Why Do I Need an Automated Time and Attendance System If I Outsource Payroll?
Time and attendance has been the measure of payroll forever. Most companies employ a time sheet system of one kind or another to track days and hours worked by employees. Payroll timesheets are gathered on a regular basis and processed for payroll. This system has worked for a very long time, but according to recent studies companies lose on average 5% of their annual revenue to payroll fraud, errors and inefficiencies.
Even if you outsource your payroll, there is still room for fraud, errors and inefficiencies. An automated time and attendance system can eliminate these issues, saving your company thousands of dollars annually. These time and attendance systems use electronic means to track time and export the figures to your payroll office. There is no need for one person to calculate employee hours, and the web timesheet data can easily be transferred into your own payroll system or to the outsourced site.
Automated time and attendance systems reduce timesheet errors. Humans make mistakes and whether the errors are made intentionally or not, these systems take the human error out of the equation. Web timesheets are created using biometric or card-swipe time clocks or other web devices such as tablets or smart phones. This provides precise time measurements as to when employees start and leave work, eliminating timesheet fraud.
Time and attendance systems also help you track employee activity by allowing you to monitor labor costs, scheduling, productivity and overtime. If your business is project based, the system can keep track of time spent on each project. This will allow you to evaluate employee contributions to determine if you are making a profit having that individual working.
Some digital time clocks also can be used to control access to your facilities. Employee movement can be controlled with a card or biometric system so that if anyone accesses a restricted area, you will be able to track where they were and how long they were in that area.
Accurate reporting features are another reason to use a digital time and attendance system. Depending on the system, there are many reports that can be generated or customized to provide detailed information on the functioning of your company and payroll costs.
Compliance for the numerous regulatory agencies is also much easier with digital time and attendance systems. Most systems are able to comply with the ACA and FLSA regulations, allowing you to quickly and easily generate the correct reports to meet those requirements.
Automated time and attendance systems can save your company thousands of dollars, even if you outsource your payroll, by lowering errors, inconsistencies and fraud opportunities and by simplifying the gathering and compilation of your payroll data.
