Best Practices for Effective Timesheet Management with Skhokho

Accurate and efficient timesheet management is crucial for any organization looking to streamline their payroll processes and keep track of employee hours worked. Timesheet management can often be a time-consuming and error-prone task, but with the right tools and strategies in place, it can be a breeze. In this tutorial, we will be exploring the best practices for effective timesheet management using Skhokho, a powerful and user-friendly timesheet platform.

We will cover the following topics in this article:

1. The importance of accurate timesheet management
2. The challenges with traditional timesheet management methods
3. Introducing Skhokho Timesheet Management Feature
4. The evolution of employee timesheets and the move towards technology-based solutions
5. The benefits of adapting to technology in timesheet management

Whether you're a new user of Skhokho or an experienced pro, this guide will provide you with actionable tips and tricks to optimize your timesheet management processes and ensure accurate payroll processing. So, let's dive in and learn how to maximize the potential of Skhokho for effective timesheet management.

The importance of accurate timesheet management

The importance of accurate timesheet management is a crucial aspect to consider. Accurate timesheet management is important for several reasons:

1. Accurate payroll processing: Accurate timesheets ensure that employees are paid the right amount for the hours they have worked. This helps to avoid over or underpayment and ensures that employees are paid fairly for their work.
2. Improved productivity: When employees accurately record the time they have worked, it provides a clear picture of their productivity levels. This information can be used to identify areas where improvements can be made and to allocate resources more efficiently.
3. Better project management: Accurate timesheet management provides valuable information for project managers to track the progress of projects and ensure that they are on track and within budget.
4. Compliance with regulations: Accurate timesheet management is also important for compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Organizations are often required to keep records of employee hours worked for tax and labor law purposes.
5. Increased transparency: Accurate timesheet management provides transparency and accountability in the workplace. This can help to build trust between employees and management, as well as promote a culture of honesty and responsibility.

The challenges with traditional timesheet management methods

Traditional timesheet management methods can present several challenges for organizations. Some of the common challenges include:

1. Time-consuming manual processes: Traditional timesheet management often involves manual processes such as manual data entry, manual calculation of hours worked, and manual approval of timesheets. These manual processes can be time-consuming, prone to errors, and difficult to manage.
2. Inaccurate data: Traditional timesheet management methods can result in inaccurate data due to manual errors, miscommunication, or human forgetfulness. This can lead to incorrect payroll processing, mismanagement of projects, and decreased employee morale.
3. Lack of real-time data: Traditional timesheet management methods typically do not provide real-time data. This can make it difficult for managers to track employee hours in real-time, which can hinder effective project management and limit the ability to respond to changing project requirements.
4. Limited reporting capabilities: Traditional timesheet management methods often have limited reporting capabilities, making it difficult to get a comprehensive view of employee hours worked, project progress, and overall performance.
5. Lack of automation: Traditional timesheet management methods typically lack automation, making it difficult to streamline processes and reduce the risk of errors.
    

Introducing Skhokho Timesheet Management Feature - Integrated within Human Resources, Payroll and Project Management

Skhokho is a comprehensive timesheet management platform that integrates with human resources, payroll, and project management. This feature-rich platform provides organizations with a streamlined and efficient way to manage employee timesheets, ensuring that they are accurate and up-to-date.

Human Resources Integration - Employee Timesheet Management

Skhokho integrates with your organization's human resources system, allowing for seamless management of employee information. This integration enables HR managers to access timesheet data and track employee attendance, making it easier to manage payroll and other HR-related processes.

This integration is automatic - to get started, ensure that you have entered employee payroll information accurately within the HR APP. Read more about Employee Payroll set-up Here: https://skhokho.io/documentation/hr/payroll.html 

What you will need to get started:

• Access to HR APP - HR Manager access enabled on your profile 
• Manager App - Access to Manager rights on your profile
• At least one employee with Project Management App access

Navigate to HR App, payroll section - https://skhokho.io/hr/hr-payroll-records

You do not need to enter employees here, their payroll record is added automatically when they are invited to Skhokho. What you are required to do is ensure that the employee package (basic salary, benefits and taxes) are calculated accurately to get the correct employee package. 

Employee Payroll Set-Up with Skhokho

1. Define the basic salary of the employee 
2. Add any deductions that you make to the salary - Tax is automatically added. In this space you can add deductions for the pension fund, medical etc, not already included in taxes. 
3. Add any taxable benefits
4. Add non-taxable benefits
5. View your mock-payslip based on the entires you have made. 

Once payroll is set up, the monthly cost of the employee can be calculated. The assumption will be that all employees work 40 hour weeks. This hourly rate will be carried over to the project app - where project billing and financing is calculated when timesheets are produced. 

Business Overheads - Accounts Set-up

A crucial step in timesheet management is setting up business overheads accounts. The following business overheads accounts are set-up automatically:

You can add to these new accounts to suit your specific business needs as required. These will be accounts that employees can book time to, outside of project work. They are included in your business budget and are generally covered within the business overheads. 

Business Project Accounts - Tasks to book time to

You employees will also be able to book time to specific projects that they are working on. Skhokho has simplified this by integrating the project milestone and task feature to timesheet bookings. 

When the project manager sets up a new project, they will assign project resources (employees within the organisation) towards tasks. This process and tutorial is covered in depth here: https://skhokho.io/blog/how-to-tutorials/the-ultimate-guide-to-project-finance-tracking-with-skhokho-b12f40d06146 

Once employees have been assigned to tasks and project managers have made hours available: These tasks will not be available for booking time within the employee personal app. Navigate to employee timesheets: https://skhokho.io/hr/personal/timesheet-view 

Click on “create new timesheet” - this is what you will see: 

Adding hours to timesheet:

Pick (1) for administration hours - where you can pick to add time to overheads booking codes as decided upon by your organisation or

(2) for project hours - every project you have been assigned to will be available here to book time to.

Timesheet Status:

Awaiting Approval - As soon as you submit your timesheet, the status will say “awaiting approval”. Your assigned line manager will see your timesheet and be able to approve it accordingly. Please note the line manager might be different from the project manager, and each employee might have multiple projects that they are booking time towards. There should be adequate communication between line managers and project managers on booking time.

Approved - Line manager can approve a timesheet.

Declined - Line manager can decline a timesheet.

Project Billing - Approved timesheets

The last step in the timesheet process is project billing. This is covered in great detail in this article: https://skhokho.io/blog/how-to-tutorials/the-ultimate-guide-to-project-finance-tracking-with-skhokho-b12f40d06146 

Project managers can create invoices based on time-booked and send directly to the client. This is a convenient way to ensure that the time charged to clients is accurate:

• Employees create their own timesheets based on hour actually spent.
• Line manages have real-time access to employee hours spent on different tasks.
• Project managers are immediately informed when hours are booked to their project.
• Project manages have full control to create: project resources (ability to book hours to project).
• Project managers can close project cost centres at any stage to prevent further time booking to their projects.
• Project billing is seamless.
• Full auditable records - if required by clients or auditors.

The evolution of employee timesheets and the move towards technology-based solutions

The evolution of employee timesheets has been marked by the move towards technology-based solutions. Gone are the days of manual timesheets, where employees would record their hours worked using pen and paper. Today, there is a growing trend towards the use of technology-based timesheet management solutions.

From manual to digital: The rise of digital technologies has led to the development of online timesheet management systems like Skhokho. Skhokho allows employees to record their hours worked electronically, providing a more accurate and efficient way of tracking time. Skhokho is also integrated to other business functions such as Payroll, Project Management and Accounts - allowing for seamless timesheet management. (a) Accurate hourly costs - are automatically pulled from the Payroll app, (b) project tasks are automatically made available for employees to book time to and (c) project managers can produce project invoices with just one click.

Mobile and WhatsApp access: Skhokho is one of the first technology companies to introduce Business Management on WhatsApp - allowing for capturing of timesheets directly from WhatsApp, making it convenient for employees to report on their time from anywhere. 

Wrapping it all together - the role of project finance and timesheet management

Skhokho is a comprehensive timesheet management platform that provides organizations with a streamlined and efficient way to manage employee timesheets. 

By incorporating technology into the timesheet management process, Skhokho offers a range of benefits to businesses, including:

1. Increased efficiency: Skhokho automates many of the manual tasks associated with timesheet management, such as calculating employee pay and tracking hours worked. This reduces the time and effort required to manage employee timesheets, freeing up HR and finance teams to focus on other tasks.
2. Improved accuracy: With Skhokho, employees can record their hours worked electronically, reducing the risk of manual errors. The platform also integrates with human resources and payroll systems, ensuring that timesheet data is accurate and up-to-date.
3. Real-time visibility: Skhokho provides real-time visibility into employee timesheets, making it easy for managers to monitor the progress of projects and the time being spent on each task. This helps organizations to make informed decisions about project timelines and allocate resources effectively.
4. Mobile accessibility: Skhokho's mobile app allows employees to record their hours worked from anywhere, at any time, providing greater flexibility and convenience. This ensures that employee timesheets are recorded accurately and up-to-date, even when employees are working remotely.

In conclusion, Skhokho timesheet management offers a range of benefits to organizations, making it an ideal solution for businesses looking to streamline their timesheet management processes and improve overall efficiency. With its automation of manual tasks, real-time visibility, and mobile accessibility, Skhokho is a valuable investment for businesses of all sizes.

Bertha Kgokong

Published on Feb. 6, 2023