Palantir
Posted: 06 January, 2009 |
|
|
If you have a small to medium sized organization and you need to track your employee time, you probably started simply enough. Using a spreadsheet method to list each employee, every project or client and the associated hours worked. At some point you will find it is time to move to a more formal approach to time tracking. For most organizations, this happens sooner than one might think. While the cost of a timesheet software program or license can be a consideration, the cost to you, your clients and your employees can be greater if your manual tracking process is inaccurate.
No matter how careful you are in reporting time, and no matter how dependable the staff assigned to check and track time, you are bound to suffer from human error. The more employees you have, the greater the number of hours to track and the greater the possibility for error. Whether it is an error in vacation pay, available staff hours, or client billing, these errors will cost you money and can be very frustrating for your staff and your customers.
Over and above the possibility of human error, there is the difficulty of tracking and reporting time, schedules, budgets and associated billing over a period of time. Sure, you can create a more elaborate master spreadsheet to roll up all the hours and employees and you can develop a formula to run totals and create simple reports. But, as your business grows and you add staff and skills, you will find yourself managing salaried and hourly employees, and trying to approve and track overtime, vacation days and paid holidays and sick days. You will also have to ensure that your managers are able to easily review and approve the time for their team members and in the midst of all of this, youll need to ensure each employee's privacy by giving access to pay and hours and personal information only to those who need to see the information to approve time. If you need labor information to justify a termination or report on a trend to justify additional head-count, you will find it difficult to pull all of that information out of a spreadsheet system.
When you are ready to graduate to a software system, you will find deep functionality in web timesheet solutions as well as software packages you install in your own network environment. Don't be put off by the price! There are plenty of options today and even a small business can afford a basic system. It will save you time, improve accuracy of information and allow your administrative staff to dedicate hours to activities that generate revenue instead of spending hours creating spreadsheets and manual reports.
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
Palantir, author alias for Susan Obijiski, is a technology professional, consultant, business coach and writer. Her experience includes management consulting, and she has published research for Gartner Group. Susan is a frequent speaker and presenter on a variety of topics including software and technology, business strategy, process improvement and organizational culture change.
mailto: susanobijiski@aol.com
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
You've Chosen Business Software, Now What? The Importance of End-User Training
So you’ve made the decision, selected your software, implementation is underway and you are shortly due to go live. So much to organise and yet often the crucial process of incorporating an end-user s |
The Human Side of ERP
When people hear that a new “system” is coming, their first reaction can be “Oh my. They’re going to automate my job and get rid of me,”. So if you're implementing a new system, it's important that |
Enterprise Decision-Making: The Limits of BI Tools
Business intelligence software can be a powerful aid to decision-making in the enterprise environment. However, it is important to keep in mind some inherent limitation about how we process informatio |
15desks Review
Basic academic based learning management system built with blended learning and self-paced eLearning in mind. |
AppShore CRM review
A user friendly, well designed CRM system with just the right features to manage sales, activities and marketing for SMBs. |
AimCRM review
A good tool for businesses where capturing, processing and distributing/aggregating leads is the primary objective... |
Thinking Cap LMS Review
A true LMS for managers and administrators, offering highly functional career paths, dynamic enrolments, and course reuse in different programs for various audiences. |
Top reasons for buying a CRM
The right CRM software can help you understand, anticipate and respond to your customer's needs in a way that delivers real value to them and to your business. |
Learn.com Review
A blended LMS solution geared towards multiple learning audiences. |
Soffront CRM review
Soffront provides an all-inclusive CRM/ERP/Back Office program with some unique twists. It is an impressive offering overall. |
| Add your own Article |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
SoftwareShortlist is an innovative online platform
that helps small to medium businesses
compare, select and buy the right
software for their specific needs.
read more... |
|
|
