4 Money Saving Benefits of an Online Time Clock System
Most businesses are always looking for ways to streamline productivity, save money, and increase their bottom line.
One of the best ways to do this is by taking advantage of new tools that make tasks easier, and your team more efficient. Thanks to software and technology today, many once time-consuming tasks can now be automated to save time and money.
One such tool that can help cut costs is an employee time clock system. You may not realize it, but the expenses involved with inefficient payroll processing methods can add up significantly –making a real dent in your net income.
Traditional timesheets and payroll processing methods inefficient, and leave plenty of room for errors. Even the best workers can, and will make mistakes that could end up costing you money, and additional time to fix. Then of course, there’s the issue with worker attendance accountability. Standard timesheets aren’t exactly tamperproof, a loophole that some less-than-honest employees can easily take advantage of.
Automated time clocks, though, eliminate errors. They create accountability and automate what were once time-intensive tasks. Let’s take a look at the impact that an automated tracking solution can have on your timesheets and payroll processing, and see how it can make your business more profitable by improving productivity, and lowering costs.
Improve Accuracy: Reduces the Chance of Errors
The American Payroll Association (APA) estimates that clerical error rates from manually totaling employee hours can range between 1-8 percent of your total payroll. This may sound insignificant, but considering that payroll can easily eat up 50 percent of a business’ budget, helps to put this figure into perspective. The fact that clerical errors are a completely unnecessary expense makes them all the more frustrating.
According to the APA, payroll automation can reduce processing costs up to 80 percent, with much of the savings coming from reduced errors on invoices and paychecks. An online time clock system eliminates the chance of human error, which means that you won’t have to worry about mistakes eating into your company budget. Clock ins and clock outs become simple and easy, which has the added benefit of making employees better about their timekeeping.
Improve Efficiency: Save Money on Administration Costs
Payday is the best time of the month for most employees, except perhaps, those who are working to make it happen. Payroll is a time-consuming process that is often more complicated than it should be. There are the countless frustrations that can arise when trying to determine the correct amount of hours worked. Add sick days, time off, or bonus hours to the mix, and payroll becomes an even more time-intensive task.
The American Payroll Association estimates that it can take as long as seven minutes to total and audit each employee’s time card or timesheet. Even with a few employees, this can really start to add up.
A real time clock app, though, can simplify payroll. Many time clocks can even sync with your payroll system, further streamlining the process, and saving you from devoting unnecessary resources to administrative tasks.
Ensure Attendance Compliance
In the APA’s 2010 Global Payroll Performance Study, researchers found that a significant amount of money is wasted annually in overpayments; much of which is never recovered.
With attendance software, you’ll have accountability and transparency when it comes to workers’ hours. Whether you have employees working on-site, or in the field, having a system that tracks employees’ time on the clock means that there’s no chance for them to “pad” their timesheets, or overestimate the amount of time that they’ve worked. Instead, you can be certain that the amount that you’re paying is for actual time on the clock. Additionally, an automated time clock system will also help to encourage employees to show up on time and work their allotted hours. Not more accidental mistakes.
Manage Labor Costs
Finally, a little-known benefit of an automated payroll system is that it gives you the ability to see exactly what you’re paying your employees for. Since the time clock software tracks labor costs and hours worked, it’s easy for you to use this data to create a report that will show you the specific cost, in time or dollars, of specific business activities, or different departments. This will show you how much you’re spending per job, and will help you to make informed decisions regarding pricing and estimates in the future.
As you can see, doing away with standard time tracking systems is a smart move for any company. An online time clock system can make your payroll easier and more efficient; preventing mistakes, eliminating time theft, and improving efficiency. Over time, these savings can add up significantly, and have a real impact on your bottom line.
