What Is Time and Attendance?

What is Time and Attendance Software?

Gaining a competitive advantage and driving bottom-line results is not a given. With time and attendance software, employers can access tools to help their organization control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. 

Using time and attendance software, managers can simplify routine tasks such as approving timesheets, correcting exceptions, responding to time-off requests, and managing employee schedules. Time and Attendance Software can also provide employers with real-time visibility into timekeeping processes and analytics, making it easy to manage exceptions, enforce work and pay rules, and update schedules for ongoing compliance and cost control. 

That same robust reporting empowers employers to make more informed decisions and gives them the best ability to control labor costs.

Why Proper Timekeeping Processes Are Crucial 

Outdated time and attendance systems can be painful for managers, employees, and the organization. Older, manual timekeeping processes are heavily prone to errors, increased labor costs, and non-compliance (which leads to even more costs as a result of penalties and fines).

Even worse obsolete time and attendance software can prove difficult to navigate, leading to low user adoption rates. And when it's time to onboard a new employee to manage timekeeping, it's that much harder to teach them the process.

The best and most successful organizations leverage time and attendance software to do more for them than just tracking hours and calculating payroll. Top tier business utilize the system to guide strategic business decisions that improve operational performance and help them achieve their long-term goals

Time and Attendance System Requirements

Trying to manage today’s rapidly evolving workforce with outdated tools drags down productivity, raises costs, and increases your risk of noncompliance.

That is why it is not only crucial to ensure proper workforce management tools such as time and attendance software, but to know what you should look for when selecting your solution. 

You need to know what time and attendance system requirements are essential for success. 

Here are some features that you should look for in a time and attendance software solution:

Time & Attendance Software Features Every Solution Must Have

When looking for a time and attendance software solution, managers should look for the following tools and capabilities: 

• Labor management — self-service, timesheet approval workflow, time off.
• Accruals — eligibility, tenure, hours worked; sync with external systems.
• Scheduling — assigning employees to schedules, employee info.
• Pay rules — cost center, flat & holiday pay, overtime, auto deductions.
• Rate tracking — job costing, pay categories, pay and piece rates.
• Reports — 50+ built-in reports, summary reports, custom report creation.
• Mobile application — punch in/out, accruals, schedule, time off request.
• Data collection — remote punch via app, ethernet-based clocks.
• Security — Permanent audit trail, IP address restriction, login authentication.
• Email notifications — alerts, reminders, company wide announcements .

Matching Time and Attendance Software With Other Scheduling Solutions

In today's digital world, time & attendance software should, at a minimum, be able to integrate with employee scheduling software as well as absence and leave management software.

When time and attendance software is matched with employee scheduling, it becomes much easier to keep track of employee schedules vs actual work time, bringing cost control and productivity one step further. 

Time and Attendance Tools - What Does Time and Attendance Software Feature?

Time and Attendance software can provide the following benefits for businesses that utilize such a system: