rerun the preview, report or payroll check.
A blocker is there because RotaSmart should not guess. Fix the missing information rather than treating the value as zero.
Employment & compliance
What does worker type mean?
Use it to describe the real working pattern.
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regular workers normally have a predictable pattern. irregular or part-year workers have hours or working days that change materially.
Set worker type on the staff record because holiday, rolled-up holiday eligibility and payroll checks use it. Contract type is still useful, but it does not replace worker type.
Why is payroll readiness blocked?
Missing setup prevents a reliable payroll value.
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- Check the blocker message and the named staff member.
- Fix missing pay rate, worker type, contract hours, normal working days, SSP qualifying-day setup or tip treatment.
- Return to Payroll or Reports and rerun the preview.
A blocked calculation is better than a silent zero. It means RotaSmart needs a fact the employer must confirm.
How should holiday be set up?
Match the method to the worker pattern.
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Use fixed entitlement where the worker has a regular pattern and your policy uses contracted hours or days. Use the accrual or pay-history route for irregular or part-year workers where that matches your policy.
Only enable rolled-up holiday where the worker type and leave year allow it. If the page shows a blocker, fix the worker or policy setup before approving payroll.
How should sickness pay be set up?
Tell RotaSmart how qualifying days are identified.
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For fixed patterns, use contract or normal working days. For changing patterns, use rota-based or explicit qualifying days where available.
Company sick pay is separate from Statutory Sick Pay. Set it only if your contract or handbook provides an employer top-up.
What do tips and tronc settings affect?
They separate base pay, tips and tronc treatment.
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Use tip treatment to show whether the worker has no tips, direct cash tips, independent tronc or employer-controlled tips. This helps reports and exports avoid mixing tips with base pay.
If tips are enabled but treatment is missing, fix the staff record before relying on payroll or employment cost reports.
Troubleshooting
Can't log in or access my account
Check credentials, codes and site permissions.
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- Check the email address is the one invited to RotaSmart.
- Use password reset if the password may be wrong.
- If a one-time code is required, enter the newest code only.
- If you can log in but see a 403 or missing page, ask an admin to check your role and site access.
Sales or actuals are not updating
Check the selected week and import mapping.
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- Confirm the top bar shows the correct site and week.
- If importing a CSV, check the preview before saving.
- Make sure the import columns match date, time and sales amount.
- Refresh Reports after saving actuals.
Rota won't publish
Look for missing shifts, conflicts or setup warnings.
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- Check that shifts exist for the selected week.
- Resolve uncovered shifts or accidental open shifts.
- Review time-off clashes, availability conflicts and missing break rules.
- Retry publish after the warning is resolved.
Payroll or employment data is not available
Usually a missing Staff or Settings value.
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- Read the blocker message and note the staff member named.
- Check Staff for pay rate, worker type, contracted hours, normal working days and tip treatment.
- Check Settings for employment policies, leave year, sickness policy and payroll export treatment.
- Run the preview again after saving the missing setup.
Something looks wrong or unexpected
Use these checks before reporting it.
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- Check the site and week selection.
- Refresh the page and retry once.
- Search this Help page for the workflow name.
- Use Ask Help and include the page, week, staff member and any message shown.