Time and Attendance tracking for businesses in Sheffield and around the country is a difficult task.  Many businesses operate from spreadsheets and other manual timesheet processes to ensure that their staff are paid for the correct amount of time – i.e. time that they have worked.  These processes are error prone and are very likely to cause your business lost time or lost money, or more likely both!  They are also quite likely to foster distrust and cause stress to staff because they aren’t getting paid the right amount of money.

So, what’s the solution?

The solution can be found in the form of business software that specialises in tracking staff time.  The staff members either have access to a digital platform where they can login or they have a physical clock-in station that keeps a track on the time they’ve worked over the course of a week.  Usually, a manager then gives the data the once over before submitting to their Payroll Team (internal or external) for payment to be made to the employee based on the normal business processes.  Good systems will provide flexibility in allocating what pay each person should receive along with different start and end times depending on the business requirement.

What are the best Time and Attendance Management Platforms?

Each business requires different functionality from their Time and Attendance software, so we can’t just tell you one platform that is the best, but what we can do is tell you some of the options that are available, along with some of the pros and cons for each, as we see them.  Please be aware, these are opinions only and so you should make your own decision about which one fits best with your business.

OnTheClock (ontheclock.com)

On the clock gives easy time tracking for small businesses.  Employees can clock in and clock out and your payroll team are able to retrieve the data.  Some of the functions available within the system are;

• Clock in and out
• Overtime calculations
• Attendance
• Online access
• Management adjustments
• Management approval
• Pay Period options
• Alerts & reminders
• Employee punch notes
• GPS locations
• Schedule builder
• Onboarding assistance
• Who’s in dashboard

Pros : Excellent reporting and good tracking of time.

Cons : Payroll integration isn’t the best.

Pricing : $3-$4 per-user-per month depending on size of business.

Outcome : Good system that improves time and attendance processes.

ClockShark (clockshark.com)

ClockShark lets your hardworking team clock in and out with a tap.  This records the timesheet data needed for payroll and job costing with high accuracy.  It integrates with many different payroll applications to make sure your payroll department have the data they need to get your employees paid correctly and on time.  ClockShark appears to be focussing it’s attention on the Field Service and Construction Business industries.  Some of the functions available within the system are:

• Crew timesheet app
• Employee notifications
• Faster Payroll processing
• Clock in to individual jobs
• Flexible reporting
• Offline time tracking
• Location tracking
• Employee map
• Sick and vacation policies
• Clock in reminders

Pros : Detailed reporting allows you to monitor team productivity and job progress.  Data can be exported in multiple formats.

Cons : The high-end plans are needed for most businesses, making it expensive.

Pricing : $0-$20 per-user-per month depending on the plan chosen.

Outcome : Good system that improves time and attendance processes.

TAMS by ESP (Website)

TAMS increases productivity by saving staff time, both in the recording of time and the processing of payroll data.  Employees are able to clock in and clock out via a simple webpage or a hardware clock-in/clock-out station, whichever your business prefers.  Some of the functions available within TAMS are;

• Clock in and out
• Overtime calculations
• Attendance
• Online access
• Management adjustments
• Management approval
• Alerts & reminders
• Employee clock in/out notes
• Schedule builder
• Multiple sites or departments
• Onboarding assistance
• Who’s in dashboard
• Basic sick and holiday recording
• When combined with ESP’s CORE Software, it can manage a whole raft of other business processes, see documentation here.

Pros : Detailed reporting allows you to monitor team scheduled and actual times.  Data can be exported ready for payroll import. Simple pricing.  Can be built on to perform other business functions.

Cons : Automatic connection to some payroll systems could be available.

Pricing : £3 per-user per-month for the TAMS system

Outcome : Good system that improves time and attendance processes

Summary

Any of these systems would improve the Payroll process within your Sheffield or UK based business, because they are streets ahead of the older methods available in terms of spreadsheets and manual paper-based systems.  Think about how you want your system to work and discuss the requirement with one of our consultants or software specialists by using our Contact Us page.  You can find out more here Core Software – No Code / Low Code or look at some of the instructional documents and videos here No Code / Low Code videos and documentation

Have a look at our video on TAMS.

Improve your payroll process today, call us on 033020200118.