Let’s explore what timesheet management is how you can use it and why you should use it. Learn how you can track your employees working hours, manage payroll, plan projects and organize your team in a simple and reliable way.
Timesheet management is a system that helps companies track their employees’ working hours. It records information like a work diary showing who is working and when they are working.
In this blog we will explore the benefits and best practices of timesheet management.
What Is Timesheet Management?
Timesheet management means not only recording an employee’s working hours but also recording the day, date, when work started and ended and how many tasks are completed.
Timesheet management helps companies ensure that payroll is accurate, employee attendance is transparent and ongoing and upcoming projects are planned effectively.
Here I would like to mention that both manual and digital timesheets can be used but currently we give more importance to digital timesheets.
How Timesheet Management Works
As mentioned earlier timesheets are available in two formats one is manual and the other is digital.
Manual Timesheets
Manual timesheets are those that use paper or spreadsheets where employees record their working hours. They have some advantages and disadvantages which we will discuss.
Advantages
They are easy to use because you simply open a register or spreadsheet and manually write down the working hours.
You don’t need any software you can easily access them without any logins. They are very inexpensive making them easily affordable for everyone.
Disadvantages
This entire process is done manually, mistakes can easily occur and sometimes employees even record their working hours incorrectly.
It’s also time consuming because you have to manually search for your name and flip through pages.
There are many errors and then you have to ask each employee how many hours they worked. There are many difficulties involved in creating the reports.
This approach is mostly adopted by small and low budget companies.
Digital Timesheets
With digital timesheets, you only need to fill in the employee details once and then everything is recorded automatically.
Advantages
With this system you don’t have to do anything manually. Everything is recorded automatically and all the data is completely accurate and error-free.
It automatically calculates how much each employee has earned, allowing you to easily credit their salaries to their accounts.
With just one click you can generate and download complete reports.
Tips for Digital Timesheets
Digital timesheets are always beneficial for companies and help everyone but you still need to pay some attention to them.
Because this system operates entirely through the internet and you will need a very good internet connection to ensure there are no interruptions or slowdowns in your timesheet entries.
This system stores data for all employees. Now you need to ensure that this digital timesheet system is not accessible to anyone who could misuse it. You should pay close attention to security.
When you use it for a long time you become completely dependent on it which can lead to poor communication with your employees and demotivate them. You should also talk to them personally about how their professional lives are going.
I would recommend using digital timesheets because they are mistake-free xand will save you a lot of time. For more information you can talk to our team and they will explain it to you with practical examples.
Use Cases of Timesheets
Here you will learn in which areas timesheet management can be beneficial
Client Billing
This can help you when you want to maintain proof for client billing especially for businesses that charge by the hour.
Flexible
These timesheets are very useful whether your employees are working remotely or in the office.
Cost Management
When timesheets are recording everyone’s working hours you plan the budget taking all these factors into account.
Training
Since the system stores data on employees working hours or you will be able to identify which employees need training.
Timesheet Management vs Work Monitoring
Sometimes many people get confused about whether there is any difference between timesheet management and work monitoring. Let’s understand this.
Aspect
The main function of timesheet management is to record work hours. This involves noting the hours worked by employees.
work monitoring focuses on tracking work performance, which shows how and how much work is being done.
Purpose
The purpose of timesheet management is to record work hours so that work time is clearly documented.
The purpose of work monitoring is to track work performance to understand work progress.
Focus
Timesheet management focuses on the time spent on tasks.
Work Monitoring focuses on work quality and output.
Tool
Paper sheets and digital tools are used for timesheet management.
Monitoring software is used for Work Monitoring.
Benefit
The benefit of timesheet management is payroll accuracy.
This clearly shows the difference timesheet management only records time and not for employee productivity. Timesheet management has nothing to do with employee performance.
How to Implement Timesheet Management
- Decide which time tracking method you want to use: digital or manual. Choose based on your team size and budget.
- Include your date, task, and start & end time as these are all necessary elements in the templates.
- Then, explain the benefits of this system and the reasons for implementing it to the employees.
- After that you will have to decide when you want to view the data such as when to download it.
Best Practices for Employee Timesheets
- Keep It Simple
- Automate Reminders
- Track Regular plus Overtime Hours
- Regular Review
- Use Data for Planning
Limitations of Timesheet Management
Timesheet management has both advantages and disadvantages. Let me tell you about some of the disadvantages.
- If you are using manual timesheet management, there is a high possibility of errors.
- Recording daily work hours can be a bit time-consuming, but it also has several benefits.
- It only records the hours worked on the timesheet, not productivity.
Understand all these shortcomings and improve your entire workflow accordingly, as you will have to make manual corrections. Because it doesn’t track employee productivity.
Conclusion
Timesheet management is a simple system where you can record your employees’ working hours and see how much each person should be paid. Timesheet management is useful for
- Maintaining accurate records
- Better planning