Blog

Hospitality, awards and payroll, explained

Plain-English guides to running an Australian venue: award levels, penalty rates, rostering, timesheets and staying on the right side of Fair Work.

Switching From Excel: Digitise Your Roster in One Weekend
Rostering

Switching From Excel: Digitise Your Roster in One Weekend

Moving off spreadsheets isn't a month-long project. Here's a simple Friday-to-Monday plan to digitise your hospitality roster in a single weekend, one step at a time.

20 May 2026
Public Holiday Pay in Hospitality: Who Gets Paid What (2026)
Public Holidays

Public Holiday Pay in Hospitality: Who Gets Paid What (2026)

When a public holiday lands on a weekend, substituted days and stacked penalty rates can blow out your wage bill. Here's the plain-English breakdown of public holiday pay for your crew.

23 April 2026
The Card Surcharge Ban: What It Costs Venues, and How to Offset It
Profit & Operations

The Card Surcharge Ban: What It Costs Venues, and How to Offset It

From 1 October 2026, most card surcharges are gone. Here's what changes, what stays, and how to claw back the margin before it hits your bottom line.

16 April 2026
Timesheets
Timesheets

The Ghost Hour: How Rounded Timesheets Quietly Kill Your Margin

Eight minutes of rounding per shift sounds like nothing. Across a roster it can quietly cost more than ten grand a year. Meet the Ghost Hour, and how to get rid of it.

4 March 2026
Timesheet App Checklist for Hospitality: GPS, Breaks, Awards, Approvals
Timesheets

Timesheet App Checklist for Hospitality: GPS, Breaks, Awards, Approvals

GPS, breaks, award penalties, approvals and seven-year records. The full checklist for choosing a hospitality timesheet app that holds up in a Fair Work check.

13 February 2026
Australian Hospitality Awards Explained (Without the Headache)
Award Compliance

Australian Hospitality Awards Explained (Without the Headache)

Casual loading, weekend penalties, public holidays, split shifts and overtime all stack on one shift. Here's how the Hospitality Award really works, and why spreadsheets keep getting it wrong.

25 November 2025
Why Free Roster Templates Cost Aussie Venues More Than You Think
Rostering

Why Free Roster Templates Cost Aussie Venues More Than You Think

A free Excel roster looks like a quick win. For a casual-heavy venue it quietly racks up admin, version chaos and compliance risk. Here's the real cost, and when to move on.

12 October 2025
Get started

Run your venue, not the roster

Rostering, availability, timesheets and award-aware pay in one free platform, built for Australian hospitality.