Hamill Decorating Services
Hamill Decorating Services is a family-run painting and decorating business based in Musselburgh, Scotland, with over 150 years of combined team experience. Owner Jeanette Hamill replaced Excel-based job scheduling with RosterElf — halving scheduling time and ending Sunday emails from staff asking where they're working.
-
Scheduling and holiday time halved
-
Staff always know where they are working — no more Sunday emails
-
Simple Xero integration for connected payroll and scheduling
"Holidays and scheduling time has been halved. The Xero integration and the team are very helpful — that's my favourite thing about RosterElf."
How Hamill Decorating Services halved scheduling time with RosterElf
About Hamill Decorating Services
Hamill Decorating Services is a family-run painting and decorating company based in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. With over 150 years of combined experience across the team, they specialise in interior and exterior painting, wallpaper hanging, black mould removal, sash windows, and conservation work on historic buildings.
Managing a team of decorators across multiple job sites means scheduling and holiday tracking are constant challenges — particularly when those systems aren't connected. Before RosterElf, Jeanette Hamill was managing job scheduling through Excel spreadsheets, with holiday tracking and Xero payroll running as entirely separate processes.
Under the UK's Working Time Regulations, workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks' paid holiday per year. Tracking those entitlements manually — disconnected from the roster — created extra administrative burden and the risk of errors. Jeanette chose RosterElf for its simplicity, cost, and ability to connect directly with Xero — bringing scheduling, holidays, and payroll into one connected system for the first time.
Challenges before RosterElf
Job scheduling, holiday records, and Xero payroll were three disconnected systems — creating unnecessary admin, errors, and Sunday phone calls.
Job scheduling, holiday records, and Xero payroll not connected — three separate systems creating constant manual work and reconciliation
Excel spreadsheets for job scheduling — manual, slow, prone to errors, and completely disconnected from payroll data
Staff emailing or calling on Sundays asking where they were working the following week — a regular disruption to personal time
No single source of truth for holiday entitlements and bookings — tracking Working Time Regulations allowances manually and separately
Time spent cross-referencing schedules with holiday requests manually — a slow and error-prone process every single week
Lack of visibility for staff into their upcoming job schedule — leaving decorators uncertain about where they were assigned each day
How RosterElf helped Hamill Decorating Services
- Digital job scheduling that staff can see instantly on their phones — no more Sunday enquiries about where they're working
- Xero integration connecting scheduling and payroll in one flow — eliminating the three-system disconnect
- Centralised holiday tracking no longer separate from the roster — holiday entitlements visible alongside the schedule at all times
- Staff self-service — decorators see their schedule in the app, eliminating Sunday calls and emails entirely
- Simple and affordable — chosen for its ease of use and cost-effectiveness, making it the right fit for a family-run trade business
- Responsive UK support team — help available when it's needed, without long wait times or complex onboarding
What Hamill Decorating Services says about RosterElf
1. Three disconnected systems — and the admin chaos that followed
"Job scheduling, holidays and Xero were not connected."
For a trade business managing decorators across multiple job sites, three disconnected systems meant triple the admin. Job assignments lived in Excel, holiday records were tracked separately, and Xero sat completely apart from both.
Every time a holiday request came in, it had to be manually cross-referenced against the roster. Every time payroll was processed, data had to be transferred by hand. The risk of errors — and the time required to avoid them — was significant. RosterElf brought all three into one connected platform.
2. No more Sunday emails asking where they're working
"Staff now have several ways to see where they are working and we no longer get emails on a Sunday."
Before RosterElf, Sunday evenings meant a familiar pattern: emails from decorators asking where they were working on Monday. That's time out of a business owner's personal life to answer questions that a modern scheduling system should handle automatically.
With RosterElf, staff can see their schedule on their phone, receive notifications when rosters are published, and check their upcoming jobs at any time. The Sunday emails have stopped — and with them, an ongoing drain on Jeanette's time outside working hours.
3. Scheduling and holiday time halved
"Holidays and scheduling time has been halved."
For a trade business where every hour matters, halving the time spent on scheduling and holiday management is a material gain. That's time that can go back into running the business, managing client relationships, and growing the team — rather than managing spreadsheets and inbox requests.
The combination of digital rostering and centralised holiday tracking means the two tasks that previously required the most manual effort now run more or less automatically — with Jeanette in full control through one simple platform.
4. Xero integration and a helpful team
"Xero integration and the team are very helpful — that's my favourite thing about RosterElf."
Two things stand out for Jeanette: the technology and the people. The Xero integration is the feature that solved the core three-system problem — and the support team is the layer that makes the whole experience work.
For a family-run business without a dedicated HR or payroll team, having responsive support when something isn't clear makes a genuine difference. Jeanette's experience reflects what many UK small businesses find: great software plus great support is the combination that earns long-term loyalty.
Why Hamill Decorating Services recommends RosterElf
Xero integration
Scheduling and payroll finally connected in one flow. The Xero integration eliminated the three-system disconnect that was at the root of Hamill Decorating's admin burden.
Scheduling and holiday time halved
What previously took hours of manual work now takes half the time. Connected rostering and holiday management means less admin and more time for the business.
Helpfulness of the team
For Jeanette, it's not just the features — it's the people. A responsive and knowledgeable support team makes a real difference for a family-run trade business without a dedicated admin function.
Start your free 15 day RosterElf trial today
Join 30,000+ Australian businesses using RosterElf to simplify rostering, payroll and HR.
Trade and decorating business scheduling FAQ
- RosterElf's rostering software lets painting and decorating businesses assign staff to job sites quickly and simply. Decorators can see their schedule on their phones the moment it's published — no more calling in to ask where they're working. Managers can build weekly schedules in minutes, accounting for multiple sites and varying team sizes.
- Yes. RosterElf's Xero integration connects your rostering and timesheet data directly with Xero payroll. For UK trade businesses like Hamill Decorating Services, this means job scheduling and payroll are in one connected flow — no double entry, no manual cross-referencing between systems.
- RosterElf centralises holiday requests and approvals in the same platform as the roster. This means holiday entitlements are always visible alongside the schedule, removing the need to track them in a separate spreadsheet. For UK businesses, this supports compliance with Working Time Regulations holiday entitlement requirements and eliminates the confusion that comes from disconnected systems.
- Yes. RosterElf is designed for businesses managing staff across multiple locations or job sites. Hamill Decorating Services is based in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, and uses RosterElf to schedule their decorating team across different client sites. Staff can see where they're working each day directly in the app — on any device, anywhere in the UK.
- Hamill Decorating Services halved their scheduling and holiday management time after switching to RosterElf. Owner Jeanette Hamill reported that what previously required significant manual effort — cross-referencing Excel spreadsheets, tracking holidays separately, and answering staff enquiries — now takes half the time, with staff accessing their schedules independently through the app.