Digital vs paper timesheets

Despite paper trails having ruled HR departments for as long as we can remember, a digital solution for any HR process will save you time, money, and boost company productivity. 

Businesses can opt for solutions like timesheet software, clocking in and out apps, time management and automation that records employee working hours. All in a bid to gain back valuable time to spend on growing the business. 

Reasons to choose digital timesheets 

Digital timesheet software allows you to bid paper trails a fond farewell. With no need for files and cabinets full of old paper timesheets, you can keep a secure digital record of your employee’s working hours in one, easy to access, digital location. This not only simplifies your people management; it also ensures that your business has centralized documentation and a high standard of record keeping—ready for audits, reviews and reporting. 

But what’s the catch? 

So, perhaps the initial investment into timesheet software will cost you more than a stack of paper would. But the ROI a modern software solution can provide reaches far beyond the capabilities of pen and paper. 

And, what’s more, by going paperless you’re contributing a little more each day to a healthier planet—perfect for businesses that want to reduce their carbon footprint. 

Other benefits of digital timesheets include: 

• Increase the efficiency and accuracy of employee records 

• Reduce employee time entry errors 

• Real-time scheduling and reporting capabilities 

• Generate reports on lateness and absence patterns 

• Easily compare time patterns between teams and individual staff members 

• Reduce timesheet abuse amongst teams (time theft and buddy punching) 

Why do so many businesses still use paper timesheets? 

Knowing this, you may be wondering why so many businesses continue to rely upon physical copies of employee working hours. 

Well, one of the first reasons businesses choose to stick to traditional methods is simplicity. It’s quite easy for any small business to make paper copies of a timesheet template to distribute amongst employees. Paper timesheets require only a small cost and can be filled out manually each week or month. 

The familiarity of pen and paper also works well for those employees who spend less time using digital technology and more time on manual tasks. This method of tracking their working hours is what they are used to and could be seen as a way to reduce confusion. 

Cons of using paper timesheets 

However, despite paper timesheets having been the standard, they can cause all sorts of problems for businesses. 

Time-consuming 

Expecting your employees to fill out a piece of paper every week often with the same information about their working patterns is incredibly tedious and time-consuming. 

Not only does this additional layer of admin take them away from their valuable duties, but it will consume your time too. And where you’re under-resourced or lacking time, more minutes lost to admin can be detrimental to business growth. 

Manual timesheets can lead to errors 

With paper documents and a manual record of working hours, mistakes can be made easily. And although they can be as simple as calculating hours incorrectly, this could massively cost your business, especially when it comes to your payroll processing. 

Employees can edit and mis-use paper timesheets 

Less likely but still possible, there have been numerous examples of employees intentionally abusing the system. It’s far easier to falsify documents and input the wrong hours when an employee is simply writing numbers on a piece of paper. This can create issues such as time theft and costs your business both in minutes and in dollars. 

It’s harder to compare records 

When you have stacks of timesheets from multiple employees over a long period of time, it can be difficult to use these pieces of paper to extract trends and patterns or get high level insight—making it hard for you to review your employee's working hours month-on-month and even year-on-year. 

Which is best for your business? 

To determine which method is right for your business, you should ideally consider both the pros and cons of each. 

Although paper timesheets are potentially easier to implement and are a familiar method to most members of your team, you could be saving your business both time and money with a digital timesheet solution. 

Discover modern timesheet solutions with BrightHR 

For a modern approach that can be tailored to the needs of your business, discover our award-winning HR software. A software that integrates the key elements of your HR processes into one, easy to use digital dashboard. 

From clocking in apps that record start, end and break times, to producing accurate timesheet reports using real-time data. Your time management can be revolutionized with the likes of Blip and many more of our innovative features. 

Book a free demo today to discover how BrightHR can transform your people management.