Time and Attendance Basics

Understand time and attendance basics

Investigate time and attendance options now available and how they could save your company staff time and money. Many time and attendance tracking devices are computerized, allowing the potential for a direct data exchange with your payroll system.

This option reduces the need for human data entry and greatly increases the quality of the data. Time and attendance is the basis for all hourly paid staff and must be accurate, as there is no room for error in payroll. Follow the three steps below to learn more about time and attendance basics.

1. Identify time and attendance system requirements.

2. Take time and attendance courses.

3. Build link between time and attendance and accounting software.

 

Utilize free trials of time and attendance software

Make a list of your time attendance system requirements such as number of employees, number of employee groups, number of locations, total number of staff and any other requirements. Discuss your needs with a time attendance distributor or use a free trial version of software to determine if it meets your requirements.
Try: Look at the options available and decide what features are necessary, and look at the suppliers that can meet those needs. Both Net Time Solutions and Replicon provide free 30 day trials. Download the software and test out the standard and advanced features. Look for any limitations on the number of users and the types of reports available.

Attend time and attendance management courses

Locate courses in time and attendance for human resources staff and department managers. The purpose of these courses is to ensure a consistent level of knowledge and understanding of time and attendance system implications. This understanding improves the success of any time and attendance software changes or implementation.
Try: Sign up for online support on MyTimeForce.com to access extended knowledge center, detailed support and classes. Ceridian offers online courses on time and attendance software for their customers.

Integrate time and attendance software

Select and implement a time and attendance system that meets your needs by reviewing your list of requirements and providing it to the solution providers. Work closely with the accounting and payroll staff to determine what information needs to be provided to the time and attendance software to facilitate the integration of the two systems.
Try: Launch a pilot project to track time and attendance and to test the data flow from the time attendance solutions to the human resources or payroll system. Take advantage of the resources provided by Exact America or Novatime in the integration of time and attendance devices and software with payroll and human resources systems.

 

• Time and attendance management is critical to managing payroll costs. Investigate all the possible methods to automate the flow of information from the time and attendance devices, such as portable time clocks to the payroll system.

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