Time Tracking

Term Definition
Time tracking refers to the process of recording, managing and reporting hours worked by an employee on a job or project. This process is accomplished through the use of timesheets, whether they are manual, electronic or online. Time tracking software or timesheet software is accounting software, which is used to maintain timesheets for each person in a company. Such software allows employees to enter their time, which can be approved or rejected by supervisors or project managers.

A good time-tracking system will not only let your users record when they've worked on a particular project, but also track the comings and goings of employees, update project time lines in project-tracking tools such as Microsoft Project, exchange paycheck information with payroll software, and let employees enter expense-report information to be processed as part of the standard payroll run.

Time tracking software may be:

• Standalone - used only to record timesheets, and generate reports, which are used for payroll or client billings.
• Integrated into accounting systems - where timesheet data is directly fed into company accounts, or cost centers.
• Integrated into billing systems - used to generate invoices, especially used by contractors and professionals such as lawyers, engineers or technology consultants.
• Integrated into project management systems - timesheet data is used in project management software to graph the effort being spent on each project or task, which facilitates the managing of costs, resources and project tracking.

Time tracking is a critical component of workforce planning and management. It also enables companies to accurately forecast future projects. A time tracking software that is integrated with your accounting system and provides point of entry data validation, policy-based approval, and notification setup will eliminate such errors. Studies have shown that eliminating duplicate systems, manual processes and entry/approval errors can save you up to 3% of total payroll costs and increase your billable hours by as much as 4%.

Area of Application
Project Accounting
Time and Billing

Related Terms
Online Timesheet
Timecard

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