We wrote this article for ops staff, managers and business owners. Our goal is to prove that timesheet software is a universal tool for any sector. We will be looking into 6 industries and exploring how a timekeeping solution improves their processes.
When people think of timesheet software they very often limit its functionality being solely built around time tracking. Such a mindset strips them of interest in researching its capacities further, mostly because the tool they need has little to do with time logging. To say they then massively miss out is an understatement, because while, yes, timesheets are the centre of the solution - they also become the cornerstone of many other business processes.
Keeping track of your workers’ time is a practice every business should adopt, regardless of the sector they operate in. We can feel you being slightly sceptic here - there is no universal solution that would cover every industry. But time is one thing literally every business has in common and it should be a metric that’s as equally important as its income generated - after all, this makes sense if we remember the well-known saying that time is money.
Timesheet Software is for Everyone
Even if your workers are paid on a fixed rate instead of hourly, your business could still utilise timesheet software. Time tracking is a useful tool for all sorts of businesses as it can be used for a variety of purposes: performance reviews, client invoicing, expense claims, project forecasting and many others. Simply put, it’s a universal software which can adapt to any business model due to its wide functionality.
To prove that, we will be looking into several different industries and exploring how their operations can be improved with a time tracking tool. If the sector of your interest isn’t on this list, we encourage you to get in touch.
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Although it sometimes baffles people to learn that teachers’ pay is timesheet-bound, it’s a sore spot for everyone in the sector. From filling and submitting timesheets to chasing, correcting and processing them - the process can be tedious at every step. What’s more, it’s ongoing and repetitive, yet vital. What furthers the problem, most educational facilities oppose the idea of digitising it as often the older workers aren’t comfortable swapping traditional timesheets for digital solutions.
So, although timesheet software might seem particularly needed for the sector, we understand why institutions often hesitate to adopt it. We would therefore like to dismiss this reservation as customer-orientated timesheet platforms have long since solved this nuance. For example, at Timesheet Portal your workers can continue with paper timesheets: they just need to snap a picture of them using a smartphone app. The software will then send it through the approval processes a digital timesheet would undergo, and its data will be converted into a digital format.
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From nurses to practitioners, it’s not a secret that healthcare workers often work overtime. While it's undeniably demanding to them, it also makes the accounting personnel face a challenge: overtime rates. Timesheet software for healthcare can massively help that as a specialised solution comes with an automatic overtime calculator. It highly depends on the vendor how configurable the module is. For example, Timesheet Portal allows you to set it to run based on criteria like total hours worked, days of the week, shift times and a combination of all.
A timesheet solution also gives access to in-depth performance reporting, giving you valuable insights on data such as finances. Based on data pulled from the timesheets, it crunches the numbers into a visual and easy-to-analyse report within seconds. Most tools will let you build the structure of your report to include the metrics you need, but you can always utilise the pre-built templates.
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While the construction sector widely utilises timesheets, it is also known to have a lot of factors causing differentiating rates: day of the week, location, work complexity, etc. This makes processing the sheets for payroll difficult and prone to error. When using a digital timesheet solution, however, the rates get applied right away. What’s more, the workers can fill their timesheets on the go.
Another benefit of timesheet software for the construction sector is the expense management module. Mind, not every solution offers that. However, at Timesheet Portal we make it easy for your workers to claim back expenses for any work-related purchases and mileage by offering easy receipt upload (available for bulk uploads too) and an integrated currency converter.
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The public sector is another industry that heavily relies on expenses, as well as invoicing. Both can be easily tracked, generated, reported on, analysed and exported into payroll when recorded via a timesheet solution. What’s more, all this will be done quicker and be less prone to error. Of course, again, not every vendor offers such wide functionality - we are basing the statement on the fact Timesheet Portal does. We also integrate with major accounting packages like Xero, Quickbooks and Sage.
Contractor work is at the core of the public sector, which is why both timesheets and payroll operations are at the heart of it. Smoothening and streamlining the process of them can free up a lot of time up, as well as save significant chunks of a budget and improve the overall communications. Addressing the potentially high volumes of contractors, a good solution will also make invoice distribution limited to a couple of clicks instead of sending individual emails.
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Unsurprisingly, IT specialists are some of the most sought-after workers, and therefore often outsourced remotely. Due to the high demand for them, one of the key concerns is retention - and timesheet software can actually assist you with that. One of the most utilised modules we’ve introduced to smoothen pay and bill processes for IT workers, as well as ensuring you say compliant, is self-billing.
It has a proven record of drastically speeding up pay cycles, and all the required documentation for self billing can also be taken care of and later stored on the platform. Our solution specifically also helps with forecasts, margin reports, split commission percentage calculations and more. To handle more complex commissions that are out of our expertise, Timesheet Portal integrates with our partners Konquest, allowing you to set automatical margin figures export from one software to another.
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Most consultancies charge their clients on a retainer. However, while some take payments for time worked, others charge strictly on the deliverable basis. You might think the latter wouldn’t benefit from the use of timesheets - well, think again! The truth is, even when you’re paid for the end result, it’s important to keep a close eye on the time your workers spend on it to ensure you’re generating income.
As discussed before, timesheet software is a great tool for the generation and distribution of quick, branded and accurate invoices. What’s more, they can be automated to go on your selected time frames and you can customise each invoice in accordance with the needs of the client. At Timesheet Portal, we offer both built-in templates and a drag-and-drop template builder.
Summary
Despite its telling name, timesheet software isn’t all about time tracking. It is therefore a valuable tool for every industry for it can improve pay and bill processes, reporting accuracy and aid in the automation of various business operations. In other words, even if you don’t charge your clients for hours worked, a time tracking tool is still something you should adopt. The very least it will do for you is highlight how much time is spent on specific tasks, enabling you to build more accurate forecasts and more effective price lists moving forward.
Naturally, different vendors offer different sets of functionality, as well as different payment plans. Before making a decision on which supplier are you going with, best make a list of your priority needs. The secret of fully utilising a timesheet software is very easy: start thinking outside the box. All the business processes are ultimately tied to time and therefore every operation can be improved using a data recorder by a time tracker.
Still unsure how could your company utilise one? Ask our specialists.
