Recently, a customer told us that with just 20 employees, their payroll team saved 45-60 minutes every payroll cycle because our PK4 TimeTracker makes the data easy to access, boosting productivity and giving staff more time to focus on other tasks.
Time trackers can also have a financial impact in other ways, such as identifying revenue lost due to employees not spending their time productively. Sometimes this will be down to the employee being unaware they were time wasting. At others, it can be caused by employees deliberately misleading their employers.
Examples include practices like time theft and buddy punching, which are very costly to businesses overall. And the statistics speak for themselves regarding the economic impact it has.
And you don’t have to take our word for it:
- In 2020, Market Research Future released a report that showed the United States economy loses 50 million hours in productivity every day.
- A 2019 report by WorkPuls showed that the cost of time theft to employers is $11 billion/year on average.
- Nearly 22% of billable hours are not recorded. This figure represents a significant loss of potential income for businesses.
Some specific examples of how time tracking software can have an economic impact include the following:
An Effective Deterrent
Employees are unlikely to try to steal time if they think they’ll be caught, thus reducing the amount of time stolen. It will also help encourage them to arrive and leave at reasonable times, helping the rest of the team remain productive.
While the deterrent is effective enough to deter most people, it’s not always the case. However, for those that do try, time tracking software gives you the tools and information you need to raise discrepancies, potentially identifying attempted time theft.
Increased Employee Accountability
It’s not uncommon for individuals to not make as much effort as the rest of the team. Time tracking software will help you identify those who could be doing more to contribute. It will also help encourage people to do more if they know they’re being monitored.
It can also be good team management to make employees directly aware of the reports and give them access to them where needed. In some cases, the employee will be surprised or embarrassed by the report and take it on themselves to be accountable.
Enhanced Project Management
Projects that run smoothly and are delivered on time can provide a significant positive financial impact. Tools like the PK4 TimeTracker Project Management Add-on give project managers more tools that help ensure the project is on target to finish on specification and on time.
Such tools include visual aids like Gantt charts and Kanban boards make it easy to see the workflow and help you identify areas for improvement, ensure you meet project deadlines and boost profit margins.
Gain Insights into the Working Process
In many cases, the working process might be holding the team back from achieving their best. Time tracking software can give you information such as how much time is being spent on particular tasks, helping you identify which tasks could be delegated or automated.
This also helps highlight the benefits of communicating with your employees about time tracking software. Some people might resent being monitored, but education and strong team management can encourage people to embrace the technology instead.
Gain Cost Transparency
Time tracking tools can provide valuable data that gives you greater visibility into costs. Such tools can help you identify high-cost/low-productivity areas and focus on reducing those costs. Cost transparency also makes it easier for you to bill clients.
For example, time tracking software may reveal your team is spending a lot of time on a low-value client. You can then address the issue to help ensure time is spent more productively, helping improve your profit margins.
Improved Planning and Budgeting
Time tracking gives you access to detailed reports that let you see key issues at a glance. With more in-depth knowledge and understanding of your costs, you can set better goals for the future. With effective planning and accurate estimates, your future projects are more likely to succeed.
For example, you can gather more accurate project deadlines thanks to data on workflows and how long it takes to complete certain tasks.
With improved planning tools, you may even be able to complete projects faster than usual.
Gain Customer Trust
With time tracking tools, you can send professional reports to your clients with an accurate and transparent breakdown of fees. This will help gain your client’s trust, encouraging them to do more business with you in the future.
Although gaining customers’ trust might not immediately impact your profit margins, its value should never be underestimated. Once you gain your customers’ trust, you are more likely to get quality referrals and gain long-term clients who help keep your business healthy in the long term.
Summary
Time tracking can have a financial impact in numerous ways, and above are some of the most commonly encountered. Not only can time tracking impact your company’s economy directly by identifying theft and other losses, but it can also help give you a boost thanks to providing a better, more accurate estimates to your clients.
And the software won’t just help on the individual level but could help give economies a boost on a national level and even globally. The software is also easy to use and incorporate into your working day and gives you access to a host of other team management tools that will help you achieve your goals.
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
