In The Pink Gelato
In The Pink Gelato is a family-owned gelato shop established in 1988, with locations in Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads, NSW. Owner Tanya Lawrence replaced printed weekly rosters, a staff diary, and end-of-period hour tallying with RosterElf — giving her the freedom to travel while her business runs smoothly.
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Eliminated printed rosters and manual hour tallying
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Staff self-manage their unavailability — no more texts
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Enabled Tanya to travel while the business runs smoothly
"It has been one of the best business decisions we have made. It's made the task of rosters and payroll so much simpler and has also enabled us to travel more as we can outsource the rosters and payroll when we are away."
How In The Pink Gelato replaced manual rosters and gained work-life balance
About In The Pink Gelato
In The Pink Gelato is a beloved Byron Bay institution, making in-house gelato from locally sourced ingredients since 1988. Tanya Lawrence runs two locations — Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads — managing a team of casual staff whose availability changes weekly with study commitments, travel, and second jobs. Find them on In The Pink Gelato on Facebook.
For years, the roster process consumed hours that could have been spent with family, on holiday, or simply away from the business. Tanya was building the weekly schedule from a standalone Excel spreadsheet, cross-referencing a physical diary where staff wrote their unavailable dates, printing the final roster and posting it in each shop, and then manually tallying hours at the end of every pay period.
After hearing about scheduling platforms through her children working in hospitality in Melbourne and Brisbane, Tanya began evaluating options — including Deputy. A friend's recommendation pointed her toward RosterElf, and she found it was the right fit. Today, digital rostering, time and attendance tracking, and payroll integration all work together — and Tanya can manage the business from anywhere.
Challenges before RosterElf
Running two gelato shops with a casual team meant Tanya was spending hours each week on a manual roster process that was fragmented, error-prone, and difficult to manage remotely.
Manual weekly Excel roster for two shop locations — time-consuming to build each week while cross-referencing constantly changing availability
Staff writing unavailable dates in a physical diary — cross-referencing the diary added significant time to every roster cycle
Printed rosters posted in each shop — no digital access for staff, no automatic notifications when shifts changed
Staff writing their own finishing times on printed rosters — relied on memory, often incomplete, requiring follow-up texts from Tanya
End-of-period manual tallying: collecting printed rosters from two shops and entering hours by hand before wages could be processed
Waiting for staff to text back missing finish times before payroll could be processed — a bottleneck that delayed wages every pay period
How RosterElf helped In The Pink Gelato
- Digital roster replacing Excel and printed sheets — published online and accessible to staff on their phones
- Staff self-service availability — staff update their own unavailability in the app, removing the need for a diary, texts, and manual cross-referencing
- Digital time clock replacing handwritten shift finish times — staff clock in and out accurately, with no gaps or missing entries
- Payroll integration — hours flow straight from the time clock to payroll with no manual entry or end-of-period tally
- Multi-location management — manage both Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads from one account without duplicating work
- Built for hospitality businesses across Australia — including gelato shops, cafés, and casual team environments
What In The Pink Gelato says about RosterElf
1. One of the best business decisions we have made
"It has been one of the best business decisions we have made."
The decision to move to RosterElf came through a combination of curiosity and a trusted recommendation. Tanya's children, working in hospitality in Melbourne and Brisbane, introduced her to the idea of using rostering platforms. She evaluated several options — including Deputy — but a friend's positive experience with RosterElf made the choice clear.
The impact was immediate. What had been a weekly grind of spreadsheets, printed rosters, and chasing missing finish times was replaced by a streamlined system that largely runs itself. For a business that has been operating for over 35 years, the switch to digital rostering represented a genuine step change.
2. Staff self-manage their availability — no more diary, no more texts
"The fact that it is up to the staff to put in their unavailable dates and keep that updated, which is then transferred to the roster page, making it easier to see when they are available."
Managing a casual team whose availability shifts with university timetables, travel, and second jobs meant Tanya was constantly sending texts and checking a diary before she could even start the roster. With RosterElf, that responsibility moves to the staff themselves.
Staff log their unavailable dates in the app, and that information feeds directly into the rostering view. When Tanya builds the week's schedule, she can see at a glance who is available — with no back-and-forth required. The time and attendance tools mean shift records are equally accurate, with no handwriting to decipher or gaps to follow up on.
3. The freedom to travel while the business runs smoothly
"It has also enabled us to travel more as we can outsource the rosters and payroll when we are away."
Before RosterElf, the manual nature of the roster and payroll process kept Tanya tethered to the business. Printed rosters had to be collected from two shops. Hours had to be tallied by hand. Payroll couldn't be processed until every last finish time was confirmed.
With payroll integration connecting time clock data directly to wages, and the roster accessible from anywhere, Tanya can delegate these tasks when she travels. The business doesn't stop when she steps away — and that flexibility has transformed her work-life balance after more than three decades running In The Pink Gelato.
4. Staff accountability and error-free payroll
"Staff interaction and accountability and the payroll integration."
When staff are responsible for updating their own availability and clocking their own hours digitally, accountability improves across the board. There's no ambiguity about when someone worked, and no relying on handwritten notes that get lost or forgotten. The system creates a clear, timestamped record for every shift.
For a hospitality business with two locations and a casual team, this accuracy flows directly into payroll confidence. Tanya no longer needs to chase missing information before she can run wages — the data is already there, already verified, ready to process.
Why In The Pink Gelato recommends RosterElf
Staff self-manage availability
No more diary, no more texts. Staff update their own unavailability in the app, which feeds directly into the roster — saving hours every week before the schedule is even started.
Freedom to travel
Rosters and payroll can be fully delegated when Tanya travels, because the system runs itself. After 35+ years of manual processes, that flexibility has been transformative.
Payroll integration
Hours flow straight from the digital time clock to payroll — no manual tallying, no collecting printed rosters from two shops, no waiting for staff to text back missing finish times.
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Gelato shop & café rostering FAQ
- RosterElf's rostering software lets staff update their own unavailability directly in the app. Managers can see who is available before building the roster, which eliminates the back-and-forth of texts and diary entries that many hospitality businesses rely on. Changes are reflected in real time, so the roster is always built on accurate information.
- Yes. RosterElf supports multi-location management from a single account. Business owners like Tanya Lawrence at In The Pink Gelato can manage rosters for both their Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads locations in one place — without switching between systems or duplicating work.
- Before RosterElf, In The Pink Gelato printed rosters each week and posted them in the shop. Staff wrote their own finishing times on the printed sheet, which Tanya then collected and manually tallied for payroll. With RosterElf, rosters are published digitally, staff clock in and out using the time clock, and hours flow straight to payroll — no printing, no collecting, no manual entry.
- Yes. Staff can log into the RosterElf app and update their unavailable dates at any time. This is one of the features Tanya Lawrence values most — it means she no longer needs to send texts chasing staff for updated availability, and the time and attendance records are always up to date.
- Absolutely. RosterElf is designed for businesses of all sizes, including small family-run operations like cafés and gelato shops. It scales with your team and can be managed remotely — which is exactly what Tanya needed to travel while her business continued running smoothly.