Management Tips for Accurate, Efficient Payroll

Payroll management involves more than monitoring the time clock. Nowadays, the payroll function is as complicated as ever, especially with federal government oversight of corporate accounting practices, several different types of automatic deductions, and international staffing. In such an environment, payroll calculations are usually automated, though some smaller companies still use a manual system to compute paychecks and hours worked. However, even in the case of entities with fewer than 50 workers, automated time clock systems are very common.

The best way to make certain that there are no major errors in payroll checks is to use a reliable and consistent method of calculating all check amounts. Whether your company uses electronic time clock systems or online time loggers, be attentive to keeping accurate records of hours worked for each employee.

Some modern time clocks do a variety of calculations that were unheard of just two or three decades ago. And some old systems still work, despite their age. A punch card system works well for organizations that have fewer than 50 workers.

For large firms, time loggers work well. In these computer-based systems, workers check in via their computer terminals. In some cases, computer-timing programs use a magnetic terminal for swipe cards. Large companies are especially susceptible to time fraud due to the impersonal nature of the systems and vulnerability to hacking. Some of the higher-end programs contain subtle but effective safeguards against such activity.

Whether large or small, every business should keep a separate bank account for payroll funds. In fact, a patchwork of federal and state laws require certain types of entities to maintain separate accounts for payroll purposes. Aside from the purposes of the law, it is a wise practice to label a bank account specifically for payroll. When tax time comes, companies who have accurate records and segregated accounts will be in a better position to prepare accurate tax returns quickly and simply. When it comes down to it, a time clock is the basis for vital payroll calculations, pure and simple.

The Uses of a Punch Time Clock

The time clock has become a very important tool in the business. Time clocks can not only help monitor work places but can also establish a clear vision of the working time in the company. A punch clock has many benefits for all parts of an enterprise, as well as for management employees.

Punch clocks help record time in and out by employees and workers. Not only are these time cards used for payroll, but they can also be used to help monitor how much time is spent on specific projects as well as on working schedules of specific departments. In addition, punch time clocks can help provide a clearer image of what the bottom line of the company is, and is not, completing.

More modern time clocks offer other features. Building security, including management of time management, secure entry and management of movements in different spaces are just a couple of things that a time clock can do for a small business. User management with access controls for visitors whether they are customers or suppliers and parking management. A time clock can intervene to control access or entry point in a building to identify, authenticate, authorize or prohibit the attendance areas for which it is programmed.

The advantage of the time clock for various stakeholders of the company, department heads, and administrators lies in the ability of terminals to record and make available comprehensive information. Information from the time clock is pulled off as easy as it is put on. Employees will time stamp their hours simply by “clocking in”. Payroll will then break down the hours and then count log the time they clocked in and clocked out, totaling the hours up and then cutting a check.

In the end, while a punch time clock is not for everyone, there are numerous other options on the market that offer a variety of features. Do your homework and decide whether a punch clock is for your or if a different model would better suit your needs.

A History of Time Clocks

Modern time clock.

Time clocks have a beginning back in 1888, where a jeweler invented the world's very first time clock. It would be until later that time clocks took off, however, when the jeweler's brother, Harlow Bundy, marketed and sold the time clock via the Bundy Manufacturing Company.

The company soon became the International Time Recording Company, due to a high demand for time clocks. Much later, however, it would take on its final name, and well-known modern name, International Business Machines (IBM).

While time clocks from these olden times could vary in design they all shared one thing in common: they provided a means for businesses to track employee attendance and tardiness by providing them with a card that checked their arrival and departure times at the workplace.

Some older models of time clocks used dials or wheels, where an employee would have to dial their employee number and then punch their card. This method was easy for employees to abuse, however, which led to the next innovation: a sheet fed time clock. From the 50s to the 70s time clocks had employee time sheets that were used, eliminating wheels and dials and allowing for the rise of mechanical punch time clocks.

Though mechanical time clocks are still used today, during the 70s cards with magnetic strips that identified employees were invented and implemented in many different workplaces.

In the present day, the most advanced time clocks are called biometric time clocks and can actually scan a body part to clock an employee in or out. One of the more popular of these types of biometric time clocks are ones that are outfitted with fingerprint scanners, where the employee merely scans their fingerprint to clock in and out of work.