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Timekeeping can be a complicated task. The process is far more involving than staff simply clocking in and out. The days of manual timekeeping are long gone. These days, most businesses utilise software systems to make the task more manageable. A good timekeeping software system will include the ability to monitor hours worked, work out employee breaks, and calculate holiday requirement. It will also ensure that a workplace stays on top of any statutory requirements they have to follow.
In this article, we will discuss what timekeeping software is, what it should include, and its many benefits. Let’s get started.
What Is a Timekeeping System?
A timekeeping system provides a way for businesses to monitor and calculate basic and complex timekeeping tasks. These can include simple things like monitoring working hours and lunch hours, to complicated calculations like holiday entitlement.
A good timekeeping system will give employers a real-time insight into the number of active working hours that an employee spends at the workplace. This insight makes it possible to perform many other useful calculations that would otherwise take labour hours to complete.
What Is the Purpose of Timekeeping?
In any business, it is vital to monitor the number of hours worked by employees. Without this it is impossible to calculate things like pay, holiday entitlement, as well as other HR metrics.
But timekeeping isn’t just about hours worked. It is also about monitoring who is doing what at any given time. A timekeeping system will allow an employer to monitor staff coverage as well as keeping tabs on which employees are late for shifts. This can be essential where disciplinary issues arise.
Why Is Timekeeping Software Required?
As mentioned earlier in the article, the act of timekeeping can be complicated. Long gone are the days of punch cards for clocking in and out. While a simple paper-based timekeeping system may seem appealing, it seldom handles the complexities of modern business. In the old days punch cards had to be collated and their information scrutinised to perform simple tasks. This took time and effort. All of which disappears when a business uses timekeeping software.
In modern business it is more likely to find employees “logging in” to their computers rather than pushing pieces of card into a machine. The act of logging in often fires up the timekeeping software which will then monitor the employees’ hours worked. It will also look for and flag up those who are late as well as automating many HR tasks like pay calculation.
What Are the Benefits of Timekeeping Software?
There are many benefits to using timekeeping software, including:
- Increasing the accuracy of time and attendance tracking. Entering payroll information manually can easily lead to errors. Over time, a business could lose a significant amount of money simply because of payroll errors. One of the primary benefits of time management software is that it can accurately track the hours worked by staff.
- Boost the productivity of HR staff. Time management software is simply more efficient than manual entry timekeeping. Not only will you increase the accuracy of payroll, but it will also take less time to complete these tasks. This frees up time for HR staff to spend on other tasks.
- Prevent payroll abuse and time fraud. Fraudulently filling out timesheets or having a co-worker punch in or out for an employee can cause unnecessary payroll expenses. Timekeeping software prevents this from happening.
- Allow everyone to see their schedules. Most time tracking software allows all employees access to their schedules. Some even allow them to request time off while away from the workplace.
- Clock in and out from browser
- Time tracking via Phone & Tablet app
- View & approve time records online
- Export timesheets to payroll
- View & approve staff vacation requests
- Overview of employee availability & absences
Illustration by Natasha Remarchuk from Ouch!
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
