Excerpt From Our Online Payroll Compliance Course

Options For Collecting Time & Attendance

The most important capability in any timekeeping system is "collecting" the raw data of time and attendance information.

There are numerous technologies that can be employed by the Payroll Department to collect and enter this data, including:

• Paper Time Sheets or Cards
  Time sheets or time cards are the most basic of the types of time and attendance systems. The Payroll Department usually designs the form based on the company's needs and policies. The employee completes each time-in and time-out by logging the time. The employee and supervisor will normally approve the time sheets prior to its submission to payroll and may even total hours worked on a daily or weekly basis with review by the Payroll Department for accuracy. The information is then inputted manually to the payroll system by the payroll staff
• Time Clocks
  The employee uses a card and the clock to record the time-in and time-out each work day. By inserting the card into the clock, the clock records the exact time the employee inserted the card
• Electronic Timekeeping Systems
  These types of systems use computer software to record the employee's time. They include badge readers, optical scanners, hand recognition, browser based, and PC-entry types of systems. The recorded time is then transferred electronically to the payroll system where the hours worked are calculated and recorded
  • Badge readers: The employee is issued a badge with a magnetic stripe or bar code. The employee "swipes" the badge in a time clock or reader. This records the employee's information such as name and department and the time of the swipe
  • Optical scanner: The time sheet is a "scannable" form. The employee records the time-in and time-out on the form and it is then scanned into the system
  • Hand recognition: The employee places their hand on the reader when beginning and ending work and the reader records the information
  • Browser Based: Employees enter time data via the Internet or an Intranet system
  • PC-Entry: Employees enter their time and attendance data through a desktop personal computer

Electronic timekeeping systems are the latest development in the computerization of the payroll profession.

Many employers, especially larger ones, are moving from manual or mechanical methods of collection of time data to fully automated systems. The reasons are simple: time savings and error reduction.

Related Links

• Certified Payroll Administrator
• Paycheck Fundamentals
• Payroll Operations
• Payroll Reporting
• In-Person Payroll Seminar
• Payroll Compliance Webinars