Timekeeping is essential to public safety and police scheduling. Paying your employees for the exact hours they worked is critical in an industry where overtime hours can quickly add up. However, timekeeping processes can be a huge burden to your organization if they’re completed manually. Not only are they prone to errors and mistakes, but they can significantly impact whether payroll is completed on time or not.
By using a software solution that combines scheduling with payroll, your public safety organization can count on getting your payroll out on time, every month. Here are five reasons why your organization should combine scheduling and timekeeping:
1. A combined solution automatically creates timesheets from your schedule
The first reason why you should combine your police scheduling and timekeeping is simple: a complete electronic timekeeping system will automatically create timesheets based on your schedule. This will save both your administrative team, finance team and on-duty employees many hours spent either filling out timesheets, correcting timesheet errors, or completing payroll.
We know there are many overall benefits to implementing a scheduling software system, but a system that specifically connects your scheduling to your timekeeping will greatly optimize your organization’s operations. By removing the manual process of collecting timesheets, your administrative teams can focus their time on more important matters within the agency. It’s neither cost-effective nor efficient for your finance department to be spending more than a few hours on payroll. Using a system that automatically creates timesheets based on department schedules is the best way to run an efficient operation.
2. Your organization will finally be able to submit payroll on time
As mentioned above, keeping up with your payroll records can be challenging for most public safety organizations. However, with an all-in-one solution, all of your important payroll information can be kept in one place. An electronic timekeeping system that connects your scheduling to hours worked means your payroll will never be late again.
Payroll is a huge headache for finance departments if the scheduling and timekeeping systems are not connected. By combining your scheduling and timekeeping, your finance team will be able to complete payroll in a matter of hours, rather than days. Not only will this save your department both time and money, but it will also ensure your employees are always paid on time.
3. Your organization will see fewer timesheet mistakes and payroll errors
Public safety employees have enough on their plates as is. Filling out timesheets is not only a mundane task to add to their always-growing task list, but manual timesheets are also prone to human error. If your employees forget to fill out their timesheets at the end of their shift, they may forget how many hours they worked when they do remember. This can put your department at risk of overpaying, or even underpaying, which can have consequences for your organization down the road.
In the case of InTime’s timekeeping module, timesheets are automatically created when administrators create their shift rotation schedules. This removes any situation involving employees not filling out accurate timesheets due to them forgetting their hours worked, or adding in additional hours here and there. In the case of overtime, overtime slips are approved and then submitted with a password. This is all completed in simplified language and there are no codes required.
4. You can get a real-time data analysis
If your timekeeping system is prone to errors, that means there’s no real-time data analysis of hours worked. Real-time data enables you to get the most accurate picture of what’s happening in your organization. If your employees are correcting and changing their timesheets in the days following their shifts, your organization won’t be able to accurately analyze your labor costs in real time.
A police scheduling solution that combines scheduling and timekeeping can give you the best picture of your organization’s labor and resource allocation. This real-time analysis can send you alerts if a certain employee’s timesheet is going above reasonable hours worked, and can help prevent wellness issues from becoming problems.
5. Your organization will save money
Last but certainly not least, one of the best reasons to utilize a software system that combines police scheduling with timekeeping is to save money. A combined system will drastically reduce the amount of time spent on payroll and fixing timesheet errors, effectively saving your organization on labor costs. It will also give you a clear picture of where your resources are going and will enable you to seamlessly track how much overtime your employees are working.
The bottom line
Almost every department in your public safety organization will benefit from a combined scheduling and timekeeping solution. An all-in-one system will drastically reduce the amount of time spent creating timesheets and working on payroll. Contact our team to learn more about how our timekeeping module can help your public safety organization.
