How to choose Time and Attendance software

As an employer, keeping track of the number of hours your employees work is crucial. With so many time and attendance options available, how do you choose the one which best suits your company’s needs?

To start, think about your current solution. What does it do that you like, and what else do you wish it could do? What problems do you need to solve NOW? Whichever way your timekeepers manage employee attendance, the software you choose must integrate with your device, if you’re using one, as well as your financial, HR, accounting solutions and reporting needs. Because when you automate your manual, paper-based processes and integrate your timekeeping solutions with online software, your company gets time back.

And we all know that time is money.

So where do you start when it comes to choosing your company’s time and attendance software?

The team at Midex Software has been helping timekeepers save time (and money) for 15 years. These are the questions we ask, when helping our customers tackle their time tracking needs.

Number of users

Your company’s size plays a big role in your software decision since many time and attendance software packages are priced based on number of employees. What many companies don’t consider is that it’s not just the hourly wage-earners that you need to think about.

Midex time and attendance solutions scale from small businesses with less than 25 employees, to our most advanced, multi-user Enterprise experience for companies with multiple locations and thousands of employees. Find your time and attendance solution here.

Admin Rights/Employee restrictions

Do you want a supervisor to have the ability to manage time registration for a small group of employees but be unable to change program preferences?

What if you have multiple companies within your organization located in various states, provinces or countries? Do you want to maintain centralized data, but allow flexibility with the rules setup for things like overtime, registration rounding and break deductions?

Platform

Do you want a desktop-based or a web-based application (where files and servers are hosted on the internet rather than a local server)? Would you like the program hosted internally or by the solution provider? How many operating systems do you run?

What’s great about desktop applications is that they’re generally cheaper to purchase, not internet-dependant and typically come with a one-time fee and an option to pay for upgrades. On the downside, there is a chance of incompatibility with newer versions of Windows. The program must be installed and run on multiple computers, all running the same operating system, and each one will need to be upgraded individually when the time comes.

Local Hosting Vs Cloud Hosting

Today’s time and attendance applications often come in a web version which you can host yourself. The program is installed by you, on a single computer (web-server) which allows for easier upgrades. It also allows you to have access to the program from anywhere, 24/7, with a web browser and internet access.

With local hosting, you have computer(s) dedicated to the application and pay a one-time fee plus an annual maintenance fee. Because your data is stored locally, it means an IT resource is needed to maintain, troubleshoot and manage security on that server. Upgrades and maintenance plans must also be paid for.

At Midex Software, all of our editions come with free, unlimited Support and Maintenance, and free 30-day trials.

Registration Rounding

Consider the reasons for employee rounding. How can rounding your employee’s registrations maximize efficiency or profit? Do you want to round time to the nearest 15 or 30 minutes? Perhaps block rounding, which is an automatic rounding of time to the beginning of a shift, is best for you.

Scheduling

Time and attendance software can help you create schedules, whether shifts are recurring or constantly changing. Knowing whether an employee is late, leaving early, or absent comes from comparing their known schedule with their actual registrations.

Some time and attendance systems allow you to specify if an employee is ill, on vacation, or if it’s a holiday. Some systems even support accruals for paid time off (PTO) such as an employee’s remaining vacation time, and number of sick days left.

Midex time and attendance software is ideal for businesses looking for an affordable solution that extends beyond time clocks. A cloud-based employee time tracking solution that works with your HandPunch device and/or Fingerprint, Facial and Card Readers, to reduce payroll processing time, reclaim stolen hours, manage overtime, and eliminate manual input – and the human error that comes along with it.

At Midex Software, we’re here to help you create a roadmap to your ideal Time and Attendance solution. Start a Free Trial today.