10 Ways Time and Attendance Systems Help Businesses

10 Ways Time and Attendance Systems Help Businesses

The outdated method of manually collecting employee data makes businesses vulnerable to errors, costing them time, money, and effort better spent elsewhere.

It also creates opportunities for time theft, which, according to The American Payroll Association (APA) and Zippia, affects 75% of businesses, costing them up to billions annually.

Thankfully, mitigating these risks is now a simple task. The implementation of a time and attendance system creates an automated, effortless data collection process. This promotes accuracy throughout your organization, saving you time and money while keeping you compliant with your federal, state, and local laws.

Top Ways Time and Attendance Systems Help Businesses


Ensuring the effectiveness of your business’ time and attendance tracking is easier than ever with time and attendance systems. Payroll Partner’s time and attendance software allows you to streamline your entire process, making employee data collection, scheduling, accruals, and compliance management an automated, effortless task. With customizable options for managers and employees, our automated time and attendance software molds itself to the needs of your unique operation.

Here are ten ways time and attendance systems can amplify your productivity, profitability, and effectiveness:

1 – Save Time

  • Collecting timecards and data manually to calculate payroll requires a significant amount of time spent. That time can be allocated to other valuable tasks when you implement a time and attendance system.
  • By automating your data collection and payroll process, a time and attendance system allows you to dedicate that time to less mundane, more productive tasks, allowing you to get more accomplished with less effort.

2 – Increase Accuracy

  • Employee timecards are frequently submitted with errors which you then have to correct to reflect accuracy.
  • Mistakes can happen for a variety of reasons — with human error often being among them — and create unnecessary confusion that could have been avoided.
  • A time and attendance system can help to mitigate these occurrences through the process of automation. Tracking active employee hours more accurately creates a more streamlined payroll process, saving you time, money, and effort in the long run.

3 – Reduce Costs

  • The aforementioned time-saving aspect comes into play again here, but for a different reason.
  • Manually collecting timesheets and employee data for payroll costs you money as well as time. This is yet another reason why implementing a time and attendance system is a smart move on your part.
  • The automated data collection process also reduces your cost by ensuring that employees cannot work unauthorized overtime hours, have a coworker punch their timecard, or forget to clock out.
  • This is all done automatically, allowing your costs to be more accurately allocated (and decreasing unnecessary spending).

4 – Eliminate Fraud

  • As mentioned earlier, timecard fraud is costly and promotes an environment of dishonesty among workers.
  • There are a number of ways employees can adjust their timecards when a manual system is in place, such as fraudulent manager signatures and other forms of time theft.
  • Fraudulent timecard practices are virtually impossible when a time and attendance system is your chosen form of employee data collection.
  • It removes the possibility of overlooking timecard discrepancies when collected manually. The system keeps you informed at all times, discouraging employees from attempting fraudulent practices.
  • 5 – Increase Employee Morale

    • Manual time and attendance tracking can be a slow process and sometimes causes errors in payroll to occur.
    • This can result in late or inaccurate pay for your employees, which can cause their morale to decrease as their pay dates are unreliable.
    • With a time and attendance system, tracking your employee data and initiating the payroll process are automated, allowing everyone to rely on timely, accurate paychecks consistently.
    • This helps boost morale throughout the workplace, leading to higher retention rates.

    6 – Gain Additional Control

    • The time-consuming nature of manually collecting employee data can cause you to miss important details that could affect your business in negative ways.
    • Attendance issues with certain employees, frequent overtime, and other issues are easy to miss, leaving them unaddressed and potentially costing you in the long run.
    • Reports generated by a time and attendance system track these details, drawing your attention to them and allowing you to manage issues in a more timely and efficient manner.

    7 – Inspire Employee Engagement

    • Certain time and attendance systems involve some involvement from employees.
    • They can access their schedules which allows them to request changes, such as trading shifts with coworkers and taking time off.
    • These all-inclusive time and attendance systems also allow employees to keep track of their schedules, view their hours worked, and track their expected pay.
    • This increased ability for engagement provides a feeling of involvement, contributing to morale and productivity.

    8 – Manage Remote Work More Effectively

    • It’s no secret that managing remote workers can be challenging at times.
    • Though you’d like to trust that your employees are on the job when they say they are, there’s no way of really knowing.
    • Time and attendance systems track employee time activity automatically, giving you the peace of mind, you need to trust your employees. This creates an environment that employees are happier working in, no matter where their office location might be.

    9 – Comply Effortlessly

    • Compliance with federal and state laws is non-negotiable.
    • This includes how your business handles the wages, hours, and overtime of its employees.
    • Manually keeping track of employee data can increase the risk of accidentally violating these laws, resulting in substantial fines.
    • Time and attendance systems essentially mitigate the risk of violating employee laws, as you’ll always be aware of your employees’ work activity. If any discrepancies arise, you’ll be notified through automated reports, allowing you to correct issues that may come up and prevent them from happening again.
    • For more information, check out our helpful video covering FLSA Pay Compliance.

    10 – Go Paperless

    • In this digital age, many (if not most) businesses are going paperless.
    • This not only contributes to improving the environment, but it can also save you the time and money you would spend when utilizing a manual time and attendance system.
    • The automation feature of a time and attendance system ensures your employee data collection process is entirely paper-free, reducing the extra time, cost, and effort that goes into the manual collection process.

    Final Thoughts

    • Make the headaches of manual employee data collection a thing of the past for your business. Implementing a time and attendance system can help your organization in a number of ways.
    • With customizable options for both managers and employees, time and attendance systems can make the workplace more enjoyable for all.
    • Payroll, time management, compliance, and scheduling become effortless, allowing you to focus on more important tasks that benefit your business.

    This information is provided with the understanding that Payroll Partners is not rendering legal, human resources, or other professional advice or service. Professional advice on specific issues should be sought from a lawyer, HR consultant or other professional.