Various Types of Timesheet and Its Advantages

Timesheets, timesheets, timesheets. They help us tell when people are late for their jobs, and they help us figure out everything from payroll, to budgetary costs, and what employees are doing with their time. Depending on your business needs what form of timesheet you require will vary.

Thanks to technology, managing employee time is easier than ever, and more accessible. Below we have included a list of various timesheets, and their advantages and disadvantages.

Hard Copy Timesheets

It can be a little hard to come up with the advantages associated with a hard copy timesheet. They almost seem like an older, outdated, and archaic method of collecting information. In a working environment where it might not be feasible to have employees all have access to the timesheets, it makes more sense.

If only a few office staff are the ones engaging in using the timesheets, you may want to use a hard copy for the other staff to visualize or use. It won’t be as easily edited and as such you’ll have to resort to pen and paper, but it might be more efficacious for some businesses (such as on-the-road truck drivers).

If you’re operating within an office setting, you’re far more likely to engage in virtual timesheets. Hard copy timesheets are harder to edit, they’re less cost-effective, and overall can be detrimental to productivity.

Microsoft Excel Timesheets

Microsoft Excel and online resources for timesheets create an easily accessible and portable form of communication, for when using timesheets for budgetary or time-related reasons. You’re able to develop basic information and gather knowledge from these timesheets relatively easily.

If you’re looking to develop a more in-depth knowledge of budgetary issues it will become a complex task utilizing these forms of programs. They do provide a basic outlay of information, but they take some skill and time to use for advanced reporting. This translates to an increase in labor costs, and decrease in productivity.

However, these programs tend to have mild costs associated with them, and are perfect for businesses with simpler needs. If you don’t need to be tracking your employees constantly to ensure that they’re meeting standards because you don’t need to pinch on productivity, these programs work for you.

The professionals at exceltemplate.net/timesheet/ offer a guide on various forms of timesheets. Looking into the kinds of timesheets that you need for your business and what works for you will help you increase productivity. Pre-made templates are also going to decrease the amount of time spent in creating your own timesheets, and are easily accessible from the internet.

Automated Forms of Time Sheets

Automated forms of time sheets offer a method of developing increased and advanced knowledge without the decrease in productivity or needed increase of labour costs. Products like Hubstaff allow for the tracking of employees while they’re using the computer. It will record what they’re doing, what websites they access, and it will also create an individualized report for each employee.

It sounds almost “big brother” esque, but it allows for you to track your employees and increase productivity by their awareness of being tracked. They’ll also know when they’re on the clock they’ll be generating an individual report that’s reflective of their personal work ethic.

Software like Replicon also helps you keep track of the hours and costs associated with various products. If you’re concerned about hitting a certain quota, or going above a threshold they can send you alerts in regards to labour hours and budgetary costs. These are things that programs like Microsoft Excel, or hard copies can’t do for you. However, these programs tend to be associated with bigger costs, and they are usually for businesses with higher than average needs.

Timesheets have been around for quite some time, and they’ve helped businesses keep track of when employees come to work, and what they’re doing on the job. Hard Copy timesheets do not have a place in most modern workplaces, except for a few niches such as trucking (where computers are even taking over there).

Microsoft Excel and other forms of soft copy timesheets are perfect for businesses with simple needs who don’t need advanced data or want to budget expensive products in. Automated timesheet programs do help increase productivity by making each employee more accountable for time on the job, and offer alerts when certain thresholds are met, but they’re often associated with a higher cost when implementing them. Whatever the medium of transport, timesheets in a technological format certainly create ease in the workplace.