7 Reasons to Automate your Employee Time Tracking
Are employee timesheets taking up space on your desk? Are they disrupting the flow of getting your new small business off the ground?
Assessing timesheets generally takes 10 minutes per employee, and that’s without complications. Those minutes add up each pay period, taking time away from developing marketing strategies and the many other essential tasks at the top of your agenda. Not to mention, hourly employees are expected to record their timesheets to a tee. Ensuring that accuracy can take time – time away from doing their actual jobs.
What if there were a way to eliminate paper timesheets? What if doing so actually streamlined your payroll process and resulted in precision and versatility? Enter automated employee time tracking.
What is automated employee time tracking?
Automated employee time tracking greatly simplifies the payroll process by instantly calculating the amount of time between an employee clocking in and clocking out. It can create reports for tax liabilities, time off requests and expenses reports so you can review them as needed. An innovative payroll service will offer many features that will change the way you oversee your employees, all of which will only help your small business.
Here are seven reasons to automate employee time tracking:
1. Pay employees for actual time worked
Rather than relying on employees to input their amount of time worked, allow the automated system to take over. Workers can clock in and out with the touch of a button – and even on a mobile device – resulting in an exact time calculation. The hours and minutes will be recorded for payroll purposes.
You won’t have to concern yourself with inaccuracies or timesheet padding (employees documenting more time than they actually worked). What you’ll have is a trustworthy system in place to keep payroll on the up and up.
2. Eliminate the risk of human error
Perhaps you can cut your hourly employees some slack. After all, it’s difficult to track the precise amount of time someone is “actually” working. There’s a chance an employee dives into a pressing task and forgets to mark the time that was taken for lunch, for example. With an automated system, he or she won’t have to mark anything, and you won’t have to worry about tentative timesheet documenting.
Consider all of the little negligent mistakes, too. You’ve probably encountered bad handwriting or a smudged number when reviewing a timesheet. Having to backtrack and determine how an individual timesheet truly reads will take a lot more time than you likely welcome.
3. Overtime pay will no longer sneak up on you
Another benefit to automated time tracking is knowing when an employee is approaching overtime. This is important for an owner to avoid having to pay someone additional money that the business either can’t afford to give up or would prefer spending elsewhere.
Furthermore, your employee will know precisely how many hours he or she has worked for the week, preventing unwanted or accidental overtime. Both sides will be in the know thanks to immediate time tracking.
4. Simplify the processes for everyone involved
There’s no doubt an automated payroll makes life easier for everyone who uses the system. Staff members will no longer have to set aside time to calculate their hours for the week. They will be able to clock in using any smart device. New hires can be added to the time tracking portal in seconds, plus everyone can monitor time off requests and travel expenses.
Time off requests can be approved by you through the portal. You can also run payroll in just four clicks. The system will crunch the numbers and display how much each employee is to be paid, taking into account tax withholdings as well.
5. Save money
You’ll quickly find that an innovative and automated time tracking system will save your small business valuable money. It will prevent the overpaying of employees. It will also save you from having to pay for the services of an outsourced payroll company.
If you currently handle payroll in-house, the adoption of an automated system will free up a notable amount of time for you to spend on other aspects of the business.
6. Think about growth
Handling payroll on your own may not be a mighty task right now, but imagine how that will change as your company grows. Tracking five employees could change to 10, then 25.
If growth is primary goal, you might as well save the time now and prepare for when the goal is met. An automated system will set a nice precedent for your business and will prevent a kneejerk reaction for when your business outgrows the old-fashioned way of doing payroll.
7. Level with or supersede your competitors
Advancing your payroll may not be the kind of competitive advantage you had in mind, but it is one. While some of your competition is operating via the “timesheet route,” your automated route will improve workplace productivity and output.
Visualize a competing owner sitting at his or her desk mindlessly running through payroll, from the first person on the roster to the 25th. Now, visualize what you’ll be doing with your time as your payroll is automatically configuring.
Workful’s payroll management solution includes many features that will alleviate much of the stress brought on by owning and operating a small business. Our automated system will run payroll in minutes, create valuable reports and help you file federal and state forms. Try our system for 30 days for free.
