Time Tracking Software
Helping you stay in the loop
By Heather Williamson
What is one of the largest and hardest-to-control expenses of any business? Payroll.
In every business, small or large, it’s increasingly important to manage the time involved in every project that is undertaken. If you have a staff of 30 truck drivers at an average of $15/ hour wage, and they each charge you for 1 extra hour of work each day, that is going to cost your company $450 every day, $3150 every week and $163,800 every year. By more closely tracking the time involved with each project on which an employee is working, you can save thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars on your payroll and its associated tax and insurance liabilities.
The nice thing about the computer age, is that you have a lot of software options with which to track your employee or project time investments. There are some free time tracking software packages available, while others may cost anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. Just be sure to do your research before you invest in any package. Your research will pay off in the end.
Time Clock Plus by Data Management Inc.
This employee time tracking software comes in four versions designed to fit every size of business from the small enterprise to the large scale operation. Within each version you set up and track every employee, their start and stop times and job costing codes for each project they are working on. This is a very small application that runs continuously in the background of your Windows-run computer, so all your employees have to do is select a new job costing code any time that they change projects.
When you set up this system, you can include a schedule for the employee as well, so you can easily tell when they are supposed to be on shift and what projects they have to work on. If you are an administrator of this system, you can use the built-in reports to easily see everyone working and what they are working on across the company. Alternatively, you can get this information, along with history reports, for any specific employee who is currently on shift.
Time Logger by Responsive Software, Inc.
Time Logger has received quite a few software awards for both its PC and Palm software versions. One of the nice features of this product is that you can download a free 60-day trial directly off the Internet. Many other products do not provide you this "try before you buy" period.
Time Logger is more than a time tracker - it ensures that all of the time tracked is properly coded, and then billed to your customers using automatically generated invoices. It can also export the time directly into your Quickbooks or Quicken accounting software to facilitate a secure and accurate payroll and invoicing system.
Time Logger can be used to track employee expenses as well as mileage information. The built-in stopwatch feature allows employees to track their project time with a single click of their mouse. It comes in multiuser packages that can work for 1 to over 100 users.
Dovico Timesheet by Dovico, Inc.
Dovico Timesheet is one of the easiest time sheet tracking tools to operate. It’s a web-based application, requiring either an online or network installation, allowing you to avoid installing software or linking to the installed software on every machine in your network.
The forms used in Timesheet request performance and productivity updates, allowing your employees to easily keep supervisors informed of their current project status. This minimizes the need for dozens of phone calls or emails each day to get progress reports. This software also works great for those companies that have telecommuting employees. The managerial staff knows exactly when they were working, what projects were completed, and the status of any projects that are still under development.
Because this system is web-based, all entries are immediately updated on the server, allowing your payroll department to continuously make progress with their payroll, without waiting for a collection of handheld devices or time cards. Your payroll staff will also like Dovico Timesheets for its abilities as both a time and attendance tracking software, to record employee time off, such as for vacation, sick leave or flex time.
There are 135 reports available to managers and supervisors, allowing them to track work flow and assist with problems as they arise, rather than after they have already become entrenched behaviors. Like Responsive's Time Logger software, you have a free trial (this time for 30 days) and built in integration with Quickbooks, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Excel and many other programs.
These are just a few of the packages available for tracking time in a business or home office environment. Depending on the type of work you do, your project management needs and the number of employees you have, there is a time tracking business software out there to help you make sure that every billable hour is billed and that you are not losing money to non-productive employee time. You can improve your company's bottom line, increase your profitability and ensure you have control of your payroll, rather than having it control you.
