Why Using Only the Best Time Clock Software is Essential

What to Trust

If you've ever stepped foot into a professional kitchen (behind those double doors of virtually almost any restaurant), it's likely that you have an understanding of the concept that you get what you pay for. I mean, sure - you could hire any Tom, Dick, or Harry off the streets for minimum wage, throw an apron and a chef's hat on him, and hope for the best.

But for the sake of your restaurant guests, we hope you recognize that you'd be much better off paying top dollar for a top chef (non pun intended) and getting much better quality to make the dining experience of your guests unforgettable.

Again, you get what you pay for - and the same can be said regarding all of the time clock software options out there. You can absolutely run a quick search on the web to find free apps and employee time tracking software that claim they work just as well as the paid versions for your time clock management needs.

But, the question is -- do you really want to trust it?

And that's just ONE of the key reasons you should use only the top time clock software options for your business.

Below, I want to discuss why you might not want to trust just any software company floating around out there and share the reasons why using only the best time clock software (like the kind you actually have to pay for - what a concept!) is essential for your business.

Free Time Management Apps Serve One Basic Purpose Only

Now, that's not to say that these cost-free solutions don't serve a purpose; they're good for testing to see whether or not you'd be interested in using time management software for your business in the first place without any barriers to entry - meaning, you don't have to spend a dime to test things out.

But after you've assessed the value of going the software-only route for your business, we strongly recommend upgrading to only use the best of the best time clock software you can find.

Doing so is essential for the future success of your business because it'll allow you to focus your much-needed attention on other aspects of your business.

Superior Software Will Save You Money in the Long Run

When you're managing a business, one of the most important aspects of your job is keeping costs down. But which do you think has the potential to cost your business more money -- purchasing one of the better paid time management apps or dealing with a disgruntled kitchen staff because the free app you used didn't pay them correctly for their hard work?

Let's say they're really mad that they were paid incorrectly (as they should be!) and stage a walkout. Now, you're stuck without a kitchen staff and bleeding daily revenue because things went awry.

Trusting in the top time clock managers will also prevent you from having to pay overtime - which is one of the best ways to cut labor costs.

Have you ever owned a super old car? I'm talking about a real lemon like an 87 Toyota Camry with the driver door rusted through and a window that won't roll all the way down? With a car like that, you worry DAILY about making it back and forth to work, being able to run errands, and *gulp* taking it on the highway.

But remember how great it felt to own your first brand new car? It was a much safer feeling, right?

You no longer had to spend valuable time in your day worrying about when your lemon would eventually die. It was one less worry in the back of your mind (and we could all use one less worry in the back of our mind, right?).

Now, picture upgrading from a manual, old school time clock to going digital with superior time clock software that you can set up once and virtually forget about after.

Wouldn't it help you to worry less about having to track your employees?

Your Time is Too Valuable to Waste

When you've got super reliable time and attendance software managing that aspect of your business for you, you can focus your own mind on other aspects of your restaurant that also require your attention.

That means you can spend your time, as a manager, bettering your business in other ways. It's like having your own sidekick!

If your brainpower is being used less on figuring out what time your employees punch in/out, you'll be able to use nature's best processor to generate other ideas and create other opportunities to grow your business.

Saving Time Means Saving Money

Every business owner knows that time is money, so when you're saving time, you're also saving money. With time card managing software allowing you to shift your brainpower to other aspects of your business, you're essentially completing more tasks with less of your time.

On top of that, when you spend less time worrying about whether or not your employees are punching in and out when they should be, you've got more time to think about other ways to expand your business.

Automated Labor Rule Alerts Are There to Help

As a business, you definitely want to ensure that you don't violate any state labor laws, as stated in the Fair Labor Standards Act, to the best of your ability. One way to help with that is by using time clock software that will automatically send your employees (and you, as the manager) alerts when the employee is approaching legal labor limits.

The alerts show up right on the employee's smartphone through the time card app, conveniently reminding them that they need to follow the labor laws as well and should probably go chat with a manager to tweak the rest of their schedule. So whether it's reminding the employee to take his/her 15-minute breaks, lunch break, or to clock out, they receive an alert right on their smartphone.

This will help you stay on top of many of the common overtime-related work issues that come with human error. For example, the majority of time software apps that are available today do things like automatically deduct lunch breaks for your employees' lunches.

That means you won't have to worry about your employees forgetting to clock out/clock in for lunch because the app does it automatically for them. And, if you're just getting started in the business management game, you'd likely be surprised at how often that happens.

This means no fancy time clock calculators are needed; it's all done through the magic of coding and technology!

Another common time card issue that using software helps to eliminate is employees often try to stretch their daily time cards by 15 minutes here or 20 minutes there to finish work after (or before) their scheduled shift.

By the end of the workweek, that means it's possible that they've racked up some overtime, and therefore, you'll be required to pay them overtime pay. This is called time theft, and it can often hit businesses without their knowledge until they go to calculate an employee's paycheck.

With software, you can better manage their work hours and have an updated total of their hours worked on a daily basis.

Keeping Up With the Jetsons

Using old methods - whether it be at the frontend of your business or behind the curtains - can give your business a general aura that you don't want. You don't want to be viewed by your customers as outdated, right?

Be a trendsetter. Be hip. Be The Jetsons, not The Flintstones. The best way to be viewed as an innovator in business is to inject a little technology into things.

Utilizing the latest apps and software that are available to you, as a business manager, is essential for your success. There are so many great timesaving software tools out there that you would be a fool to ignore them.

One of those, of course, are any of the time clock management software options.

Making Things Easier for Your Employees is Important

Employee satisfaction is one of the easiest ways to ensure that your turnover remains low. And, one of the easiest ways to make sure your employees are satisfied is to make their job a little easier.

If you were to take a look at businesses that use old clock-in cards or even a digital machine versus a software or app solution, I would take bets that employees who have access to an app consider it easier to use.

Think about it - let's say an employee is sitting at home and wondering how many hours they've already worked this week to determine what their pay will be come payday. Many years ago, it used to be the case that you'd have to either drive to your work and check the time card machine or call and annoy management regarding your worked hours.

But now, there are apps for that - so they can check-in on their time log for total hours worked right from their smartphone (and, most of the time, right from anything with a web browser). That also means 24/7 access to an employee's time card information, too. So, the employee won't have to worry about whether or not a business is closed for the day or not.

Quickly Reference Which Employees Are Available to Work Last Minute

As a manager, you will come across employees who need to call-in at the last minute, no call/no shows (when an employee just simply doesn't show up for work and you don't hear from them), and employees who have to leave early for one reason or another. Hey - things happen! But that doesn't mean that your customers (and, therefore, your business) should suffer, does it? Of course not!

With many of these time clock apps, you can have ultra quick access to a list of employees who are currently available to be called in to work to replace the employee that isn't there for whatever reason.

It eliminates the need to go hunt down a paper schedule, determine who isn't working, who might be available and then look through your HR records to find that person's phone number. Instead, you're presented with a complete list of employees available to fill-in right in an app and can find their phone number that way.

It makes the entire process much quicker, which will definitely come in handy when you've got a sudden influx of customers and are presented with an all-hands-on-deck situation.

Editing Time Cards in a Grid Format Quickly & Easily

With many of the current electronic time cards, you have to actually be at the time keeping device to edit your employees' time cards to fix any punch in/out errors. And you often have to do it with the employee standing right there next to you.

But time clock management software nowadays is incredibly simple to use, and you can edit time cards in a quick-access grid format - on one screen. This is a big timesaver.

On top of its ease of use, editing these punches creates a quick-access log that can be presented in the case of an audit - meaning you can quickly and easily show an auditor the entire history of an employee's punches and your edits.

Easily Accessible Roster

I was definitely one of those kids who cared more about a player's stats on the back of their baseball card than I did the look of the picture on the front. And with some of the premium time clock software available now, you'll have a sort of baseball card-like overview of all of your employees' time card stats in a format that's super easy to digest as a manager.

Want to know the average scheduled time of Bob, the sous chef? You can do that in most time card apps. How many average time card violations Tina, the hostess, has in a given week? You can do that in most high-end time clock management software.

Having time card profiles with specific statistics for each of your employees can definitely be beneficial for a manager, and it'll help to keep your employees inline with those labor laws mentioned above.

Conclusion

So, as you can see, there are so many reasons that utilizing the best time clock software is essential for your business's success.

Some of the best options like Zip Clock help you, as a manager, keep track of who is close to approaching labor law violations, who is available to fill-in for an absentee employee and provides you with a simple way to edit time cards.

And as an employee, using awesome software or an app for your time clock needs makes it easier to stay within legal labor laws, making it more convenient to get information about your current workweek as you can view it 24/7, and it makes clocking in and clocking out much quicker than the old way of doing things.