In layman’s term, a Time and Attendance System is a software that is used to keep track and record the employees’ clocking events during working hours such as the first and the last clockings of the day and in and out clockings for certain breaks. Digging into a more technical term, Time and Attendance is a complex data collecting tool such as a time clock joined with time and attendance or award interpretation software.

The market has a lot of data collecting devices to offer; the most common and already a household term is the time clock or bundy clock, some requires the help of the web such as web time sheet and some are called mobile collection device such as a PDA.

The role of these devices basically is to collect the proceedings from the time clocks. But with Automated Time and Attendance process coming into the picture, these devices are given the capability to set specific rules to the clocking records and coordinate with specific pay rules for the employees, making the computations quick and accurate.Automated time and attendance system makes manual data entry into the payroll system history by providing a wide array of export files.

The simplicity of the process relies on the complexity of the system. This includes the system’s ability to converse with the hardware terminals and perform intricate routines such as recording clocking events and application of certain and sometimes very complex rules that should be accomplished mandatory.

Finding the appropriate time and attendance software can be a pain in the head and operating it can be even more frustrating. The first step of time and attendance system implementation is to gather your staff and give them the necessary information that will provide them collective knowledge of a variety of disciplines and technology aspects such as advanced payroll and award interpretation, sql database execution, LAN and WAN networking principles, industrial relations and project management.

Despite the advantages an automated time and attendance system can provide, it is not generally considered as an essential business system as you might think. Ironically, the web has a lot of valuable resources that can help you with all the implementation processes and enable you to make the most out of these resources and provide an ideal and cost effective implementation process and yet only few people from the corporate world know this.

The issue of accuracy certainly occurs with the accumulation of employee clocking records, application of award interpretation and exportation of payroll files. Along with some issues regarding technicalities such as multiple time clocks over a LAN or WAN and some mind-boggling time clock computations. This reflects why over 80% of end users report disappointment with the execution process and about 50% consider the project unsuccessful.

But don’t worry you are surrounded with enormous information; all you need is an Internet connection and a little finger stretching. The web has a lot of resources to offer such as pages about the components of time and attendance software, you can consider this document as an overview of how important an automated time and attendance system is and what issues are waiting for you along the way.

From this you can consider your options and the steps to consider upon implementing an automated time and attendance system and eventually acquire an appropriate and effective time and attendance system.