found a few articles with a quick google. I may load up a few of these and try them for myself, just to keep me honest!
> We've had a time clock since inception in 1977. The ONLY gripe I ever heard about it was when I went to promote and employee to a salary position (two actually) and the balked wondering what "might" be lost in overtime. If anything, they probably would have gotten to me on that one.
>
> Otherwise, do it. It's awesome. If someone forgets to clock in or out, we find what crew they were on and on what day and they get whenever the rest of the crew punched out. Easy peasy.
FWIW, the last time clocks I punched were in high school over 30 years ago...stocking shelves at Winn Dixie and washing dishes at IHOP. Those were the days. Sometimes I'd punch my friends in, sometimes they'd punch me in. Crazy kids.
Here is my high tech solution to your problem.
Keep those that are honest and let go the ones that are not.
You probably already do, but pay a man a good wage where he feels like his company is taking care of himself and his family and for the most part this BS will not happen.
Randy
I read the testimonials and imagined one from Renegade...
"There is always a sense of panic when your employee runs off, but I knew his GPS had him covered and it turned a somewhat stressful situation into a downright comical experience."
or
""We love the activity tracker and points system. It's really amazing to track his (and our) activity over the day and over time! He loves swimming and being wet and dirty...and Tagg keeps up!"
Just joking Renegade... 😀 😀 😀
I'm just not too sure that whipping out the microscope on the time sheets will be the solution to the perceived problem.
Perhaps you will get a larger return by examining field proceedures, equipment capabilities, software packages and your employees knowledge of efficient use of those tools.
I have seen changes in the brand of software used in the field and office yield dramatic increases in productivity and a dramatic reduction in time.
I have seen training people up on all the tools they have available yeild great results in these areas too.
IF your people are gathering data efficiently in the field, as driven by the software used to process that data and your office people know all the bells, whistles and switches in the software, your efficiency and profits will soar.
IF all of that has been done, then whip out the time sheets.
IF all of that has actually been done you should not be having to look for places to cut costs. That should already be happening.
A flaw in one area is usually indicative of flaws in the other areas. Cause and effect you see.
If you are using jobs in QB pro, you can set up your employees to enter time via the Intuit Cloud, using the QB timesheets. This could be done from a smart phone, tablet, at the office, etc. Import your time via the timesheets and your payroll is done.
My employees basically sign in and out on a paper sheet each day, I enter their time in QB on a timesheet, (which keeps tracks of time for jobs if set up) at that point payroll is basically done, all you have to do is bill the job.
Sounds like you are using most of that system already, I'd look into expanding what you know.
I find that almost every employee will skew time in his favor when given the chance but that does not mean they are trying to take advantage. Everyone likes to think they are a hard worker and that they go the extra mile, that is just human nature. They also skew time in their favor, they just do.I am going to institute a time clock soon and I make a 30 minute lunch mandatory. You can take lunch or skip it if you wish but a half hour lunch will be deducted from your time.
> You can take lunch or skip it if you wish but a half hour lunch will be deducted from your time
Wow what a great way to motivate your crew - NOT
You know, I'm glad I dont work for you or Renegade
> DJames - then where does it stop? Seriously? 30 minutes? 1 Hour?
I was actually thinking I also wouldn't worry about 15-20 minutes, but that was from the perspective of the employee; if you want to do well, you should want the company to do well. Sometimes that means putting in a few extra minutes to avoid wasting 30-45 minutes the next day getting set up and back to where you were.
> Been preaching until I am blue in the face about accurate time on projects, accurate time for payroll, etc. So its time to start having our employees punch a time clock or log badges, fingerprints, something. There are always a few that try to get over on you for 15-20-30 minutes day everyday. Guess I am being a stickler but the other employees see this and well you know how that goes.
If the other employees know someone is pilfering time, then you probably also know who it is and should address that issue with them.
> We have been using paper timesheets where the employees log their time to particular jobs and the total hours on the timesheet is how payroll is produced. We have been logging time at 30 minute increments, then hand entering into QB Pro.
>
> Would like to get a system set up to keep time in 6-10 minute increments for payroll, and perhaps if its not that complicated, have them log there time to the particular job and have it all add up and ready to import in to QB Pro.
>
Looks like there are some good ideas with quick books and time tracking.
If you want 6-10 minute intervals, then just make that the norm.
joe
There are all kinds of apps to track time. Download a few a try them. I have one that is free that scans barcodes that you print onto a label and stick on a badge . It just tracks clock in to clock out hours, no way to split up the total into jobs. Www.excelgeek.com could probably make you a slick spread sheet that would work for 50 bucks
We use this. http://www.axium.com/
I like the time sheet entering portion, but the billing drives me nuts.
I have worked for two consulting firms that both used Deltek Vision.
You can make it as detailed or as simple as you like.
Have fun counting those beans!! 😉
I've stayed out of this until the end, but my experience with micro-managing time was all negative. We sold Cella Barr (where we had manual time sheets) to Stantec, which used an electronic, detailed time sheet on a server who knows where. All sorts of restrictions on what we could and could not enter, with no room for common sense, and zero sense of control in our lives, so we hated it, for good reason. When I bailed out and started my own firm, I set a policy of no time sheets. Virtually every project is lump sum, it is way more important to do it right than fret about the time, and I don't particularly care if it is over or under budget because nobody is looking over my shoulder and asking me pointed questions.
After fourteen years, I still have a dream about those miserable on-line time sheets. Usually I have not filled one out in three years (but nobody has noticed), then I suddenly realize I have my own company and don't have to worry about that anymore, so out the door I go.
thats just fine with me Jim, I never want someone working here that doesn't want too. I instituted this policy after finding that no one ever deducted lunch from their time but I always found bags from Wendys, Mcdonalds etc in the vehicles. The excuse is always they only stopped "for a minute". I think its a fair policy. The crew always gets a break and I know that I am not paying for trips to the nearest junk food place. They can take a longer break as long as they account for the time.
To add...
Punishing everyone for the transgressions of a few usually backfires on management.
I think that your organization has great management challenges if considering policing time to 6-10 minutes increment.
Good luck.
I only have two crews easy to keep up with. My better half keeps the time sheets and such . I don't really care about it. I look after the work ..
> Punishing everyone for the transgressions of a few usually backfires on management.
"The beatings will continue until morale improves."
