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In this Article:
Question: Why does accurate time management matter?
Hint: Sharing candy is expensive!
The truth of the matter is that inaccurate time management is costly and leads to unnecessary bottlenecks.
Story time! For most of us, at some point in our lives we have experienced punching in and out at a job. And for most of us, we learned in our first few jobs that if we didn’t do this accurately, we didn’t get paid accurately either.
Luckily, we really only needed to learn that lesson once for it to sink in. Being underpaid because of inaccurate punch cards makes for a pretty sad convenience store candy haul with friends on a Friday night after a long week. This core memory should be the motivation you need to help your clients (and their hungry employees) manage time properly.
Tips to avoid time management bottlenecks.
Let me introduce you to Bottleneck. Not to be confused with the Coke bottle candy (still my favourite!). You see, Bottleneck loves to consume your time and energy. It also hinders progress, impacts deadlines, costs you valuable time and so forth. So, while it doesn’t spike your sugar, it will test your patience!
Here are a few ways to avoid time bottlenecks and improve time management accuracy for your clients.
- Implementing software. Both for time management and payroll processing.
- Limiting the duplication of data. Ditch the manual and paper methods of tracking time. Integrating your time management software with your payroll and accounting systems will virtually eliminate data duplication. You can also import .CSV file types into most software these days.
- Simplifying employee time tracking. Make it easy for them to punch in and out and make them accountable.
- Improving approval processes. By prioritizing the processes and approvals, you can avoid even one small mistake holding up the entire payroll for everyone.
How compliance impacts time management (and vice versa).
Understanding the compliance components will help you mitigate risk and, in turn, keep you and your clients’ cost of compliance low.
When setting up any time management system, there are a few back-end settings that tie directly into compliance and labour regulations. These can impact things like how the employee is paid, why they are being paid and how you’re supposed to be communicating any payroll implications with them.
As payroll professionals it is important to regularly check your payroll settings and do your research to ensure you are up to date and keeping compliant.
- Hours of work/scheduling
- Breaks
- Privacy and communication
- Record keeping
- Location tracking and data usage
Reducing compliance issues starts with policies and procedures, continues during employee onboarding and extends to the settings and setup within software.
As we all know, small business owners are often knee deep in running their business (likely not taking breaks themselves), so I always try to encourage payroll and accounting professionals to take on some of this responsibility. Educate clients and employers by providing the tools, resources and assistance required to ensure everyone is keeping up with compliance.
Employees need to be paid on time — efficiently!
How do we create efficiency in time management so everyone gets paid on time? Definitely not by being sad outside a candy store that’s for sure! My tip is to integrate your time management solution into your payroll and accounting software. As I have mentioned a couple times in this article, by doing this, you will not only put an end to manual data entry and data duplication but you will also:
- Reduce data entry errors.
- Improve key performance indicators (KPIs) for reporting and advisory.
- Create continuity across the accounting and payroll functions.
How Timesheet Mobile can help you and your clients.
During the webinar recording above, Bob, Wagepoint’s Director of Time, and I had a little fun, role playing. He played himself while I played the role of you, the payroll professional! Here are some of the questions and answers we discussed in the video to help you understand why Timesheet Mobile (TSM) is a great all in one workforce time management solution for your clients.
Q: Bob, tell me, what is your favourite differentiating feature of Timesheet Mobile?
A: TSM uses geofencing to validate that employees are on location during their shifts.
Q: Is scheduling integrated into Timesheet Mobile?
A: Yes, the TSM app is an all-in-one app. Here are some highlighted scheduling features:
- Employees get alerts when they are assigned shifts.
- Employees get reminders to punch in and out.
- Employees can also swap shifts with other employees.
- Managers get alerts if an employee is a no show.
Q: Does TSM track overtime?
A: Yes. Daily and weekly overtime thresholds can be set by the manager in accordance with their labour regulations. Alerts can also be sent to managers when an employee goes into overtime.
Q: Does TSM track paid and unpaid meal breaks?
A: Yes. During their shift employees can be reminded to take their paid breaks directly from the employee app. If they missed the notification, at the end of their shift, employees can be prompted to enter the time they took for unpaid meal breaks.
Q: How do employees record their time?
A: They can use either Web Punch, Kiosk, or Smartphone App. Also by using the auto-punch feature through geofencing. It can automatically punch the employee in or out when an employee arrives and leaves the work location.
Q: How do timesheets get approved?
A: The first (and optional) approval step is the employee approving their own time. Then it goes to the management approval. There can be up to two levels of approval at this stage.
- By a direct manager of the employee.
- By the authorized Payroll Manager.
Q: Does Timesheet Mobile integrate with Wagepoint?
A: Yes. During set up, the employee list is exported from Wagepoint and imported to TSM. After timesheets are approved in TSM, they are imported to Wagepoint.
Check out these additional resources to help get you started with simple, efficient and accurate time management.
- Why Payroll Compliance Matters for Small Business
- 8 Employee Time Tracking Myths and Misconceptions Busted
- TSM Partner Feature List
- Partner Program | Timesheet Mobile
- 3 Timesheet Mobile features that make time tracking easy
Sign up for Timesheet Mobile and save.
Timesheet Mobile’s partner program comes with exclusive perks you don’t want to miss out on.
- 30-day free trial account with Timesheet Mobile.
- A free demo account for accounting partners.
- 50% off for the first three months (after 30-day trial) and 10% off thereafter for your firm and the small business clients that you refer.
