5 Ways Time and Attendance Systems Reduce Payroll Errors

Tracking time and attendance used to be a tedious, fully manual payroll process. From employees punching clocks or logging hours on paper timesheets to other staff members taking their information and doing manual calculations. It hasn’t been an efficient process.

While the benefits of automated time and attendance systems are well-known today, many smaller-sized businesses continue to use manual processes. What some don’t realize is that payroll errors are common – and costly. Integrating a solution with existing payroll software is usually less expensive and reduces mistakes.

Implementing modern time and attendance systems can significantly decrease payroll errors by automating time tracking, eliminating manual data entry, improving wage accuracy, enhancing legal compliance, and streamlining overall payroll processing. It doesn’t have to be expensive, since businesses can turn to cloud-based solutions, which involve no purchases, only a predictable subscription fee.

1. Automated Time Tracking

Automated time tracking has been a game-changer. Instead of using manual time cards or spreadsheets, employee time and attendance are automated, increasing accuracy and transparency in recorded hours. This significantly improves payroll processing efficiency.

2. Elimination of Manual Data Entry

Employee payroll errors are usually unintentional, but they happen more than you’d think. Some studies suggest payroll accuracy rates hover around 80%, with each error potentially costing hundreds in corrections. Mistakes can come in many forms, including employees keying in typos when entering numerical data in spreadsheets or employees neglecting to complete timesheets (and guessing or rounding up hours).

Fixing errors is far more expensive. Employees must spend extra time making corrections to common payroll issues, and employers face compliance penalties. Integrating automation in the time and attendance process substantially reduces error-prone duplicate entries. It also holds employees accountable for their hours and productivity.

3. Improved Accuracy in Payroll Calculations

Automation goes a long way towards improving accuracy in payroll calculations. Since everything is digitally entered, the solution easily detects abnormalities. Additionally, it eliminates the possibility of timecards being lost or damaged, and reduces time theft, preventing employees from “buddy punching” for each other to cover time discrepancies.

Using a time and attendance solution also empowers businesses to correct overtime, PTO, and shift differentials, along with providing both employer and employee remote capabilities and real-time updates.

4. Enhanced Compliance with Labor Laws

With a plethora of federal and state mandates, it can be difficult for businesses to keep up with ongoing changes to labor laws. As a result, it’s possible for companies to accidentally put themselves in non-compliance, resulting in fines and penalties.

Automation can play an important role by serving as payroll compliance tools, providing businesses with audit-ready records and reporting. An automated solution can:

• Quickly detect miscalculations of employee status (e.g., employee or independent contractor)
• Track employee breaks
• Ensure overtime compliance
• Identify pay inequity issues,
• Ensure employees are issued accurate paychecks.

Compliance issues can be hard to track in manual time and attendance systems. Automation easily detects any of these – and other – payroll compliance issues.

5. Streamlined Payroll Processing

Overall, an automated time and attendance system fully streamlines payroll processing and integrates nicely with existing payroll software. By integrating a time and attendance solution, your company will experience fewer bottlenecks at payroll time, issue faster payments, and create happier employees. Everything is transparent and moves quickly, significantly expediting processing and boosting the accuracy of all payroll-related tasks.

How Payroll Freedom Can Help

Are you a small to mid-sized business owner, payroll manager, or HR professional looking to improve the accuracy and efficiency of your payroll processes? Payroll Freedom can help! You can enjoy:

• Customized options for employee clocking in/out
• Automated PTO requests, accruals, and holiday pay
• Easy management of payroll complexities, such as shift differentials, mileage reimbursement, pay per visit, transfer punches, and more
• Reduced data entry errors relating to payroll
• Ability to set exception, rounding, and deviation rules for pay groups
• Real-time updates
• Monitoring of schedule changes and shift reassignments

Our team can provide custom setup and support to you or your employees who are responsible for payroll-related duties. We’ll make sure you have a user-friendly experience.

Ready to Upgrade Your Payroll Processes?

As you know, the payroll process involves numerous intricacies. It can be difficult for small or medium-sized businesses to stay on top of every detail for each employee. Payroll Freedom has cost-effective solutions to help simplify and modernize your business’s payroll processes. Contact us today for a free consultation to explore our time and attendance solutions and discuss your options.