Small business owners know that time is money better than anyone. Inaccurate time tracking can cost small businesses thousands of dollars, which isn’t to be overlooked. Many such companies use employee time clocks to prevent costly errors and manage their staff’s work hours seamlessly.
This guide explains what an employee time clock is and how it can benefit small businesses.
What is an employee time clock?
A time clock system, punch clock, or time clock machine is a tool that tracks how many hours employees work. Businesses of all sizes use them to track work hours. They collect and use the data to pay employees for hours worked.
The best time clocks should integrate with third-party tools, such as an hourly salary calculator. The clock tells you how many hours in total your employee has worked. Instead of having to do manual calculations, the calculator will show how much you owe the employee for the week or the month.
Benefits of using an employee time clock
Time tracking solves many potential problems involving internal processes and procedures. One key benefit is that only the employee can clock himself in. With geo-based tracking, employees cannot clock in coworkers who are running late or don’t plan to come in at all because code profiles are linked to locations.
Older punch card systems could not prevent so-called buddy punching. Buddy punching inflicted significant financial damages because businesses incurred excessive expenses for inaccurate time tracking.
User-friendly
The latest employee time clocks are easy to use, and employees only need a little onboarding or training. There is no new equipment or systems to deal with because you can download and access the software through any tablet or computer with a reliable internet connection.
Employee time clocks allow business managers and owners to navigate the platform easily, scheduling tasks and calculating work hours without hassle.
Time clocks reduce the time spent on payroll and timesheet checking. It takes less time to collect timesheets, and the number of timesheets decreases as well. Time clock systems automatically upload the timesheet data required to the business’s user account, reducing the risk of mistakes and the effort that payroll takes.
Small businesses can leverage time and attendance software to free up time and energy previously wasted on paper timesheets and redirect efforts to other tasks and responsibilities. It also alleviates the process of payroll audits because the processor has all the data they need at their fingertips.
Collects accurate data on attendance and time
Paper timesheets and manual time tracking can often be inaccurate. The risk of human error is very real because rounding timesheets and over or undercalculating hours worked decreases productivity and increases payroll costs. Digital time clocks automatically track shifts from the exact time an employee clocks in until the end of the shift when they clock out. As a result, managers don’t need to worry about calculating labor costs and team members’ attendance inaccurately.
Seamless integration with third-party apps
This point has already been touched upon, but it bears repeating. Small business owners should choose a time clock that can integrate with third-party apps. This will save time on integrations with other apps and processes. An employee time clock that syncs with other tools can combine several functions while simplifying the overall integration process.
Delivers crucial business insight
One final benefit of employee time clocks involves their ability to provide detailed reports on employee scheduling and job costs. You can use reporting functions to generate reports on payroll summaries, gain business insight, and improve resource allocation. You can also augment internal processes by exporting time tracking and payroll data to other platforms and teams.
