Using spreadsheets as an employee time-tracking tool may seem harmless. After all, it's not a document that multiple employees need to access. It doesn’t require collaboration. So, why is it a problem?
One big problem arises from the fact that errors are so easy to make in spreadsheets. A simple misclick can ruin the entire time-tracking spreadsheet, or produce inaccurate results. And, as mentioned below, that's just the tip of the iceberg.
"Spreadsheets and even paper-based processes are rife in many companies to track employee hours," says Jose Gaona, Vice President of Product Strategy at Replicon. “Not only can this be fraught with errors as spreadsheets weren't optimized to manage multiple staff rates, projects and tasks – but it's also not able to integrate seamlessly with payroll for quick and accurate processing. This issue is magnified as a company grows and it needs to take into account global wage and hour regulations including mandates on overtime pay and time off, as timesheets using spreadsheets have weak controls, making them more susceptible to time theft and inaccurate data entry.”
Potential problems created when you use spreadsheets as a time-tracking tool
Data errors: Spreadsheets make data errors easy to make, yet hard to catch. Do you really want to risk data errors with something as important as time tracking (which impacts payroll)?
Wasted time: Manually reviewing and managing timesheets wastes time. Just imagine how much time gets wasted manually checking timesheets and importing that data into payroll software.
Risk of noncompliance and lawsuits: Poor time tracking can lead to audit failures and a failure to comply with wage-and-hour restrictions. According to the National Employment Lawyers’ Association, there has been a 77% rise in FLSA lawsuits tied to wage-and-hour disputes since 2004.
Original Source: mrc
