At the beginning professionals used time sheets to manually write down how much time they spent on a project. This helped them accurately calculate the time they spent on a project. As a result, they correctly calculated the money they were owed. However, time sheets have come a long way now. People now prefer using the digital (app and desktop) versions now. As there’s a lot more you can do with them. Timesheet apps include setting up a schedule, monitoring employee activity, sending invoices, automation of several tasks and more.
Every business that wants to generate a better ROI and get the most out of their employees should be using a timesheet app. Therefore, if you aren’t already using one, make sure you read this post. I have detailed my process for choosing the best timesheet app for your business. This process will actually help you choose the best app for executing any task.
Understand how the process works:
1. Decide on the features you want
The first thing you must do is decide on the features you want. This will depend on the tool you want, your company, budget and various other factors. You will need to make a list of the features on a spreadsheet or a piece of paper.
2. Check what people are saying about those features
The next step is to do a deep dive research on what customers are saying about the app as a whole and the features it provides. You should check out the testimonials and case studies published on the app’s site first. After that you need to checkout more real comments about the app on blog posts, product review sites and on social media.
3. Test them out for yourself
In the final stage you test out the timesheet apps that contain all the features you want. The apps should also have a very happy user-base. This testing should be done by everyone who will be using the apps, especially the employees, as they will be the ones who will be using the app most.
In the end you should communicate with all the employees and finalise on an app. You should follow the above process when assessing any software for your business. The only thing that will differ is the features you assess it for.
Here’s a list of features you should assess a timesheet app for:
Attendance tracking
The basic requirements of a timesheet app is that it should make it easy for you to track attendance of your employees. The app you choose should depend on the level of sophistication you are looking for. Some have a simple software that lets people clock in onsite, while others are more advanced with apps that let employees’ clock in and out right from their own device. Some even let them do this via SMS.
Time tracking
Timesheet apps should also let you track the amount of time people are spending at work so that you can check if they are there for the hours allotted and if they are taking adequate breaks. Some have advanced features that can prevent time theft and track how productive your employees are at work. They will also offer suggestions to help get more out of your employees.
Calculating pay rates
A time sheep app will also automatically calculate your employees’ monthly wages. All you need to is input the custom amount you pay each employee per hour and it will take in factors like fixed monthly wages, overtime and penalties and accurately calculate their wages for that month. There will be no need for you to waste countless hours doing the math. Some timesheet apps will also automatically send the invoice to your clients (if you are being outsourced by another company).
Tracking and analytics
Most timesheet software will provide you with basic analytics, but the advanced ones will come equipped with AI which will help you better monitor your employee performance and boost their productivity. You can even input your company goals and strategy to make sure your employee performance is sufficient.
Conclusion
These are the 4 basic features you should assess a timesheet app for. Feel free to add in more. If a timesheet app doesn’t have all the features you want, you can hire a software developer to create a custom app for you.