This is the second installment of our 3 part series entitled “5 Aspects of Time Tracking Nirvana” If you haven’t read part 1 please do so here.

Let’s take a look at some of the specific ways an automated time tracking system can optimize your daily time entry and data access needs:

1. Employee Project and Work Type Selections

One of the most important features of any time tracking system is for employees to track their time to specific tasks or projects. That way, the company can see exactly where employees are most productive and restructure responsibilities accordingly. In a manual system, employees will be required to sift through long lists of tasks, many of which are not applicable to their role. Obviously, the chance for confusion is high, and when confusion exists at this basic level it can snowball into massive errors requiring extensive revisions.

Automated time tracking software alleviates this issue by filtering tasks to specific employees. That way, employees cannot assign time to tasks outside of their role. This reduced chance of confusion and error helps establish a baseline by which an employee can properly navigate the time entry process. Further, it saves time by allowing the employee instant access to approved responsibilities.

2. Daily Time Entry Compliance

While companies have time entry requirements that vary from strict to relaxed, there will be situations in which is necessary to require specific, daily time entry. A great example of this comes when dealing with the DCAA as a government contractor. In this scenario, employees would be required to enter time daily (no later than 9am for the previous days work).

Obviously, this aspect of time tracking greatly benefits from software, as it is far easier to prove that there are standards in place for an automated system than in a manual, paper-based one.  Automated software provides daily reminders that make it nearly impossible for an employee to forget this requirement, and the software provides an incredibly effective audit trail should the DCAA ever need to take a look at your records.

3. Auditable Correction Process

In even the most advanced time tracking software systems there will be the need for the occasional correction because, let’s face it, humans will always find a way to make mistakes. In time tracking as in life, it is the way those mistakes are handled that separate the excellent from the wanting. The DCAA can play a role in this too. If a business is acting as a government contractor then any and all changes to existing timesheet data must be documented.

In a manual system these corrections, and their documentation, can quickly get out of hand. There is really no easy way for an employee to make corrections, and then the approval of those corrections, along with a file keeping system that makes those documentations easy to access in the event of an audit further increases difficulty and room for errors. In practical terms, it is a logistical nightmare.

Automated time tracking software makes this process much more easy. Documentation is kept in the software itself, and previous time entry data is easy to access. Approvals of corrections, should they be necessary, are also much easier as managers can simply check the individual employees entry data. Again, auditing this system is very easy because all changes can be noted and viewed easily.

In the third and final installment of this series we look at the final two aspects of time management that automated time tracking software can help with. Stay tuned for more great information!

During our time at Convergence 2012, we had the opportunity to talk with Michele Price on her radio show Breakthrough Business Strategies.  She captured some of the engaging techniques we used in our booth with a short video which you can view below.

Michele’s interview with James Brawner and Christa Freeland revealed multiple key ideas which you can use for your own business.  If you’re considering going to Convergence next year, here are a few things we did at the show that Michele really complimented Journyx on:

• Michele thought our booth was very effective in telling attendees what we had to offer without requiring passers by to read a large amount of text.
• Christa highlighted how we followed the Convergence hashtags (#Conv12, #msdyngp, #msdyncomm) to create a live feed of everything happening for the show before we even went to Houston.
• Michele thought we were ahead of the curve with our flyer encouraging game players to scan a QR code to tweet their scores and spread the word about the Journyx booth.
• Michele really found our video game (Kinect Joy Ride) fun, innovative and engaging.

Do any of these tips give you new ideas for your next trade show?

Many businesses require approvals of employee time entry, the more flexible the better. In addition, they often require layered approvals, or approvals from more than one individual, whether that be from supervisors, HR, or managers of specific projects. Microsoft Dynamics, one of the more popular offers a basic level of this functionality in Business Portal, but unfortunately the approvals are set to allow no more than one approver and one supervisor to review the timesheet. While this may work for smaller and simpler companies, expansion and a desire to use timesheets in a capacity beyond administrative functions will require a more robust approval system.

Another issue with the basic validation levels concerns the ability for employees to edit timesheets even after they have been approved. This effectively renders the approval invalid. Time spent going back and double-checking all previously approved timesheets for discrepancies is obviously and needlessly wasted. Approvers need to be able to “lock down” a timesheet after approval, unless of course there is an explicit reason for later modification, in which case the approver should be given the ability to request changes as necessary.

Fortunately, it is still possible to reap the substantial benefits of the Microsoft Dynamics accounting programs. Journyx Timesheet combined with Accountlink for Microsoft Dynamics allows for full approval flexibility. Timesheets can be entered and approved through any web browser, and do not require any technical knowledge whatsoever to navigate and submit. Once the approval process has been completed, the data can then be easily transferred into the Microsoft Dynamics interface. In this way businesses can experience all the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics while maintaining the robust approval levels that modern businesses require. There is no reason not to experience the best of both worlds thanks to Journyx Accountlink for Microsoft Dynamics.

Unless you are living in utopian sci-fi society, all of your employees are human, and that’s a good thing because humans are smart and resourceful. They are also prone to make mistakes and forget things. The time entry functionality of Microsoft Dynamics Business Portal is unfortunately very susceptible to both of these flaws. If an employee makes a mistake or forgets to enter time by a set date, there is nothing to validate or remind them to do so.

That means, most unfortunately, that approvers will have to manually look through timesheets to check for errors or omissions with no real idea of where, specifically, an issue will arise. Since approvers are often managers or even higher-level employees, this waste of time can have a very real and detrimental impact to the operations of a company. Worse, because Business Portal doesn’t feature multi-layered approvals, it is possible that an erroneous timesheet could make it all the way to payroll, necessitating a lengthy period in which timesheet submission processes must be backtracked and fixed. Again, a waste of time for all involved.

Businesses must have a system in place that both validates timesheets to make sure there are no issues with the entered information, and that sends reminders so that timesheets are submitted at a designated time. Fortunately, Journyx Timesheet combined with Journyx Accountlink for Microsoft Dynamics allows for just such a functionality, and does so while still enabling all of the advantages of Microsoft Dynamics, extending its value by adding necessary functionality.

Data from Microsoft Dynamics can be transferred bi-directionally with data from Journyx Timesheet, so the robust validations and reminders set in Journyx Timesheet reflect in the Microsoft Dynamics program. Best of all, none of this requires any advanced technical skills, and data can be input and viewed over the web. It is a convenient solution to a very real problem, and can drastically improve the value of timesheet data through error eliminations.