Our Blog

The Best Time Tracking Apps for Small Businesses 2021

Suppose you are operating a business where your employees are still manually handing in their timesheets, completed in pen and paper. Or they fill-in their hours in a spreadsheet and then send it to you only once at the end of the month. It’s time to take a look at upgrading your time tracking system. To help with your decision, here are the five best time tracking apps for 2021.

The Top Time Tracking Apps of 2021

1. Hour Timesheet

This app has several different solutions depending on your objective for selecting a time tracking software solution. The Hour Timesheet app allows its users to track the progress, the cost, location, and the amount of leave of a job. The app also allows for payroll integration, tracking billable hours, and comparing those with non-billable hours. You have various clock-in and out options, as well as the capacity for third party approvals.

One of Hour Timesheet’s most important features is that it is DCAA compliant. This means that small businesses using Hour Timesheet are eligible to participate in any SBIR and STTR government programs. The Hour Timesheet software is designed to be easy to use, even while meeting DCAA compliance regulations.

Hour Timesheet’s time tracking app integrates with QuickBooks online and at a desktop. The app can also be used for custom integration with other third-party software options.

2. ezClocker

It is an affordable, simple, and easy to use time tracking app. EzClocker lets its employees clock-in or out from the mobile device. Thanks to a GPS stamp, you can verify that your employees have clocked-in or out from the correct locations.

Other ease-of-use features include employees being able to view their schedules and timesheets in real-time. In the event you need to export payroll data, ezClocker can email timesheets to anyone you need. It also provides an iPad time clock app where you limit employees to only one device for clocking-in or out. Employees can use either their Smartphone to view timesheets and schedules or their computers. Still, they can only clock-in or out using their iPad.

3. Deputy

The Deputy time card app comes with great features, including the ability to manage time attendance, tasking and team communication, and employee scheduling. Deputy also allows you to generate invoices based on activity, task, and hours worked per employee. Once they’ve been generated, you can send them straight to your preferred accounting software.

This time card app will also automatically allocate job codes, employees, and rates per invoice line. Other features include using dynamic reports to track timesheet costs, sales transactions, and other employee variables. All of these options ensure that you stay abreast of the most recent time tracking advances.

4. TSheets

TSheets allows employees to keep their existing smartphones to quickly and efficiently track their work time. This app provides handy reminders to clock-in and out when to take breaks and all sorts of other reminders. TSheets lets employees allocate time to specific projects, custom fields, or tasks. This time tracking app can also integrate with Quickbooks and several other popular accounting software applications.

5. Replicon

Replicon has created a failsafe system to prevent the infamous buddy punching in the time tracking world. This app, which can be used with a tablet, means you can take a photo whenever an employee clocks-in to work. They also offer visual-check-ins to scan timesheets and ensure that your employees aren’t trying to play the system. Replicon also allows employees to easily access their work schedule, find assigned shifts, and request time off.

Time Tracking Apps

Of the five-time tracking apps featured in this article, there are approximately 100 more currently available on the market. As evident, no two applications are the same. Each time tracking app comes with certain features and benefits. As an employer, you must choose an app that suits your specific business needs and employee situation. What app might work for one business might not work for another. Most importantly, choose a time tracking app that will provide you with the necessary tools to operate and maintain a successful business.

Guide to Online Employee Time Clocks

Having a remote workforce is the new “normal” in today’s environment which creates new challenges in workforce management. Enter Hour Timesheet Mobile, it provides a secure, reliable, and accurate way to allow employees and contractors an easy way to clock in and out as well as document time away from “their desk”.

Who Needs Hour Timesheet Mobile Time Clock?

Any organization with mobile and remote employees who no longer have access to a physical time clock.
Organizations who have workers that travel as part of their job.
Organizations looking to track job cost at the web clock interface.

Simplify Punching In and Out and Streamline Your Payroll Work-Flow Processes

Our online employee time clock includes various features allowing management to streamline the employee’s timecard data.

1. Clock-in/Clock-out

2. Add Project Hours

3. Add Leave Hours

4. Add Timesheet Notes

5. Access to Leave Balance Data

HTS can help your organization with the 5 C’s.

COMPLIANCE. The online employee time clock makes tracking breaks and overtime easy. That helps you stay compliant with state, federal, and municipal regulations.

COMMUNICATION Keep abreast of what is going on even when you are not there in person. The online employee time clock will provide alerts when employees fail to show up for shifts or when they’re approaching overtime.

COST. Track job cost and have access to real-time reports to help you evaluate your overhead cost associated with absence time and overtime.

CALCULATIONS Our online employee time clock does the busy work of calculating time cards for you. The includes regular and overtime hours worked, paid time off hours, and more. Our app will save you valuable time by computing your timecards automatically. Your timesheets will start to reflect your payroll expenses.

CONNECTIONS Hour Timesheets offers various reporting formats for payroll, including Excel and CSV export, PDF, or more simply a paper copy. Our time clock system can easily integrate with various well-known payroll providers, including QuickBooks and ADP.

Online Employee Time Clock

If you’re tired of having to wade through the mountains of timecards and reports regularly, then now’s the time to join the 21^st century with Hour Timesheet’s Online Employee Time Clock. Our easy-to-use application offers a multitude of features and is highly customizable. Your employees do not require training to use the application, and there is no hardware required either. It really could not get any easier.

Time Is Money And Every Minute Counts

Contact Hour Timesheet today to learn more about our app.

FLSA Timekeeping Do’s and Don’ts

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA, employers must keep accurate records of non-exempt hourly employees. This might seem like a straightforward process. However, it can become too complicated when, for example, your employees travel for work, punch-in early or leave late, or use mobile devices to remain connected to work after hours. The following is a brief overview of some of the do’s and don’ts to help you manage your timekeeping responsibilities.

Do:

1. Use a reliable timekeeping system.

You may choose to use a timekeeping method such as an hour timesheet app or something else, including time clocks, badge readers, timesheets. Yet FLSA timekeeping requirements stipulate it allows employees’ hours for uncertainty or inefficiency (to a maximum of 15 minutes). You must apply the rounding policy fairly and can’t always round in favor of your company. Please note some states place limits on time rounding. Check all applicable laws before you start using this policy and consider your timekeeping system before applying a time rounding policy.

2. Any and all time worked must be recorded.

Whether it’s time spent checking phone messages, replying to texts, work emails, accessing the company network, or performing other work tasks, all of this considered compensable work time. That’s why non-exempt employees must understand what constitutes work. Then make an effort to report all time spent working outside of standard work hours according to FLSA timekeeping requirements. In a situation where employees can’t use your regular timekeeping system to record after-hours work, it is your responsibility to instruct them on how to promptly and correctly report these hours.

3. Reclassifying breaks as work time.

According to FLSA timekeeping requirements, all rest breaks must be paid if they are 20 minutes or less in duration. Thus, be careful not to let your employees punch out for breaks that last less than 20 minutes or less. Remember, it’s the break’s length, which determines whether payment is required, never the reason for the break.

4. Record training and travel time.

According to FLSA timekeeping requirements, you must compensate employees for any non-productive time in addition to time spent working. Non-productive time can be considered time spent traveling or in training. For instance, if one of your employees spends time traveling overnight for work, he or she must be paid for all time that cuts across their regular work hours, regardless of whether the travel occurs on their regular workday. As their employer, make sure you understand the rules on compensable training and can instruct employees on how to record their time correctly.

Don’t:

1. Never withhold pay if employees fail to submit or sign their timesheets.

According to FLSA timekeeping requirements, an employer must pay employees for all hours on the next regularly scheduled payday. Whether or not the employee has adequately followed the company’s timekeeping procedures.

2. Never withhold pay for unauthorized work time.

Employers may already have a policy in place that requires employees to get permission before working overtime. Yet, according to FLSA timekeeping requirements, employers must pay non-exempt employees for all time worked. That is irrespective of whether it was authorized in advance. If this policy is not respected by the employees, the employer can introduce disciplinary action. But they can never withhold pay.

3. Do not make automatic deductions for meal periods.

As an employer, it’s in your best interest to require employees to clock out and back in from their meals. This can help ensure that they are paid for missed lunch breaks. It also accounts for instances when employees return from lunch late. Their time records will accurately reflect that they took a meal during the period in question and for how long.

4. Never neglect your recordkeeping responsibilities.

According to FLSA timekeeping requirements, employers must hold on to their time cards and other such records from which wage calculations are gathered for at least two years. Additionally, employers must keep payroll records, including hours worked each day and total hours worked each workweek, for a minimum of three years. These records are necessary for federal tax purposes and must be kept for a minimum of four years.

Hour Timesheet & FLSA Timekeeping Requirements

It sounds simple enough: stay on top of your timekeeping. But when you’re busy running a business, this can be easier said than done. You can quickly get busy, overwhelmed, and the next thing you know, you’ve fallen behind. That’s why it’s essential to develop policies and procedures to ensure that you keep accurate time records for all non-exempt employees. This way, you can ensure they’re being paid adequately for the time they’ve spent working.

Top 5 Reasons You Need a Time Card Calculator

As the owner of a business you certainly understand one of the most tedious parts of running your organization is calculating timecards. When you think of all the things you have to do including creating and executing your marketing strategy, maintaining your inventory and simply ensuring the company operates smoothly, the last thing you feel like doing is calculating time cards. Besides who has time to do it? That’s why a time card calculator is so incredibly invaluable and where Hour Timesheet can help.

Hour Timesheet’s Time Card Calculators

At Hour Timesheet we have time card calculators that can alleviate the stress and strain of tracking employees’ hours. Our calculators accurately track and total timecard hours automatically. They can eliminate unwanted overtime with their programmable clock-in and out rules. Our calculators can be simply installed on your PC, Mac, Windows tablet or portable Smart device.

Saves Time & Money

The biggest advantage of using a time card calculator is that it saves time and money. Either you or your Human Resources Department will save both time and money collecting, calculating, correcting and processing employee timesheet. Instead thanks to the online calculator it will significantly reduce the time it takes to do this. Using a calculator will enable employees to focus on their jobs at hands. They will no longer have to worry about tracking and recording the time they spend working each day, week or month and can dedicate their time on what they were hired to do-work!

Reduces the chance for errors

If you take a moment and think about the opportunity for errors when you’re recording and calculating employee hours, especially when factors such as overtime, and holidays are all factored into the equation you begin to realize how easy it is to make an error. Something as easy as a misplaced decimal can lead to a serious accounting error and a serious loss of income for an employee. Not to mention a problem for you! It goes without saying that time calculations for payroll must be accurate. Your employees depend on those results and you depend on them to ensure your business runs smoothly. Our time card calculator does the math for you automatically. Instead of having to manually using one, our time tracking calculator reduces human error and helps prevent any miscalculations. The result is that your employees get paid what they’re entitled to and you can rest assured it’s accurate.

Encourages Compliance

There are state and federal labor laws that were created to help control things like record keeping, overtime and wages. Yet, these can be difficult to track and keep up with, particularly if you’re using an outdated employee time and attendance system. Hour Timesheet’s timecard calculator can help your business adhere to these laws. It can even help owners and managers use break times and overtime options that are provided as an added feature to ensure they are staying compliant.

Discourages Time Theft

Time theft sounds harmless enough unfortunately it’s far more detrimental than one would think. First it comes in many forms including taking a longer coffee or lunch break than allotted. Or clocking-in a friend when they’re going to be late to work. Whether the action is intentional or not, it can cost you the business owner or manager a tremendous amount of money. At Hour Timesheet, by using our time card calculators in conjunctions with automated time and attendance systems, you can help stop time theft in its tracks.

Time Card Calculators – A Useful Tool for Business

There are some business owners or managers who argue that a time card calculator is a useful tool for their enterprise. At Hour Timesheet we say they are an essential item. A time tracking calculator is easy-to-use and improves the efficiency with which your business operates. Not only does it reduce errors, but it saves you time, money, increases compliance and discourages time theft. Who wouldn’t want a tool in their business arsenal that does that?

Time Keeping Software for Lawyers

When selecting timekeeping software for your law firm, it can be tough to know which specific features you need to keep your business running smoothly. In the past, timekeeping software for lawyers was tracked on paper timesheets. This was followed by an arduous back-and-forth exchange between a client and law firm. After weeks and multiple revisions, the billable time would be manually entered into the firm’s billing system. It wasn’t a very efficient process, but it was the only one available.

Even today, lawyers are repeatedly told to track time accurately; all billable activities should be recorded as soon as they occur. This wasn’t a realistic option given that many billable activities occur outside of the office until mobile time tracking. Then everything changed!

At Hour Timesheet, our solution is simple. We offer timekeeping software for lawyers that is quick and easy to use while helping increase your efficiency. Your billable hours are more accurate and your payroll integration is smoother thanks to us, Hour Timesheet.

Mobile

Whether you’re driving to your client’s office or walking down the block to join them for a meeting, having mobile access to your office software makes things less stressful. Hour Timesheet offers timekeeping software for lawyers through our timesheet app. These mobile time-tracking tools make it possible to track your time and enter them simultaneously. Thereby ensuring that you capture—and charge for—all of your billable time. Hour Timesheet’s mobile app is a real-time project management app that includes employee scheduling, a time clock app, and easy-to-use timesheet software. The app will allow you to:

Track billable hours
Track employee time at work and home (remote)
Track time against overhead and G&A
Track employee locations

Highly Accurate

Hour Timesheet has a strong industry-wide reputation for providing its legal clients with an accurate paperless audit log for all time and timesheet edits. This will include everything from a detailed activity log, including username, IP address, time, date stamp, hours worked, and paid time off entries. Privacy settings will also give you the ability to limit employees only to see charge codes they are authorized to use.

By adhering to strict tracking guidelines, you’ll maintain a good relationship with agencies you want to work with in the future. There will be no delayed payments to your company, and you’re more likely to get future contracts. You’re also more likely to have transparent operations within the company overall.

It’s crucial to keep and maintain transparent, straightforward timesheets for each employee, timesheets that document their working hours.

Seamless Integrations

Hour Timesheet timekeeping software enjoys plenty of payroll integrations with QuickBooks, Deltek, ADP, Paychex, and Insperity. With just a few clicks, it can keep track of your billable and non-billable hours. The era of charging errors, lost timesheets, the shock of overtime, and manual entry mistakes are gone. Thanks to payroll integrations, these types of errors are a thing of the past. Simple payroll integration is critical to the smooth operation of your legal business. Hour Timesheet will let you export your information directly to your chosen payroll software with a simple click.

Time Keeping Software for Lawyers

The once tedious task of keeping track of your time using pen and paper is a thing of the past. Now lawyers can use timekeeping software from their computers and download an app to their mobile phone. They can seamlessly integrate payroll software such as QuickBooks or Paychex to track billable and non-billable hours. Additionally, Hour Timesheet is DCAA compliant, providing its legal clients with the necessary audit log. Hour Timesheet is the timekeeping software designed with lawyers in mind. Contact us to learn more.

QuickBooks and ADP Timesheet Payroll Integration

3 Solutions Working Together – If you use ADP as your payroll provider and do your invoicing in QuickBooks, you’re in luck. Hour Timesheet’s 5-star reviewed software integrates with both solutions. This time tracking software gives you everything you need to track time & attendance, create invoices, and do payroll in minutes without having to key in data.

Hour Timesheet includes a feature-rich time and attendance solution and mobile functionality that is geared for small businesses. Our SaaS solutions give your organization affordable, easy-to-use web-based solutions. Plus, our timekeeping software is fully DCAA compliant. Our professional services are designed to help your time tracking and accounting stay organized and prepared in the event of a DCAA audit.

Main Features & Benefits of Hour Timesheet Payroll Integration

Mobile App (iOS and Android) –Hour Timesheet offers mobile time tracking in the Hour Timesheet Mobile App. As a result, integrating with ADP Workforce or another payroll provider is even easier.

Managing Employee Leave – Manage leave balances, track leave or time off requests, and more directly in Hour Timesheet’s software. All data is stored and tracked, and easily transferable between platforms.

Manage Overtime Hours- Aside from tracking regular hours and job performance, the time tracking software complies with all DOL overtime regulations.

Job Costing – Track and manage job costs, labor costs, and other information directly on the platform. You can view employee profiles, job codes, and other payroll processes.

Quick Access to Time Cards – Hour Timesheet is a SaaS solution, so employee timesheets are stored safely. To-the-second, real-time data is ready and available on the cloud whenever you need it. Hour Timesheet makes extra efforts to ensure all employee time entries are accurate, on time, and employee attendance can improve.

Daily Time Entry Reminders – Hour Timesheet uses daily reminders and notifications to ensure all employees are tracking time as they’re doing it, rather than after the fact.

Location Tracking – Available on the Hour Timesheet mobile app, managers can keep track of employee location when working at home or off-site.

Quick Payroll Processing – With Hour Timesheet and ADP Platform integration, you eliminate the double-entry of data and ensure that your staff is paid accurately and on time.

Time To Eliminate Data Entry For Good – The QuickBooks “one-click” sync imports employee data and customer/job data into Hour Timesheet for quick employee profile setup. No more manual data entry for every new job or contract.

Decades of Experience At Your Fingertips

The 25 years of experience you get by choosing Hour Timesheet means that you’ll have experienced, knowledgeable customer service at your fingertips. We’re always ready and eager to help you troubleshoot your way through any problem or figure out new ways we can help your business succeed! Even if you’re not a government contractor looking to achieve DCAA compliance and prepare for DCAA audits, Hour Timesheet can help your business save time. If you’re unsure, request a demo today to see what Hour Timesheet can do for your business.

Detailed Audit Trail
Daily Timesheet Reminders
Correction Timesheet Workflow
Required Reason for late or edited entries
Supervisor Approvals

Already have Hour Timesheet?

support@hourtimesheet.com

Want Help With Your Integration?

If you’d like help getting the ADP or QuickBooks Time Tracking integration setup, we’ve got you covered. We’ll be right there with you via phone, email, or screen-sharing session to make sure you are successful. Call us anytime at 832.942.9556.

Learn More

QuickBooks Desktop App

If you are a loyal QuickBooks Desktop user, you certainly understand it has some benefits not available on other platforms. Though the push has been for everything to be cloud-based, you know that QuickBooks Desktop serves your needs. The good news is that Hour Timesheet’s time tracking software flawlessly integrates with QuickBooks Desktop. This integration of systems ensures that your time tracking and financial efforts for your small business can be as accurate as possible, adhere to DCAA protocols, and not take all afternoon copy-pasting from spreadsheets!

Hour Timesheet + QuickBooks Desktop integration tool – how does it work?

As an Hour Timesheet client, our DCAA compliant software will seamlessly import all your timesheet data to the QuickBooks desktop employee time tracking feature. We will utilize the QuickBooks Web Connector to update your data to and from your QuickBooks file. This data will include some of the following information:

Customers & jobs
Payroll items
Classes
Services

What are the advantages of QuickBooks desktop integration?

1. Eradicate Charging Errors

QuickBooks Desktop integration with Hour Timesheet tightens employee time tracking. That’s because it only authorizes the charge codes that you, the manager, have allowed. From customer jobs and classes to types of leaves and service items, if you’ve not approved it, employees will not be able to charge them.

2. Eliminate lost timesheets

The days of lost timesheets are a thing of the past. Using QuickBooks’ desktop app alongside Hour Timesheet’s time tracking software, managers can view all timesheets from vendors to employees at any time of the day. Each timesheet can be signed by a single manager or by several depending on the approval needs.

3. Eradicate Manual Entry

QuickBooks Desktop app eliminates the need for a time-consuming manual entry. It features 2-way data sync. This means information such as employees, vendors, customers/jobs, classes, service, and payroll items only need to be entered once into QuickBooks. With a single click, the data is populated into Hour Timesheet using QuickBooks Web Connector. This means, no more exporting and uploading spreadsheets all the time to just to see data in both Hour Timesheet and Quickbooks.

4. Does Away with the Shock of Overtime

The desktop app allows employees to track time by payroll items. They can handle unplanned overtime with real-time reporting features that include daily summary reports. This allows for both employees and managers up-to-date data to make informed decisions about overtime work.

QuickBooks Desktop app

We hope we’ve given you a better understanding of how Hour Timesheet flawlessly integrates with QuickBooks Desktop. Together they offer the best most user-friendly DCAA time tracking compliant software on the market.

Hour Timesheet Software Meets DCAA Compliance Regulations for SBIR & STTR Programs

Imagine securing the necessary funding so your research and development could finally become a product? It’s possible thanks to the federal government programs SBIR and STTR and Hour Timesheet. Together SBIR and SBTTR are responsible for bringing some of the most innovative technologies to market. These new technologies have the potential for commercialization in the international market. Without a DCAA compliant time tracking software, this opportunity wouldn’t exist. Hour Timesheet offers such a software, and helps these companies qualify for the programs to present their ideas.

What are the SBIR and STTR programs?

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs encourage participation in federal research. They present American-owned businesses the opportunity to research and develop new ideas, with the potential for commercialization. The SBIR and STTR programs have developed an awards-based program that presents funding opportunities to small businesses. The research institutions encourage these businesses to explore their technological innovation potential. The program then challenges them to provide the necessary incentive to profit from its marketing. The goal is to inspire high-tech innovation, by including small business in the country’s research and development industry. The entrepreneurial spirit to meet specific research and development needs will seep the country.

What does DCAA compliant timekeeping mean?

‘DCAA’ is an acronym and stands for the “Defense Contract Audit Agency”. It is the government agency responsible for the auditing of the department of defense and its contractors. Other government agencies often bring in a DCAA auditor to provide financial and accounting services. Specifically, in the event they need help with their auditing procedures.

This is precisely what happens with the SBIR and STTR programs fund. The programs aware small businesses with the money necessary to move from Phase I (Concept Development Level) to Phase II (Prototype level). Then, the federal government requests an audit of all participating small businesses. They undergo a DCAA pre-award “survey,” otherwise known as DCAA audits.

In the first phase, Federal agencies usually expect small businesses to have a basic time tracking system in place. This is because the Phase I awards are relatively small. In Phase II, there is more money at stake. There is approximately $1 million per award as opposed to $150,000 in Phase I. The contracting officers need to be confident you’ve accurately estimated your incurred costs and indirect rate. They also want to ensure you can accurately differentiate indirect from direct costs in your accounting systems. This is why Hour Timesheet offers a DCAA compliant time tracking software, that is easy to use and understand.

How does Hour Timesheet meet DCAA compliance requirements for the SBIR and STTR programs?

1. Detailed audit trails for any companies working with government programs.

It’s one thing to say that your timekeeping software is DCAA compliant, but it’s another to explain what that means. At Hour Timesheet, our audit trail lists a detailed activity log of every contractor’s activity. It includes their username, IP address, time, and date stamp of all the entries made to the timesheet. This helps capture both hours worked and paid-time-off entries.

2. The software sends automated daily reminders. This keeps employees accountable to tracking their hours on time, and with DCAA regulations.

DCAA compliance states that employees must enter and track time daily. Hour Timesheet will send employees who forget to do this an automatic daily reminder. It’s quick and easy to set up and can be a great tool. Specifically, this works well for those who sometimes let their day “get away from themselves.”

3. Tracking indirect (non-billable) time acquired while working in these programs.

Employees must track all hours in a DCAA compliant time keeping system. This ensures that all hours are precise, and meet DCAA requirements. Hour Timesheet allows users to track direct costs, indirect costs, and unallowable costs entries within the timesheet. Assign non-billable codes to users, including overhead, labor costs, business development, and others.

4. Multiple supervisor signatures required for any time entries.

According to regulations, each timesheet requires two signatures. One from the employee and the second must come from the supervisor. Hour Timesheet allows for signatures at both of those levels on each time entry.

5. Authorization is required for any charges when working on government contracts or programs.

Hour Timesheet allows managers to limit visibility on certain charge codes. They can hide codes from employees who aren’t authorized on that project. This feature is accessible to both full-time employees and timesheet information for government contractors.

6. DCAA compliance requires a reason to be provided for any late time entries.

Hour Timesheet requires a reason entry when there is no daily time entries. The program will prompt employees to enter a reason for the late entry. Hour Timesheet also requires the user to enter a reason for editing previously, inputted data on a timesheet.

Hour Timesheet DCAA Compliance Software and the SBIR & STTR Programs

The federally funded STTR program & SBIR program are both an excellent way to fund ideas and inventions. Directed at small business in the United States, it allows for the spread of new ideas. These businesses may never have the opportunity to market otherwise due to business concerns. These programs allow for companies with technical merit to enter the national arena. The programs give small businesses an opportunity with a big commercial potential for their innovations. Part of that process is ensuring their business remains DCAA compliant. These are very competitive programs, and that is where Hour Timesheet can help. We provide a DCAA Compliant timesheet software that meets the all DCAA timekeeping requirements. We’re here to help American innovation move forward.

DCAA Compliance Explained

The term ‘DCAA compliance’ when referring to your timekeeping procedures is often just thrown around. If you don’t understand what that means or how to verify that you are, Hour Timesheet can help.

Simply put, DCAA stands for Defense Contract Audit Agency. This is the federal government agency responsible for conducting DCAA audits of the Department of Defense (DoD) contracts. As imagined, the DoD is very strict about its rules and regulations surrounding DCAA compliance and timekeeping. The DoD will award government contracts to businesses that use web-based timekeeping if they meet all requirements. If a company follows all of the following DCAA timekeeping requirements, they are likely to get a government contract.

1. The company must document all timekeeping procedures in a policy or procedure handbook provided to all employees.

They must address all critical elements of an adequate timekeeping system. Companies must provide all employees with an updated policy or procedure booklet regarding time entry procedures.

2. Every employee must record all of his/her time daily.

Attempting to track time worked in advance or days after the fact is not acceptable. Hour Timesheet comes equipped with reminders to all users to ensure their time is entered daily. This means that no matter the size of the company, Hour Timesheet is equipped for every employee to track time. This DCAA timekeeping feature is especially useful for any companies participating in SBIR and STTR programs. They may be smaller businesses, but they must ensure they remain DCAA compliant to qualify for their funding.

3. Employees must charge time by the day and by project or job code and indirect cost accounts (overhead, G&A, B&P, etc.).

This is known as cost accounting. This is the formal mechanism of determining and controlling products or services’ costs. The primary objective of cost accounting is to determine the fair and accurate market value of an item. Then to understand the basis for fixing its selling price. From there, you need to determine what factors affect its cost control and, at the same time, its price reduction.

How can cost accounting be used?

Once you’ve determined this, you can identify and eliminate wastes such as materials, expenses, equipment, tools, and other items. Next, ask how to optimize the utilization of resources. Then correctly analyze the direct cost of both the process and operations. Once that is complete, determine the profitability of the product and help manage the maximization of these profits. Don’t forget to assist in the preparation of budgets and implement budgetary control. And finally, aid management in the formulation and implementation of an incentive bonus plan based on productivity and cost objectives.

4. All employees must record 100% of the time worked.

This is true on all projects to the proper job codes, whether working on a government contract or commercial work. The beauty with the Hour Timesheet mobile app is employees can add time from anywhere, whether they’re working from home or the office. This allows many government contractors to get their jobs done more efficiently.

5. Employees must record all indirect time not identifiable to a given project to proper indirect cost accounts (overhead, G&A, B&P, etc.)

One example of an indirect cost is overhead. This usually includes the indirect costs involved in support operations or direct production. These costs are directly related to a project or projects. However, they cannot be allocated to one specific contract. This is because they overlap across many different projects.

What are some contracting overhead costs that a company should track?

Overhead costs can vary greatly. They may include the depreciation of equipment used on multiple projects. It could also include supplies, and quality assurance shared across multiple contracts. Overhead can also include costs like indirect labor costs and training. Government contractors cannot track any unallowable costs as indirect costs. Government agencies are prohibited by law to reimburse for any unallowable costs.

6. Employees must record all PTO, vacation, sick, holiday, and other leave time to the proper accounts.

The good news is, with Hour Timesheet software, tracking any kind of leave time such as this is very easy and keeps you DCAA compliant.

7. The system administrator or accounting department should initiate all job codes that appear in the timekeeping system.

Project codes must be provided to employees authorized to work on a given project. Many companies use codes as opposed to the contract number to simplify the charging process for employees. To follow DCAA compliance, every charge must directly relate to a specific contract and a task within that contract.

8. All timesheet entries must be the employee’s own.

An employee must record their time based on work completed. They should track all time entries, irrespective of whether the time is billable or non-billable. This must happen daily. Additionally, under no circumstances is a manager or supervisor allowed to record their employees’ time unless there is an extreme situation. Employees should follow these timekeeping requirements at all times, in any circumstance. This will make payroll procedures easier for the manager, and much more accurate.

9. Under no circumstance may an employee work on one project and record time to a different project.

Whenever the employee completes work or tasks, they must charge it accurately and directly to that project. They require this to avoid falsely overcharging one project and undercharging another. Hour Timesheet can be setup to restrict which codes an employee can charge their time; therefore, an employee cannot charge to a project they have not been assigned.

10. Under no circumstance may an employee work on indirect tasks and record time as direct costs to a project, or vice versa.

An indirect task is work that is not explicitly tied to a project. To remain DCAA, compliant employees must never charge the time it takes to complete these tasks to any project. This would violate DCAA compliance and regulations, and would not fall under DCAA compliant time keeping.

11. The employee should make all correction timesheet entries.

The employee must record all corrected timesheet data in a detailed audit trail. An audit trail is critical to remaining DCAA compliant. If and when the DCAA decides to inspect your business (and they always will at some point), they will look over every time card entry.

The employee’s supervisor must approve every correction time entry in a detailed report, in the event of a DCAA audit.

In the unusual circumstances where the employee cannot make the changes to timesheets, then accounting or the administrator may make such changes with the employee’s consent. The DCAA will analyze every entry from your employees with a fine-tooth comb. Thanks to your detailed audit trail, the DCAA will see who edited a time card after it was submitted. They will also be able to see when the changes were made, and why. Hour Timesheet creates an uneditable audit log that will provide a locked record. This will include all of all the additions, deletions, approvals, and modifications made to your employees’ timesheets.

12. The employee’s supervisor must approve all employee timesheet data.

Each timesheet requires two signatures, in order to comply with DCAA compliance regulations. Hour Timesheet allows for online signatures at both the employee and manager levels. This allows managers to regulate any uncompensated overtime or leave management requests.

13. Employees should be provided documented DCAA compliance & timekeeping training, whether by formal or informal means.

The company’s new employee handbook or new-hire orientation program typically includes this training. Either way the employee is familiar with the company’s timekeeping training before they begin working full-time hours.

14. In order to be DCAA compliant, the company must maintain timesheets for at least two years.

That means the company must be keep their files in a secure and easily accessible location. Should the DCAA or any government agency require you to produce copies of them, they should be available. Hour Timesheet keeps the timesheets indefinitely for all employees, current, and past.

15. The company must conduct audit or floor checks randomly throughout the year to monitor employee timekeeping compliance.

Unfortunately, DCAA timekeeping compliance is the reason government contractors fail an audit. Hour Timesheet can help. We have the employee and contractor time tracking experience to ensure total compliance. Sign up for Hour Timesheet today and work with an experienced implementation rep to review your account for total compliance. All for FREE.

Non-Profit Time Keeping

At first glance, Hour Timesheet’s app looks like a simple and straightforward timekeeping application perfect for the non-profit industry. However, if you take a closer look, you’ll notice this online timekeeper can do considerably more, including improve efficiency, increase employee morale, and save your organization money. The following is a closer look.

Improved Efficiency

Hour Timesheet’s online timekeeper will increase your non-profit’s internal efficiency. Our app offers features timekeeping tools that itemize a task and indicate how long it took an employee to perform a particular task the last time. This can provide you with a much better idea of the time it will require to complete each step, allowing you to produce a more accurate schedule going forward.

It is these same time tracking features that will allow you to evenly distribute tasks for a larger project between staff within your non-profit. This is to ensure that no employee within your organization is overwhelmed by too heavy a workload while others do not have any work.

2. Increased Employee Morale

Online time tracking software can tremendously increase employee participation and morale at work in several different ways. With electronic timekeeping, employees don’t have to concern themselves about whether or not they’re in line with the organization’s goals or stress about which tasks to focus on. The more organized a workplace is, the happier a place it is to work.

With the records of all your employees’ daily tasks through your online timekeeping software, it becomes much easier to recognize and celebrate all of their accomplishments. The more employees feel appreciated, the more likely they are to stay with your organization, thereby boosting your non-profit’s employee retention and saving you both time and money.

Online timekeeping also provides an opportunity for employees to provide feedback from larger projects right down to daily tasks. Some of your team members might feel frustrated if they don’t feel they’ve been given enough time for a specific job. This is their forum to express their frustrations, so make sure to listen.

3. Cost-Effectiveness

Nowhere is the statement ‘time is money’ more evident than when using timekeeping software, such as Hour Timesheet. Yes, you have to make money to spend money, but often to save money, you have to eliminate or reduce spending. That’s where time tracking spending can help by showing you how to reduce overhead costs. Staffing makes up the most substantial portion of most non-profit organizations’ budgets. Online timesheet apps can help save money by reducing the time spent manually entering timesheet information, as well as creating task lists and creating schedules.

Timekeeping apps can also help predict staffing overages or shortages for your organization. If you’re understaffed, your employees will have too much work, and certain responsibilities will fall through the cracks. On the other hand, if you’re overstaffed, employee time is not being used efficiently, and you’re wasting valuable money.

Without accurate timekeeping, there is very little chance of remaining within a budget. They go hand in hand. Timesheets give you an honest reflection of the time required to complete a project. In turn, this gives you an accurate estimate of the total cost of any project, program, or endeavor you take on.

Non-Profit Time Keeping

Similar to all businesses, your non-profit organization will change as it grows through its lifespan. As you manage and adapt to its changing needs, you’ll notice that it will be increasingly hard to handle all of the operations on your own. That’s where Hour Timesheet can help. Together we can provide you with a solid foundation from which you can successfully build your organization.