Why manual time tracking in Excel causes costs

Time tracking in Excel – a cost driver

Personnel documents are still tucked away in filing cabinets, vacation requests are filled out and processed on paper, working hours are documented on paper or in Excel. This is an incredibly tedious and, above all, time-consuming process that is associated with high administrative costs. Manpower is unnecessarily wasted on recurring, unnecessary and non-value-adding activities. And this despite the fact that flexible software solutions already make it possible to automate these processes.

Working time recording? We do it free of charge in Excel!

Documenting hours worked in a spreadsheet is supposedly quick and easy. However, a closer look reveals that the supposedly cost-effective solution can quickly become a cost driver. The following aspects are often neglected

• Effort of manual recording
• Rounding by the employees
• and post-calculation in the back office

This quickly adds up to several minutes of work, which, for example, at an imputed hourly rate of € 40.00 in a company with 500 employees, adds up to a cost block of more than € 3,500.00 – per day!

Example: Manual time tracking

Advantages of a digital time recording system

By introducing a digital time recording system, working and break times can be conveniently recorded to the minute within seconds with a single click via various channels. This not only eliminates the need for rounding when recording, but also the post-calculation, as the software takes over this task. Leaner and automated processes relieve the burden on HR managers. Fixed or individual daily and weekly schedules stored in the software allow managers to plan and control more and perform fewer routine tasks.

A powerful solution offers far more than the classic digital time clock: working time models, break times, absences, core working times and flexitime models should be able to be implemented individually. Surcharges can also be calculated automatically by a modern software solution without time-consuming manual recalculation.

Employees should be able to record the most important information in an Employee Self Service (ESS) independently and at a glance. This prevents questions about vacation entitlements and flexitime status from arising in the first place, as all information can be viewed transparently by employees at any time.

Vacation requests on paper? We’ve always done it that way!

Digitalization is changing the entire world of work. Workplaces and organizations are becoming increasingly digital, mobile and flexible. The coronavirus crisis has brought this issue to the fore and made many companies aware of the need for digitalization: from the office to the home office in just a few days. A major challenge for many companies and HR managers. Replacing inefficient manual processes with the implementation of smart technological solutions is the key to success, and not just for decentralized work structures.

This has been particularly drastic in the area of applications: during the coronavirus pandemic, many companies were no longer able to map paper-based processes, such as flexitime applications, under remote working conditions. Those who had already implemented a modern HR tool for their HR processes were able to continue using it regardless of location and without any costly changes.

HR processes can be automated and employees integrated using flexibly definable workflow functions. Digital requests for leave, flexitime, business trips, training or booking corrections can be submitted digitally by employees in an intuitive interface and then run through a single or multi-stage approval process.

A practical example: instead of submitting a leave request manually, employees select their leave via a web interface or in the app and can see their remaining leave at the same time; the request is sent to their line manager with one click, who can then approve the leave and it is automatically entered. Employees then receive feedback by email and in the employee portal or app. Vacation substitutes can also be designated and integrated into the workflow process.