The tasks of time and attendance for payroll management can be a real headache. Paperwork, regulatory demands, and human error create problems for what should be a simple and efficient process. But for many businesses it's not.

When a business is first starting out this is probably a manual process and it works okay when there are still only a few employees. But as the business grows and employees are added, the manual methods of recording, tracking, and reporting time and attendance can rapidly become overwhelming.

Time Clock Software: Simplifying Time and Attendance

The answer for many of these time and attendance issues is time clock software. The best time and attendance solutions are designed with busy HR and payroll managers in mind. This means timekeeping solutions that are simple to set up, simple to manage, and simple to maintain on a daily basis. 

Good time clock software systems offer a variety of advanced timekeeping features that can be set up so that most of these are "behind the scenes" so to speak. This allows you to focus on simply collecting time, editing cards, and running reports.

Automated time clock systems typically send employee's time punches to the web for simple editing and reporting by their supervisors. That data can be sent either through a standard phone or fax line (analog) or through a digital (Ethernet) connection.

Three Reasons to Automate Your Time and Attendance Process

1. Functionality

A simple timekeeping solution is one that offers practicality for your process. A good system provides simple hardware setup and a user-friendly approach for tracking employee punches, editing time cards and generating reports for payroll processing.

2. Convenience

Automated timekeeping can dramatically reduce the payroll management work involved in collecting and calculating employee hours. Sending your payroll processing data electronically can eliminate:

• Faxing, phoning in, or any other form of manual transmission of employee data
• Human error associated with manually calculating time sheets
• Labor hours required by payroll clerks to collect and calculate payroll each period

3. Savings

An automated time clock system can provide huge savings for employers.  Not only does it provide great convenience for HR staff members, supervisors, and business owners, but it also dramatically reduces labor costs, including:

• Eliminated "wasted labor minutes" from employee time theft and approximations
• Eliminated time spent by payroll clerks in collecting and calculating time card data
• Minimized expenses associated with human error in processing timekeeping data
• Increased productivity and accountability for time worked by employees

Automating Your Time and Attendance and Payroll Process

In addition to the main reasons for automating outlined above, there are a number of advantages to opting for an automated time clock system:

Calculate your savings.

Track actual minutes worked. Eliminate wasted labor minutes.

Cut administrative costs.

Automate time tracking and eliminate administrative hours.

Increase productivity.

Pay employees for minutes worked only.  No late arrivals and early departures.

Eliminate so-called "Buddy Punching".

Prevent employee time theft.

Simple online editing.

Log in from any workstation to easily manage data online. 

Easy setup and operation.

Typical hardware can be set up in a matter of minutes.

Outsourcing Your Payroll Management and Time and Attendance Process

The key to successful growth is in thinking strategically, and acting tactically. In other words, anticipate your needs and expected growth while taking steps today to improve and streamline your current processes and systems.

In many ways, your time keeping system can be seen as the scorecard that helps maintain your business. Paying your employees as cost-effectively as possible makes good fiscal sense!

With the wide variety of tasks that HR professionals are responsible for managing, having the best tools at their disposal becomes an ever-present concern. Programs evolve, technology changes, and what was purchased and installed three years ago, for example, may not be sufficient for today.

And while investing in the best available software is a viable option, another direction you can consider is outsourcing. This can be simply outsourcing one process such as payroll. However, with a full-service provider such as Accuchex, you have additional options for outsourcing as well.

Let Accuchex help you in managing your HR needs, payroll processes, and staying on top of compliance demands. Get your Free Download: Payroll Outsourcing Guide to help you make an informed decision or call Accuchex Payroll Management Services at 877-422-2824.