This document outlines 7 ways that companies can get organized and improve by tracking time. These include: 1) Using KPIs to measure success; 2) Tracking time to manage project risk and costs; 3) Automating time tracking to reduce errors; 4) Ensuring compliance with relevant standards; 5) Effectively managing PTO; 6) Considering SaaS time tracking software; and 7) Improving employee buy-in by clarifying rewards of time tracking. Tracking time provides key data to improve processes, estimate future projects, and increase overall profitability.

1. 7 Ways To Get Your Company Organized By Simply Tracking
Time
Everyone in business today is constantly seeking ways to improve. No one can afford to
remain stagnant or complacent, unless they want to be overtaken by their competitors in
an ever-growing market. Here are some surefire ways to improve your business and get
ahead of your competitors with very little effort or investment.
 Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to gauge success.
KPIs are used to measure the performance of an organization, frequently through
measuring activities such as performance improvement derived from training, labor
utilization rates, or customer satisfaction. KPIs are often tied to strategy through
techniques such as the Balanced Scorecard, but they don’t have to be as complicated as that
to be useful and effective.
As with most things, simplicity increases efficiency.
KPIs can differ depending on strategy. They help an organization to measure progress
towards their organizational goals, such as increased penetration of existing customers or
markets, on time delivery or reduced scope creep.
A KPI is a key part of a specific measurable achievable relevant time-based goal (a
SMART goal) which is made up of a direction, KPI, target and time frame, e.g. "Increase
Average Revenue per Sale to $10,000 by December." In this case, 'Average Revenue per
Sale’ is the KPI. The above mentioned goal wouldn’t be SMART if it wasn’t an achievable
goal. Nor would it be SMART if the word ‘December’ was left out or if it was not relevant,
e.g. if this was a portion of the organization that had nothing to do with sales or marketing,
like HR.
 Track time in order to manage project risk.
Time data can make a fundamental difference to your company if collected and used
correctly. One of the ways in which time tracking can lead to success is by using it to plan
for projects and then follow their progress along the way. Knowing a project is behind
schedule or over budget towards the end of the project’s life span does no one any good.
Knowing this information sooner, however, will help you act accordingly and stop wasting
time and money.

2. How can you do this? It is quite simple. The early phases of a project are usually
referred to as ‘requirements,’ ‘design,’ or ‘specification.’ Let’s say that after carefully
tracking time on a batch of similar projects you find that the first two phases take
approximately 10% of the project time. You can then use that data to predict the length of
future projects. I’ve found this project estimation technique, an example of which is
illustrated in the following diagram, to be extremely accurate, regardless of whether your
company’s magic number is 3% or 30%.
 Automate your time tracking system in orderto reduce errors in data collection.
Not only should you track time within your company, but you should find the appropriate
time accounting platform to automate it for you. According to a major research advisory
firm, fully automating the timesheet process reduces errors and staff time by 75 percent or
more. Automation technologies and practices reduce improper time tracking activities and
associated costs by validating project/cost code lists and monitoring approval processes
electronically. Additional savings are realized by eliminating paper costs, and policy and
regulatory compliance is improved.
 Ensure that your company complies with SOX, DCAA and/or other relevant
standards.
When payroll executives implement time and attendance systems to automate payroll,
they often miss the chance to facilitate greater profitability throughout the entire company.
These payroll executives are, of course, payroll experts. They are usually not, however,
experts at project accounting or billing automation.
However, the time data, if collected appropriately, can also be used to automate project
management, project accounting, project tracking and project estimation improvement, as
well as for internal, external and reverse billing automation -- and any of these can become
SOX concerns. Most payroll and HR executives know little about these subjects, but
increasingly, they are being asked to rise to new challenges with federal regulation
requirements being just one of them.
 Effectively manage PT
O.
Controlling and understanding PTO expense allows you to recruit better talent. You can
promise people more vacation than your competitors if you know that it's controllable.
This tips the balance in your favor, allowing you to build a better team. It’s another way to
win.

3. The first issue businesses need to address when creating their PTO plan is what to do about
employees who quit or are terminated. Many states require that the balance of vacation
pay be paid when an employee leaves the firm unless the company has a policy that states
otherwise. If you choose to disallow vacation time to resigning employees and you run a
company of high turnover—a fact of life in certain industries, like retail or food service—
this allows you to reallocate the PTO that those who leave might have used in favor of those
who stick around. In essence, you can offer more generous PTO packages when recruiting
than your more lenient competitors can offer, at no additional cost. Considering the fact
that employees deserve benefits commensurate with their loyalty, it is also arguably more
ethical.
According to a recent Expedia.com study on U.S. vacation habits, in 2002, a typical
American was granted 16 vacation days, but only took 14 days off. Consequently, American
workers handed back over $21 billion in unused vacation days to employers that year. So
be generous when you hire. They probably won’t use it all anyway.
 Consider SaaS (Software
-as-a-Service).
We’ve already covered the need for an automated time tracking system. A Software-as-a-
Service or SaaS solution may be just what you need to increase profitability through time
tracking. Consider the following:
It removes much of your IT cost.
It reduces the risk involved in acquiring new software.
It allows you to influence product and service quality via an ongoing relationship with
the vendor.
It gives you the flexibility to change usage commitments as business circumstances
change.
It allows you to predict more accurately your ongoing expenses as your IT budget is
tightened and scrutinized.
The prevalence of hosted project- and time-tracking solutions is on the rise, and many
companies will be willing to try the model out -- especially if they understand the clear
benefits. After all, all they have to lose is one month's rent.
 Improve employee buy by clarifying rewards.
-in

4. Choosing the appropriate time management SaaS solution will only benefit your company if
you can get your employees to actually use it. Hourly workers are easiest to convince
because they want to be paid, so they already have an incentive. And yet, everyone
regardless of status should want the company to be a success, so once they understand that
using time tracking to automate billing—thereby making it more accurate—leads to more
revenue, they should become more open to it. (If your employees do not care about the
success of your company, timesheets won't help you. In that case, you’d better go back to
the basics of creating a moral, compelling vision of how your company makes the world a
better place.)
Project accounting is more abstract than payroll or billing, and you don’t want to wind
up with unnecessary overtime, stressful blown schedules, bad estimates or cancelled
projects. Try relating specific examples where good time collection could have prevented
problems in order to make that connection in the minds of your employees.
Time tracking and SaaS solutions are the tools that will see your business through to the
next level of profitability, and in today’s competitive environment, thoroughly
understanding your costs is no longer an option.
Reference Link: http://www.hr.com/en/app/blog/2012/04/7-ways-to-make-get-your-
company-organized-by-simpl_h0wruep6.html