Labour-Cost Ratio
The labour-cost ratio is staff cost as a percentage of sales. Vuoron lets you set a target ratio per location and then shows how planning and reality compare against it, so you can keep labour spend in line with revenue.
Setting the target
In Settings → Staffing, set a target labour-cost ratio (a percentage of sales) for a location. The target is optional — locations without one simply don't show a target line.
When a target is set, it also acts as a soft cap in coverage targets: the suggested labour hours won't exceed what the target ratio allows against forecast sales, unless the minimum-heads floor requires more (in which case the overrun is shown honestly).
The three ratios
Vuoron surfaces up to three ratios against your target, each answering a different question:
| Ratio | Question it answers | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Projected | "What does the demand-based suggestion cost?" | Suggested labour hours × blended rate ÷ forecast sales |
| Scheduled | "What does the roster I've built cost?" | Rostered shift hours × rate ÷ forecast sales |
| Realized | "What did the day actually cost?" | Actual worked hours × rate ÷ actual sales |
Realized is the feedback loop: once a day is over and its actual sales and approved hours are in, you can see whether reality landed under or over target — and calibrate the target with real data instead of guesswork.
Where you see them
- Roster day view (coverage overlay) — the scheduled ratio, and, for past days with actuals, the realized ratio, each shown against the target. A ratio above target is highlighted.
- Weekly budget bar — the week's scheduled ratio and, once the week is settled, its realized ratio, against the target.
Reading the numbers honestly
- The realized ratio only appears once actual sales have been recorded for the day or week — so today and future dates show no realized figure (not a misleading 0%).
- Cost figures use gross wage cost as a planning signal; they are not a payroll figure and don't include employer overheads.
- If sales or pay-rate data is missing, the ratio shows an explicit "not available" reason rather than a fabricated number.
Access
Visible to Supervisor, Manager, and Company Admin. Setting the target requires Manager or Company Admin.
Related
- Weekly Hour Budgets — the budget bar that carries the weekly ratios.
- Coverage Targets — where the target ratio also caps suggested hours.