Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers must keep track of employee hours for payment and calculating overtime pay owed. There are exemptions to these standards; however, blue-collar employees in professions that require a great deal of physical and mental effort are non-exempt from FLSA requirements.
With a field service business, as your crew grows, so does the amount of information you need to track and progress. Discrepancies and mistakes slip by more efficiently, and your business can lose time, money and productivity.
It’s not all doom and gloom! These are just growing pains, and there are plenty of solutions for your business to keep your cash flow healthy. One of these solutions is utilizing a time punch calculator.
Try ClockShark’s Free Time Punch Calculator
Ready to try a time punch calculator? Check out ClockShark’s free time punch calculator and see how it makes time a breeze.
How do time punch calculators work for your field service team?
Some professions don’t have the stress of changing times, locations, and projects; all their employees go to the same workplace at roughly the same times each week. Field service businesses don’t get that luxury! Work can take the crew to almost any location, and the length of jobs fluctuates.
After you’ve done all the work time-tracking, the last thing you need is for the data to not translate appropriately to payroll. An accurate timesheet is the first step to counting workers' hours and ensuring fair compensation. Calculating and accounting for time conversion is time-consuming and challenging.
Demystify the Numbers
Time punch calculators take overlapping mornings/evenings, even different days and translate them into a simple number for clarification. It can be an absolute pain attempting to calculate the difference between 8:37 am and 4:54 pm, including a 30-minute break time, and doing so manually can result in easy errors. It’s an awkward format, so having a tool that does the job for you will save your team time, money and stress. Your workers won’t be stressing that they’ve miscalculated their hours, and your business won’t get hit by surprise chunks of missed hourly pay or overtime.
Transparent Timesheets
Effective time-tracking software is a must to keep timesheets consistent, accurate and honest. It reduces opportunities for time theft, fraud and input errors. These inconsistencies add up, and the lack of transparency in business operations can affect your business’s long-term productivity and growth.
Using Time Punch Calculators with Time-Tracking Software
Now that you’ve got access to ClockShark’s time punch calculator and how it can streamline your timesheets, the next step is getting the correct data.
Time-tracking software uses the latest technology to provide your crew with punch clocks on the go, GPS functionality and real-time data updates in the field. Utilizing the right time-tracking software for your business means accurate information for your timesheets and time punch calculator.
Evaluating Integration Capabilities With Existing Payroll Software
Every business with employees needs payroll, and your field service business is likely already utilizing payroll software to make calculations and payments smoother. When considering your favorite software integrations, field service software like ClockShark integrates with popular accounting software to streamline the entire process.
Considering Real-Time Data Tracking And Customizable Settings
The more time-tracking data you can get, the more effective your timesheets and time punch calculator will be. Transparency in employee movements and jobs will mean your business collects accurate information about your crew and their productivity.
Combine these data insights with customizable schedules, reporting and time-tracking options to get the most out of your team and maximize efficiency in the field.
Balancing Cost Against Features And Long-Term Value
As a business owner, you know the option that offers the most bang for your buck is rarely the cheapest. However, free time-tracking software, while popular, is more suited for solo operations and small teams.
Assessing the features your crew needs and your available budget is essential. Time-tracking software is an investment that offers higher productivity and returns by streamlining the work processes that can slow your crew down and cost hours in administration.
Comparing Key Features: User-Friendly Interface And Mobile Access
User-friendly software is a must to integrate time punch calculators into your field service business efficiently. If calculators and timesheets are too confusing or don’t work as advertised, it’s not worth the time.
Mobile apps are necessary to maximize your time punch calculator and time-tracking software. Apps can be taken with employees anywhere and are key to the best time-tracking features, such as real-time location data and GPS functionality.
Reading reviews and testimonials
One of the best ways to judge if a product is right for you is through the testimonials of other field service business owners and managers. Any business can sell itself as the perfect solution, but the experiences of others will give you a more nuanced and accurate representation of different time punch calculators.
Assessing Your Business Needs And Team Size
Businesses of any size can effectively utilize time punch calculators and field service software solutions. Some software is designed and priced for large companies and enterprises, while others, like ClockShark, can be used by small businesses and scale with the size of their teams and projects.
Best Practices To Integrate After Implementing Time Punch Calculators
Pairing ClockShark’s free time punch calculator with field service management software has many benefits that boost your business growth.
So, how can you make the most of time punch calculators and time-tracking software?
Conduct Employee Training Sessions
To get the most out of time-tracking software and time punch calculators, ensure your crew is up-to-date with training sessions and materials. New software and procedures take time to adapt to, but training sessions will allow your crew to learn and familiarise themselves with your field service management software.
Regularly Monitor And Review Time Logs
Time punch calculators make it simple to calculate the time worked, overtime, and breaks taken accurately. You can use this information to review your crew's time logs and check for discrepancies in timesheets and employee time-tracking.
Need a new timesheet for your business? ClockShark has got you covered with our free timesheet templates.
Establish Policies And Procedures For Time Tracking
Like with payments, sick pay and vacation policies, the best practice for adopting time-tracking software in your business is to establish a clear policy that outlines the relevant uses and expectations for employees.
For example, the new procedure to clock in and out of work, requirements to carry work phones with location tracking enabled and who to contact for issues with their software.
This gives your team a point of reference and precise requirements regarding their timesheet, enabling you to get the most out of your time punch calculator and management software.
H3 Utilize Data Insights For Workforce Management
By utilizing a time punch calculator, your business can gain more significant insights into why employees are being paid specific amounts and track patterns in hours worked vs actual costs.
For instance, productivity may dip, but there’s no clear explanation, as the hours are similar to every other week.
Using a time punch calculator, you can see the hours spent at work each day: extended shifts might not count as overtime on payroll because they don’t hit 40 hours, but they affect crew members nonetheless.
Escalate Efficiency With Time Punch Calculators
Business growth comes from your hard work, expertise and remaining competitive. Field service businesses face unique challenges that require purpose-made solutions to streamline work processes so you and your crew can get paid faster.
Using time punch calculators is one of those solutions to make sense of timesheets and keep payroll accurate and fair. In tandem with time-tracking software, you can increase crew and admin efficiency and do more with your time.
ClockShark’s robust time-tracking and management features provide accurate data without micromanaging. Try ClockShark free for 14 days and see what the right software can do for your business efficiency!
