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COPILOT + ROSTERELF

Using Microsoft Copilot for rostering

Drafting a staff roster in Excel with an AI assistant

Draft and analyse staff rosters with Copilot inside Excel, then bring them into RosterElf to apply Australian award rates, penalties and breaks — and send payroll-ready totals to Xero and MYOB.

  • Draft rosters with Copilot in Excel

  • Analyse hours and costs in natural language

  • RosterElf applies award compliance and payroll

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Best-rated rostering & HR software on Xero and Google

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HOW IT WORKS

How to use Copilot for rostering

Copilot drafts in Excel; RosterElf makes it compliant and payroll-ready.

Draft it in Excel

With your data in an Excel table, ask Copilot to build a roster from your roles, availability and coverage rules.

Analyse and refine

Ask Copilot to total hours, highlight overtime or rebalance shifts — all in natural language.

Make it compliant in RosterElf

Bring the draft into RosterElf to apply award rates and penalties, then publish and send to payroll.

THE GAP

What Copilot can't do — and RosterElf does

Copilot drafts and analyses, but it isn't connected to your business or to Fair Work.

Apply current Modern Award rates and penalty rates
Enforce break, fatigue and minimum-shift rules
Use real staff availability, skills and qualifications
Handle shift swaps, approvals and time and attendance
Send payroll-ready totals to Xero and MYOB
Act as the secure system of record for staff data

RosterElf handles all of the above. Use Copilot for the first draft, then let AI rostering and award interpretation make it compliant.

Explore AI rostering
DATA & SAFETY

Use Copilot safely with staff data

Even inside Microsoft 365, keep sensitive employee data out of prompts you don't need to share.

De-identify — use roles, not names
Never paste pay, bank or health data
Keep records in RosterElf, not the chat

More detail: using AI safely for staff scheduling.

Draft with Copilot, roster with RosterElf

Turn an AI-drafted Excel roster into an award-compliant, payroll-ready schedule. Start free or book a demo.

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FAQ

Copilot for rostering FAQs

  • Yes — Copilot can draft and analyse a staff roster inside Excel from a plain-language prompt, provided your data is in an Excel table and you have a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. It is a drafting assistant, though: it does not know your live staff availability and it cannot apply Australian Modern Award pay rates. See our guide on creating a staff roster in Excel with Copilot, then bring it into RosterElf for award interpretation.

  • RosterElf is the system of record for your rosters, staff, awards and payroll. The practical way to use Copilot is as an assistant: draft or refine a roster in Excel with Copilot, then bring it into RosterElf to apply award rates, penalties and breaks and publish it. If you want browser-based automation of RosterElf itself, see the ChatGPT integration.

  • No. Copilot has no access to current Fair Work Modern Award rates, penalty rates or break rules, so any pay figures it suggests should be verified. RosterElf applies the correct base, casual, penalty and overtime rates automatically — see the award rate guides.

  • Copilot in Excel requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. If you do not have one, you can get the same result with a free assistant instead — see building a rota in Excel with ChatGPT or our free AI roster generator.

  • They all draft rosters and none apply award compliance — the differences are mostly which app they live in (Copilot in Microsoft 365, Gemini in Google Workspace). We compare them in the best AI for staff rosters.