If your business is still using a manual tracking system for
employees, you should consider time
and attendance software to automate the process of time tracking, according
to Jason Trend of Pacific Timesheet. Every company won’t find it to be the best
option, but many companies might be surprised at how much more efficient the
process can be.
Whether people simply write their hours down manually as is
done in some small businesses, or they punch in and out on a manual time clock,
he says this method of tracking people’s time in and out is woefully
inefficient by today’s standards. Though it has worked successfully for years,
the old punch clock method has been replaced with something that’s just more
efficient and time-saving. Timecard software does more than tell you when your
employees clock in and out, while manual tracking can only show that and
nothing more.
And the manual tracking system itself, according to Trend,
has certain built-in features that rely on the fact that there are going to be
mistakes and inaccuracies, such as a delay of a few days to several days
between the end of a tracked period and disbursement of funds.
Time and attendance software, on the other hand, can not
only tally hours worked, break and lunch times and other figures for a day, a
week or a prolonged period of time, it can help simplify payroll processing in
general. All of the calculations are done automatically so that no one has to
sit and look at a time card and figure hours. That can cut hours off payroll
processing, which means other tasks can be focused on instead.
There will also be less “stolen” time in which employees
clock each other in and out by simply pulling their card out of the sleeve in
punching it. Late employees or those who take long lunches might have friends
punch their cards so that management never becomes aware of the problem.
Trend also points out that in today’s working world, when
things like tardiness, missed days, and other inefficiencies can result in
employee suspensions, penalties and terminations, businesses can’t really
afford to leave these major consequences in the hands of a flawed, manual system.
Manual tracking systems might seem very frugal and
inexpensive, with some business owners priding themselves on the simplicity of
it. But with all of the opportunities for errors creeping into a manual system,
it’s anything but efficient, according to Trend.
Time card
software eliminates these problems, he says. Time clocks and time cards
don’t have to be babysat and they don’t have to be manually examined, approved
and corrected. There is no station for a pile of time cards as everything is
stored digitally and is typically web-based. Calculations are instant,
eliminating delays. And when someone wants to know how much vacation time
they’ve accumulated, for instance, the software has tracked it which eliminates
the need for someone to go back through their time cards and make those
calculations manually.
