{"id":20608,"date":"2024-04-24T05:00:04","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T03:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/time-attendance-excel-is-this-still-allowed-in-2024\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T17:49:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T15:49:25","slug":"time-attendance-excel-is-this-still-allowed-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/time-attendance-excel-is-this-still-allowed-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Excel time tracking: Is this still allowed in 2024?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"20608\" class=\"elementor elementor-20608 elementor-20590\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5596490b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5596490b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2bcc3d31 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2bcc3d31\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><a href=\"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/lexikon\/working-time-recording-in-excel\/\">Time tracking with Excel<\/a> is quite common. Most companies already use the tool for other tasks anyway, so it&#8217;s practically free. But a new law on time recording is coming soon. Will Excel then still be permitted at all?   <\/p><h2>The draft law on working time recording<\/h2><p>The draft states that the employer is obliged to <b>electronically<\/b> record the start, end and duration of the employee&#8217;s daily working hours on the day the work is performed.<\/p><p>We take a closer look at the word &#8220;electronic&#8221; below.<\/p><p>Electronic are all tools that run on electronic devices. This can be a computer, an electronic time clock or even a smartphone. So why shouldn&#8217;t Excel be one of them?  <\/p><p>Quite simply, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/time-recording-mandatory-ecj-ruling\/\">ECJ ruling<\/a>, the system in which working times are recorded must be <b>reliable, objective and easily accessible<\/b>. It must also be <b>audit-proof<\/b>, which means that no times may be changed retrospectively. <\/p><h2>Is Excel time tracking<span style=\"color: inherit;\"> <i>&#8220;reliable, objective, easily accessible and audit-proof&#8221;?<\/i><\/span><\/h2><p>And there is the question: If a spreadsheet kept in Excel is used in the long term. Is it a reliable system? Cells, calculations and references &#8211; and if an error creeps in, it can make a big difference in the end. It is therefore safer and easier to have a system that automatically records times. Otherwise, companies run the risk of careless errors in particular:    <\/p><ul><li>Slips when entering values in the line (the larger the table, the more difficult the overview)<\/li><li>Wrong number typed in &#8211; whether intentionally or by mistake<\/li><li>Making mistakes when creating calculations and references. This happens much more often than you might think, especially with complicated calculations and references. <\/li><li>Files deleted by mistake &#8211; sounds silly but it happens. If there are no backups, the stress is great. <\/li><\/ul><div><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\"> <\/span><\/div><p><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">When the company grows, it quickly becomes confusing. By then at the latest, you should definitely be looking for a <a href=\"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/time-tracking\/\">time tracking<\/a> solution that is scalable and has exactly one purpose: <b>time tracking<\/b>. <\/span><\/p><p>Especially with shift work or changes in working hours, the effort involved in time tracking with Excel is simply huge. HR managers are just adapting Excel tables and mistakes always happen. In the worst case, employees end up being paid incorrectly.  <\/p><p>The larger the company, the more Excel lists you end up with. Every employee has a spreadsheet that is adapted to their working hours, some work full-time, others do not. Sometimes shift schedules change, someone switches to the night shift or no longer works Saturdays. The HR department has all these tables and nothing works automatically. Everything has to be checked manually and there is no mechanism to detect errors. Excel time tracking takes much more working time than other time tracking systems.     <\/p><h2>Conclusion: Will Excel time tracking be banned?<\/h2><p>These were reasons why you should voluntarily refrain from using Excel for time tracking. But for precisely these reasons, Excel could actually be banned for time tracking in the future. The system could be classified as<b> not reliable<\/b> enough.  <\/p><p>A centralized, electronic system is always the most reliable solution for recording working hours. The simplest systems are those that record working times automatically, for example with a time clock or by simply clicking a button at the beginning and end of the working day.   <\/p><p><b>So there could actually be court rulings that rule out Excel working time recording.<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-12e4557 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"12e4557\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-container brlbs-cmpnt-content-blocker brlbs-cmpnt-with-individual-styles\" data-borlabs-cookie-content-blocker-id=\"youtube-content-blocker\" data-borlabs-cookie-content=\"PGlmcmFtZSB0aXRsZT0iWmVpdGVyZmFzc3VuZyBFeGNlbDogSXN0IGRhcyAyMDI0IG5vY2ggZXJsYXVidD8iIHdpZHRoPSI4MDAiIGhlaWdodD0iNDUwIiBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUtbm9jb29raWUuY29tL2VtYmVkL3BqM0FhSmxwSlo4P2ZlYXR1cmU9b2VtYmVkIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3c9ImFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXI7IGF1dG9wbGF5OyBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGU7IGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYTsgZ3lyb3Njb3BlOyBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmU7IHdlYi1zaGFyZSIgcmVmZXJyZXJwb2xpY3k9InN0cmljdC1vcmlnaW4td2hlbi1jcm9zcy1vcmlnaW4iIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj48L2lmcmFtZT4=\"><div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-preset-c brlbs-cmpnt-cb-youtube\"> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-thumbnail\" style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/zmi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/borlabs-cookie\/1\/yt_pj3AaJlpJZ8_hqdefault.jpg')\"><\/div> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-main\"> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-play-button\"><\/div> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-content\"> <p class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-description\">You are currently viewing a placeholder content from <strong>YouTube<\/strong>. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.<\/p> <a class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-provider-toggle\" href=\"#\" data-borlabs-cookie-show-provider-information role=\"button\">More Information<\/a> <\/div> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-buttons\"> <a class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-btn\" href=\"#\" data-borlabs-cookie-unblock role=\"button\">Unblock content<\/a> <a class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-btn\" href=\"#\" data-borlabs-cookie-accept-service role=\"button\" style=\"display: inherit\">Accept required service and unblock content<\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/div><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f76331d elementor-widget elementor-widget-template\" data-id=\"f76331d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"template.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-template\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"section\" data-elementor-id=\"25890\" class=\"elementor elementor-25890 elementor-23227 elementor-23227\" data-elementor-post-type=\"elementor_library\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-52b2d9c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"52b2d9c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fa1ab97 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"fa1ab97\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Your company does not yet have time tracking that complies with the BAG ruling?<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c975408 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c975408\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>ZMI offers you flexible solutions for recording working time. We will also find an individual solution for your company: <\/p><ul><li>Time tracking at the stationary terminal,<\/li><li>at the PC workstation or<\/li><li>Mobile with a variety of end devices<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c47ba3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-shortcode\" data-id=\"6c47ba3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"shortcode.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-shortcode\">\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f20947-o1\" lang=\"en-US\" dir=\"ltr\" data-wpcf7-id=\"20947\">\n<div class=\"screen-reader-response\"><p role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\"><\/p> <ul><\/ul><\/div>\n<form action=\"\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20608#wpcf7-f20947-o1\" method=\"post\" class=\"wpcf7-form init wpcf7-acceptance-as-validation\" aria-label=\"Contact form\" novalidate=\"novalidate\" data-status=\"init\">\n<fieldset class=\"hidden-fields-container\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7\" value=\"20947\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_version\" value=\"6.2.2\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_locale\" value=\"en_US\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_unit_tag\" value=\"wpcf7-f20947-o1\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_container_post\" value=\"0\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_posted_data_hash\" value=\"\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7cf_hidden_group_fields\" value=\"[]\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7cf_hidden_groups\" value=\"[]\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7cf_visible_groups\" value=\"[]\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7cf_repeaters\" value=\"[]\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7cf_steps\" value=\"{}\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7cf_options\" value=\"{&quot;form_id&quot;:20947,&quot;conditions&quot;:[],&quot;settings&quot;:{&quot;animation&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;animation_intime&quot;:200,&quot;animation_outtime&quot;:200,&quot;conditions_ui&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;notice_dismissed&quot;:false,&quot;repeater_remove_button&quot;:&quot;bottom&quot;,&quot;notice_dismissed_rollback-cf7-6.1.7&quot;:true}}\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_recaptcha_response\" value=\"\" \/>\n<\/fieldset>\n<div class=\"cf-container\">\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-6\">\n\t\t<p><label> First name*<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"contact-prename\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"contact-prename\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-6\">\n\t\t<p><label> Surname*<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"contact-surname\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"contact-surname\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-6\">\n\t\t<p><label> Company*<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"contact-company\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"contact-company\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-6\">\n\t\t<p><label> Number of employees*<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"anzahl-mitarbeitende\"><select class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-select wpcf7-validates-as-required\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" name=\"anzahl-mitarbeitende\"><option value=\"1 - 10\">1 - 10<\/option><option value=\"11 - 20\">11 - 20<\/option><option value=\"21 - 30\">21 - 30<\/option><option value=\"31 - 40\">31 - 40<\/option><option value=\"41 - 50\">41 - 50<\/option><option value=\"51 - 100\">51 - 100<\/option><option value=\"101 - 250\">101 - 250<\/option><option value=\"251 - 500\">251 - 500<\/option><option value=\"501 - 1,000\">501 - 1,000<\/option><option value=\"1,000+\">1,000+<\/option><\/select><\/span> <\/label>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-6\">\n\t\t<p><label> E-mail address*<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"contact-email\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-email wpcf7-validates-as-required wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-email\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"email\" name=\"contact-email\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-6\">\n\t\t<p><label> Telephone number*<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"contact-phone\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-tel wpcf7-validates-as-required wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-tel\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"tel\" name=\"contact-phone\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-6\">\n\t\t<p><label> What solutions are you interested in?<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"loesungen\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"loesungen\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-6\">\n\t\t<p><label> How did you hear about us?<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"aufmerksam\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"aufmerksam\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-12\">\n\t\t<p><small>ZMI GmbH will only use your personal data to manage your account and to provide the information, products and services you have requested. From time to time we would like to inform you about interesting topics. <\/small>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"datenschutz\"><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-acceptance\"><span class=\"wpcf7-list-item\"><label><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"datenschutz\" value=\"1\" aria-invalid=\"false\" \/><span class=\"wpcf7-list-item-label\"><small>I agree to receive free information on current HR trends*<\/small><\/span><\/label><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<p><small>You can unsubscribe from this information at any time. For more information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy practices and how we protect and respect your privacy, please see our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zmi.de\/datenschutz\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Privacy Policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. By clicking \"Book a demo\" below, you consent to ZMI GmbH storing and processing the personal data provided above in order to provide you with the requested content. <\/small>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"cf-col-12\">\n\t\t<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Arrange a consultation appointment\" \/>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><small>This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google <a href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/terms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/small>\n<\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Time tracking with Excel is quite common. Most companies already use the tool for other tasks anyway, so it&#8217;s practically free. But a new law on time recording is coming soon. Will Excel then still be permitted at all? The draft law on working time recording The draft states that the employer is obliged to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,157],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-hr-know-how-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20608"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27118,"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20608\/revisions\/27118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zmi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}