Digital Timesheets – all you need to know

What are Digital Timesheets? It might sound like a silly question. But defining exactly what you get and want with a timesheet is important.

Tracking employee hours might not be enough for you. Your business could also need overtime, time spent in departments and more included.

Traditionally you could use paper or spreadsheet software to track employee time. Bt with a digital timesheet, the software automatically fills the template with your employee clocking data (hours worked).

Why use digital timesheets?

Knowing your costs inside out is vital to all successful companies.

Even with a simple 9-5 shift, businesses need to keep track of workers hours, how long they spend on breaks if they do overtime and more.

Not only will this speed up the payroll process, but it will enable you to keep a digital record of hours for years to come – which is legally required.

See our main reasons for maintaining a digital timesheet below:

Payroll

• When timesheets are linked to payroll, you can save time as the calculations are automated.
• All the necessary communications between departments. e.g. between line managers and payroll staff are also cut.
• Accurate data – no more human errors.
• If you choose a Time and Attendance system to fill your timesheet, you will also enjoy overtime, breaks and more pay rules added as standard.

Time Management

We all know the old adage time is money.

• Online Digital Timesheets make it easier to monitor and assess the performance of your employees. Therefore saving you time. Easily view working hours, holiday time and other absences.
• Know exactly how long labour takes to complete a task – vital for a host of industries including construction, manufacturing and more.
• With clear data on how long a product or process took, management can more accurately quote for work in the future.

Stop time theft

• With a timesheet – lateness, overtime, long breaks and more are all brought to light.
• Using technology such as biometric clocking machines (which read unique features of each employee) will also stop “buddy clocking”, which means other employees clocking for their friends.

Improve management with digital timesheets

• Any queries about employee time spent on particular tasks or projects can be quickly answered. Therefore leaving you free to concentrate on the important decisions you need to make.
• The convenience of 24/7 online access is a great advantage in today’s world of ‘on the move’ and remote working.
• Optimise shifts and more based on working hour knowledge.
• Enable managers to accurately estimate expected costs based on past projects.

Spot trends

With automated timesheets, you can go a step further than tracking attendance alone.

• Computerised digital timesheets make it easier for you to back up your intuition with hard data about what are the most and least cost-effective areas of your business.
• Analyse the contribution of employees to individual projects and the overall business – this helps you spot trends and evaluate efficiencies.
• Be more strategic and use automated timesheets to decide whether you are getting a return for your investment and whether a task or project is worth pursuing. For example, you may find that certain projects have been over-resourced at the expense of others or vice versa. You can then act to reprioritise and ensure your business is working most profitably.

Pitching your services

Analysing employee timesheets ultimately gives you the information you need to help you put together well-informed pitches or bids for other work.

You can use your timesheet information about time spent on a particular project to inform your quotes to potential clients. This way you can be confident about your costs and your profitability.

Clients will also be impressed by your knowledge about your own data and the improved level of service you can provide for them.

Planning ahead 

Analysing timesheets lets you see the bigger picture. Having detailed and accurate data to hand gives you clearer insight for planning ahead.

Not only can you ensure that all current project requirements are met. But you can see where your capacity lies for future projects. You can analyse the data from timesheets to make financial projections and also to control productivity.

Heard enough?

Automated timesheets are an excellent tool to help organisations of all sizes to become more efficient and save money. Also, they help with the day-to-day running of your business, but also equip you to look to the future.

Whatever reason you choose for using a digital timesheet, uAttend by Chronologic can help.

We offer timesheet clocking via smartphone, web, fingerprint, RFID and facial recognition units. Find out more, here.