Consider investing in a scheduling and time tracking software when starting a small business. There are many benefits to help your business grow and improve your return on investment (ROI).
Managing employees is one of the hardest parts of running your small business. You may know how to market your business and bid on jobs. However, once you start growing, you will have to hire and manage staff. If you have workers going to different places, how do you manage their location and the hours they work?
There are many benefits when using a scheduling and time tracking software such as:
Improving Your ROI
You can increase your ROI by generating more sales and revenues or by raising your prices. Implementing a good time tracking and scheduling software can help you increase your ROI by increasing productivity. It can also help you generate more sales. You can show your potential clients how you have optimized your workflow. You can monitor the time for each job or project. As your business grows, you need software solutions that are affordable and easy to use.
There are many examples where time tracking software can help your ROI. When investing in a scheduling and time tracking software you want to know that you will get what you paid for. A great time tracking tool will help you bill clients for the work that has been done. You will know exactly how much time each employee spent at the job location. This is an important function. Without a time tracking software, you may underestimate or overestimate the time spent on a job and could potentially lose out on billable hours.
Improving Your Business Growth and Productivity
Does your business use a remote workforce? When using a scheduling and time tracking software, you can ensure your employees know when and where to go to work. You can determine how many people you need to hire per job. Once you have accurate data, your business can grow. When looking at productivity, a good time tracking software can help you look for areas of improvement in scheduling as well.
When you are accurately able to see how much time is spent on different jobs, you can continually improve your business pricing, efficiency, productivity, and job needs.
Avoiding Discrepancies
Arthur Jordan of A&J Electric said that when he first started his own business, he used paper timesheets. His employees would try to fill them out, but sometimes they would forget. Sometimes they would try to retroactively fill out their timecard and it wouldn’t be accurate. It would cause issues when he would bill customers. Every payroll period he would have crews going to different job sites. He wasn’t sure who was at what site for the week when doing payroll. That’s when he decided he needed a scheduling and time tracking software.
A great scheduling and time tracking app like ezClocker can ensure there are no discrepancies of when and where your workers are located.
Need an Affordable Mobile Time Tracking App for Your Employees?
Accountability
Using a software and time tracking app can also hold your employees accountable. Your small business must have accurate timesheets. Allan Dalangin of Gecko Solutions says that he used to have his staff complete manual timesheets. They would often fill out several days’ worth of entries in one sitting and it wasn’t reliable. He said that he tried different timekeeping apps but found ezClocker to be exactly what he needed. “It’s so simple,” Allan says about ezClocker. “Other apps are loaded with features and hard to implement. ezClocker has just the right amount of features.”
One feature that he likes is the job code feature. He can assign a unique code to each building. Then he can see how long his crew takes to clean each building. For example, at one job he estimated and paid employees to clean for four hours. Once he started using ezClocker, he found they were finishing early, yet he was still paying them. Now he can pay two people to clean for one hour. He can save money and hold his staff accountable. In addition the app allows him to know where his employees are and how long it takes them to do each job. He doesn’t have to travel to the job site. He can just look on his phone.
Managing Time Off
Managing time off for your employees can be complicated. Additionally, it can be even more complicated when you have remote employees. You also have to schedule someone else to work in their absence. Managing time off becomes easier when you know who is where and what you need to do in case of absences. You will also know if some of your staff is working the required hours for full or part-time status.
Determining Job Scope
Have you ever met with a client to discuss the job scope and then over time, it has changed? The client may be asking your staff to do some extra work. By monitoring their time, you can keep an eye out if they continue to go over the allocated work time. If they are, you can discuss the job scope to work out any differences and determine if the pricing should change.
Scheduling is Easy
Some apps may be complicated when using the scheduling feature. David Alvizo of Daniel’s Tile says that ezClocker made it easy. He was facing scheduling challenges because jobs would be changed at the last minute. Before, he had to call each one when there was a scheduling issue. Now he can change everything in less than a minute and his employees see it in the morning. Because of the GPS feature, he can see what time his employees are arriving at work even when he is not on site.
Managing Labor Costs
Managing labor can be difficult and tracking labor costs are important. A great time tracking software eliminates a lot of issues. You can easily run reports and audit time punch entries to make decisions on your labor costs. Once you can see what your employees are doing, you can decide how to streamline your worker’s efficiency.
Being Compliant
Many local governments have passed laws for minimum wage, sick and family leave, break and rest times, and overtime. Using a scheduling and time tracking app like ezClocker can help you track your employee’s hours and report any overtime when running payroll. You can stay in compliance with your local wage and timekeeping laws.
It can also help you ensure employees are not working off the clock. Your employees may want to finish a job or project but aren’t authorized for overtime. If you see an employee is still at the job site by the GPS function but they aren’t clocked in, you can find out why. You will be held accountable if your employees are working off-the-clock. You may have to pay back pay later.
Establish Trust
Using a good time tracking software will tell you how long a job will take. This can help you when creating future sales pitches. Trust can be a big issue for clients. It is a great sales tool by providing accurate reports on hours worked at each location. When you are using a time tracking software, your clients can trust you are billing the correct amount. How many times have you hired a service worker for a project in your home? Did you always trust the invoice of the hours worked?
Using a good scheduling and time tracking software can help you price jobs effectively, schedule your workers effectively, boost your productivity, and help maximize your ROI.
