It is essential for business owners to maintain track of their workers. Keeping track of their working hours and attendance is vital, whether a small corporation with only two to four employees or a large organization with more than fifty. You can complete this activity in a convenient and organized manner by using GPS tracking time clock software.
You may monitor and track your staff using GPS time tracking software, giving you access to detailed real-time reporting. Every time clock solution has these essential capabilities, but you must also decide which additional features are necessary for your current operation operations and the effective management of employee time.
I. Time Clock Software: What Is It?
Employers can electronically record employee work hours using time clock software. Advanced time clock software allows employees to clock in using mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. Standard time clock software permits employees to clock in using computers.
Although time clock software is a stand-alone option, it is more frequently included in a workforce management suite that also includes integrated applications like payroll and people monitoring.
II. How do Time Clock Apps Optimize Workflow?
1. Give Current Information About Labor Costs.
Having accurate reports on hours worked, time on task, attendance problems, and other labor costs is one thing. Having access to up-to-date data on all the factors that influence how your company tracks time is a separate matter.
Modern apps for mobile time clocks give you this information:
With time clock software, you can get information about labor costs.
2. Payroll Error-free
Your company’s profitability and team members’ commitment depend on accurate payroll. However, the legitimacy of employee payroll is frequently compromised by confusing policies, human error, and banking concerns.
You considerably lessen your chance of running into these issues by adopting a time clock app into your company’s workflow.
The best time clock let you monitor and control your payroll rules so that the software has to keep track of information like:
- Vacation time
- Paid leave
- Absences without calling or showing up
- Part-time vs. full-time working shifts
3. Lessen Attendance Problems
The best employee time tracking app lets you produce reports using the clock-in and clock-out data that the program keeps a record of. You can learn more about behavior problems like:
Absences that occur frequently and repeatedly
- Clocking in early
- Clocking out late
- Accumulation of unapproved overtime hours
- Chronic lateness
- Time stealing
- Lengthy breaks
Regarding interruptions to your productivity that could cost you money, these apps can also assist you with attendance-related concerns. Absences, whether planned or unplanned, slow down the progress of your projects and can significantly affect your team’s productivity.
The software can let you know when employees are absent and help you redistribute the work accordingly.
Finally, staff morale is kept up by time clock apps rather than impacted by attendance concerns. When the same team member is always missing, other, more reliable workers have to do the extra work on their job sites.
4. Reduce Costs And Time
The ability to save time and money is one of the primary ways time clock apps enhance productivity for companies of all sizes.
The software conducts the timekeeping, withholding, and tax calculations for you instead of you or your bookkeeper having to spend hours doing it. The spare time is used for tasks that boost your company’s financial performance.
Your company can also save money by using these apps. They carry it out by:
- Automating data gathering and calculation
- Error reduction
- Preventing buddy punch
- Transferring the responsibility of maintaining a record of working hours to the employee
A mobile employee time clock makes significant financial savings and lessens or eliminates the need for pricey consumables like time cards and computation forms.
III. What Are The 12 Criteria For Evaluating GPS Time Clock App Software?
1. Timesheets
Your employees’ work is calculated in terms of billable hours using a timesheet. Modern software will automatically create more accurate timesheets using a template and email it to you in CSV or DOC format at regular intervals (every day, week, or month).
In addition to automated payrolls for billed hours, tracking apps let you set up automatic payments to consultants or staff members using their preferred payment method.
Advantages
a. Reliable quotes
You can more accurately predict the expenses of new projects by keeping a database of staff timesheets on finished ones.
b. Processing of invoices
A more accurate timesheets are used to optimize and simplify invoice processing. It outlines the job performed by an employee and their billable hours.
2. Reports and Analytics
Applications for time tracking typically produce results depending on the work completed by each employee.
The reports could contain the following:
Summary of work: Provides active and idle employee hours for a day/week/month.
Reports on a specific project or task: show what everyone did on that project or job.
Performance reports: Sum up what employees have been up to, such as the tasks they’ve worked on or the websites they’ve visited.
Advantage
Find Employment Possibilities
You can determine whether you need to increase your staff based on reporting and analytics and how well your current workforce is performing. By doing this, you can ensure your coworkers are well-rested.
3. Time Tracking
Time monitoring records how much time your employees spend on various tasks throughout the day.
Aside from tracking the job done, the program must also show this data in simple formats, such as graphs.
Moreover, it must be feasible to access the data of numerous individuals simultaneously so that it is simpler to comprehend the contributions and performance of each individual.
Advantage
a. Assessing and enhancing productivity
Monitoring a worker’s productivity is keeping track of the amount of time spent on various jobs and websites, active/idle periods, and clock-in and clock-out times.
You may learn more about their productivity levels by evaluating this time data, including which tasks take the longest to complete and what may be distracting them during the workday.
b. Expanding Profitability
You can immediately determine the most expensive or time-consuming jobs by looking at the overall amount of time your staff spends on a specific project.
You may assess the Profitability of each project using this type of expense tracking, and you can reorder jobs according to their Profitability.
4. Payroll Management
You cannot process payroll for your employees and manually track timesheets.
It enables you to bill clients based on billable time and the approximate agreed-upon hourly rates. Additionally, keeping payroll and time tracking separate simplifies the entire accounting process.
It saves more time.
You can save time by generating payroll automatically rather than creating invoices by hand.
Enhances transparency
Payroll automation increases the Transparency of the billing process, reducing billing-related conflicts.
5. Integrations
Using an integrated system makes it much simpler to manage projects successfully and put short-term and long-term adjustments in place to maximize performance.
Advantages
a. A comprehensive evaluation of business
You receive a complete picture of your company’s performance when your time-tracking software is coupled with several touchpoints.
A project manager, for instance, may use a project management software; the accounts team might utilize payroll software, and so on.
You can see the broader picture by integrating the many tools employed by the various departments. It illustrates how many aspects of your company ultimately impact the accomplishment of your corporate goals.
b. Enhanced Coverage
You’re simply expanding the capabilities of your time tracking tool once you’ve combined it with other reliable programs like Slack or Paypal.
A new Trello card is automatically created each time a new job is added to your time tracking application, for instance, if you combine a collaborative system like Trello with one like Time Doctor.
6. Project Management
You can execute your projects more quickly, affordably, and with the desired quality by using project management.
A time-tracking app is typically included in more advanced project management software.
Today, however, clock app software is more likely to have the project management or task management features required to support simple projects.
Features of project management assist you in:
- Assign an employee a task.
- Specify due dates for assignments.
- Keep track of the project’s progress.
- Manage expenses.
7. Mobile Application
You can use a mobile app to immediately access a time tracking platform’s features from your smartphone.
Because businesses are open around-the-clock and people are constantly moving, you might occasionally want real-time updates on projects or staff performance sent to your mobile device.
Advantages
a. Ease of Use
You don’t have to be at your desk or workplace to track your project or employees’ progress. A smartphone app can do all that and more.
b. Versatility
You only sometimes have your laptop or desktop with you when you attend a lecture, conference, or meeting for work.
In situations like these, you might easily track time spent utilizing the time tracking tool’s mobile app. It guarantees that the tool can adapt quickly to a variety of employee job requirements.
8. Present Features
Software that is simple to use and maintains reliable records is what every business management desires. You should also be aware of the additional options that are accessible and can help you track your time more effectively.
The ability to track anything, from double overtime and punch location to sick leave, is made possible by time-tracking software. Numerous tools are available to aid in keeping track of lunch and break times.
To assist you in controlling buddy punching, the majority of solutions provide more sophisticated capabilities like geofencing and device lockout. Additionally, you can use several systems to manage various employee groups according to their pay scale and department of employment.
9. Interface
When looking for the right software for your business, the interface is another important thing to think about. It would not be helpful to have a cluttered interface that doesn’t make sense.
So, you should choose a program that is well-organized and has only the most important features. This will make it easier for you and your employees to learn how to use it and move around in it.
Additionally, make sure the program gives you more alternatives based on your customized preferences, is simple to install or access, and is easy to use. In short, if you choose the best program for your business, it will help you stay organized without much work.
10. Data Requirements
When choosing the GPS time clock software for your business, you must know how to collect data and what kind of data you want to keep track of.
You should be able to get employee punch times, but a good time clock system should let you get a lot more. It may track how much time employees spend on individual tasks, how much time they spend on breaks, and how much they earn in tips and gratuities.
11. Effective HR Analytics
Time and attendance and project-time monitoring reports are essential components of HR analytics, which can assist managers in making better decisions regarding their employees.
To be successful, you need your employees to spend their time, and HR analytics can give management key information about how productive their employees are. Because of this, HR analytics is becoming more and more popular in companies driven by data.
12. Real-time Presence
Management should be able to see how many employees are present in real-time from time clock software that is easy to use and has good visuals.
The management can get a bird’s-eye perspective of the working population situation by using data on the employees who are now on the job site, the time since the last registration, the location of rolls, etc.
IV. FAQ
How Exactly Does A Time Clock For Employees Keep Track Of Their Working Hours?
An employee time clock provides a record of an employee’s working hours. Traditional punch clocks need an employee to insert a paper timecard into the device, which records the time the employee clocked in or out on the card.
The clock-in and clock-out times are recorded directly in the time and attendance software by digital time clocks (computers, kiosks, and mobile devices), utilizing a secure approach to prevent time theft. A login ID, PIN, swipe card, or biometrics are a few examples.
What Are The Best Applications For Freelancers To Track Time?
Look for time clock software solutions with freelancer-friendly features like project tracking, invoicing, bespoke reports, and offline time monitoring. The time you’ve spent on a project will be carefully recorded by project tracking, allowing you to invoice clients accurately.
You will only need many tools if you use time-tracking apps with an invoice feature. Customized reports will hold you accountable in the eyes of your clients, and offline time tracking will enable you to bill consumers for time-consuming phone conversations.
What Is The Cost Of A Time Clock App with GPS?
The price of time monitoring software can vary significantly based on features, business/enterprise size, pricing structures, and other factors. The point is that it depends on what you seek; there is no set price.
Is There A Global Positioning System Time-tracking App From Google?
No. Google does not have a time-tracking application of its own.
V. Conclusion
All of these features are very important because they will make your life and the lives of your employees easier. But at the end of the day, you should research before deciding which features to add to your GPS location tracking software.
Keep in mind that there is a feature for every user, and it’s up to you to find the one that works best for you.