12 Benefits of Switching To Digital Timesheets

Timesheets are a method businesses use to calculate the time each employee spends on projects, tasks, or on clients. The data from timesheets is collated and then ultimately used to process payroll, as well as bill clients.

Surprisingly, many businesses still use traditional timesheets, which require manual inputting of data. Thus, it necessitates the need for employees and admins to deal with paperwork. As a result, this makes data collection, accounting, and payroll processing long and complicated.

In recent times, enterprises are beginning to see the benefits that a digital timesheet brings to their businesses, hence prompting them to make a switch.

How can a digital timesheet improve your business? In this article are 12 reasons why you too should consider switching:

How are digital timesheets better?

1. Easy access on multiple devices

Considering that a digital timesheet is cloud-based, you and your employees can access the sheet from any device, be it a smartphone or a computer. An internet-based digital timesheet like TimeNotes.io also has a mobile app that your employees can harness to enter data in real-time, whether they are on-site or in the office.

Given this accessibility, companies that have a large chunk of their workforce working remotely will benefit from a digital timesheet.

2. Can extract data for reports more easily

Unlike traditional timesheets that require you to bury your head in the paperwork of time entries, digital timesheets can easily and quickly extract all the data you need to generate reports. Even better, some digital timesheets have the feature to automatically create reports, thereby saving you time, which can be channelled to other aspects of your business.

3. Data issues are easier to detect (Easy data correction)

Given that digital timesheets aid transparency, one can easily spot errors and make changes for more accuracy. For example, an employee can spot a mistake and notify the admin for changes to be made.

Correcting a detected error is also easy because scrolling back to the page where the mistake was made is easy. On the other side, traditional timesheets require you to flip back pages, scrutinizingly look for the error, and make corrections using a felt-tip pen.

4. Lowers admin cost and time

With a digital timesheet, the burdens placed on administrative staff will be significantly eased. How is this possible? The timesheet app will automate approvals when employees clock in and when they clock out of work. Furthermore, it will also evaluate and process leave requests, as well as leave accruals, when employees make them on the software. Besides, if you opt for a digital timesheet that also integrates both HR and payroll, your administrative staff will work less time, thereby preventing your business from wasting money.

Such timesheets are Timenotes.io, Tsheets, and MyXalary.

5. Easy to customize and expand for new staffs

Different businesses have varying employee size and modus operandi. Hence, expandability and customizability are crucial on any digital timesheet. With a digital timesheet, you can customize what specific teams in your workforce can see and edit.

You can even delegate specific tasks easily through the timesheet. As your employee size grows, you can easily add more workers to the sheet by upgrading your account on your chosen software. TimeNotes.io is free to use for businesses with not more than five employees.

6. Integration to other business functions

As stressed earlier, most digital timesheets integrate business functions such as payroll and accounting into the software. With this, small businesses with a meagre workforce can jettison the need for an accountant, thereby saving cost.

For big businesses, this can only make such business functions faster, but it's worth it and will even bring about better accuracy and transparency.

7. Reminds staff to fill in (Keeping it a habit of bringing data up to date)

A digital timesheet will remind your employees to fill in the necessary data. Over time, they will get accustomed to it and won't need the help of a reminder to help keep your business' data up to date. On the flip side, it will also improve productivity as your employees will work, keeping in mind the time spent on each task, and you'll also be able to follow their progress using the time tracker provided on your chosen software.

8. Reduces loss of data

Precious data input on paper timesheets can be buried in a big lump of other papers, making it difficult to retrieve. Paper timesheets can also be lost to fire and other unforeseen events. This isn't the case with digital timesheets, as all your data are stored away in the cloud. Is this entirely reliable? Technically, yes.

Other than your data being stored on your software provider's cloud storage, you can also make it an obligation to download the data and back them up on your preferred cloud storage. Google drive is a reliable option for this.

9. Improve data accuracy

Unlike manual timesheets that require your employees to guess or remember the time they spent on a task, a digital timesheet brings more accuracy, as your employees can clock in and out while the software calculates the time used accurately.

The same can be said for money paid as the accuracy of time entry also yields transparency. Nobody feels cheated; everyone gets what they worked for, and work is attributed correctly.

10. Easy to plan & schedule staff better and optimize workflow

With a digital timesheet, you can prepare ahead whenever an employee is going to be absent from work since they can prior notify you on the timesheet. Also, you can get insight into whether an employee is available for a task and effectively attach them to an ongoing project.

11. Spot and act on patterns quickly

With a digital timesheet, you can easily gain insights into the patterns with which your employees are working— when they resume work when they close, and if anyone worked overtime. With this, adjustments can be made, and solutions can be proffered to any irregularities in the workflow. This will help in nurturing well-grounded salespersons in the marketing industry.

12. Have multiple backups of data

As pointed out earlier, switching to a digital timesheet allows you to have multiple backups of your data. That is, not only can you have your data on your software's cloud storage, you can also back it up on third-party cloud storage like Google Drive. Even further, you can extract all data from the cloud storage and back them up on a secure hard disk drive. The possibilities are endless with a digital timesheet.

Conclusion

With all the points raised in the advantage of a digital timesheet, there is absolutely no reason why your business shouldn't consider it. Undoubtedly, its benefits far outweigh that of traditional timesheets, and it will save your business both time and money.

Not sure of what software to start with? TimeNotes.io is one of many other excellent timesheets software that you can integrate into your workflow. TimeNotes.io is even free for a workforce of five employees so that you can give it a shot today for assessment and evaluation. What challenges do you think you'll face when switching to a digital timesheet? Leave a comment below to get solutions and recommendations.

About the author

Lori Wade is a journalist from Louisville. She is a content writer who has experience in small editions, Lori is now engaged in news and conceptual articles on the topic of business. If you are interested in an entrepreneur or lifestyle, you can find her on Twitter & LinkedIn. She has good experience and knowledge in the field.

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