Time Keeping Software For Your Business

A stitch in time saves nine ? these old sayings never seem to fade away. Rather experience makes the true essence of these valuable wordings felt repeatedly. Especially now when one is being paid based upon the hours put into work. Since long enough, time contributed towards a particular task has been considered as an important determinant of the associated remuneration. The longer the hours required, the more complicated is the job was the widespread notion. This principle though no longer prevails, but time is still an important criterion to ascertain efficiency. Most organizations measure output as a function of time. An 8-hour working day defines your skill set. Therefore, ample effort is put into measuring the time devoted.

The Needs: Keeping an account of the time spent on job or in the office premises is the firm?s HR function. Even when HR managers did not existed; time devoted was closely scrutinized by the owners. Now of course with dedicated departments the working hours have become a specialized responsibility. This transition and increasing importance has led to various researches and innovations in this field to make such calculations easier. Who wants to check the watch and record the time manually, every time an employee enters or exit? Instead like all other functions, why not let an automated tool do its job. The simple swapping of a personalized card with unique identification criterion, acts as the time supervisor. Monthly or weekly analyses of the in and out time as recorded by your automated recorded can conveniently solve the purpose.

Advantages: This software, more commonly known as time keeping software is particularly useful owing to the nature of its use. Time keeping is an extremely tedious and monotonous job and does not requires any specific expertise and therefore, can be easily handed over to customized software.

The data collated by time keeping software can be used for payroll purposes. Careful monitoring and analysis can further smooth up the overtime cycles and actual hours committed towards office. An important indicator of dedication if deployed can be a prominent feature among the performance appraisal forms.

Various times keeping software to suit your firm?s particular needs is available in market. They can be customized based upon your specific needs like working hours, number of employees, etc. Additionally the providers provide comprehensive annual maintenance and training to ease out the functioning.

We have progressed far enough to bid goodbye to those traditional time recording equipment and are ready for the best technology has to offer. So just do your research and check out the various market offerings in this field to choose and deploy the best. Few lousy employees, am sure do not like this idea but than their disgruntlement itself are an indicator of their negligence.

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Timesheet Software

Time management is part of every project management process. It is imperative to track the time spent by team members on different tasks and assignments. Time tracking software helps project managers monitor projects and resource performance, define different tasks, compare estimated with actual time reports, create charts and more. Daily timesheet recording software reduces the drudgery of recording, analyzing, and reporting on production labor.

Time keeping software has been universally adopted by businesses. Projects and processes take much longer without any formal time tracking. Considering this, businesses adopt timesheet software to reduce the project turn-around time. There are many benefits to using time tracking software. Time tracking software allows organizations to manage their businesses more profitably. Business managers can access reports on detailed data that is critical for efficient time and project accounting management. The software streamlines the management process and controls project performance. Since data can be regularly tracked, errors in the project process can be fixed immediately. Timesheet software is very user-friendly and simplifies the timesheet and expense report entry process.

Most of this software makes the tracking time process for projects and tasks quite effortless. They improve the productivity of every business group within a company as well as across companies. Obviously, time sheet software is designed with changing business models in mind. It is flexible and can be updated depending on process requirements. Software that is easy to use and implement and will increase employee productivity while reducing administrative time and significantly improve the billing cycle throughout your organization. Managers and project leaders have access to critical project information at the touch of a button.

All in all, if used intelligently, timesheet software can enrich a whole range of business processes. In essence, it can help you understand and deploy your resources better in everything from skills utilization to scheduling and actual job pricing.

Timesheet Software provides detailed information on Timesheets, Timesheet Software, Employee Timesheets, Online Timesheets and more. Timesheet Software is affiliated with Payroll Time Clocks

Two Reasons to Use Timesheet Software

Two Reasons to Use Timesheet Software

This short paper will expand on two key reasons to move to a computerized timesheet system at your company. There are more than two reasons of course, but these will be expanded on at a later date. The two key reasons to be discussed here are Timesheet Efficiency, and Timesheet Automation. Timesheet Efficiency is the concept of a single data entry exercise done accurately and quickly. Timesheet Automation is the simple concept of managing timesheet information electronically rather than on paper. When taken individually both these concepts make a compelling argument to move to electronic timesheets, taken together you should be asking yourself why you aren't kicking off the process today.

Timesheet Efficiency

When I started out my working career in consulting we had paper timesheets. These were (supposedly) to be filled in daily, submitted weekly, and data from them entered into the accounting system monthly. However, people being people, the accountant only checked them once a month, so they were generally only submitted once a month, and thus usually only filled in once a month when prompted by project managers. This resulted in inaccurate and late timesheet information.

This affected billing, time and materials projects would take up to four weeks to be invoiced, and thus it could be up to 60 days before payment was received. Why then are some companies constantly challenged with getting employees to accurately complete their timesheets while other firms have no problems? The difference is usually leadership and data ease of data entry. Most consulting companies employ skilled intelligent people, and a manager who fills in his timesheet information promptly and accurately can legitimately expect his staff to do so. However if the system is cumbersome and difficult to use then there will be constant conflict.

Easy to use computerized timesheet systems mean more employees are successfully filling out timesheets as they work rather than writing the time into a diary or calendar and then transferring the information at the end of the week (or month). It has been well proven that debtors are easier to manager and projects more easily monitored the closer that timesheet information is processed and invoiced to the time the work is carried out. It is just much more simple to collect all your billable hours (more chargeable time!) if employees record their work as they do it.

Of course data entry is just one side of things. Processing the information is just as important. Internal discipline and company policies must be set to ensure that all information is collected by the time you have decided is the deadline. Whether this is Friday 5:00pm, or Monday 9:00am, deadlines must be followed and enforced. Timesheet software with built in workgroup functionality like messaging, timesheet approval, live monitoring, and so on can greatly enhance this process.

There is no point pretending that timesheet information and collection is glamorous. It isn't. It should just be part of the normal mundane fabric of business. It should be routine and boring. But most importantly it should be quick, easy, and provide no disincentive to doing it. Good computerized systems should offer all of this.

Timesheet Automation

The most basic benefit that a computerized timesheet system gives is one of automation, timesheet information is entered into a computer rather than onto paper. This eliminated the need for people to transcribe their timesheet information from a diary onto a paper form, and then for administration staff to re-enter this information into a job costing system. The computerization allows you to completely eliminate the middle steps. Staff enter information directly into the job costing system.

The next logical step of computerization is to leverage off of the computer to provide a host of other benefits. This includes interlocks like preventing people from booking time to projects that dont exist, or projects that are closed, or projects they should not be booking time to. It allows project managers to access live data showing actual time spent on their projects, this data can be manipulated and visualized in different ways using other computer software. It can even interface directly with dedicated project management software.

Other benefits can include automatic timing of work, popup information showing specific project information helping timesheet accuracy, daily timesheets, reminders telling people to fill in their timesheets, integration with messaging, email, and the web, and live integration with accounting packages.

Conclusions

By themselves each of these points makes a good argument for moving to a computerized timesheet system. Taken together they are truly compelling. Increased accuracy and reduction of the billing cycle means that a computerized system can usually measure its payoff in just a few months. For any company that does bill its time, it is should not be an option any longer, it is a simple next step. Interested in looking at some low cost alternatives? Why not take a look at Timesheets Lite or Timesheets MTS. These are low cost systems ideally suited to the small company.

Mark Nemtsas

Moving Target Software

Get low cost, efficient, timesheet software! This article is © Moving Target Software, 2004. It can however be reproduced in full on any web page as long as it is edited in no way whatsover.

Timesheets

A timesheet is a document or entry program that records actual labor time or effort in any company. This tracking is usually done against a specific project or order. Timesheets can also specify the operation, location, and category or type of any task. These details can either be manually recorded or automated through a timesheet application.

Adopting a good timesheet can benefit organizations of all sizes in all sectors. In project management, accurate timesheet tracking plays an important part in maximizing profit ratios. Whether you are a designer, a lawyer, a contract worker, or anyone else who works on multiple projects on an hourly basis you need a powerful, easy-to-use project-tracking program that automatically keeps track of the time you spend on different projects throughout the day. An efficient timesheet will allow you to just click to start and stop the timer. You should be able to see the daily totals for each project, check off days as they are billed, and add a note to any date.

Besides tracking of all costs on your projects the time sheet that you choose should be easy to use. It should also be able to record time against project tasks on an "as required" basis. A good timesheet also displays elaborate budgeting and cost recovery analysis. As a timesheet carries vital data, it must be equipped with multi-level security, and only provide access to those with eth correct authorization codes. An advanced level timesheet is also able to forecast resources, expenses, and capital items.

Using a timesheet is a very efficient practice for all businesses and professionals. In a business scenario it reduces administrative costs like generating payroll and invoicing. The timesheet is also an internal efficiency tracker. It provides real-time reports and collaborations that help improve project tracking and reporting. With a formal timesheet, the organization?s time recording policies at point of entry are also structured. Time tracking with the help of timesheet systems has become a critical application in many organizations, allowing them to control, manage and project cost much more efficiently.

Timesheet Software provides detailed information on Timesheets, Timesheet Software, Employee Timesheets, Online Timesheets and more. Timesheet Software is affiliated with Payroll Time Clocks.

Online Timesheets

Online timesheets are the web-based timesheets that manage employee time and projects online. They provide a number of benefits compared to traditional desktop-based software. The employees can log their timesheets from any computer with an Internet connection and a web browser. Your project information is available at all times, from home or the office, or even at your client?s office. There are no software downloads, nothing to install, and you're always using the most up-to-date version of the software. Additionally, your data is professionally stored and managed with daily backups that ensure no accidents will erase your critical information.

Employees can easily and securely enter their timesheets online. Time can be charged to project, phase, activity and/or task codes. E-mail notifications and managerial approval protocols help manage the accuracy of the time entered by an employee. The system provides full project and employee time reporting and operates securely over the Internet or local intranets.

In the web-based timesheet systems, the timesheet in/out entry fields enables employees to enter start and end times, leaving the system to calculate elapsed time. Online timesheets benefit many kinds of businesses. Online timesheets can group users into categories to reflect the way a business operates. These users can even belong to multiple groups. Typically, user group definitions could include location, level of seniority, departments, and project team.

The online timesheet can provide graphical pivot reports that help managers assess and analyze data without too much effort. Also, this makes sharing critical information easier with senior management, especially since the software already generates most of the charts and graphs that will go with a report. Most online timesheets have built-in reporting engines to help managers or HR personnel. These reports can be downloaded to MS Excel or other spreadsheet software for further analysis.

An online timesheet saves the hassles of buying and installing software and at the same time performs all the functions of local timesheet software. Moreover, with its advanced reporting tools, online timesheets are definitely gaining more acceptance in businesses.

Timesheet Software provides detailed information on Timesheets, Timesheet Software, Employee Timesheets, Online Timesheets and more. Timesheet Software is affiliated with Payroll Time Clocks.

Employee Timesheets

Employee timesheets make it easy for an employee to track his or her daily work hours. The employee simply enters their time, and the formulas calculate the hours. It even tracks overtime hours on a weekly basis.

Organizations can either purchase any one of the many software packages available in the market today or can go for web-based timesheet software to record their employees? activities. Some of these software products are so advanced that they even help you to manage employee holiday and absence information. They can introduce an electronic workflow for holiday requests and approval helping to eliminate costly and time consuming data collection and analysis processes.

This software is a quick and simple solution, providing the big picture on how your employees spend their time and the real labor costs on a project-by-project basis. This software is relatively inexpensive, simple to set up, easy to use and requires very little of your employees' time.

The software eliminates going through piles of paper with your calculator, because with the press of a button you can have detailed reports almost instantly on employees, tasks and projects. In most cases, this software is simple and has an intuitive timesheet interface to track employee hours, vacation, sick, flex time, and other time off. In fact, an organization can purchase a single software package and roll it out across all their offices. A single software application can be tweaked to fit HR practices in any state or department.

The most advanced versions can easily track payroll information using custom fields on the timesheet screen with the help of any standard payroll packages. This software also ensures accuracy and timeliness with multiple time entry options. Initial installation of a time tracking system in an organization (either web-based or other) may face some user resistance but the benefits achieved in the long run exceed expectations and the software turns out to be a very profitable choice for the company.


Timesheet Software provides detailed information on Timesheets, Timesheet Software, Employee Timesheets, Online Timesheets and more. Timesheet Software is affiliated with Payroll Time Clocks.

Tips and Techniques To Detect Fraud Or Errors In Timesheets

Corporate governance laws, state/federal labor laws, and accounting regulations are making companies and their executives even more accountable for transparent, true and timely performance and financial reporting. Regulatory and oversight bodies such as the SEC (security exchange commission), demanding and extremely cautious audit firms and nervous shareholders, now point the finger directly at the company's senior executives and hold them personally and criminally accountable for the company's accurate reporting on operations and any control weaknesses.

This article presents potential timesheet-related compliance violation scenarios. It recommends a set of fraud and error detection reports that will help internal and external auditors, project managers, and company executives detect unauthorized or illegal activity and achieve sustainable compliance for timesheet management. Here are the timesheet compliance reports you need:

Time Entry Modification Audit

* Time entries that were modified (created or deleted) by one user on behalf of another user. For every time entry show new and old amount, modification time and date, the name of the person who made the original time entry, as well as the modifier, and any notes describing the reason for the modification * Time entries that were modified (created or deleted) by one user on behalf of another user without providing a note explaining the reason for the change * Time entries that were modified by a project or group manager. For every time entry display both the new and old entry, as well as any notes describing the reason for the modification * Time entries that were modified after having been approved * Time entries whose attributes were changed such as from billable to not billable, R&D to non R&D, from funded to not-funded * Time entries whose cost or billing rate was modified * Unapproved time entries in a specified date interval

Timesheet Approval and Change Audit

* Timesheets that are approved by someone other than the person that was designated to approve them * Timesheets that have been modified after having reopened a period * Timesheets that are approved by administrative staff (instead of project or group managers) * Timesheets that are approved long after they were submitted (e.g. a few months later or another specified date interval)

Project Time Audit

* List of projects that exceeded time budgets * List of projects that show a sudden jump in time allocation * Billable time entries that have not been invoiced after period closing and at the end of every quarter

Unusual Project Activity Audit

* List of users (employees or consultants) that submit timesheets with hours that far exceed * List of users (employees or consultants) that submit timesheets with hours that far exceed the business unit's defined timesheet period size * Amount of time or number of employees working on a project (or allocating time against a business unit) changed by more than X percent in comparison to the previous quarter * List of employees that required adjustments for X% of their time entries * For non-exempt employees report on those who have done more than X hours of overtime over the last N weeks

How Software Can Help

The reports above would be very hard to produce if time is being tracked using spreadsheets, multiple disconnected systems, or a time entry system that lacks auditing and error detection capabilities. A compliance enabled timesheet management solution should provide:

* Definition and enforcement of timesheet policies and rules; validations should be performed by the system at the point of entry * Lock down of approved timesheets and closed timesheet periods * Auditing of every time entry change, all timesheet approvals/period closing and cost or billing rate changes * Notifications when budget thresholds have been reached * Reports and live analysis dashboards to monitor projects/operations and to detect inappropriate, fraudulent, or inefficient activity, misallocation of time, or other potential problem areas

Summary

Weak timesheet controls and manual processes make a company vulnerable to fraud and errors related to cost and budget allocation, and force the organization to expend considerable resources in preparation for a compliance audit. Ineffective time tracking can also result in revenue leakage, longer billing cycles, higher probability of payroll and invoicing errors, duplication of effort and extended correction cycles, project execution problems, and ultimately, a potential compliance-related audit failure.

The only way a company can ensure sustainable timesheet compliance and governance is for it to have the proper controls, reporting and auditing systems in place. Company's executives and audit committee must have real-time access to error and fraud detection reports. This article provided a set of recommended timesheet error and fraud detection reports that every organization should have access to and analyze on a regular basis in order to validate that its employees and consultants follow a consistent timesheet entry and approval policy, are working on authorized projects based on approved budgets and scope, and that costs are allocated to the right projects.

Tom Jacobs writes for http://www.superbtimesheets.info where you can find out more about timesheets and other topics.

Tom Jacobs writes for http://www.superbtimesheets.info where you can find out more about timesheets and other topics

Why Is It So Difficult To Collect Timesheets?

It's an all too familiar story: It's Friday afternoon, and you need to finish your accounts and get those invoices out so you can stay in control of your cash flow. You look over your staff timesheets and see that, as you predicted, many of your staff haven't submitted them yet. You chase them up, only to find out that one of your staff is at a meeting at a client site and cannot be contacted, and a couple more have already left for the weekend. Then there are those that have to be told three times to do their timesheets. How are you supposed to cope with this and still have time to run your business?

There are a number of methods to deal with this type of situation when it occurs. There is always the possibility that you will find yourself in this situation even with the very best of planning, so you need to have some kind of coping strategy. Here are a few coping mechanisms that you can use:

1 - Wait until next week to do your invoicing. This method is probably the easiest solution to handle from an accounting point of view, and it means you can go home early too! However, if you are currently struggling with cash flow this may not be an option.

2 - Send out your invoices today and add the missing timesheets to future invoices. There are many reasons not to do this, as it can create difficulty with administration, and it can also confuse your clients. However, if you are strapped for cash, it may be the best option.

That being said, the best way to handle these situations is to plan ahead so that they never occur. Here are a number of proven methods that you can use to get those timesheets in more painlessly:

1 - Make timesheets due days (or weeks) before the it's time to send out the invoices, and check to make sure you have received them well in advance of needing them to do the billing. While this may sound obvious, you'd be surprised at how many businesses have difficulty achieving this.

2 - Delegate the task of collecting timesheets to a staff member you trust. This will allow you to spend more time on what you are good at; running your business.

3 - Provide an incentive for staff to submit their timesheets by a certain time. By far the most effective method of doing this is to "link" the collection of timesheets with the payroll. Not the nicest way to go about it, but you'll probably never see another late timesheet!

4 - Automate the process as much as possible. If you have a lot of traveling staff, make it possible for them to submit their timesheets via email. You can also put systems in place to automatically email staff to request missing timesheets.

If you require a reasonable level of detail in your timesheets, you will generally benefit from implementing a time tracking software solution. Staff can have a program that is installed on their computers and is easy to use, allowing them to enter timesheet information easily while they work. Some time tracking packages will also automate the process of timesheet submission and will link directly to your accounting software, making life easier for everyone.

The key to the success of any time tracking system is for it to be an integrated part of the corporate culture. Hence, staff should be informed that part of their job description includes the submission of timesheets by the deadlines. If you can get staff to create their timesheets while they work and submit the daily, it will be easier for both staff and manager.

If your staff spend a lot of time behind their computers, you may wish to consider a software package that can help the staff fill in their timesheets. One such package is Spherical Technology's Time Tracking Software, which logs the files and applications that a staff member uses, and makes it easy for staff to create an accurate timesheet at the end of the day.

Timesheets are an important but much overlooked aspect of running a successful business. With the right planning and systems in place, timesheet creation and collection can be painlessly integrated into the day-to-day operation of your organization. Michael Potas is currently employed by a timesheet software company, and often provides advise to management issues related to small business. Please take a look at his timesheet software and time tracking software for a solution to many time tracking issues.

The Importance of Timely Timesheets

The Importance of Timely Timesheets

Whether you are a small consultancy firm, a medium sized accountancy practice, or a code warrior for hire in a back room of your house then you have at least one thing in common: you are in business to get paid quickly, and for the work you have done. Timesheets are the usual method for tracking time you spent working and thus are the key to timely invoice generation. Timely invoice generation and despatch is important for two reasons:

1. You are more likely to get paid for your services the closer you present the invoice for payment to the time you did the work.

2. Poor cash flow kills more businesses than poor profitability.

Timesheets used to be monthly, then weekly, daily, and now can be updated to the minute. A timesheet software package like Timesheets MTS or Timesheets Lite is simple to administer, is simple for the casual user to enter time, and most importantly is simple for the accounts department to use and generate the reports they need for prompt invoicing.

So, throw out those paper based timesheet systems, throw out the spreadsheet timesheet systems that the wheels are falling of off, and move to a modern timesheet software system today. When you have a system be vigilant! Make sure your people are accurate and timely with their entries, and make sure accounts are prompt in issuing invoices! Of course don't forget normal debt collection practices, there's no point issuing invoices promptly and then having poor follow up!

Mark Nemtsas

Moving Target Software

Get low cost, efficient, timesheet software! This article is © Moving Target Software, 2004. It can however be reproduced in full on any web page as long as it is edited in no way whatsover.

Time or Attendance

Wondering about the title of this article, yes, its very much referred in the industry by Time and Attendance. Try taking it this way, is it the time spent more important or the attendance or both equally. At most places its both. Department heads gives equal weight to both time and attendance when processing your salary. However with the change of focus, its always the output that matters the most. Maybe thats reason why there are two different industry terms associated with employees depending upon the focus, one is non-exempt employee and the other is exempt employee.

Rather than going into the terminological meanings of exempt / non-exempt, we move further. If there is a voting happening for whats more important, time or attendance or both, you may count on more votes falling into either time or attendance, and, time and attendance getting the minimum vote. Maybe the term time and attendance was designed reading the psychology of employees and restricting them into parameters of both for a quality output and making them learn how to discipline their work and also nurturing them for their future growth.

Different matrix are used to track employee working hours like biometrics, slot readers etc attached to a installed or on-demand software solution that in-turn records the data in a specified format. With the advancement in technology, its always the core focus that we must keep stressing on and that is not tracking employees efficiency but nurturing them in an environment that helps in bringing out the best output consistently.

Resources:
Employee Timesheet System
Online Employee Time and Attendance Management
Human Resource (HR) Web Based

On-Line Employee Time Attendance - Good or Bad!

When we talk about web based solutions in workforce management industry the first is time attendance. Lets walk through a few features of some of the solutions offered in the industry. When an employee submits timesheet on-line the softwares pops up the same in the managers pending approval section to approve or disprove it. The good thing about the system is it has the timesheet description wherein the manager can describe the employees timesheet. With this the request shows the date it was submitted, the total hours worked by the employee. Also it has a date range section where the manager can view a particular employees timesheet from a date range. Interesting combination only when it suits your type of requirement.

It's wonderful, no register, no writing on a piece of paper, just type in a url, enter your username and password and press login. Thats how vendors provide time tracking systems.

Moving further ahead into another system, say, you entered your time regularly, took time off on some particular days, were absent on a few and this went on for months. Your timesheets are routed to your managers, approved and submitted regularly. One fine day the company administrator gets a mail from management to get a list of all employees absent for more than 7 days in last six months. Immediately after you complete reading the mail panic button is pressed and you don't know what to do. Some systems have this advanced feature where on click of some buttons similar reports can be generated easily, since they have all services integrated from within. Means timesheets, time off, absent records etc are all from the same database and generating a variety of reports from a variety of services is very much easier.

Now that's called technology.

Workforce Time and Attendance
Electronic Time and Attendance
Time and Attendance Tracking

Why Are Biometrics Becoming So Popular With Time And Attendance Systems?

Although biometrics had been around for many years, companies had not looked at the opportunities and benefits it provides in regards to time and attendance systems. The term biometrics is defined as utilizing one or more physical characteristics to automatically identify people. However, teaming up biometrics with a time and attendance system, can offer companies the ability to make buddy-punching (an employee clocking another employee in or out on their behalf) much more difficult than it has been in the past.

Companies both small and large can lose enormous amounts of money each year from this practice. Recently Nucleus Research published a report finding that annually, companies can save an average of 2.2% just by using biometric time and attendance systems. Its no wonder that just its money saving opportunities have made it so popular.

In recent years, corporations such as McDonalds, Burger King and Krispy Kreme have started using fingerprint-based time and attendance systems, realizing the benefits that these systems have to offer. These systems work by scanning a fingerprint (measures various points in a fingerprint) and allowing a time stamp to be recorded if the fingerprint matches. There are several benefits for companies small and large including:

Easy and fast implementation.
The elimination of buddy-punching.
The elimination of exaggerated employee labor hours.
Easy cancellation of terminated employee privileges.
There are no badges that need issuing, replacing or recovering.
Reports can be easily generated of an employees time such as total number of hours worked, times tardy, early outs or overtime hours.
Ability to reduce payroll or data entry errors.
Unauthorized access can be identified from a current or terminated employee.

Biometric time and attendance systems are available through several computer and office retailers, both in-store and online. There are many choices and options available, and it is easy to reap confusion in attempting to understand the differences. The best systems available offer a reliable, easy-to-use system that includes a set amount of licenses. They include the option to purchase additional Ethernet cables to support via network or direct to PC. They also offer several reports to analyze employee reporting, as well as offer a lifetime free technical support for your questions for the life of the product. It is important to also verify that the system offers support of the companys payroll routine (weekly, biweekly, bimonthly and monthly) and has the ability to capture an employees time off, such as vacation or sick days.

Take some time today to educate yourself and check in to biometric time and attendance systems. Maximizing the profitability and production of a company is crucial to its success. Time and money saved with these systems can definitely increase both.
By a freelance writer for WaspBarCode.com: http://www.waspbarcode.com/wasptime providing Automated time and attendance systems.

Using A Time And Attendance System To Increase Payroll Accuracy

Automated time and attendance systems have been available to and cost effective for larger businesses for several years. However, high acquisition and installation costs have historically made such systems impractical for small to medium sized companies to implement. That has recently changed, and there are now several time and attendance systems available to smaller businesses ? and they do increase payroll accuracy and company profitability.

Since the beginning of history, technology has been used to increase accuracy and productivity. It started with the invention of the wheel and has snowballed into automobiles, computers, satellites, and so much more. These technologies have allowed users to accomplish more work in less time with a higher level of accuracy. Automated time and attendance systems are no exception.

Automated time and attendance systems track hours worked, overtime, as well as missed or late punches. . Not only does this eliminate the number of personnel hours needed to process payroll, but it also eliminates losses from inaccurate data entry, buddy punching, and inaccurate time car completion.. Automated time and attendance systems provide instant, accurate, tamper-proof information.

There are several different types of time and attendance systems available for small and medium sized businesses: Barcode time clocks, magnetic stripe time clocks, RFID (proximity) time clocks, and biometric time clocks.

Barcode time clocks ? Each employee is issued a unique barcode on a badge. The employee must pass his or her badge through the machine for scanning.

Magnetic Stripe time clocks ? Similar to the barcode system, each badge is equipped with a magnetic stripe, much like that on a credit card. When the badge is swiped through the time clock, the information is read from the card and entered into the system.

RFID (Proximity) time clocks ? With this type of time and attendance system, the employee needs only to wave his or her badge near (not necessarily through) the time clock in order for the information to be captured and logged.

Biometric ? With a biometric time and attendance system, employees clock in and out using their fingerprint. While this has historically been the most expensive type of system, the technology advances in biometrics have now made this surprisingly affordable and popular. . This is most effective in preventing inaccurate time cards and buddy punching. It also reduces losses associated with damaged, misplaced, or stolen badges.

Because smaller businesses are very ready and willing to adopt technology and are doing so at a very rapid pace, vendors are catering to this niche market. The entry-level pricing on a time and attendance system starts at around $500 with complete biometric time and attendance solutions starting under $1,000. Most systems are ready to use right out of the box but are scalable to fit any sized business. Time and attendance systems are easily connected to a PC or a network and are easy to install.

These systems protect companies from losses associated with employee dishonesty and human error andreduce the personnel hours required to process payroll. With a minimum investment, it is very simple for small and medium sized businesses to ensure accuracy of payroll and increase profitability through the use of a time and attendance system. A study by APA shows that by adapting an automated time and attendance system, companies can realize up to a 4% savings of their annual payroll.
By a freelance writer for WaspBarCode.com/: http://www.waspbarcode.com/ providing Automated time and attendance systems. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.waspbarcode.com/ .

Biometrics for Employee Time and Attendance

Employees have long been identified by using something they carry with them such as proximity or barcode badge. Sometimes they identify themselves with something they know such as a password or PIN.

Technological advancements have made superior levels of security and accuracy possible, and have resulted in a growing number of employees being recognized each day with something that they are: biometrics

Biometrics refer to the technologies that measure and analyze human physical and behavioral characteristics for authentication purposes Biometric Reader products and services have exploded in the past few years, but the science behind it has been around for centuries. In ancient Babylon, fingerprints were used on clay tablets to solidify business transactions, and in the 14th century China merchants stamped children's palm and footprints to distinguish children from one another. In the past three decades biometric readers have evolved from a single method (fingerprinting) to more than ten unique techniques. Biometric devices consist of a reader or scanning device, software that converts the gathered information into digital form, and a database that stores the biometric data for comparison with previous records. When converting the biometric input, the software identifies specific points of data as match points. The match points are processed using an algorithm into a value that can be compared with biometric data in the database.

Biometrics fall within two distinct categories: Physical and Behavioral.

Examples of physical biometrics include:
Fingerprint - analyzing fingertip patterns
Facial Recognition - measuring facial characteristics
Hand Geometry - measuring the shape of the hand
Iris Scan - analyzing features of colored ring of the eye
Retinal Scan - analyzing blood vessels in the eye
Vascular Patterns - analyzing vein patterns
DNA - analyzing genetic makeup

Examples of behavioral biometrics include:
Speaker Recognition - analyzing vocal behavior
Signature - analyzing signature dynamics
Keystroke - measuring the time spacing of typed words

Hundreds of companies are dedicated to advancing biometric processes and technology, and as biometric capabilities increase the price of the technology continues to fall. Legiant has taken full advantage of this trend, and is committed to deploying the latest in biometric technology.

To find out more about Employee Biometrics visit: www.legiant.com .

Dustin Karnes is currently the chief author at Legiant, a leading provider of next generation time and attendance systems. His preeminent focus for the last couple of years has been researching and chronicling the latest time and attendance technology through case studies, white papers, and informative web copy at: www.legiant.com .

Getting Rich in Real Estate: Full Time Job or Fast Track to Wealth?

Getting rich in real estate is a lot of work and a full-time job. As a full-time professional real estate investor, I get a little upset when I see late-night television show commercials touting just how easy it is to make a huge amount of cash, part-time as a new real estate investor.

It's just not true.

While you can make large amounts of cash as a real estate investor, it does take an investment of time to learn the business and your market and having some cash to spend on marketing or holding cause sure helps.

While there are methods for generating large amounts of cash quickly in real estate (like wholesaling and flipping), I generally recommend people get rich slowly with real estate investing by becoming a long-term buy rants and hold investor.

In fact, you can become very, very rich in real estate working part-time. By investing a little time, each weekend looking at potential long-term rental properties, making smart offers on them and building a portfolio for passive income.

"But I can't stand my job! How long before I can quit?"

Well that depends on how aggressively you start building your portfolio and just how much income you need to generate from your real estate investments.

If you combine building a long-term real estate investment portfolio with the occasional "buy, fix and flip" house, you can probably quit your job relatively quickly.

While I have done my share of "buy, fix and flips", at this stage in my investment career, I tend to buy and hold.

Unless you're familiar with irregular income like a sales job, the stress is of relying on "buy, fix and flip" income is often too much for most people to bear.

If you have a good job now with the good income, it is my opinion, that you might be better served keeping the job and doing your investing part time. That way, you'll still have money coming in to put food on the table, gas in the car, and clothes on your children's backs while you build your fortune in real estate.

James Orr is a professional real estate investor and marketing expert.

You can subscribe to his real estate e-newsletter and access audio downloads, articles, marketing materials and educational real estate videos at his website: James Orr's Real Estate Investing Blog.

Employee Time Tracking And It?s Benefits

Employee time tracking has been around for over a hundred years. It is said that the first time clock was invented in November of 1888 by Willard Bundy. Bundy?s brother then opened the Bundy Manufacturing Company, later to become IBM. While the idea of tracking the time and attendance of an employee remains virtually the same, the systems used to do it have vastly changed.

Since the 1990?s, computed based systems have become widely used to track an employee?s time. This can be done in many ways from using a magnetic card to scanning finger prints. While time tracking can be beneficial to any size or type of business, the benefits for a small to medium sized business are tremendous.

* Money Savings ? it is estimated that up to 4% can be saved of annual payroll with a time and attendance system. With the hardships small businesses face these days, any monetary savings are a benefit. There are less data entry errors when payroll is calculated or attendance is recorded. The savings are increased when a biometric system is utilized. Biometric systems utilize one of more physical characteristics (such as finger prints) to identify an employee.

* Eliminates ?buddy-punching? and tracks time off ? Buddy punching is the practice of one employee clocking another employee in or out. This can cause hundreds to thousands of dollars in loss to a company. The systems can also capture and track sick time, vacation, holiday pay and conference time away from the office.

* Systems provide multiple reports ? Reports can be compiled such as a wage report, timecard report, absence report, payroll summary, attendance report, employee list, early out report and overtime report. Automatic time clock downloads can also be scheduled and most systems can provide support to all payroll scheduling needs (weekly, bi-weekly, bi-monthly and monthly).

* Easy to install ? The time and attendance software is easy to install as well as the time clocks themselves. Instructions are provided and most companies provide technical support for any additional questions or issues that arise. It is important to verify the system being purchased is compatible with any existing operating system.

While the benefits of these time clocks are more in the employers favor, they can also benefit the employees themselves. Employees can feel confident that these systems are providing accurate punches and that in turn, the employee will be paid properly.

When selecting the best time and attendance software for a company it is critical to read through the descriptions, benefits and features of the system. The ability to track this information is a highly cost-saving measure that every company should take advantage of. It also provides a more organized and comfortable atmosphere than the traditional time tracking methods can.
By a freelance writer for WaspBarCode.com/: http://www.waspbarcode.com/wasptime/ providing Automated time and attendance systems. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.waspbarcode.com/wasptime/ .