Understanding Your Staffing Budget Indicators in the Schedule
To help you make informed staffing decisions, we’ve built real-time budget visibility directly into your Veras schedule view. As you build and adjust shifts, you'll see visual indicators that show where each group or unit stands in relation to your staffing targets.
Where to Find Budget Indicators
At the top of each schedule group , whether you're grouping by Position, Shift, Area or Time of day, or a combination of those, there will be a budget line underneath the first heading in each group with icons on each day. This icon gives you a quick snapshot of how your staffing compares to your budget or coverage goals.
What Each Icon Means
Here’s a breakdown of the icons and what they tell you:
⏳ Hourglass
You’ve created the right number of shifts for the budget but some are still open and waiting to be filled. You’re on the right track, but shifts still need to be assigned.
⬆️ Up Arrow
You’re currently over budget. This means you’ve created or assigned more shifts than needed. Additionally, Veras displays a yellow up arrow for overstaffed positions and provides details like the number of extra shifts and whether those shifts are filled or remain open. Consider reviewing your coverage and scaling back where possible.
⬇️ Down Arrow
You’re under budget. Fewer shifts have been created or filled than your target. You may need to add more shifts to meet care requirements or budget expectations.
✅ Green Check
You’re right on budget. The number of shifts created and filled aligns with your target for that group, great job!
See the Full Breakdown
Want to dig deeper? Click on any of the budget icons to open a detailed breakdown. You’ll see exactly how many shifts are scheduled, how many are still open, and whether you're over or under your target, along with the number of shifts you need to add or remove. For overstaffed positions, you’ll see the number of staff over budget and whether these extra shifts are already filled or remain open. We also provide suggestions and quick actions to help you get back on budget faster.
Optimize Open Shifts
You can also use our Optimize Open Shifts feature to quickly balance your schedule and stay on budget. This tool automatically creates the right number of open shifts where you're short and removes any extras where you're over, without affecting the shifts you've already assigned. It’s a fast way to move your groups toward the ⏳ Hourglass or ✅ Green Check indicators. Here's how to use it:
Go to the Schedule page
Navigate to the schedule for the facility you want to update.Open the options menu
In the top-right corner of the page, click the three-dot menu next to the Master Schedule button.Select "Optimize Open Shifts"
From the dropdown menu, choose Optimize Open Shifts to open the optimization modal.Choose positions to optimize
In the modal, select the job positions (e.g., CNAs, MTs) you want to include in the optimization.Set the date range
Pick the start and end dates for the time period you'd like to optimize.Click "Optimize" to apply changes
Once you've made your selections, confirm the optimization. The system will automatically adjust open shifts based on your staffing targets—adding where you're short and removing where you're over.