Use of Timesheets Across Different Areas of Business
Published: 04/09/2022
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The purpose of this article is to inform business owners about all the benefits that timesheet usage offers to various areas of their business. It can also serve as an informative piece for managers and operations directors to help persuade stakeholders to adopt a digital time tracking tool.
The saying ‘time is money’ is as old as time itself. However, the reason it remains in use centuries later is that it is true. So, let us ask you this: when you do accounting, you are effectively keeping track of your money. Why wouldn’t you keep track of your time if they are the same? From delivering client work to paying employees, you essentially either get paid or pay for time.
However, even if you have some time-tracking measures in place, they are not created equal. In this era of modern technology, the volume of both work and data to which we are subjected on a daily basis is increasing, thus making older approaches not only ineffective but also obstructive. Therefore, if you are still relying on paper timesheets or Excel spreadsheets to monitor the time-to-money ratio, you are not managing it correctly.
The issue with these solutions is that while they do the job, they are not designed to handle the data overload of today. This is why you shouldn’t rely on them for the long term and should instead consider more innovative tools, developed with today’s standards in mind. We are, of course, referring to SaaS solutions. When tracking time using cloud-based specialist tools, not only will you keep a close eye on your time and money, but you will also be able to enhance your overall business performance.
Some companies, particularly during their startup phases, are hesitant to employ time tracking, perceiving it as ‘micro managing’. Unless they change this mindset, they are unlikely to ever escape the status of being a ‘new player’, as they won’t be able to scale. In brief, you can’t make good use of your time unless you know where it is going.
Time tracking has little to do with controlling how your employees allocate their hours (if done correctly). Instead, it serves as a tool for employers to analyse the correlation between time spent and revenue generated, identifying potential risk areas and opportunities for improvement. Without such analysis, a business will ultimately encounter obstacles that hinder its growth.
The main reason the lack of an effective time tracking practice hinders business growth is that companies often underestimate the amount of time they will truly require when taking on new projects. Having a centralised location for storing timesheets provides historical data that enables them to make better estimates based on past experiences with similar tasks. In other words, timekeeping helps your business avoid losing money.
Regardless of the organisation's size, employing time tracking is always a wise decision. From monitoring overall performance to streamlining numerous operations, the advantages of using timesheets extend across various business areas. Some benefits are less apparent than others. In this article, we will demonstrate that if time tracking is not part of your strategy, it certainly should be. Additionally, you should consider adopting a digital approach.
One key reason timesheets are such a valuable asset is that they serve as a means of storing data. In the digital world, this data can not only be used for analysis but also be integrated into other software solutions, which will aid your process automation efforts by relying on historical metrics rather than estimations. Furthermore, with software integrations, the data can be transferred across solutions with a simple click. This process is not only quicker but also provides a layer of protection against the notorious human error. Manual data entry often results in accidental mistakes, which can distort your processes.
Financial matters can be quite stressful and delicate, and charging clients for the services rendered is no exception. Depending on your offerings, rates, and other factors, invoicing can become an agonisingly lengthy and tedious process. What’s worse is that when done manually, it is susceptible to human error. There are two sides to a coin when it comes to mistakes in client invoicing, and there is loss in both scenarios. In the first instance, you undercharge them and forfeit their money. In the second, you overcharge them and cause them to doubt your integrity. Most importantly, in both situations, you lose what matters most - their trust.
Essentially, all the hours spent crunching invoices are akin to playing Russian roulette. Instead, your best option is to obtain a digital time-tracking solution that will automatically extract the recorded data and use it to generate invoices. Most of these solutions can also be programmed to distribute the invoices to your clients, thereby saving you time that would otherwise be wasted on sending emails. You may be thinking that this approach is not suitable for you as you offer different rates based on various factors. If that's the case, we will address it in the next section.
Regardless of the industry you operate in, it’s highly unlikely that you charge the same price for everything. Alternatively, even if you work in a sector where you don’t charge clients by the hour but still pay employees at an hourly rate, different shifts or tasks may be compensated at various rates. This often represents the primary reservation we encounter when the use of timesheets is discussed. It’s not that this perspective is entirely incorrect: it is indeed valid if you’re tracking time on paper or Excel sheets, as those calculations can become quite messy, overly complex, and take hours to complete. Conversely, a digital timesheet solution eliminates such issues.
Most online timesheet software has been specifically developed to address the gaps described above. It therefore allows you to configure its operation and time tracking processes based on your unique requirements. For example, in Timesheet Portal, you can completely customise your timesheets and rates by incorporating factors such as time, compensation, deliverables, and many others. Our interface is also designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, ensuring that setting up your desired configuration doesn’t require a specialist. However, if you encounter any issues or are uncertain about how to adjust the software to meet your needs, we are always happy to assist.
Everyone knows that reporting is absolutely vital for any business. However, it’s quite an umbrella term when you think about it, as reports present different types of data and metrics, collected from various sources and placed in different contexts. One thing that holds true for all types of reports is that they can be very time-consuming to compile, especially if you need to enter the data from multiple sources manually. Similar to invoicing, manual data entry increases the likelihood of human error, and since reports form the cornerstone of decision-making, inaccurate figures can lead to significant losses. Another bottleneck is that reports are often time-sensitive. Not only does rushing to meet a deadline further elevate the risk of mistakes, but it also hinders you from delving deeper into the data. Consequently, you may miss out on opportunities that could be very low-hanging fruit.
So, what do timesheets have to do with reporting, you may ask? Well, reporting on your team’s time expenditure is one of the most significant reports your company may have, as it will help you address multiple areas of the business: performance, ROI, communication, and so on. When using time tracking software, you won’t have to create these highly informative reports yourself—the tool will provide them to you in seconds. Additionally, modern timesheet solutions, depending on the vendor, can be integrated with other software you use, thereby effortlessly transferring the data across the platforms. At Timesheet Portal, we allow our users to either use one of many pre-built report templates or create their own detailed insight summary using a drag-and-drop system with over 40 trackable metrics.
Although the use of timesheets can significantly enhance internal processes, they also serve as valuable tools for boosting your team’s performance. We have previously discussed how timesheet software has the potential to improve your office culture, but it is far from its only contribution to fostering team alignment. Below, we will explain how the use of digital timesheets can help your team’s performance soar.
The approval process isn’t complicated in theory, even when it involves multiple steps. However, it becomes rather convoluted in practice, primarily because its simplicity often leads people to neglect it. Unless addressed immediately, requests for approval tend to get lost in inboxes, messengers, or become phone conversations that one has forgotten to initiate. In other words, the process halts and prevents other processes from running smoothly. Given how busy the approving party usually becomes with other tasks, it’s hardly surprising that something seemingly minor is treated as a non-priority, potentially forgotten, and then leads to massive delays and declining performance across all departments. However, a solution as straightforward as the approval process exists - a digital timesheet platform.
The issue with timesheet approval specifically begins with the fact that workers often do not submit them on time. Timesheet software, depending on the vendor’s proposed functionality, can sometimes assist at this very starting point by sending automated reminders to workers that their sheets have not been filled in. Once the hours are submitted, the approver is notified via email and can either approve or reject the submission without leaving their inbox. With more parties involved in the process, the second approver will only be notified if the timesheet has been approved and their input is required. The rejection can be accompanied by a note, informing the submitter what needs to be addressed before re-submission. Such an approach to timesheet approval workflows not only streamlines the process at various stages but also saves the approvers time that they would otherwise waste correcting them.
Another workflow incorporating timesheets, particularly beneficial for projects that involve outsourced workers who need to collaborate as a team, is communication. When your workers are isolated, either as independent contractors or simply working from different locations on a flexible time model, their cohesion may suffer due to a lack of transparency. This can lead to delayed projects, budgets wasted on unnecessarily repeated tasks, inaccurate forecasts caused by unshared data, and time estimates based on guesswork rather than previous outcomes. In other words, it poses a risk of both dissatisfied clients and workers.
A time tracking solution, whether in the form of timesheets or a time recorder, can provide visibility to all parties involved concerning their colleagues' progress. Most timesheet platforms offer a centralised location where documents containing time-related data can be accessed; these can then be searched using filters unique to each provider. For example, one can view timesheets related to a particular project, for a specific worker, or for the exact days needed, etc. If the project relies on hours worked rather than deliverables, the system can be used as a workflow automation tool to notify the next step executive when it’s their turn to take over. Continuous review of team timesheets can also highlight those who may be struggling, thereby allowing other workers to offer assistance.
To utilise your time to the fullest, you must first have a firm understanding of where it’s going. Using digital timesheets or a time-tracking app will provide you with such insights. Documenting all the time spent on specific tasks will make it easy to analyse the current state of your team’s productivity. It will also highlight which areas consume most of your team’s time, empowering you to review your options for making them less time-consuming. In other words, when you use timesheets to track your progress as well as your performance, it becomes easier to recognise the gaps within your strategy that you would otherwise remain oblivious to.
From there, you can start developing a solution. Most of the issues identified through timesheet analysis are related to inefficient processes rather than the fault of the workers. Generally, these can be improved by introducing automation. While some processes cannot be fully automated and will require human involvement, the tasks assigned to machines will free up a significant amount of time for your workers. This time can then be redirected towards more progress-oriented tasks instead of repetitive manual work. Overall, while the timesheet solutions themselves do not directly drive productivity, it is the insights gained from these tools that make an impact. Not only do they highlight areas for improvement, but depending on the software, they can help you free up the workforce needed for this and other productivity-enhancing tasks.
As we stated at the beginning, while acknowledging the importance of time tracking is a significant first step, it is not the only one. Using the correct tools plays an equally important role, since traditional solutions cannot meet the required standards of today’s landscape. Paper timesheets and Excel spreadsheets may have once been best pratice, but nowadays, they only hinder your progress. The time tracking technology of today consists of cloud-based SaaS solutions, such as Timesheet Portal.
We offer our customers a wide range of functionality to support their efforts with timesheets across various areas of business. From client invoice automation to a holiday management platform, we assist you in optimising both internal and external processes that involve time. Our extensive range of integrations also ensures compatibility with the other tools you use, such as accounting packages like Xero or Quickbooks. Furthermore, we offer two products: standard and recruitment-oriented options. With an extensive selection of features, we enable our clients to create their own package, allowing them to pay only for the functions they actually use rather than for software laden with irrelevant features. We thrive on your success; therefore, we prioritise it.
There are many misconceptions regarding the practice of time tracking and the use of timesheets, often deeming them not only abundant but even unethical. Such thinking can be very damaging to a business, not only because it is far from the truth, but also because both are, in fact, crucial for a business to grow and scale. After all, time spent working on deliverables is often more valuable than the deliverables themselves.
Consequently, having visibility into your company’s time usage, as well as understanding it, aids in addressing various business elements. It enables you to identify communication bottlenecks and processes that consume excessive time without significantly contributing to growth, among other issues. However, it is also crucial to bear in mind that outdated methods, such as Excel spreadsheets, may do more harm than good.
This is why we highly recommend investing in a SaaS solution for timesheets. Intuitive and easy to use, such a tool will not only simplify timesheet management but also assist you in improving other processes that rely on time-related data: payroll, accounting, team management and others. Timekeeping technology has advanced significantly since paper timesheets, and not utilising it would be unfair to yourself.
It’s time to embrace innovation and use it to gain better control of your hours. Are you ready to take this step? Timesheet Portal is waiting for you.