Gastrora Clear hours for your restaurant.

Guide for new restaurant owners

Getting started with Gastrora

From sign-up to your first published shift in 15 minutes — you go through it step by step and end up with a working shift plan that reaches your team via WhatsApp.

Durationapprox. 15 min setup

Phases6 steps

Trial30 days free

Overview

The first 15 minutes

Six steps you can work through in one go. You don't need to prepare anything — your employees' phone numbers are enough.

AccountEmail + password, confirmation link.

BusinessName, UID, choose the L-GAV standard.

OverviewFollow the checklist, step by step.

EmployeesAdd them + WhatsApp invitation.

Templates3–5 shift templates for drag and drop.

Publish the planSend your first week via WhatsApp.

Step 1

Create an account

On gastrora.ch, click «Try for free» at the top right. All you need is an email address and a password with at least 8 characters. No credit card, no upfront commitment.

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Confirm your emailAfter clicking «Create account», you'll receive an email from noreply@gastrora.ch. Click the confirmation link — you're then logged in straight away. If the email lands in your spam folder: mark it as «not spam» once, and all future emails (month-end close, reminders) will arrive in your inbox.

Step 2

Set up your business

After clicking the confirmation link, you'll see the green «Email confirmed» notice and land directly in the welcome wizard. Four fields, 30 seconds:

Business name

The name of your restaurant — shown in emails and on PDFs.

UID number

Format CHE-123.456.789. You'll find it on zefix.ch or on your VAT invoice.

Business type

Determines the L-GAV weekly working hours. Standard = 42h/week (restaurant, bar). Other industry variants are available too.

Main language of the business

Default language for employees. You can choose a different language for each employee later (DE / FR / IT / EN).

Onboarding wizard with business name, UID, business type and language

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UID checkWe check your UID against the official Swiss commercial register (Zefix). If no entry is found, we'll get in touch within 24 hours — this doesn't block you, you can still start right away.

Step 3

Overview: follow the setup checklist

You're now in the dashboard. At the top you'll see the trial notice («Trial period · 30 days left»), below it a Setup card with a progress bar and three tabs: Essentials, Day-to-day operations, Month-end close.

Dashboard with setup checklist, 2 of 5 essentials — The **Essentials** tab is your to-do list for the next 10 minutes — the business is already done, four items to go.

The five essentials in the right order:

Business set up ✓ (we've just done that)
Employees added — at least one
Hire date for all employees — important for balances and years of service
Gross salary for all employees — monthly wage or hourly wage
Shift templates created — 3–5 typical shifts

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The checklist is your anchorIf you're unsure what comes next: just click the next open item. Each item takes you to the right page. Once the essentials are done, the Day-to-day operations and Month-end close tabs come next — they are self-explanatory.

Step 4

Add employees

Click Employees in the sidebar on the left → «Add employee» at the top right. Required fields per employee:

Name + Phone (WhatsApp)

Format with country code, e.g. +41 79 123 45 67. The number is used for sending WhatsApp messages.

Start date

The actual first working day — even if it was years ago. The basis for years of service and vacation entitlement.

Hours per week

E.g. 42 for full-time, 21 for 50%, 0 for purely hourly-paid staff.

Employment type

Permanent with a monthly wage (e.g. CHF 5'000 gross, field «Gross monthly wage CHF») — entitled to rest days / public holidays / vacation under the L-GAV. Hourly (e.g. CHF 28/h, field «Hourly wage CHF») — vacation/public holidays are compensated as a flat rate in the hourly rate.

Language + roles

The language in which the employee receives WhatsApp messages (DE/FR/IT/EN). Roles: service, kitchen, bar, reception etc. — several per employee are possible.

After saving, click the paper-plane icon «Send WhatsApp invitation» in the employee list. The employee receives a WhatsApp welcome message in their language with the most important commands (Start, End, Break, Sick).

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If the invitation doesn't arriveMeta's spam filters sometimes block the first message to unknown numbers. Ask the employee to send a quick «Hello» to the Gastrora number — after that, all messages arrive reliably.

Step 5

Create shift templates

Under Shift plan → Templates you create your typical shifts. 3–5 templates are enough for most businesses — you can always add more later.

Three neatly maintained shift templates — This is what a typical setup looks like: lunch service, evening kitchen, evening service — each with the right role, time and mandatory break.

For each template you enter:

Name — e.g. «Evening service»
Role — service / kitchen / bar / reception / etc.
Start and end time — e.g. 17:00–23:00
Break — legal requirement: 0 min up to 5½ h, 15 min for more than 5½ h, 30 min for more than 7 h, 60 min for more than 9 h
Colour (optional) — helps you tell roles apart when dragging and dropping

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More tipsYou'll find detailed recommendations for your template strategy in the guide Getting the most out of templates.

Step 6

Publish your first shift

Switch to Shift plan → Plan. Choose a week at the top, then drag templates from the sidebar onto the relevant employee's day.

Drag and drop shift templates onto the employee/day cells. Rest days and absences work the same way.

Keep an eye on the L-GAV indicator. When it's green («L-GAV compliant»), the plan has no violations.

Click «Publish» at the top right. Every employee receives their plan via WhatsApp — in their own language.

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CongratulationsYour first plan is in the system and your team knows about it. From now on, your employees record their hours via WhatsApp — no app needed, no training.