Why Small Businesses Need Time Clock Software
Many small businesses still rely on manual time clock software to track and manage employee hours. While it may seem like a cost-effective way to get your business up and running, it could actually be costing you more money in the long run.
You might be wondering how using a manual and often free option to track employee time is actually costing you money. The answer is simple, employee time theft.
Now, we’re not saying your employees are bad workers or trying to take advantage of you. In fact, many people who commit time theft may not even realize they are doing it. But clocking in 10 or 15 minutes early every day can really start to add up for business.
Once you start to add up all the little things that employees may or may not realize they are doing, it can quickly become a big expense.
As an owner of a small business, you don’t have the time or resources to spend your days monitoring if your employees are properly tracking their hours. That’s why investing in a time clock software can help keep your employees honest and make scheduling and tracking employee time easier.
Here’s a quick look at what we’ll cover in this article:
- Why your small business should invest in time clock software
- How it can reduce employee time theft
- How you can easily track and manage employee vacation and PTO
- How data-driven reports can help you make better business decisions
Your small business needs employees who are reliable and accountable to thrive. Using time clock software can help you accomplish this with better time tracking and visibility.
Why Your Small Business Needs Time Clock Software
Time clock software can provide a number of benefits for your small business. From accurately tracking the time your employees work to capturing data that will help you make better business decisions—it’s well worth the investment. The number of benefits that this software provides is one of the reasons why time clocks for small business are vital in their daily operations and long-term growth.
Let’s take a look at a few different reasons why time tracking software is a good investment for your small business.
While it’s important to provide your employees with ample time to take breaks, they can quickly be taken advantage of by adding an extra 10–15 minutes each day. The more time your employees are on break, the less productive they are. Image courtesy of Pexels.
Aside from adversely affecting the productivity of your business, employees who consume more minutes than their allotted break time can also hurt your finances. Continually paying for employees who do nothing can cost your business a lot of money, and this problem can impact other areas of the business.
Reduce Employee Time Theft
Okay, let’s talk a little more about employee time theft. As mentioned above, sometimes even your best employee is committing time theft without even knowing. Consistently clocking in early, taking extended lunches, or multiple smoke breaks can all be time wasted. This is time that you are paying your employees while they are not performing their job to the fullest capacity.
Time theft can happen in a number of different ways. It’s not just adding a few extra minutes to their timesheet here and there. Some types of time theft can be deliberate and even more detrimental to your business.
Here are a few types of time theft that a time clock software can help you prevent:
- Asking a friend to clock them in, also known as buddy punching
- Taking extended breaks and lunches
- Goofing off during work hours and not doing their assigned duties
- Adding extra time to their timesheets
- Writing in a different time than when they arrived at the office
All of these things can easily be prevented to help make your business more profitable. It might not seem like a big deal when you first look at it, but that all that time lost can quickly add up. This is especially true if more than one of your employees are committing time theft.
Make taking time off easy for your employees and tracking the time simple for you. Let your time clock system take care of the heavy lifting and make life easier for everyone.
Time clock software can detect your employee’s idle time and automatically stop. This means that even if your employee clocked in, their time wouldn’t run if they’re not being productive at their workstations.
Easily Track Vacation and PTO Schedules
Trying to remember everyone’s vacation and PTO schedule can be nearly impossible when you’re trying to help your business gain momentum. Sure, using pen and paper might help when you can still count your employees with both of your hands but as your business continues to grow, expect that it’ll be more challenging for you to track their leave dates and schedules. Luckily, with the help of advanced time clock software, you can easily track these details at the touch of a button.
You can easily set rules for each employee to ensure vacation and PTO time tracking is accurate for everyone. Use summary reports to keep track of what time each employee has left and when they are scheduled off in the future — gone are the days of forgetting who will be in the office and when.
You’ll have the ability to easily track their scheduled time off and they’ll love the simplicity of managing their hours. Some time clock software even has built-in features that allow employees to file for vacation using the software. This will save your HR department a lot of time and effort from manually recording when your employees will take days off.
Have the data you need to make sound business decisions. You no longer need to guess whether or not you have the capital to hire a new employee or if your employees need more work. Moreover, the ability of time clock software to track your employees’ schedule and days off will also make it easier for you to manage your own tasks as you can identify which employee is available to take on tasks for a given day.
Real-Time Data Collection
With the help of time clock software, you can start making business decisions based on accurate, real-time data. You’ll have the ability to pull information related to hours worked, potential overtime, time-off requests, and much more.
Here are a few examples of the different types of reports you can run with the help of time clock software:
- Payroll reports
- Employee hours summary
- Daily hours reports
- Punch in and out details
- Vacation and PTO summaries
- Full employee schedule details
Once you have this data, you can begin to analyze it to make better business decisions. It will help you identify employees who are putting in extra time to complete projects, slacking off, or not taking enough of their vacation time — all important things to monitor.
The information you can access from time clock software will also help you determine which employees commit frequent and invalid absences, and which ones are productive during their working hours.
Don’t let time clock management stress you out or slow down your momentum. Investing in software to help keep track of the work your employees are doing is well worth it.
Time Clock Software and Your Small Business
If you haven’t made the investment in time clock software for your small business, now’s the time to dive in. You’ll increase employee productivity by monitoring their time at the office while ensuring they have the resources they need to request their hard-earned time-off. With all of the benefits that come with it, time clock software is an investment that will quickly pay for itself.
