Payroll & labour cost reports that put you in control
See where your labour dollars are going before payroll is finalised.
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Compare rostered wages vs actual timesheet costs
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Spot wage blowouts before they hit payroll
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Export payroll-ready data with confidence
Full visibility of labour costs
Understand exactly where your wage spend is going — before and after shifts are worked.
Rostered wage costs
See projected labour costs as you build your roster. Know what you're committing to before shifts are published.
Actual timesheet costs
Track real labour costs based on actual hours worked. See the true cost of every shift after it's completed.
Planned vs worked differences
Compare what you planned to spend against what was actually worked. Identify where variances occur.
Reports for payroll and cost control
Access the labour cost data you need to manage wages effectively.
Timesheet cost report
See actual labour costs based on approved timesheets. Break down costs by employee, role, or location for any date range. Export for payroll processing.
Roster wage report
View projected wage costs for published rosters. Understand your planned labour spend before shifts are worked. Compare against budgets.
How businesses use these reports
Take control of your labour spend
Labour cost reports help you move from reactive to proactive wage management. Instead of finding out costs after payroll, you see them as they develop.
Use this visibility to make better rostering decisions, catch issues early, and keep labour costs aligned with your budget.
- Spot wage blowouts early
- Adjust future rosters based on actual costs
- Support budgeting and forecasting
Accurate data ready for payroll
Review costs before they go to payroll
RosterElf handles award interpretation as part of the rostering and timesheet process. Pay rates, penalties, and overtime are calculated automatically based on your configured awards.
Review labour cost reports to verify everything looks correct before exporting data to your payroll system. Catch discrepancies while there's still time to fix them.
- Award interpretation built in
- Review data before export to payroll
- Export to Xero, MYOB, or CSV
Benefits of labour cost visibility
Stay within budget
See labour costs developing in real time. Adjust rosters before overspend becomes a problem.
Reduce payroll surprises
Know what payroll will cost before you process it. No more unexpected wage bills.
Make informed decisions
Use actual cost data to improve rostering. Know which shifts, roles, or locations cost more.
Support financial planning
Historical labour cost data helps with budgeting, forecasting, and business planning.
Learn how to get the most from this feature
Step-by-step guides to help you master these workflows
Payroll & labour cost reports FAQs
- A labour cost report shows the actual or projected wage costs for your business based on rostered shifts or worked time. It breaks down how much you're spending on wages by employee, role, location, or date range. RosterElf generates these reports automatically from your roster and timesheet data, calculating costs using your configured award rates, penalties, and overtime rules.
- Rostered costs show the projected wage spend for published rosters — what you plan to spend before shifts are worked. Actual costs reflect what was truly worked based on approved timesheets, including any variations like early starts, late finishes, or unplanned overtime. Comparing the two helps you spot where labour spend deviates from your original plan.
- RosterElf calculates wage costs in real time as you build rosters and approve timesheets. View the timesheet cost report to see actual labour spend based on worked hours, or check the roster wage report to see projected costs for upcoming shifts. Both reports update automatically as data changes, so you always have current visibility before payroll processing.
- Yes. RosterElf labour cost reports can be filtered by location, making it easy to compare wage spend across different sites or departments. This is especially useful for multi-location businesses that need to track profitability or control costs separately for each venue. Reports can also be broken down by employee, role, or custom date ranges.
- RosterElf applies award interpretation rules automatically when calculating labour costs. Pay rates, penalty rates, overtime, and allowances are determined based on the awards and pay rules configured in your account. This means labour cost reports reflect the true cost of shifts, including weekend penalties, public holiday rates, and other award entitlements specific to Australian awards.
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