A reader wrote in asking for a recommendation on a ‘mount on the wall’ time clock that would work with QuickBooks Desktop.
Some people think actual 'time clocks' are sinking into the tar pits (along with old dinosaurs, like me) in favor of 'web-based' timekeeping APPs, several which I love. But the reality is, for many small businesses, especially those in a shop or fabrication environment, they can't have every employee logging-in and out of some web-service.
I realize that there are a lot of actual time clocks that work with QuickBooks out there, but I have pretty well stuck with recommending one specific line of products over all my years of QuickBooks consulting. That product-line is TimeTrax by Pyramid Time Systems.
There are several different versions of the TimeTrax Time Clock System, and a lot depends on exactly what you or your clients need. One version allows employees to simply ‘punch in and out using a swipe card. Another version uses proximity (RFID) badges, and another version offers a form of biometric identification by use of finger-print.
Card-racks are available for the 'swipe' machines so that the swipe cards can be stored adjacent to the clock just as when 'time cards' were used with punch-clocks. Of course, that still allows someone else to log-in for another employee.
One of the things l like about the ‘proximity’ system is that you can alternatively purchase a ‘RFID-fob’ (instead of RFID cards) to be attached to a key-chain or employee ID lanyard; that way you don’t have to worry about lost badges or 'friend log-in'.
Clean environments may find the biometric fingerprint reader the way to go, but they don't work well if either your clock is in a dirty shop, or if your workers have muck and grime on their hands when trying to use the fingerprint pad.
As a ProAdvisor recommending systems like this you need to work with your clients to select the system that is going to work best. In some environments a mix of different clock styles maybe appropriate.
TimeTrax Time Clocks work in conjunction with Pyramid's Attendance Software running on a Windows-PC, in most cases the clock(s) connect via an Ethernet local area network. Even within the model types there are different models that handle up to different numbers of employees. Except for one model, every model will handle up to 50 Employees, and some models can handle 500 employees, and others an unlimited number of employees.
It’s easy to differentiate your employees within TimeTrax, you can have payroll groups and employee groups, and some models support Department codes (that can be mapped to QuickBooks Class Codes). All the models support weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly pay periods and different payroll groups can have different pay periods.
Another available feature upgrade for most versions is ‘job code’ tracking which allows the recording of time spent on a job by job basis. Multiple job codes can be associated with departments, and multiple job codes can be assigned to employee groups. You can track job-code time entries back to jobs in QuickBooks.
My experience has shown that if you are installing the TimeTrax Time Clocks adjacent to an existing Ethernet network connection then you can install them in 15-minutes max. In other instances, I have installed them by plugging them into a ‘wireless’ repeater that we installed in companion with the time clock so that we could put the clock where it really needed to be. Many system models support multiple time clocks tying into the same software and QuickBooks connection, in fact they sell some models with 2 or 3 time clocks and the software for a package price.
Setting up the software, and performing the initial software handshake with QuickBooks, including the initial exchange of data will take about 20 to 30 minutes depending on the number of employees. TimeTrax allows you to Import Employees from QuickBooks once you have the initial connection configured. As part of this process you will select the various groups into which the employees will be configured within TimeTrax. This means you can import one set of employees into one set of groups, and then import other employees into different groups as needed.
Once the TimeTrax time clock(s) and software are set-up, the process of importing the time data from the clock into the software is simple, then review and resolve any issues (as when someone forgets to punch-out). When you are ready one click sends your time data to QuickBooks where it posts as time-sheets. Since you will have set-up your payroll configuration with QuickBooks to use time-sheet data to prepare payroll, your payroll will have the current time data from TimeTrax when you are ready to process it.
This article isn’t intended to serve as either a comprehensive product review or instruction manual, so I am not going to get into the specifics of how each of the various tasks in setting-up TimeTrax are performed. I will say that the documentation is really good, and I have only had to contact TimeTrax support for assistance on one occasion. When I did, I found them very knowledgeable about the product and more than able to assist me with a highly technical matter related to resolving an IP-address conflict.
Another thing I like about this product is availability. Some of the Office Supply stores, and Sam's Club, sell some models. Many times you can find them 'on sale' at these locations with prices cheaper than Pyramid sells them direct via their on-line website.
Once again, this is a system I have recommended and installed extensively in my QuickBooks ProAdvisor technology practice over the years. It certainly is not the only time clock system out there that works with QuickBooks Desktop, but in my way of thinking it is one of the most economical and simplest to install and use.