Wage bill software that shows true cost as you build the rota

Hours times rate is not your wage bill

If you are budgeting on "twelve hours at fourteen pounds is one hundred and sixty-eight quid", you are quietly underbudgeting on every shift. The real cost includes employer National Insurance above the secondary threshold, employer pension contributions, and holiday pay accrued as the hours are worked. Add those together and a typical UK shift costs the business roughly ten to fifteen percent more than the headline figure.

Over a week of rotas, that gap is the difference between a good month and a stressful one. Crewo closes it by doing the calculation for you, on every shift, every time you edit the grid.

How the calculator works

Every shift in Crewo carries hours, an effective hourly rate, and a link to the staff member on that shift. From there, the wage engine adds three layers.

• Employer National Insurance: per employee per week, above the secondary threshold you set, at the rate you set. Under-21s and eligible apprentices are exempted automatically from their date of birth and apprentice status.
• Employer pension: the percentage your workplace scheme actually uses, applied to gross pay.
• Holiday accrual: a percentage of gross pay set aside as the hours are worked, so a shift's cost includes the holiday it earns.

The result is a total employer cost per shift, per day and per week that reflects your business, not a generic template. Change a rate, drop a shift, swap a person, and every number updates in the same breath.

Labour cost as a percentage of sales

Once you enter forecast or actual sales, Crewo shows labour cost as a percentage of revenue for every day and every week, using the true wage bill, not the headline. That is the number your accountant cares about, and the one that tells you whether the rota you are about to publish is actually affordable.

From the rota to payroll, without retyping

The same numbers feed a one-click payroll export on Pro and Group, so what you saw on the rota is what payroll receives. You can see the shift-level breakdown feeding it whenever you want, which makes reconciliation a five-minute job rather than a Friday evening.

For a fuller tour of the rota grid, see the rota software page, or the shift planner page if you plan across multiple teams or sites. Compliance-minded managers should also read about minimum wage compliance in Crewo.

FAQ

What does 'true cost' mean?

Hours multiplied by rate is only part of what a shift costs an employer. Crewo adds employer National Insurance above the secondary threshold, employer pension contributions, and holiday accrual. That total is what actually leaves your bank account, and it is what Crewo shows you.

How is employer National Insurance calculated?

Crewo uses the secondary threshold and rate from your wage settings, applied per employee per week, and skips under-21s and eligible apprentices automatically. If a staff member's date of birth or apprentice status is on file, Crewo does this without you thinking about it.

Can I set my own pension and holiday percentages?

Yes. Employer pension percentage, holiday accrual percentage and NI thresholds all live in your wage settings, so the calculator reflects the scheme your business actually runs, not a generic UK default.

Does the wage bill update in real time?

Yes. Every drag, edit, delete or paste updates the wage bill and the labour-cost-as-a-percentage-of-sales figures immediately. There is no 'recalculate' button to hunt for.

Can I export the numbers for payroll?

Yes. One-click payroll export is included on Pro and Group. It pulls the same numbers you see on screen, so payroll gets what accounts expects.