Data entry’s a necessary evil in Payroll’s world. But is it eating up more of your staffers’ day than it should? Ask the Payroll Pete or Patty on your staff what the best part of the job is and it’s doubtful you’ll hear “entering time into the payroll system.” (It may even rank 11th in a list of their top 10 tasks.)
Unless you’re automated to the hilt, you’re probably always going to have some data entry in your payroll process. You still don’t want your people spending more time than they need to on this job.
So just how much time is too much?
Start by having your staffers track how much time they spend on time entry in a given pay period. Then compare your department’s responses to these benchmarks from the America Payroll Association:
The prime reason some companies have been able to cut the time they spend keying hours in half: automation.
Companies that use anything from time and attendance systems to employee self-service are freeing up their people to spend on higher level, greater value responsibilities – like tax compliance.