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Queue cutoff calculator

Find out when to stop taking new walk-ins so everyone in line is served before you close. This free queue wait time calculator also tells you how many staff you need to clear the line.

Industry presets use typical numbers for a busy afternoon. Change any of them to match your day.

Your numbers

Change any value and the answer updates straight away.

Closing time
Time now

How many new people joined in the last hour is a good guess. Set 0 if you do not know.

%

Their places free up, so each person counts for a little less work. Leave at 0 if you are not sure.

Service mix

Staff breaks

Getting tight

Stop new joins at 5:20 PM

At 6 new joins an hour, the line fills the time left at this point. Anyone who joins after it would still be waiting at closing.

Room for
8
more before closing
Wait if joining now
60
min
Line clears at
5:00 PM
if nobody else joins
Last full service starts
5:45 PM

An estimate from averages. Real lines run faster and slower than average, so leave a little slack.

ScanQueue works this out from your real line

Guests join with a QR code and see a live wait. Anyone whose wait runs past closing is warned before they join, and your Reports tab shows when to stop joins today.

Start free

How the calculator works

It treats your line as minutes of work and your team as minutes of staff time, then plays the rest of the day forward minute by minute.

  1. 1

    Minutes left: closing time minus the time now.

  2. 2

    Staff time: minutes left times staff serving, minus the minutes staff spend on breaks before closing.

  3. 3

    Time per person: your average service time, less the share of people who leave before their turn (they free up their place).

  4. 4

    Room for more: staff time minus the work already waiting, divided by the time per person.

  5. 5

    Stop time: new joins keep adding work every hour. The stop time is the latest moment you can close the queue and still have an empty line at closing, rounded down to 5 minutes. It is never later than one full service before closing.

  6. 6

    Staff needed: the smallest team that empties the line by closing, with joins open until the time you choose.

Questions about closing the queue

When the people already in line, plus the people still joining, would use up all the staff time left before you close. Stop at the time this calculator gives and the last person who joins is served before you lock the door.
Because it depends on how fast people keep arriving. With 8 people waiting, 2 staff, 15 minutes each and 2 hours to go, there is room for 8 more. If 6 people join an hour you should stop at 5:20 PM, but if nobody else comes you never need to stop early. Without a pace, the calculator tells you how many more people fit instead.
Some people give up and leave the line, which frees their place, so each person counts for a little less work and there is a little more room. Keep it at 0 if you are not sure: guessing too high leaves people still waiting at closing.
Yes, from your real line. Guests join with a QR code and see a live wait. When you set a closing time, anyone whose wait would run past closing sees a warning before they join, and the Live today panel in Reports shows when each queue clears and the latest time to stop joins at the last hour's pace. Closing the queue stays one tap for your staff.
Yes. No signup, no limits, and you can put it on your own website with the embed code on this page.

Put this calculator on your site

Copy the code into any page. It works in WordPress, Squarespace, Wix and plain HTML.

Run your line on ScanQueue

Guests join with a QR code, see a live wait and get a WhatsApp, text or push alert when it is their turn. Free to start, no app for customers.

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