Attendance Software - How Schools Benefit

Reliable Attendance Software can be an asset to any company and a worthwhile investment, but what about schools? Some may feel that such software is simply a luxury and not necessary in most school districts, but this thinking is a mistake! Schools very often have more students running around than most businesses have employees, making them a prime candidate for Attendance Software. The following are a number of valid points explaining how Attendance Software can benefit schools:

• Some people feel it is a misguided choice to spend money on an Attendance Software Suite in times that some schools are dealing with budget cuts and larger class sizes. This however, is exactly why this software is needed! With more students and less money, it's safe to assume there will be less administration to do tasks like locating student schedules and adjusting attendance. With Attendance Software, a teacher can look up and input their own specific needs without having to call the main office for assistance. A teacher can easily pull up any student schedule to locate him/her for another teacher, a parent or guardian, or for themselves.

• Another benefit is that teachers can remotely enter grades from their computers rather than having to go down to the office. This allows several teachers at a time to enter their grades for their students making the process faster, easier, and more accurate. Without teachers having to rush their grading process, there is less chance of error, resulting in inaccurate report cards and decreasing the need for changing incorrect grades and upsetting students and parents.

• A system that collects attendance at the door, as students enter, has proven to be greatly effective in a number of larger school districts. It can improve safety and vastly decrease class cutting. One school witnessed a 75% drop in students who skipped or cut class after implementing this system. This not only keeps students in their classrooms, but keeps them out of trouble. Requiring students to 'punch in' in the morning can also allow the faculty staff to be aware of what students should and should not be in attendance, allowing the school to intervene any class cutting issues before they escalate.

• Some Attendance Software can even make printing report cards easier! It can help a substitute teacher be more in control of who should and shouldn't be in the classroom, and help keep students on track by keeping them IN class.

• Many people worry about price, feeling that in order for it to be successfully implemented the way it needs, it will be far too expensive. This is not true at all. Attendance Software can be affordable if you seek an experienced company who will take your specific needs into account and not just sell you something out of the box. Some companies are incredibly flexible with affordable options and add on features to fit any and all of your needs.

The major benefit to this software is that it gives the faculty better control and power to locate students for whatever situation. They can be found if they did not clean up their mess in art class, it helps teachers know if a student is cutting class, or simply absent that day, and it allows administration to keep better track of student records by watching attendance.

Huntington Business Systems Corp. (http://www.HBSCorp.com) is the leading provider of Time and Attendance Solutions for organizations of all sizes. We will take your specific needs into account and provide you with affordable options and add on features to fit any and all of your needs.

Submitted by Stacey at NewSunGraphics (http://www.NewSunG.com)

Attendance Software - How Can My Company Benefit?

Attendance software is an easy answer to any company’s attendance and payroll needs. Companies large and small can benefit from the implementation of Time and Attendance Software. But many company owners are filled with questions about the process and benefits, so here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions…

1. Why Should I Use Attendance Software? What Are The Benefits?

A study done showed that the total error rate paid by employers using a traditional timecard method averaged between 1-8%, and that doesn’t even include all the errors that need to be corrected each pay cycle by the payroll department. Attendance Software will ensure that only correct data is entered, ensuring the most accurate payroll. Imagine… no more time wasted fixing human error mistakes! The software will also reduce time used to prepare time sheets, improve workforce management, and help you track and managed labor expenses. (No more employees ‘rounding off’ their hours!)

2. What Should I Look For In Attendance Software?

It’s important to know what the software does before you invest to make sure it meets your company’s needs. A huge asset that not all companies offer is fully customizable and scalable services. This means your investment will be exactly what you need and want, and it will continue to be exactly what you need and want! So you can continue to support your company as you grow and in turn have more employees. Find out what kind of support they will offer you once the software is implemented. It’s also important to see what kind of interfaces it offers, such as for payroll time and attendance, and human resources data. Some other things to look into are hidden fees and charges; you don’t want to pick a company that will hit you with unexpected costs that you’re not prepared to pay. What their typical ‘uptime’ is (or in other words full operational and connected reliability)- find out if they guarantee that. Do they also offer security on their system so you don’t have to worry about hackers, or even disgruntled employees altering the data?

3. What Is The Implementation Process Like?

Every attendance software company is different. A good company will work with you to design the right system for your needs, then set up the system, configure and test it. Also find out if the company offers training so you and your staff can learn the ins and outs.

4. Will The Attendance Software Integrate With Existing Payroll Systems?

Again, this is specific to what software you choice, but typically yes! Software can easily be integrated into your already in place systems and be customized if necessary. Most software will also include features like email notifications, time off request management, scheduling, and security.

It’s easy to see why time and attendance software is right for any company owner. The benefits are virtually endless!! An easy, user friendly system that results in error free payroll. This will certainly improve your employees satisfaction!

Stacey works at NewSunGraphics, who represent HBS Corp, ( http://www.hbscorp.com ) a company specializing in time and attendance software for large and small companies alike. Their typical implementation process is a very detailed and specific course of events that allows you, as the company owner, to be sure that you are getting exactly what you want and need to improve the daily function of your company

Types Of Attendance Tracking Programs

As any owner of a business will know being able to keep a track on every employee they have working for them can be a very big administrative headache for them. However through the use of an attendance tracking program an employer will be able to track each of their employees more effectively. However what should one be looking for when considering buying an attendance tracking program for their business.

These programs have been designed to take over from the paper systems which were used for many centuries to track the hour’s staff had worked and what benefits they have gained. Using such a program which provides all business owners with valuable information to see how efficient their employees are and will in turn help them to run a more efficient business on a day to day basis.

But which program you choose will depend on the kind of business you run. Because more and more software developers have understood the need for such programs in today’s business world they have developed programs which work specifically with particular industries. They have also developed these programs with a number of different technical requirements which will meet each businesses own particular attendance tracking requirements.

For smaller businesses a person can buy a very basic type of time and attendance tracking program which will record when an employee logs both in and out. These can either come as time card packages or through the use of a swipe card system. Such programs offer the user a chance to create and then maintain records for every single person that is employed within the business.

As for larger companies they will use either a time or swipe card system in order to record their employee’s attendance. However compared to those used by smaller businesses and companies these particular attendance tracking programs provide the user with a much more robust reporting facility and include more functional features as well. With these types of programs the company is not only able to track when the employees are at work but also manage data relating to their job and where they are located within the company.

But when it comes to finding the right attendance tracking program for your particular business you need to focus exactly on what the key features are you want. By being able to provide the program vendor with a clear understanding of what it is you want the program to do the better they will be able to provide you with one that meets your particular needs. The best way of doing this is to sit down with administrative staff in your business and come up with a list of your operational requirements.

P Abbey owns and operates http://www.employeeattendanceinfo.com/attendancetrackingprogram.html - Attendance Tracking Program

The Timesheet Deathnell

In most cultures, time is regarded as a fundamental quantity, i.e. time is not itself defined from other fundamental qualities such as space or mass, rather it is itself defined by the units it is measured in, which for us would typically be seconds, that quantity know by almost every child as he/she counts off the rumble of distant thunder, 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds etc. I say ‘most’ cultures because of course some view time in a completely different way, such as the native aborigines of Australia who believe time to be two parallel streams of activity, the daily objective reality of time and dreamtime, a spiritual cycle more real than our current perceived reality.

However, for the most of us, and most specifically in a business context, time is viewed the passage from one moment to the next and it is this relentless progress of time, in a continued linear fashion, that shapes our very existence, and its importance cannot be overstated. From a humble rock, weathered by eons of rain wind and frost to Planck Time, considered the finest granularity of time there is with a single second equivalent to 1.855×1043 Planck times, we cannot escape this fundamental quantity. Simply put we cannot stop time, and must therefore accept that time is an inherent part of our existence, how ever bold or feeble that may be.

And because time is so fundamental, its use determines much of our daily routine, be that begging in a storefront or wielding the cheque book of a multimillion dollar corporation, an inescapable consequence of our ever expanding material universe.

So how important is time in the context of business? Well, as resources continue to dwindle at an ever increasing rate, and as our own lives speed up with the trappings of modern technology, the careful, mindful use of time plays an ever increasing role to our civilization to a point that where the correct management of time becomes paramount for the success or failure of any business enterprise.

First, let us understand that the amount of work done in a given time is called effort or labour productivity. So for example if it takes one person one hour to dig a hole, then the effort will be 1 person hour. If another person joins in at the start, then our productivity will double as it should in theory take half the amount of time to dig a hole of the same dimensions. Of course this is only an approximation, as additional time may be lost as each man fight for space as they dig, or time may be saved as they operate with synergy, perhaps operating in series or in relay to dig the hole. Regardless, the point is that each and every business should keep abreast of the time metric – to measure the productivity of their staff and their production of widgets or services.

At MetriQ we believe we have achieved some measure of success in helping businesses around the world, save time, most especially through the replacement of time sheets.

Time Sheets: Originally developed so that an employee can account to his/her employer the amount of time spent doing a particular job. While fine for the latter part of the industrial revolution, with the coming of age of the computer, digitizing the timesheet into a software product has done little to change the way in which this most valuable of metrics has been collected. Not only is the technology dated, but timesheets are also prone to a number of obvious errors.

Timesheet Illusions

1. Rounding errors: Timesheets typically have a start/end date-time column or have entries required for pre-booked 15 minute sessions. Neither of these are a reflection of how a job is actually completed. In fact if you come right down to it, you can pretty much assert that not a single job ever completed took exactly 10 minutes (see Plancks time above). So if a job starts at 10:00:00 am and is finish at 10:26:04, then the time sheet entry will most likely read 10 to 10:30:00. Which when consolidated will read 30 minutes. So what happens to the other 3 minutes 56 seconds?
2. Forgetting: If you have ever filled in time sheets, you’ll know how easy it is, even after years of practice, to forget to fill in your time sheet. Then you have to rely on memory, and that’s as good as sticking your finger in the air and giving a brute force estimation.
3. Interruptions: If you get interrupted by a coworker or perhaps the phone goes while you are working. Do you add time to your timesheet?
4. Concentration: Your working away on a task that requires your full attention – and when you next look at the clock, you realize you’ve missed the last 4 timesheet entries.
5. Mundane: The actual process of filling out a timesheet is mundane and repetitive. Very few people could actually put their hand in the air and say – “I enjoy doing this”. And yet we persist with this archaic methodology.
6. Time to Complete: Perhaps the biggest villain in the collection of this time metric would be the very fact it takes time to complete a timesheet, and this, is the biggest cost factor to a business using this outdated metric collection agent. Consider a company of 750 staff. If each are meant to fill in their timesheets every 15 minutes, and it takes them juts 30 seconds per entry, then if the average cost of an employee is just $100 (includes their salary, office space and overheads), then that business is loosing about $5 million dollars a year. Such a waste.

And if you really want to be impressed – consider this. In the United States, current estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that the current workforce is 145,794,000. If we assume that just 1% of all employees keep timesheets, at a cost of six thousand dollars a year, this equates to 8.5 billion dollars in lost income, just completing the humble timesheet.

Timesheet Revolution

At MetriQ we have spent years developing an alternative to the timesheet that requires no human interaction at all. The user simply clicks on the software they wish to use, and the MetriQ software will begin timing the use of that software. As the user flips to another software product, MetriQ again begins timing for that new software package – and so in continues, such that at the end of the working day each and every second has been accounted for, even those that were interrupted by phone calls or going to the bathroom.

In other words, we believe that a computer should be smart enough to know exactly how long its been use, by who, on what and for whom, and without ever being told.

It is also our belief that the days of the timesheet are numbered and rapidly coming to a close as alternative technology emerges, and the value of each second wasted becomes more apparent.

If you would like to learn more about MetriQ and how it can help you save time and money in your business, then try the software for yourself. Its easy to install, easy to use, and with a reputation that is second to none in the business of Intelligent Business Timing. Download a free trial version from http://www.metriq.biz

Tom Applegate is a private business consultant based in Auckland New Zealand. He has a wide range of business experience and for the past 5 years has made a commitment to spread the word about the imminent demise of the humble timesheet, with various offerings as to how or what can be used as a replacement

Journyx Timesheet And Project Management Sofware

A lot of companies have a needlessly complicated method of handling time sheets and keeping track of time spent of various projects and what resources the company is devoting to given project, a lot of companies still just have an excel time sheet for employees to hand in at the end of the month. It also very useful to know how your estimated expenses and cost of project tallies up with actual project cost. The jounryx software is a web based hosted application available open source.

Journyx is a very powerful time management application, it does require a server, but this could be any pc that runs apache and perl. It runs best on Linux of course. Installation is relatively straight forward, even migrating to another server is relatively painless. The software is a bit over-whelming with options when you first login as administrator, at this point it is a good time to set up the necessary users of the application, and also a good time to setup projects and other important settings such as billing rates and expenses, you can select which reports are available to each user that will use the system.

Once all the settings have been configured as an administrator you can login and see the time entry grid and access to a limited range of reports, which quite conveniently is customizable so each user can have access to specific designed reports as necessary.

Time sheets are completed with a simple series of drop down menus, selecting the hours worked, the day, the project that was been worked on, the status of whether the time is to be billed or not, entry as sick day, holidays, etc. Also the task being carried out for the project being worked on. These sheets can be submitted for approval as a designated, like the end of the week or month. Reports included for time sheet standard users are hours worked and general time sheet history reports.

Diarmuid Ryan is the Managing Director of Blue Star Technologies specialising in web site database-driven applications.
Blue Star Web Design

How To Use A Timesheet Management More Effectively

Before you begin your day, you should download a copy of the time sheet to help you better manage everything of your daily stuffs that you need to do.A tool called the time sheet management can actually support you to look out where you are spending your time wisely and unwisely.

In order to see your workers Managing a time sheet can help you to see what your employees are accomplishing their duties well. This keeps everything productive in your life and your daily affairs. You should use time sheet management in your daily affairs. You can keep track of your those important day to day projects that needs to be taken care of.

Do you want to control everything your life, with a proper and effective time sheet management, you can do it. You can figure everything in from the daily chores to life in the business world. No matter how you make a decision to use this tool, one thing to remember is you can’t alter the amount of hours in a day.

You can only change the habits you have while working with your time sheet management. Getting rid of your stress is highly possible of all the deadlines with this tool. This tool helps you meet those schedules.

This tool can be created.

A time sheet management tool can be created by simply using a notebook to record your daily activities (and schedule) or by downloading a free program on the internet.

There are many free services and schedule makers you can use that will allow you to schedule down to the last minute. Make sure when using time sheet management tools that you are able to stick to the plan you have. Do not over-stress yourself when you work on your time management.

Take your personal life as if it is your business

It is important you are able to join with the family and do the functions important to daily life. Scheduled arrangements have to be made for family states and even the time it takes to get there is put on your time sheet management tool. Different ways of handling your plans can bring you more success throughout your day. You don’t have to run around wondering why it looks like you accomplished nothing.

In order to get your new ideals started, all you need is simply to download a time sheet management program from the internet from anywhere in the world.

A time sheet management program will give you more flexibility throughout your day. This will explanation of having more time for yourself or those assignments that needs to be done. Make sure that as you are particular about taking out special time for work, that you make the same sort of efforts for taking out time for yourself and your family.

Eddy K Elgin is the owner of the Time Management Tips and Resources Blog. Drop by at How To Get A Time Management Sheet To Help Me for more details.

What Is An Employee Timesheet?

Managing employee working hours record in a sheet is what timesheet is all about. Wiki says "A timesheet is a method for recording the amount of a worker's time spent on each job". Another way of looking at it is a document or entry program used to record actual labor time against an order or project, that may also specify the operation, location and category or type of task being performed is a Timesheet.
 

A timesheet is a record of time spent on a job by an employee originally for the employer to determine the payroll. They are an old concept and used to be paper and in some cases still are. The terminology of Timesheets became more prominint with increasing availability of software systems to generate employee timesheets automatically. Timesheets has the records of start and end time of tasks, or just the duration.
 

In this industry we find many companies providing web-based timesheet software or services that provide a means to track time for payroll.
 

There are installed intranet software used by companies to record employee working hours. The way some of them go about is from the time you logged into your PC till you logged out the evening. This means you have a fixed location to work into with a fixed position and PC. I am not sure how well it goes for on field and rotation employees. Another good one that I find is web based. You use this technology to punch in your attendance from any internet connected PC by going to a defined url and entering your username, password and company name.
 

The best part is you can access your very own timesheet from anywhere and this is fun. Termed as "On Demand Services", this industry is booming very fast and now companies need not even bother to maintain and save their employee timesheet records. This means no heavy hard drives, no servers and no reporting sortwares. Its basically a type of outsourced labor thats been automated.
 

Paul
Resources:
Wiki
Electronic Timesheets
Online Employee Timesheets Management