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Import and visualise sales data when using rotas

Available for the following plan: Employment Unlimited, Employment Plus, Employment Lite
Available for the following HR classic plan: Platinum 
Available for the following user access level: Owners, Admins

Make smarter staffing decisions with Sales Data Import and Visualisation, a powerful feature that bridges the gap between sales performance and labour planning. By importing your sales data into Employment Hero, you can see sales along with rota hours, timesheet data, and budget costs. This will help you allocate your workforce better and make more money.

Sales Data Import lets you upload past and forecasted sales information in CSV format. The Sales Data dashboard shows you how sales are doing against labor metrics. This integration helps you identify variances, track performance trends, and make data-driven decisions about staffing levels across all your work sites.

Prerequisites

Before importing sales data, ensure you have:

  • Work sites configured: Work sites must be set up in your Employment Hero account and match the data in your CSV file. See here for more information. 
  • Appropriate user access: You must be an Owner, Admin, or a user with all employee rota and cost permissions, or work site CSS rota permissions.

Note: The CSV template provided by Employment Hero includes all required fields and formatting guidelines.

Importing sales data

Step 1: Download the sales data template
  1. Navigate to the Time menu, then rota Management.
  2. Click the Actions dropdown in the top-right corner.
  3. Select Import Sales Data from the dropdown menu.
    Import sales data.jpg
  4. On the Import Sales Data section, click Download to retrieve the CSV template.
  5. If you have existing sales data in the system, the downloaded file will include your current data (up to 1000 rows). If not, you'll receive a blank template with the required column headers.

The CSV template includes columns for:

  • Period (e.g., Weekly, Daily)
  • Work Site
  • Date range
  • Last Year sales
  • My Forecast
  • Actual Sales
  • Budgeted Hours
  • Budgeted Cost
Step 2: Prepare your sales data
  1. Open the downloaded CSV template in your spreadsheet application.
  2. Fill in your sales data according to the template format, ensuring:
    • Work site names match exactly with those configured in Employment Hero
    • Numerical values are entered without currency symbols
    • All required fields are completed
      Data table (1).jpg
  3. Save the file as a CSV format.
  4. Verify the file size is under 15MB.

Tip: Include historical sales data alongside forecasts to enable variance tracking and performance analysis.

Step 3: Upload the sales data file
  1. Return to the Import Sales Data page (Time menu → Rota Management → Actions → Import Sales Data).
  2. In the "Step 2. Upload your completed file in CSV format" section, click the upload area or drag your CSV file into the designated zone.
  3. The system will validate your file. If successful, you'll see a confirmation message.
  4. If validation errors occur, review the error messages, correct the issues in your CSV file, and upload again.
  5. Once validation is successful, click Import to complete the upload.

Your sales data is now available in the Sales Data dashboard and will be integrated with your labour metrics.

Viewing and managing sales data

Accessing the Sales Data dashboard
  1. Navigate to the Time menu, then Rota Management.
  2. Click the Sales button located to the right of the settings icon in the top toolbar.
    Sales.jpg
  3. The Sales Data dashboard will open, displaying a summary view of all work sites.

The dashboard provides a consolidated overview of sales performance, labour hours, and costs across selected periods and work sites.

Understanding the Sales Data dashboard

The Sales Data dashboard consists of two main sections:

Summary View (All Sites)

The top section displays aggregated data across all filtered work sites:

  • Period: The time period for the data (Weekly, Daily, etc.)
  • Work Site: The name of the work site
  • Last Year: Sales figures from the same period last year
  • My Forecast: Your forecasted sales for the period
  • Actual Sales: Confirmed sales figures
  • Variance: The difference between forecast and actual sales (colour-coded green for positive, red for negative)
  • Grand Total: Shows totals for Last Year, My Forecast, Actual Sales, and Variance across all work sites

Daily Breakdown (Individual Site)

Below the summary, you'll find a detailed breakdown for the selected work site:

  • Day: Individual days or weekly aggregation
  • Last Year / My Forecast / Actual / Variance: Sales data per day
  • Budgeted Hour: Planned labour hours (editable)
  • Scheduled Hour: Hours from published rota shifts
  • Timesheet Hour: Actual hours worked from timesheets
  • Hour Variance: Difference between scheduled and timesheet hours
  • Budgeted Cost: Planned labour cost (editable)
  • Scheduled Cost: Cost based on scheduled shifts
  • Timesheet Cost: Actual labour cost from timesheets
  • Cost Variance: Difference between scheduled and actual costs (colour-coded)

Variances are automatically calculated and colour-coded to help you quickly identify areas requiring attention.
Daily breakdown.jpg

Filtering and navigating sales data

Use the filters at the top of the Sales Data dashboard to customise your view:

Work Site Filter

  • Select a specific work site from the dropdown to view its detailed breakdown
  • The summary table will update to show only the selected site
  • Click the X next to the work site name to remove the filter and view all sites

Period Filter

  • Choose from Weekly, Daily, 2-Week, 4-Week, or Monthly views
  • The breakdown section will adjust to show appropriate time granularity

Date Range Navigation

  • Use the arrow buttons next to the date range to navigate to previous or next periods
  • Click the date range itself to select a custom start and end date
Editing sales data and budgets

You can edit certain fields directly in the Sales Data dashboard:

Editing Actual Sales

  1. In the Daily Breakdown section, locate the day you want to update.
  2. Click in the Actual field and enter the confirmed sales figure.
  3. The variance will automatically recalculate.
  4. Click Save to apply your changes.

Editing Budget Hours and Costs

  1. Click in the Budgeted Hour or Budgeted Cost field for the relevant day.
  2. Enter your budget value.
  3. Click Save to update the budget.

Changes to budget hours and costs in the Sales Data dashboard will also be reflected in your rota Management budget view.

Apply Percentage of Forecast to Budget Cost

You can automatically calculate budgeted costs based on a percentage of your forecast:

  1. Tick the checkbox Apply % of My Forecast to Budgeted Cost above the Daily Breakdown table.
  2. The system will calculate budgeted costs as a percentage of your forecast values across all days.
  3. Review the calculated values and adjust individual days as needed.
  4. Click Save to apply the changes.

This feature is particularly useful for maintaining consistent labour cost ratios relative to expected sales.

Understanding data integration

How sales data connects with labour metrics

The Sales Data dashboard pulls labour information from multiple sources within Employment Hero:

  • Scheduled Hours and Costs: Automatically imported from all shifts in rota Management
  • Timesheet Hours and Costs: Automatically imported from pending or approved timesheets in Timesheet Management
  • Budget Hours and Costs: Can be set directly in the Sales Data dashboard or in the rota Management budget view

This integration provides a complete picture of planned versus actual labour deployment, helping you identify staffing inefficiencies and opportunities for cost optimisation.

Data refresh and synchronisation

The Sales Data dashboard updates in real-time as changes occur in connected systems:

  • When you publish or modify rota shifts, scheduled hours and costs update automatically
  • When timesheets are submitted and approved, timesheet hours and costs are immediately reflected
  • Budget changes made in the Sales Data dashboard sync to rota Management budget views
  • Variances recalculate instantly as underlying data changes

There is no need to manually refresh the dashboard—all data stays current across the platform.

Further information

Why don't I see scheduled or timesheet data in my Sales Data dashboard?

Scheduled and timesheet data will only appear if:

  • Shifts have been created in rota Management for the selected date range
  • Timesheets have been submitted (pending or approved) for the selected period
  • The shifts and timesheets are assigned to the work site you're viewing

If you're viewing future dates, scheduled hours will appear once shifts are created, but timesheet data will not appear until employees work those shifts and submit timesheets.

Can I import sales data for multiple work sites at once?

Yes, your CSV file can include sales data for multiple work sites. Each row in the CSV should specify the work site name, and the system will automatically distribute the data to the appropriate sites when you upload the file.

After import, you can view consolidated data for all sites or filter to individual sites using the work site dropdown in the Sales Data dashboard.

How do I update sales data after the initial import?

You can update sales data in two ways:

  • Re-import via CSV: Download your existing data, make changes, and upload the modified file. This will overwrite previous values for the affected periods and work sites.
  • Manual editing: Edit Actual Sales figures directly in the Sales Data dashboard for quick adjustments without needing to re-upload a file.

For bulk updates across multiple sites or extended periods, CSV re-import is more efficient. For individual corrections, manual editing is faster.

What's the difference between My Forecast and Smart Forecast?

Currently, the Sales Data feature uses My Forecast, which represents your manually entered sales projections for upcoming periods. This allows you to input your own predictions based on business knowledge, seasonal trends, or marketing activities.

Smart Forecast refers to system-generated predictions that may be introduced in future updates, using historical sales data and algorithms to automatically project future sales.

How do budget changes in Sales Data affect rota Management?

Budget hours and costs are synchronised between the Sales Data dashboard and rota Management:

  • When you edit budgeted hours or costs in Sales Data, those changes will appear in the Budget view in rota Management
  • Similarly, budget changes made in Rota Management will be reflected in the Sales Data dashboard
  • This ensures consistency across all views and prevents conflicting budget information

You can manage budgets from either location based on your workflow preference—the data remains synchronised across both interfaces.

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