Learn how to take control of your time by using a time-tracking app. Understand the importance of accurately tracked time.
In today's fast-paced world, feeling overwhelmed and being short on time is a common struggle for a small business owner. It's even more challenging to manage and track employee time.
But time tracking is a game changer-- one that can give your company a significant competitive advantage.
Learn what is time tracking and understand its significance. We also address some commonly asked questions around time management apps.
Time tracking is the process of recording the amount of time an employee spends on specific tasks, projects, and clients. Think of time tracking as keeping a logbook of your hours. Time tracking allows companies to understand how time is being used and if and where there is scope of improvement.
Time trackers are software applications that help you track your work hours. They measure employees' working hours and help you understand the time spent at work, on projects, and with customers.
Some time tracking apps have extra features like a web timer that calculates hourly wages and how long lunch breaks are
Today's versatile business environment, time trackers for employees is a must-have. It's a valuable feature that can be used by almost every type of organization, from small businesses to large enterprises.
Here are some of the industries and professions that benefit from time tracking data:
You, as a small business owner, probably lose out on profit and time if tasks aren't completed on time. There are also a lot of distractions that can draw your attention away from getting work done.
Also, the majority of the time, business owners tend to rely on inaccurate time management strategies.
Utilizing a timesheet solution or project management tool can give you a detailed insight into the productive and non-productive time spent on each task.
Managers can also use the data from previous projects to estimate the time required to complete a similar project in the future. Some other benefits of investing in a time management software are:
Time tracking is a proof of work a time tracker gives chances for employees to plan their schedule independently. Managers can simply monitor the work progress no matter where employees are working and when they choose to work.
Employees' time is essential. The software reduces manual efforts and time-consuming activities like filling the work data in Excel, planning the actions, etc., by automating the process. It also highlights if employees are spending too much time on administrative tasks and raking up more non billable hours.
Work automation drives employees to become more productive and focused on the tasks assigned. High productivity correspondence to high billable hours.
Timecards capture the actual time spent by resources on projects, tasks, and personal work hours by using an in-built timesheet management module. Hence this makes it easier for managers to calculate the billable hours of each project and raise the bill to the clients.
Informative approval screen: Information about all timesheet entries on a single screen facilitates making informed decisions. Powerful filters and identifying the important information, user-friendly features like bulk processing save time and increase efficiency.
During the annual review of the performance, it is great to refer to data. Managers can pull numbers of individual employees and how they compare to the rest of the team members.
This data is also helpful for employees to see how their performance stacks up. This helps managers and employees to identify strengths to emphasize and weaknesses to work on.
For an organization, it becomes easier to sell the product, and being able to provide the timesheet records proves extremely valuable.
This shows organizational professionalism with a reputation of accuracy, and clients can see at a glance what kind of output they can expect from the team.
With a timesheet or resource management app, like eRS, managers have clear visibility over how much time is spent on different jobs. They can track how much each employee is costing them and understanding if overtime costs are cutting into their profit margins.
So, by now, the advantages of the best time-tracking apps are becoming pretty clear. But is it the right call for your business operations?
To help you decide if an employee time tracking app is the right option for you, ask yourself if you have experienced any of these:
1. Lost time and costs due to false logins and early logouts?
2. Inaccurate manual time causing increased wages, overtime, and absenteeism?
3. Time wasted and productivity scaled down because of employees not staying on task?
4. Blown up budget due to poor allocation?
5. Are employees wasting time by engaging more in unproductive activities?
6. Incorrectly billed work hours by the contractor?
7. Time and productivity wanted in the manual filling of timesheets and activity logs?
8. Difficulty in determining the actual staffing requirement due to inaccurate project time calculations?
9. Having no visibility of time, worked by remorse workers or freelancers?
In any result-driven workplace, the inefficiencies and costs associated with manual time entry are an everyday reality. Even 5-10 minutes of unproductive work has huge ramifications for company performance.
And when nearly 3 out of 4 employees are distracted during essential working hours, the cost and prevalence of unproductive hours can be a wreck. It's difficult to manage projects and actual hours worked by an employee without time tracking software.
Before deciding on the best time tracking software, be sure to have a deep thinking about what you need to track. Getting your team involved in this brainstorming is a wise idea. Below is a checklist of the main elements that need to be tracked:
We rounded up the experts, and here are a few of their recommendations for finding the right time tracking software for small businesses.
Ask the following questions as you compare different software in the market:
Does the app have an intuitive interface?
Does it have clock in and clock out capabilities?
Can you approve timesheets?
Does it seamlessly integrate with
Does software come with a mobile app?
Does it have budget forecasting function?
Is there GPS tracking?
How does it track hybrid and remote teams?
How easy is it to contact support teams to fix issues?
Does it have a free plan or only paid plans?
How many employees can it track?
What features are free? What come under the paid plan?
Undoubtedly, technology has allowed us to connect, perform, and improve the productivity of our resources.
Payroll processing and tracking employee productivity used to drive managers to their wits' end. However, all of that and much more has become a breeze thanks to digital advancements.
Here's a dive deep into understanding the unique functionalities and specific features of a time tracking tool.
A timesheet software automates the entire process. No manual entries reduce manual errors. Employee tracking should start the moment employees clock in and have the capability to be continued through GPS tracking.
Ideally, an app should track hours an employee worked and then integrate with an accounting software where the associated pay and benefits are automatically calculated.
A manager should be able to see clear picture of all their employees and get detailed metrics on factors such as allotted time vs. actual time taken and cost of resources.
Real time reports provide them with insight into project performance and draws their attention to any bottlenecks.
For example, a variance between the scheduled efforts v/s actual efforts at all the levels of the employees hints to the fact the the resources might require more training or need additional support to get the task done.
Time tracking allows small business owners and project managers to gain a bird's eye view of all ongoing processes.
Time tracking software also come with features that ease the benefit and payroll process. Managers can approve timesheets through their mobile devices.
They can also allocate work easily and monitor absenteeism from a centralized and intuitive dashboard. This saves time, reduces the chance of human error, and ensures there is accurate payroll calculation.
A project management or timesheet software stores sensitive employee and project data. Therefore the security measures of the software need to be one of it's strongest features.
Most businesses are serious about managing time to maximize productivity and just don't look for a single functionality software. Typically, a combination of an automated best time tracking app and project time tracking delivers the most exceptional result.
Many time-tracking apps come with either one or two of these functionalities, but eResource Scheduler is packed with all the key functions into one single solution while delivering highly flexible customization.
An uninterrupted workflow and healthy work-life balance for every employee. A ubiquitous platform for running from a small size business to a large size organization.
eResource Scheduler powerful project management to best time tracking app, resource scheduler, resource planning, and unified tool to run an organization. Completely customizable and can be turned on and off for the entire organization or individual users.
There are countless ways in which eResource Scheduler improves the everyday work for managers and employees alike.
Here are a few reasons why the eResource Scheduler best time tracking software is a perfect choice for any organization:
Timecards used for employees work hours
Multiple timesheets access
Cloud-based and mobile app
Drag and drop scheduling
Clock in and clock out features
Color codes for easy identification of projects and tasks
Multiple options to fill the timesheet
Configurable Timesheet
Automated and manual approval
Approval screen
Approval Workflow
Time Tracking Report
Planned v/s actual reporting
Provide full control over scheduling and management of resources
With a rich set of features, eResource Scheduler comes to the top when related to user experience and price performance.
Yes, there are a free timesheet apps that are ideal for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small businesses on a budget.
But keep in mind that some of the software's more advanced features like automatic tracking or integration with external apps like Quickbooks time are only accessbile via paid plans.
Improvements can only be possible if there is a scope of measurement. Free time tracking software is only possible for only those who cannot afford a premium time tracking tool to put numbers on their work hours and productivity.
While most free time tracking tools lack advanced features, they only enable the basic features, including manual or automatic time tracking.
If your business demands more advanced features like configurable timesheet settings, approval workflow, or capacity planning reports, it's worth investing in time tracking app that has all of the above.
There are multiple apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store that can used to track time and manage schedules. Some of the most popular mobile apps used by small businesses include eRS, Clockify, monday.com, Quickbooks Time, Toggl, and Time Camp.
Keep in mind that what someone considers to be a good time tracking app might not be the right tracking software for your small business needs.
Therefore, it's essential that you do your own due diligence and select software that has the specific features your business needs and is suitable for how many employees you have.
There are several different time management strategies one can employ to track exactly how much time they have spent on completing important tasks. One can use an Excel spreadsheet, timesheet templates, or use a mobile app.
However, manual time entry methods like using a calendar or Excel are prone to human error, and time entries can be dated. Furthermore, these methods don't provide automatic reports. Therefore, it's best to invest in a timesheet software for small projects and businesses.
Time tracking software reduces the administrative burden as it automates the payroll and benefit calculation process. This decreases the amount of manual data entry and occurance of manmade errors. It also helps businesses stay in compliance with your country's labor laws and protocols.
By now, it is understandable that time tracking apps offer a boost in productivity and performance while offering several cost-saving advantages. Modern tracking technology like eRS is simple to use and customize.
Even so, the decision to install enterprise time-tracking software depends on the team's structure, goals, and priorities. What is right for one might not be ideal for another.
The only way to buy the best time-tracking app for your team is to try it first. That's why eResource Scheduler invites you to try a 14-day free trial. Install eRS on every device, track every minute of work, understand your employees, and make smarter decisions.
Also read:
The comprehensive guide to resource capacity planning
Why you should know mintzberg's 10 managerial roles
7 best employee management apps to use in 2024
15 best employee 15 best employee timesheet apps for agencies
