Timesheets collected and retyped for payroll
Hours written once, typed again, checked by nobody.
Hours are written down by the crew, collected by the office, and typed into payroll by hand.
Not every business has this problem, and some should leave it alone.
Most of these can be handled better. Whether it's worth doing is a separate question. What follows is one common form of the problem, described in general terms, because your version will differ. These are possible challenges, not a description of your business, and some should be left exactly as they are. If it sounds like your week, that's worth a conversation.
Sound familiar?
- Timesheets come in late, in different formats.
- Somebody spends payroll day chasing and typing hours.
- Hours on the timesheet do not match the job record.
- A pay mistake is found after payday.
What it looks like
Each person records their hours: on paper, in a text, on a shared sheet. Before payroll, somebody collects them, chases the missing ones, reads the handwriting, adds them up, and types them into the payroll system.
The same hours often need to reach the job record too, typed a second time.
What it costs
Payroll day is squeezed. Chasing and typing happen against a fixed deadline.
Pay mistakes are personal. A wrong entry reaches somebody's pay, and fixing it takes time and trust.
Job costs are wrong. If hours reach payroll but not the job record, the job looks cheaper than it was.
Where it goes wrong
- Hours arrive in many forms. Each needs reading differently.
- Totals are not checked. Hand-added totals are trusted.
- Hours are typed twice. Once for pay, once for the job.
- Late sheets have no clear path. A missing sheet is an exception that needs a person to review it, and nothing makes sure one does.
What a better version looks like
Hours are recorded once, in one form, on the day they are worked, and reach both payroll and the job record from that one entry. Before payroll, a list shows missing sheets and anything unusual — very long days, hours on a job that was closed — for a person to check.
What still needs a person
A person approves the hours before they are paid. A person talks to staff about anything that looks wrong. And payroll decisions stay with the people responsible for them.
Questions worth asking about your own operation
- How do hours get from the crew to payroll?
- How many times are the same hours typed?
- Do the hours paid match the hours charged to jobs?
- What happens when a sheet is late?
If this sounds familiar
Bring me the version you actually have. I'll learn how the process really works before I suggest anything. If it isn't worth changing, or isn't a fit for me, I'll say so. Talk through a problem