How Many Employees Should I Schedule Each Shift at My Ice Rink?
Curated by Chief Revenue Officer Kory White · CRO Syndicate
How Many Employees Should I Schedule Each Shift at My Ice Rink?
Direct Answer
You stop guessing and start dividing. The formula is rink guards needed for a given hour = that hour''s expected revenue / your agreed-upon revenue-per-rink guard target. First, you and your floor leadership agree on one number: the revenue an average rink guard should support doing an average job for an average crowd - call it $110 an hour.
That is a floor, not a ceiling. Then you pull your trailing four-to-eight-week revenue by hour and day. If a slow Tuesday afternoon at your ice rink runs $220 an hour, then $220 / $110 = 2 rink guards on the floor that block.
If a Saturday night peak runs $770 an hour, you need 7. On top of the revenue count, hold a hard safety floor - trained rink guards watching the ice at all times plus a skate-rental and resurfacer rotation, because the math never overrides eyes on the ice. You do that for every block, then place those shifts against when revenue actually lands - opens, a mid or swing, and the evening public-skate and weekend rush - so the bodies are on the floor when the money is.
PULSE has a free Rep Scheduling Matrix that runs this division across every day and every block at once. Below are the ten tools that solve this problem, ranked, with PULSE first because it is free and built around this exact method.
The Top 10 Tools to Staff a Ice Rink by the Numbers
Every tool below can build a schedule. Only a few build it off your revenue math, and only one is free and designed around the revenue-per-rink guard method that keeps you from over- or under-staffing. The rankings reflect how well each tool serves a ice rink operator who wants the schedule to track the money, not just fill the grid.
A single location or a regional group of venues - same method, swap the floor plan and the daily averages.
1. PULSE Rep Scheduling Matrix 🏆 BEST OVERALL
🛠️ Use it free now -> Rep Scheduling Matrix - no login, no spreadsheet, instant shift counts by day and block.
PULSE''s free Rep Scheduling Matrix runs the whole method in your browser. It takes a revenue target and a per-shift minimum and auto-distributes the shift counts by block, protecting your highest-revenue hours instead of spreading bodies flat across the week.
Here is the method it is built on, step by step, because the math is the point:
Step one - agree on the per-rink guard hourly number. Sit down with your floor leadership and set the revenue an average rink guard should support on an average shift. Say it out loud to the team: "In our business, if you show up, take care of an average crowd, and give average service, you should support no less than $110 an hour in revenue." That is the honest floor.
The rink guards who want to grow do not coast to $110 and clock out - they hit $110 doing average work, then look for the upsell, the rebooking, the next party. The number gives everyone the same yardstick: leadership, you, and every rink guard on the floor.
Step two - pull revenue per day, per hour. Take your ice rink and average its revenue by hour over a trailing four to eight weeks. A slow Tuesday afternoon does $220 an hour and a Saturday night does $770. Now divide by your $110 target.
The slow block needs 2 rink guards; the peak needs 7. 2 rink guards each supporting their honest $110 covers the $220 the floor actually generates - and if they upsell, the block beats it. Run that division for every hour and the staffing plan writes itself. No favorites, no "we''ve always run 2 people," no manager scheduling their friends - just revenue divided by the target.
Step three - place the shifts where the revenue lands. The count tells you how many; the revenue timing tells you when. Pull the hourly sales and look at when bookings and walk-ins actually post. If the rush hits the evening public-skate and weekend rush, you staff a light open, a swing through the lull, and a heavy evening public-skate and weekend rush rather than parking everyone at noon.
On top of the revenue count, hold a hard safety floor - trained rink guards watching the ice at all times plus a skate-rental and resurfacer rotation, because the math never overrides eyes on the ice. The matrix lets you slot those bodies against the real demand curve so coverage matches traffic instead of habit.
Because it is free, browser-only, and built by a 25-year revenue operator for exactly this question, it is the default pick for any ice rink owner. Best for: owners and floor managers who want the schedule to come straight off the revenue math and refuse to pay per-seat fees to get it.
2. 7shifts
7shifts is purpose-built for hospitality and high-traffic, hourly-heavy floors, which makes it a natural fit for a ice rink. It offers a free Comp tier for one location, with paid plans from about $34.99 per location per month (Entree) to $76.99 (The Works). It ties scheduling directly to POS sales and labor-percentage targets, so you can schedule to a revenue-per-labor-hour goal out of the box - the closest off-the-shelf cousin to the revenue-per-rink guard method.
Where it leaves you on your own is the agreement: you still set the $110 target. For a ice rink that already runs sales through a modern POS, 7shifts keeps labor as a percentage of revenue front and center.
3. Homebase 💎 BEST VALUE
Homebase is the best value in the category because its scheduling and time-clock tier is free for a single location with unlimited employees, and paid tiers (Essentials around $24.95 per location per month, Plus around $59.95, All-in-One around $99.95) are priced per location rather than per head.
For a ice rink with a deep bench of part-timers and seasonal staff, per-location pricing is dramatically cheaper than per-user tools. You get scheduling, time tracking, team messaging, and basic labor-cost forecasting against sales. It is the natural pick for an owner watching every dollar who still wants revenue-aware scheduling without an enterprise contract.
4. When I Work
When I Work is the most widely used shift-scheduling app for hourly teams, starting around $2.50 per user per month on the Essentials plan and climbing to roughly $8 per user per month with attendance and labor tools. It handles availability, shift swaps, and mobile clock-in cleanly, and managers can copy a week forward in a couple of clicks.
Where it is strong is execution - getting the published schedule onto every rink guard''s phone with reminders. Where it leaves you on your own is the why: it will not tell you a Saturday peak needs 7 people. You bring the headcount math; it runs the logistics.
For a ice rink operator who already knows their hourly targets, it is a reliable, affordable backbone.
5. Deputy
Deputy runs about $4.50 per user per month for scheduling and $6 for the premium tier that adds time and attendance. Its strength is demand-based scheduling: connect a POS feed and Deputy will suggest staffing against projected sales, which maps cleanly onto the revenue-per-rink guard math.
It also handles compliance - break rules, overtime alerts, fair-workweek laws - which matters once a ice rink runs minors, long weekend shifts, or multiple locations. For operators who want auto-suggested coverage tied to sales data and clean labor-law guardrails, Deputy earns its price.
6. Sling
Sling offers a genuinely useful free tier, with Premium around $1.70 per user per month and Business around $3.40. It leans into shift scheduling plus internal communication - newsfeeds, tasks, and announcements alongside the schedule. For a smaller ice rink that wants one app for both the schedule and team messaging without a real budget, Sling covers a lot of ground cheaply.
It is lighter on sales-forecasting than Deputy or 7shifts, so you supply the headcount targets and it handles publishing and coverage.
7. Connecteam
Connecteam is free for up to 10 users and roughly $29 per month for up to 30 users on the Basic plan, which makes it one of the cheapest ways to cover a busy floor. Beyond scheduling, it bundles checklists, training, and a full deskless-employee communication hub, so it doubles as an operations app for a ice rink where the staff never sit at a desk.
For owners who want scheduling plus daily safety checklists, certifications, and onboarding in one inexpensive package, Connecteam is hard to beat on breadth per dollar.
8. Workforce.com
Workforce.com (formerly Tanda) runs about $4 per user per month and targets exactly the multi-location, hourly-heavy operator. It excels at demand-driven scheduling, wage-cost forecasting, and compliance across jurisdictions, with live labor-versus-sales tracking through the day.
It is a step up in sophistication and is built for groups with enough locations that labor compliance and real-time cost control become daily concerns. If you run several ice rink sites and want labor cost managed to the minute, this is the operator-grade choice.
9. HotSchedules (by Fourth)
HotSchedules, now part of the Fourth platform, is the long-standing enterprise option for hospitality and entertainment groups, typically priced through custom quotes starting around $40-plus per location per month. It offers deep forecasting, labor-budget enforcement, and integrations with most major POS and payroll systems.
The trade-off is cost and setup weight - it is built for large chains with dedicated operations staff, not a single-site owner. For a regional or national ice rink group that needs forecasting and labor controls at scale, it remains a default.
10. Shiftboard
Shiftboard is enterprise workforce scheduling sold by custom quote, aimed at complex, high-headcount operations with demanding coverage rules. It handles credential-based scheduling, multi-site coverage requirements, and heavy compliance, which is more than most single venues need.
It lands at number ten for the typical ice rink precisely because it is built for scale and complexity beyond one floor - but if your coverage rules are genuinely intricate, with certified staff required at every station, it is worth a look.
How to Choose
- Start with the method, not the app. Agree on a per-rink guard hourly revenue target before you buy anything - every tool here gets better when you feed it a real number.
- Match the pricing model to your shape. Per-location pricing (Homebase, 7shifts) wins for a deep part-time bench; per-user pricing (When I Work, Deputy) wins when you run a lean, stable crew.
- Demand a POS connection if you want auto-suggested coverage - Deputy, 7shifts, and Workforce.com tie staffing to sales; lighter tools make you supply the headcount.
- Use the free option to prove the method first. Run the PULSE Rep Scheduling Matrix or a free tier for a month, confirm the revenue math holds on your floor, then decide whether to pay for execution features.
- Weigh compliance by footprint. Run minors, long weekend shifts, or multiple sites and tools with built-in labor-law guardrails (Deputy, Workforce.com) save you real exposure.
FAQ
How do I set the hourly revenue-per-rink guard target? Look at your trailing revenue and your current headcount, then agree on the honest hourly floor an average rink guard should support - many ice rink operators land somewhere reasonable for their ticket price and average crowd.
Set it with leadership so it is a shared yardstick, not a number one manager invented, and revisit it once or twice a year.
Does the same method work for a ice rink as for a restaurant or store? Yes. The division is identical - expected revenue for that hour divided by your per-rink guard target gives the headcount. A restaurant, a retail chain, and a ice rink all use the exact same math; you only swap the floor plan, the role, and the hourly averages.
What if my revenue swings a lot week to week? Use a trailing four-to-eight-week average by hour and day to smooth the noise, and schedule to that baseline. For known spikes - holidays, school breaks, big bookings, local events - add a manual bump on top of the calculated count rather than letting one wild week distort the whole average.
Why staff to revenue instead of foot traffic or a fixed headcount? Foot traffic and "we''ve always run 2 people" do not pay the labor bill - revenue does. Tying headcount to revenue guarantees every scheduled rink guard is covered by real money and forces the conversation about which blocks actually earn their coverage.
Layer your safety-required minimums on top so you never drop below a safe floor.
Bottom Line
The free PULSE Rep Scheduling Matrix is the Best Overall because it runs the exact revenue-divided-by-target method in your browser at no cost, and Homebase is the Best Value for a ice rink thanks to per-location pricing and a free tier. Whichever you choose, the method wins: set a per-rink guard hourly revenue target, divide each block''s expected revenue by it to get headcount, place those shifts where the revenue actually lands, and keep your safety minimums on top.
Sources
- PULSE Rep Scheduling Matrix - /tools/rep-scheduling (free shift-count calculator).
- 7shifts - hospitality scheduling plans and POS integrations, 7shifts.com.
- Homebase - pricing and free-tier terms, joinhomebase.com.
- When I Work - official pricing and scheduling documentation, wheniwork.com.
- Deputy - scheduling and demand-forecasting pricing, deputy.com.
- Sling - free and paid plan details, getsling.com.
- Connecteam - plan pricing and deskless-employee features, connecteam.com.
- Workforce.com - labor forecasting and pricing, workforce.com.
- Fourth / HotSchedules - enterprise scheduling overview, fourth.com.