It’s an old saying by Benjamin Franklin, Time Is Money! Therefore, the tracking of daily working hours is really important, as it commonly helps to remunerate employees.
A mechanical time clock was one of the first known methods of recording time on a timesheet, using which the employees themselves can record the time of their arrival and departure, minimizing all the disputes. Even today, I feel the main idea behind timesheets hasn’t changed over the years.
As in today’s scenario, part-time or hourly based employers use different tools or software to track and manage the hourly tracking hours of the employees. So, as this system is still around, it means people have tried and are completely reliable in using these methods.
Cons of Conventional Timesheets and Calculators
In earlier days, people used to use spreadsheets, paper timesheets, wall clocks to calculate the physical time or employee’s daily work time. But the manual timesheets have a huge flaw: it allows the employee to provide direct, manual feedback. The level of exactness decreases dramatically as humans do the record-keeping job.
Even today, there are thousands of companies all across the world, depending upon the paperwork, and excel records to manage their assets, and work time. If your organization is also following similar practices, then don’t worry as you are not alone.
But the fact is, using manual timesheets or manual time management systems may cost time much more than any other. They make the calculation of payroll, put a huge logistical burden on your payroll, and HR staff and leave your company vulnerable to inaccuracies, and enforcement problems. Along with it, these manual timesheets are probably unpopular with your own employees and they do not know how to use it!
For example, let’s try a timesheet calculator application on mobile phones. So to begin, I have to log in to the application, manage the project settings, and then begin with tracking. Then when I begin with the work, my phone starts tracking my work time.
But suddenly, if I got an emergency call and had to attend it somehow in that situation. I don’t know how much time it would take me to end the call based on the emergency.
Here is the problem, as I haven’t stopped the time tracking software and don’t know how much time I took over a call, therefore, at the end of the day, the application sends the report to my manager which is incorrect.
Not only with the application, even if I would have used a timesheet template available on the internet, the problem would also still have occurred. I need to take the time my system was registered, guess how much of a gap there was when I stopped the timesheet while having a phone call, record the in-active time, and then send back to the manager, which is a huge loss of time and effort.
Along with it, there’s always the possibility of underreporting and marketing themselves short, rather than overreporting. Let’s say, when I went to pick up the call, I stopped the time tracker. Instead, when I returned to work, I forgot to start it up again. Now, I worked without pay.
In both cases, it’s simply impossible to track the amount of time I worked for the whole day. If it happens a couple of times a day, then I probably would miss my pay for a couple of times.
The Expense Of Human Error
Let’s leave aside the fact that people make innocent mistakes and are forgetful. You also have to make a consideration of workers who manipulate the time clock deceptively to exaggerate the amount of time they employed. You’d like to believe this doesn’t happen, but the fact is nearly half of the hourly employees surveyed in one questionnaire admitted fudging the numbers on their timesheets.
As per different statistics, it shows that tons of inaccurate timesheets are shared. Solving this will require proof of each and every record of working hours. As a result, timesheets, time clocks, and time tracking software provide data that are all inherently biased, either intentionally or not.
So let’s move ahead, and know about the best way to track the working –
Time Tracking For Employees
Calculators based on real-world use can be modified automatically to include the time an employee did not operate. Time monitoring software such as EmpMonitor, maintains records of all operations on an employee’s computer, without clocking in, or out, manually.
With a monitoring device running discreetly in a computer’s context, the task of manually keeping up with the time spent on various tasks during the day is no longer a problem. The time spent working is automatically compiled and sent directly to a dashboard for reporting.
What makes EmpMonitor even more useful when monitoring the working hours is that it displays the actual use of the screen time and program. The conventional timesheets reveal just the in and out time. The employers don’t get a clear picture of how the employees spend their working hours. But EmpMonitor collects time data, images, photos, and use of the application and website, there is no confusion about the time spent by the employees.
Using the EmpMonitor timesheet depends on the usage requirements of the employer. Either you manage a remote team of part-time working staff or simply want to have more transparency for the employees at your workplace. Tracking starts when a user logs into his/her computer. Whether they get started immediately or take a couple of minutes to grab a cup of coffee, the software provides a clear and detailed overview of the employees.
This feature helps in providing a list of all the employees that are added in the Timesheet, which includes name, assignee, Status Progress, Start Date, End Date, and Action.
Each of these data can be exported to Google Sheets in a spreadsheet from or saved to your chosen storage spot. Show and edit the data as you wish.
Let’s check out the top benefits of using Timesheet software –
Quick Easy Processing And Storage –
A reliable timesheet software provides a huge number of data and employee work management options. Like, here in EmpMonitor you can add a timesheet for each employee including the project name, user name, to-do list, reason, note, along with the start date, and end date. Using this eliminates the requirement of payroll staff which helps to minimize the valuable time of the employees that is wasted in entering data and managing paper timesheets. Using the proper software, allows to easily automate all the required things like leave requests, entry approvals, and many more.
Retrieving past details from a manual time tracking software can be a daunting task, as it’s not simple to navigate and keep all the paper documents well structured manually. All the time-sheet management software systems provide convenient ways to digitally store and organize information for easy access to the staff and human resources.
Enhance Efficiency and Easen Up Employees Work –
While planning to purchase an automation-based timesheet system, list out all the main requirements of the company including your attendance management, HR requirements, along with the software compatibility. Hence, choose the software which is compatible with all systems. Once it’s integrated, you can automate all your tasks in one go. Also share automated timesheets updates and digitally compile and accept timesheets.
You will improve productivity and free up the payroll workers to work on more critical projects by automating payroll and accounting activities that would otherwise take up precious time.
Helps In Increasing Accuracy –
Reading and understanding paper timesheets are difficult to understand, hence, it’s difficult to track before final submission. The online timesheet management software helps in enhancing the exactness of the timesheets in different ways. Initially, timesheet software minimizes the data errors as the employees can add the data straight into the system.
Next, timesheet management software has some form of audit trail allowing system administrators to monitor user behavior. This way, if there is no question about a time sheet’s accuracy, the administrators can monitor the user behavior of the employee to verify the working time and see if any unusual adjustments were made.
Effortlessly manage projects, scheduling jobs –
Using integrated timesheet tools enables you to rapidly take the tour of real-time project management, asset management, and staff management. Explore performance of the employees by monitoring attendance, working hours, and both unplanned and planned absences all in a single program. Track and manage schedules, and prepare ahead for potential projects depending on past and current project’s staff and asset data.
Having all the data in a single system and checking out how efficiently and effectively your company is running using the employee’s working time, the software they are using, along with other assets, and therefore try making the changes accordingly, it helps in increasing efficiency and productivity in the future.
Choose The Appropriate Software
The previously mentioned advantages are some of the top benefits of using timesheet management software. While choosing the timesheet management software for the company, always select the one which serves best for your company’s needs. Usually, the perfect timesheet software comes with a different timesheet interface, which could be quickly customized based on the requirements.
At EmpMonitor, we aim to give away the best experience to the users, which increases the productivity and efficiency of your enterprise. Our software provides a simple, user-friendly interface, along with different features including, employee management system, time-attendance, etc. which helps to serve best for companies. We also make good relationships with our clients and also take different initiatives to enhance services and products.
Try taking our Brand Tour to learn more about what EmpMonitor Timesheet is all about if you are looking to upgrade your manual time tracking systems. Or, directly sign up for a Free Trial and try it now!
