Problems with Manual Attendance Tracking: Why You Should Change

How do you check whether employees have arrived or are running late? Are you using a manual attendance tracking system or a more modern solution?

A large number of employers use paper time cards, timesheets, and manual spreadsheets because they’re easy to use. But in reality, more and more companies have shifted to time and attendance tracking software.

Why did they do that? Does your business need some changing? Is the changing worth it?

Let’s find out.

The disadvantages of manual attendance tracking

Collecting time cards and entering numbers manually on paper timesheets/online spreadsheets seem to be easy at first. But they can quickly become a mess when more team members join, or you simply don’t have time for some admin work that week.

Let’s dig further into the disadvantages of manual attendance tracking.

Risk of human error

We’re all human and we can easily make mistakes when collecting data manually.

Employees don’t always punch in the correct date and time. You don’t always enter the correct numbers into the attendance spreadsheets.

You may face situations in which employees come to you asking why they receive less than the hours they’ve worked, or you may lose thousands of dollars without even knowing it.

Employee time theft

Time theft happens when employees try to get paid for the time they don’t work. It can be in the form of buddy punching, clocking in earlier, clocking out later to receive overtime money, etc. You know the consequences: time card frauds lower workplace morale and cost your business a lot of money.

Time-consuming

Collecting time cards, verifying them, and processing them for payroll is surely time-consuming, especially when you manage a larger team.

Every time there are errors or issues regarding their attendance, staff will flood in to ask you to make adjustments. Admin work will soon suck at least 5 more hours of your week, which means you’ve lost over 260 hours every year.

If you’re leading a team, you certainly have a lot on your plate. Why wasting time on manual attendance tracking when there are other time-saving and convenient solutions out there?

More paperwork

Employee work hours need to be recorded and stored for compliance purpose. If you’re still using paper timesheets, paperwork will soon drown you in boredom and irritation.

Paper timesheets aren’t cheap, take up more space, and are hard to retrieve when needed. This can be a big hassle for managers of businesses with multiple locations and employees.

Why you should upgrade to time and attendance tracking software

Time and attendance tracking software are solutions that help businesses monitor employees’ attendance and working hours, as well as paying staff accurately. Why should you use those apps? Are there any more attractive benefits of them?

More accurate payroll

Automated attendance software eliminates the risk of human error, hence providing more accurate data for payroll. Employers don’t have to be afraid of compliance issues, and employees don’t have to be afraid of being paid incorrectly.

Prevent time theft

Attendance tracking software often asks staff to clock in by using fingerprints and location stamps, accessing the location’s Wi-Fi, or taking photos of themselves at the job sites. It limits and prevents time theft behaviors such as employees clocking in/out for their friends or punching in/out the wrong time.

Improved engagement, productivity, and efficiency

When staff know your attendance system is accurate and reliable, they don’t have to be afraid of being paid inaccurately anymore. They can focus more on work, productivity, and efficiency instead of trying to trick the attendance system.

Attendance apps aren’t just beneficial for employees’ performance, but for managers as well. You can spend less time checking attendance and more on things that require your attention.

More integrated features

There might be other features besides attendance tracking such as scheduling or team messaging. Plus, you can integrate attendance software with HR and payroll software, or have the software tailored to your business needs.

Just ditch manual attendance tracking

If you are dealing with manual employee attendance tracking, you know it’s a tedious and time-consuming practice that often involves a great deal of human error.

Just ditch all those manual paper timesheets, and start using a cloud-based, automated system like Camelo to save time, money, and energy.