Attached to this article is an Microsoft Excel template spreadsheet for you to use in setting up scheduling. In this article, we will cover how to use and format this spreadsheet. Please download the attachment, then follow the instructions below.


How to Use this Template


This tab is instructions only, it does not get filled in or submitted. Delete it once your team is comfortable, or leave it, it doesn't affect any formula on the other tabs.

The One Rule that Matters Most

Always add or remove a driver using Excel's actual row insert/delete (right-click the row number on the left edge, choose Insert or Delete), never by typing into a blank row below the table or clearing a row's contents by hand.
A true row insert/delete shifts everything below it and automatically updates every formula that referenced those rows, including the category totals below each shift block and the summary block at the bottom of the tab. Typing into a stray blank row, or just clearing a row's contents instead of deleting it, does not extend any range and will quietly leave that row out of every total.

Adding a Driver to a Shift

1. Find the shift block you're adding to (AM, PM, MID, or OVN band). Right-click the row number of any existing driver row inside that block, not the colored band row and not the "Swap SVR (Base)" row directly below the drivers, and choose Insert.
2. A new blank row appears, formatted like the row you inserted next to. Copy an existing driver row (select it, Ctrl+C) and paste onto the new row (Ctrl+V) instead of typing from scratch, that carries the HOURS and SCHEDULED HOURS formula over correctly with its row reference automatically adjusted to the new row.
3. Overwrite the pasted row: Name, Time (if different), the day columns, and Position (Full Time / Part Time / Seasonal).
4. Mark working days with a capital or lowercase X. Leave off days blank, don't put anything in them, not even a space or a zero.
Zero ("0") is reserved for open, unfilled positions, covered below, not for a driver's day off.

Removing a Driver

Right-click the row number and choose Delete, not just select-and-hit-delete-key. Delete-key only clears the cell contents and leaves an empty row still sitting inside every range, which will undercount that day's total by counting a phantom empty slot. A true row delete removes the row entirely and shifts everything below it up.

Filling an Open Position

Open rows are labeled "— Req Submitted —" with a working day already marked as 0 (not X) so the intended pattern is visible before anyone is hired into it. To fill one: replace the name, set Position, and change each 0 to an X on the days that role actually works. Don't touch the off days, they're already correctly blank.

Adding a New Open Position (Before a req. is filled)

Same as adding a driver above: insert a row inside the block, not below it. Name it "— Req Submitted —" (or "— Open —" if it hasn't been submitted as a req yet), set the working days to 0, leave off days blank, and set Position same as a normal hire would need.

Changing Shift Times or Hours

Edit the TIME column text and the HOURS column number directly on any row, no formula depends on the literal shift time text. SCHEDULED HOURS recalculates automatically off the HOURS value and the X count for that row, you don't need to touch it.
If you change a shift's start/end time, only the TIME text updates, the summary block below (Call Out Rate, SVR Target, Schedules, etc.) is keyed to the shift label (AM/MID/PM/OVN), not the time text, so it keeps working without any change there.

Updating the Category Rows
(Swap SVR, SD SVR, Off-Map/Depot)

These are manual entry, typed in directly per day, not calculated. Type over the placeholder numbers with the real Base figures for that market once you have them. "Total Needed (Base)" and "Total Scheduled" below them are formulas and update on their own, don't type over those two rows.

Summary Block (Call Out Rate through Shifts Built)

Everything there except Call Out Rate, Position headcount, and the category-row-driven SVR Target/Non-SVR numbers is a formula that reads off the schedule above it. If you've been inserting and deleting rows using the real Excel commands as described above, these stay correct automatically, you don't need to rebuild or re-point anything.
The one manual number in that block worth remembering is Call Out Rate (top row, stored as a full multiplier, 1.20 means a 20% buffer, not 0.20). Everything below it flows from that and from the category rows.

If Something Looks Wrong

The most common cause is a row that was added by typing into a blank space instead of using Insert, or a row that was cleared instead of deleted. Check whether every driver row for that shift falls inside the range the Total Scheduled formula actually references (click on the Total Scheduled cell and look at the formula bar, e.g. =COUNTIF(F3:F30,"*x*"), the range should start at the first driver row and end at the last row before "Swap SVR (Base)").
If a range is missing a row, the fix is almost always to undo back to before the manual edit and redo it with a real Insert/Delete instead, not to hand-edit the formula.

One Thing NOT To Do

Don't insert or delete rows immediately next to the colored shift band row (the row with "AM" / "PM" / "MID" / "OVN" in it) or immediately next to the category rows. Those rows use merged cells, and Excel can throw a merge conflict or silently misalign the merge if a row is inserted right at that boundary. Insert somewhere in the middle of the driver list instead, it'll always work cleanly there.