Upgrading Your Basic Time Clock

One of the reasons why Virtual TimeClock is one of the best time and attendance solutions is because of its ability to grow with your business. Even though it makes sense to purchase punch clock software that can handle your current number of employees, it's a good idea to plan for future expansion so you can minimize the cost of upgrading or expanding your time and attendance system.

Virtual TimeClock Basic Edition makes a great entry level time clock for small businesses. It's easy to use, tracks all hours and overtime, and calculates timecards for payroll processing in seconds. This makes it the perfect time clock software solution for businesses with up to 3 employees. Best of all, it's easy to expand. Your Basic Edition data can be easily converted to work with Virtual TimeClock Pro Edition. As your needs expand and you need to track time for additional employees, your time clock software will scale right along side the growth of your business so you can easily update your time clock to unlimited employees.

Upgrading from Basic to Pro Edition

1. Download and install Virtual TimeClock Pro Edition.

2. From the Welcome window click Open Your Database.

3. Select your Basic Edition database and click Open.

4. Click Continue to acknowledge you're converting your database.

That's it! Virtual TimeClock handles all the behind the scenes conversion activities to bring your time card data into your new time clock software.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Virtual TimeClock '11 Sneak Peek with Pictures!

Last month I was able to bring you some information regarding the new shifts feature in Virtual TimeClock '11. Well, this week I was able to get something even better. I think you're going to love these screenshots.

Shifts

This new feature revolves around user schedules that can be assigned a different shift for each day of the week. Shifts are composed of start and stop times that can be customized with different clock in and clock out restrictions, which gives you tremendous flexibility depending on how you want to manage employee overtime. Clock in restrictions allow you to record an early clock in as the shift start time or prevent early clock ins altogether outside of a user-defined grace period. Allowing users to clock in early but not starting until their actual shift start time is called a 'Courtesy Clock In'. Early clock ins can be overridden based on a new security access setting.

Clock out restrictions work in a similar fashion to control late clock outs. Plus we've added a new automatic clock out feature.

You'll also notice in this screenshot of the Shifts window an option to set a shift differential to use when calculating gross wages on your timecard reports.

Worker Actions

Virtual TimeClock '11 has a new dialog for performing actions like clocking in and out, changing activities, going on break, or heading out to lunch. Workers are clearly alerted when their punch time violates their shift restrictions, including trying to clock in on an unscheduled day. The new security setting determines whether an override is allowed and what user access level is needed to perform the override.

Well, I hope that whets your appetite for Virtual TimeClock '11. I know this new shifts feature is going to be a valuable tool for controlling employee overtime.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

New Time Clock Software Features

Have you ever wished a software program could do more? Software developers love user feedback, and we're no exception. Messaging, leave & attendance tracking, timecard notes and payroll integration are just a few examples of new features that were added to Virtual TimeClock based on requests from time clock software users.

Each request we receive is taken seriously. If it's a new request, it's added to our feedback database and assigned a tracking number along with the contact information of the customer. If the feature or functionality has been requested before, then the request count is updated and the contact information of the customer is recorded so we can send notifications, seek clarification on the nature of the request, or announce beta testing opportunities.

During each development cycle, the engineering team evaluates requests based on three criteria:

1. How many customers have requested the feature.
2. How well does the feature fit with existing time clock features or functionality.
3. How much engineering time and effort will be required to implement the feature.

While we can't promise new features or forecast release dates for software in development, we'll certainly let you know if your feature request has been implemented in a new time and attendance software release. So drop us a note and let us know what more you'd like your employee time clock to do.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

Time Clock Software Errors

Virtual TimeClock uses an efficient, fast and reliable SQL database engine. This means data corruption is virtually non-existent. However, hardware failure can certainly influence the integrity of your payroll time clock. That's why it's so important to back up your punch clock software regularly. Cryptic error messages can be alarming, so Virtual TimeClock will always return a very specific error code if there's a problem reading or writing to the database. Customers report the following error codes several times a year.

Error 13 - Insertion failed because database is full

This error is a result of a full hard disk. It's usually encountered when trying to clock in or out because there's no more room on the computer hard drive for the new record. It most commonly happens when running your time and attendance software on an older computer. You'll need to move Virtual TimeClock (the Virtual TimeClock Server if you're using the Network Edition) to a different computer or try and free up some space on the hard disk.

Error 14 - Unable to open the database file

This error is encountered when launching the program and will occur for one of two reasons. The most common is because the database has been moved to a different computer and permissions have changed on the database file or the database folder. Make sure the database file and database folder heave read & write permissions for everyone. The second reason you may see this error is because the database file is no longer in the location that the program is looking for it, or the name of the database file has changed.

Although errors with your employee time clock are rare, it's important to report them so we can help you quickly get your time clock software up and going again.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Time Clock Software Administrators

Some time clock software administrators may only use the time clock program infrequently because there may be another time clock administrator who oversees day-to-day time clock operations, or some of the routine functions like editing timecards or processing payroll has been delegated to a manager. Here are two security related items that directly impact time clock administrators.

Forgotten administrative password

There's no master or system password in Virtual TimeClock because every password belongs to a specific user account for auditing purposes. If you are a time clock administrator who's forgotten your administrator level password, give us a call and we can help you gain access to the program once again.

Administrative mode

Administrative mode is a great tool for performing all your employee time clock software tasks with a single password entry. Go to the Tools menu and choose Administrative Mode. Enter your password to disable security on just that time clock. When you're all done, go back to the Tools menu and choose Exit Administrative Mode or just quit your time clock to restore local security.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

Virtual TimeClock '11 Sneak Peek

Engineering has been hard at work on Virtual TimeClock '11. This week I was able to sneak a peek at some of the new features. I must say that I'm very excited because this release addresses several of our top requests related to punch in and out rules. The new shifts feature is going to be an indispensable tool for those businesses looking for a way to get control of unauthorized overtime. Don't quote me on any of this, but here's some teaser information based on what I've seen so far.

Prevent early clock in

Let's say you set up a new shift rule with a start time of 8:00 am. You have 2 choices on how to handle early clock ins. You can either record all clock ins as the shift start time (clock in at 7:53 am but gets recorded as 8:00 am), or you can prevent early clock ins outside of a user-defined grace period. Plus, you can even define an override to allow an early clock in with manager approval.

Authorize late clock out

Likewise, let's say you set up a new shift rule with a stop time of 5:00 pm. You can either record all clock outs as the shift end time (clock out at 5:12 pm but gets recorded as 5:00 pm), or you can allow late clock outs beyond a user-defined grace period with manager approval.

Automatic clock out

Another great part of the new shifts feature is the ability to set an automatic clock out. For example, you can automatically clock out all workers who are still on the clock 15 minutes past their shift stop time. This should prevent missed punches at the end of the day when workers are a little too eager to get on the road or just learning how to use the time clock.

There's plenty more, and I'm only scratching the surface in terms of the power of this new employee time clock software tool. I'll keep you posted on new developments just as soon as I can sneak them out of the drawing room.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Time Clock In/Out Board Software

I love the way the main time clock window functions as a virtual in/out board. It makes it so easy to know who's in, who's out, who's on break, and who's at lunch. Here are a couple of quick tips for maximizing Virtual TimeClock as your in/out board software.

Adding and removing display columns

You can choose what columns you want to have displayed on your in/out board, and each time clock can be different. On Mac, from the Virtual TimeClock menu, choose Preferences. On Windows PCs, from the Edit menu, choose Preferences. You'll be able to select what columns you want to show on your in/out board.

Name sorting and separate worker lists

You can also change the way your in/out board lists employee names. Maybe you want the first name listed first. Another option is to show employees in 2 separate lists. This is great because workers that are out are listed on one side and workers that are in are listed on the other. These settings are also found in the preferences for each time clock.

Sorting and adjusting columns

Your employee time clock software has way more flexibility than a traditional in/out board. You an click on the column name header to quickly change the sort order. You can also adjust the window size and column widths by using your mouse to drag the column separators in either direction.

Experiment with your time clock software preferences until you get just the look you want.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

Internet Time Clocks

One of the great features about Virtual TimeClock is the ability to network time clocks at different locations over the Internet. This allows you to monitor employee status real-time from the convenience of your own computer, and process payroll from 1 spot rather than having to make a trip to each remote office to gather the hours worked.

2 things must be done before using Virtual TimeClock over the Internet. The Internet connection at your time clock server computer location needs to use a static IP address, and you need to open a port on the router managing that Internet connection.

Static IP address

A static IP address is necessary to access your network from a remote location because a static IP address doesn't change. Have your Internet service provider (ISP) upgrade your Internet service to include a static IP address and have them update the router configuration at your time clock server location to use the new static IP address.

Port forwarding

You must also open a single port on the router at your time clock server location to allow remote time clock clients to connect. The employee time clock clients then connect to the router using the static IP address and the router forwards the information to the time clock server. This is commonly known as 'port forwarding' or 'port mapping'. To use port forwarding, you must configure TCP/IP manually on the computer running the time clock server so it uses a specific IP address rather than obtaining one automatically.

Since every router is a little bit different, you'll need to consult the user's guide that came with your router for the exact steps to set up port forwarding. We do have some router configuration examples on our website that you may find helpful.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Daylight Saving Time and Your Time Clock

Since Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends November 7, you may be anxious as to how seasonal time changes affect your time and attendance software. The good news is that for most time clock software users, there's no impact at all.

Virtual TimeClock gets the time stamp for all punch times from the computer running your time clock software. With the Network Edition, the time clock server computer supplies the time stamp. So as long as the computer running your time clock software handles the time change automatically, Virtual TimeClock will always record the correct time for you. If you have worker shifts that cross the time change, then you'll need to manually add or subtract an hour for that shift, depending on the time of year.

Enjoy your extra hour of slumber!

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

Importing Time Clock Users

It's easy to add new Virtual TimeClock users when you have the appropriate security privileges. You may need to add a new employee to your time clock software so they can start recording work entries, or you may need to add a new manager to the time clock so they can begin to monitor their worker's activities. Of course, time clock administrators have unlimited access to all time clock functions. So what do you do if you want a manager to be able to add new users but you don't want to give them full administrative access? Importing users may be the solution.

You can import users at any time by creating a CSV (comma separated value) file. You can use Excel or a text editor to create and format the import file. Each line within the file represents a user and each comma within the line represents a field for that user.

Fields are imported in the following order:

Last Name,First Name,Middle Name,Address,City,State,Zip Code,Home Telephone,Employee Number,Social Security Number,Password,Wage,Department Name

Unused fields may be empty as long as each line contains exactly 12 commas separating the 13 fields. Each password must be unique, and in order for the new user to be assigned to a department, the department must already exist.

Now a manager can set up a new user so they can begin using your employee time clock without giving them access to the Users list window.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Time Clock System Requirements

If you're looking to purchase new computer equipment before the end of the year then you'll want to make sure your current version of Virtual TimeClock is compatible. System requirements for your version can be found in the user's guide available from the Help menu within your time clock program. If you're thinking about upgrading your time clock software with your current computer configuration, here's a listing of the recommended system requirements for Virtual TimeClock '10.

Stand Alone Time Clocks

Virtual TimeClock Basic

• Mac OS X 10.3 - 10.6 Snow Leopard
• Windows XP, Vista, 7
• 1 GHz or faster processor
• 40 MB free hard disk space
• 32 MB free memory
• 32 bit native / 64 bit compatible

Virtual TimeClock Pro

• Mac OS X 10.3 - 10.6 Snow Leopard
• Windows XP, Vista, 7
• 1 GHz or faster processor
• 60 MB free hard disk space
• 32 MB free memory
• 32 bit native / 64 bit compatible

Network Time Clocks

Virtual TimeClock Server

• Mac OS X 10.4 - 10.6 Snow Leopard
• Windows XP, Vista, 7, Server '03, Server '08
• 1 GHz or faster processor
• 80 MB free hard disk space
• 64 MB free memory
• 32 bit native / 64 bit compatible

Virtual TimeClock Pro Client

• Mac OS X 10.3 - 10.6 Snow Leopard
• Windows XP, Vista, 7
• 1 GHz or faster processor
• 40 MB free hard disk space
• 32 MB free memory
• 32 bit native / 64 bit compatible

If you need to upgrade your time and attendance system in order to be compatible with new computer equipment or just want to take advantage of new time clock software features, then contact us so we can provide you with discounted upgrade pricing.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

Missed Time Clock Punches

A new time and attendance system can take some getting used to, especially if your employees are coming from a manual system like paper time sheets. If you're coming from a mechanical punch clock, the transition might be a little easier. Regardless of your prior time tracking system, employees are occasionally going to forget to clock out. Don't worry, Virtual TimeClock has some built-in tools that make it easy to correct missed punches.

Missed Lunches

If an employee forgets to punch out for lunch, you'll want to use the insert functionality to quickly bring their employee time card current. If it's still the same day, then select the worker's name in the main time clock window. From the Actions menu, choose Insert Lunch Entry. Now just enter the start and stop time for the lunch break, add a note, and save the changes. Virtual TimeClock will automatically end the morning shift, create a separate entry for lunch, and create another entry for the afternoon shift. Missed lunches from past days can be quickly fixed from the Entry Editor.

Forgot to Clock Out

If an employee forgets to clock out at the end of their shift, that's easy to fix as well. Select the worker's name in the main time clock window. From the Actions menu, choose Modify Selected Entry. Now just enter the time they stopped work, add a note, and save the changes. If the forgotten clock out isn't discovered until the next day, the employee won't be able to punch in until they punch out from the day before. So just instruct them to clock out in order to end the previous shift and then immediately clock in to begin their new shift. The prior shift times can be quickly modified from the Entry Editor.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Adding Old Punch Clock Records

It's not unusual for new Virtual TimeClock software users to want to enter past employee punch times so their new time and attendance software contains all of their historic payroll data for the year. They may want all their time tracking records in the same system, or they may want their year-to-date timecard software totals to be accurate, especially if they're tracking jobs or projects.

You can certainly add past punch clock details, but you'll need to open a custom payroll period first. From the Tools menu, choose Payroll Period. Note your current payroll period settings so you can revert back to them when you're done. Change the payroll frequency to User Defined. Set the period start date to the earliest date you have records for. Set the period end date to the current date and save. Now you can add the historic punches as manual entries. When you're all done, you can reset your payroll settings back to what they should be.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

Restaurant Time Clock Software

Virtual TimeClock makes a great punch clock replacement for your restaurant or cafe because it performs vital functions beyond keeping track of hours worked for payroll purposes.

Different Rates for Different Roles

Many restaurants are looking for a way to track how much time employees are spending performing different activities. This is because each employee may receive a different rate for waiting tables, hosting, or catering. Virtual TimeClock allows you to set up and track each of these activities for each employee. From the Lists menu, choose Activities. Click the + button to add the new activity. Now, when employees start their shift, they can pick what role they're performing. If their role changes, they simply click the New Activity toolbar icon and pick what they're doing next. They can change activities as often as they need to throughout their shift. Each employee's timecard will show a break down of the hours worked for each activity that can now be easily entered into your payroll software, which should already have the appropriate rates for each employee role.

Report Employee Tips

Virtual TimeClock is also a great way for employees to report their tips. You can add a timecard note at the end of your shift with the amount of tips earned. Select your latest entry in the main time clock window, click the Entry Note toolbar icon, and enter your password. You'll be able to add a note containing total tips, report the reason for discrepancies, or explain a late or missed punch time.

This is why Virtual TimeClock is vital computer time clock software for your restaurant.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Processing Payroll at the End of a Period

Processing and closing payroll periods in Virtual TimeClock can be performed quickly and easily by following a few simple steps.

Review Employee Timecards

The first step is to view or print employee timecards for the current period. Click the Timecard toolbar icon in the main window of your employee time clock software. This will automatically compile a timecard for each individual worker's hours and overtime for the current payroll period.

Edit Employee Hours

Next you'll need to correct missed punch times and add manual entries. You may need to edit an entry to correct a missed punch time, or add a manual entry to give an employee credit for working offsite or for paid time off. Click the Entry Editor toolbar icon in the main window of your payroll time clock software to select entries for editing or to add manual entries.

Process Payroll

Virtual TimeClock offers payroll integration with several popular online and desktop payroll software systems. This allows you to export a specially formatted time clock file that makes your payroll process easier, more accurate, and less time consuming. If you're nor set up for payroll integration, it's still easy to print a report of hours worked for manual entry into your payroll system, or reporting to your payroll processor. From the Reports menu, choose Timecard Summary.

Close Payroll Period

Once all hours for the payroll period have been entered, reviewed, and corrected as necessary the payroll period should be closed. From the Tools menu, choose Close Payroll Period. Closing the payroll period will cause Virtual TimeClock to write the total hours, overtime, and gross wages for the current payroll period to your time clock software database. It will also advance the current payroll period using your payroll cycle settings.

We've written a complete guide to help you prepare your employee hours for payroll processing and start a new payroll period.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Mac and PC Time Clocks

Virtual TimeClock is easy to set up on both Microsoft Windows and Macintosh OS X computers. This flexibility allows you to mix and match any combination of computer time clocks on your network. You can install employee time clock software on a single computer as a stand alone time clock which will provide company wide access for all workers. Or you can install time clocks on each computer in your business to provide personal access for each employee, while providing management with full administrative access and the ability to monitor the status of each employee. You can even download a free time clock software trial and try it out with your exact business configuration.

You can check to see if your computers meet our time clock software system requirements by visiting our website. If they don't, contact us and we'll help you figure out exactly what you need.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

Network Time Clocks Made Easy

If you're looking into the Network Edition of our employee time clock software, remember that there are 2 separate software downloads that you'll need. The Virtual TimeClock Server is designed to run securely as a background process on a single computer on your computer network. The Virtual TimeClock Pro Client connects to the Virtual TimeClock Server over the network and lets the TimeClock Server handle all the database processing and file management. Install the Network Edition when you need advanced Pro level features and unlimited employee access from multiple computers.

You should only need to access your TimeClock Server program rarely, like to update your license keys or check logs. You'll need a TimeClock Client on every computer that needs a computer time clock for punching in and out, printing timecards, and performing administrative activities like correcting missed punch times or adding employee sick days.

So to recap, the TimeClock Server program gets installed on 1 computer, the TimeClock Pro Client software gets installed on all the other computers (you can even install a Timeclock Client on the same computer as the TimeClock Server). We've got detailed time clock software installation instructions to help you out every step of the way.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

Troubleshooting Local Network Computer Time Clocks

Employee time clock software clients connect to the time clock server software over the network and let the time clock server handle all the database processing and file management. Sometimes, firewall or antivirus software may block port communications between the time clock server and the time clock client, thus interfering with the automatic connection process.

Troubleshooting Existing Time Clock Client Connections

If you've been running Virtual TimeClock for some time and time clock clients suddenly stop connecting, you'll you want to verify that the time clock server is up and running. Sometimes, the computer running the time clock server got accidentally shut down and just needs to be restarted. Other times, the time clock server functions have gone offline for some other reason. Launch the Virtual TimeClock Server and check the Status panel. If you see any red 'X's then try restarting the server from the Daemon menu on Mac or Service menu on Windows computers. That should bring everything back online and allow your time clock clients to connect once again.

Troubleshooting New Time Clock Client Connections

If you're having trouble connecting time clock clients for the first time, then the culprit is likely the built-in firewall on the time clock server computer. You'll need to set up a couple of port exceptions within the firewall configuration. Add a new port exception named 'VTC TCP' for port number 56777 with a protocol of TCP. Add a second port exception named 'VTC UDP' for port number 56778 with a protocol of UDP. Now try connecting to the TimeClock Server again.

If you're still having trouble connecting your time clock clients, contact time clock software support for assistance. New antivirus software or an update to the virus definition file are infamous for blocking established network computer time clock connections.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Troubleshooting Your Employee Time Clock

There are a number of things that can affect the operation of your employee time clock software. Operating system updates, new antivirus software definition files, and hardware failure can all cause Virtual TimeClock, or any software, to become unstable. If you experience a problem or error when using your time and attendance software, it's important to note what happened or what's changed. Usually, a problem encountered with Virtual TimeClock is related to some other event like a hardware crash, an automatic system update, the installation of antivirus software, or the replacement of a printer. It's important to understand what's new or what happened immediately before the problem occurred in order to help isolate the cause of the problem.

If a problem with Virtual TimeClock can be reliably reproduced, it can be fixed. If the problem is intermittent or a one-time event, it's difficult to determine the cause and even more difficult to know when the problem has been solved. First, try to reproduce the steps or actions that led to the problem. Second, write down or screen capture any errors that occur along the way. Tracking the problem carefully provides the best opportunity to know what the issue is and when it's been resolved. Here are some basic troubleshooting tips that will fix most problems you may experience.

Restart the software

If Virtual TimeClock begins to produce unexpected results, the best first course of action is to quit and restart the program.

Reboot the computer

The system resources of a computer can become unpredictable for a number of reasons. If this occurs, Virtual TimeClock can perform unpredictably as well. If a computer reboot doesn't fix the problem with Virtual TimeClock, shut down the computer (do not rely on a restart!). Now start the computer again and test the functionality of Virtual TimeClock.

Rebuild data indexes

Occasionally, a system crash or other memory hiccup can cause Virtual TimeClock's indexes to become unreliable or inconsistent. The program indexes are checked for integrity at program start up so a restart of the program will usually fix any indexing issues. To rebuild the database indexes manually on Virtual TimeClock Pro:

1. From the Tools menu, choose Database Maintenance.
2. Click the Reindex button.
3. Click the OK button to acknowledge that all database tables have been successfully reindexed.

Next steps

If the above troubleshooting tips don't fix the problem, try some of these additional troubleshooting steps.

• Software updates - check the Virtual TimeClock software release notes to see if the problem you're experiencing has already been fixed and included in an update.
• Web site help - Many of our support inquiries can be answered in the list of our customer's most commonly asked questions, the archives of product newsletters and technical articles, and the various training and installation guides available for your employee time clock software.
• Contact us - contact a member of the time clock software technical support team for further assistance.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

More Than One Business Location?

Employee time clock software makes tracking weekly overtime easy, even if employees work at more than one of your business locations. A question we often get asked is, "What's the best Virtual TimeClock solution for my business if I have more than one location?" Well, the answer to that question depends on a couple of factors.

Stand Alone Time Clocks

Placing a stand alone employee time clock at each location makes the most sense if:

• Internet connectivity is unavailable or unreliable.
• Employees don't routinely work at the different locations.
• You don't mind the potential inconvenience of going to each site to edit or collect timecards.
• The locations represent separate business enterprises.

Network Time Clocks

Networking employee time clocks makes the most sense if:

• Internet connectivity is available and reliable.
• Employees routinely work at the different locations so need consolidated timecards to accurately track weekly overtime.
• You want the convenience of editing and viewing timecards for all locations from your own computer.
• You want to be able to monitor employee punch times in real-time from your own computer.
• You want to take advantage of the cost savings of networked time clock software package licensing.

If you want to discuss your computer time clock licensing needs in more detail, please contact a member of our time clock software customer service team. If you need help getting your different locations connected to a networked time clock, check out our time clock software remote connectivity guide.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

Missing Employee Overtime?

A major reason time clock software makes a great punch clock replacement is its ability to instantly total and separate hours worked into regular and overtime based on defined business rules. This is what saves your payroll specialist and bookkeeper so much time when preparing payroll time clock software hours for your payroll provider.

There are certain situations that cause all hours to be reported as regular hours on your employee timecards. Two of them are related to user settings, and the third is a time calculation setting. We'll look at the user settings in your Virtual TimeClock software first.

The most common reason an employee timecard doesn't calculate overtime is because the employee doesn't have an overtime rule assigned. This is usually not noticed until the first time a timecard is generated after the employee has been added as a new user to your computer time clock. Since a different overtime rule can be assigned to each individual worker, it makes it easy to place your employees on alternative work schedules.

To assign an overtime rule:

1. From the Lists menu, choose Users.
2. Select the user from the list of workers on the left pane.
3. Click the Wages tab.
4. Click the Overtime drop-down list to assign an overtime rule.
5. Save and run the worker timecard again.

A second reason you may not see overtime calculated on an employee timecard is because the employee is a salaried worker. Salaried workers are exempt from overtime calculations in Virtual TimeClock. If you need to calculate overtime for a worker, change their wage type to hourly.

To check an employee wage type:

1. From the Lists menu, choose Users.
2. Select the user from the list of workers on the left pane.
3. Click the Wages tab.
4. Click the Type drop-down list to change the wage type.
5. Save and run the worker timecard again.

The final reason you may not see overtime calculated on an employee timecard is less common. This time calculation setting only affects daily overtime rules. It controls how many hours a worker has to be off the clock before restarting daily overtime calculations. The default value is 4 hours off the clock. This means that if a worker goes more than 4 hours between shifts, then the accrual of daily overtime will start over with the second shift.

To check the hours off the clock for shift restart:

1. From the Tools menu, choose Time Calculations.
2. You'll see the shift restart setting in the Daily & Weekly Overtime section.

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

QuickBooks Accounting Software Integration

As we've discussed in the past, there are several different systems involved in the payroll process. Employee time clock software gathers and prepares employee hours for payroll by segregating regular hours, overtime hours, and paid leave for the payroll period into separate totals. Your payroll system generates the checks after multiplying the different hours categories by the appropriate rate for each employee and applying the necessary state and federal deductions. Finally, business accounting software is used to record the payroll journal entries into your general ledger.

The new Virtual TimeClock payroll integration feature allows you to export your employee payroll for use in uploading into several popular payroll systems like SurePayroll, Paychex Preview, Paychex Online, PayChoice, AccountEdge, and CheckMark Payroll. Many of these payroll providers offer accounting integration to QuickBooks so payroll journal entries can be automatically posted to your general ledger.

We've partnered with SurePayroll, the leading online payroll provider, to offer Virtual TimeClock software users a payroll time clock software solution that allows you to go from time clock to paycheck in a few simple steps. Add QuickBooks accounting integration, and the process is automatically completed by eliminating duplicate entry and the chance for errors.

SurePayroll provides accounting integration with the following Intuit QuickBooks products:

• QuickBooks 2010 Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Solutions
• QuickBooks 2010 for Mac
• QuickBooks 2009 Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Solutions
• QuickBooks 2008 Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Solutions
• QuickBooks Pro and Premier 2003-2007 (Intuit has discontinued technical support and business services for QuickBooks 2007 and older, and recommends upgrading to QuickBooks 2010)

This means Virtual TimeClock + SurePayroll + QuickBooks = Worry Free Payday

Jeff Morrow

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software

Tracking Worker Lunches

Some employers like to track the time workers are spending on their lunch breaks even though it's unpaid. You may want to do this for a variety of reasons, but the two most common are to make sure phone coverage or customer care is being adequately provided for, and the other is to make sure employees are not abusing their lunch breaks by taking excessive time away from the office.

The lunch tracking feature in your computer time clock software makes tracking worker lunch breaks easy to do. The first thing is to verify that lunch breaks are set up according to your business rules.

1. From the Tools menu of your Virtual TimeClock software, choose Time Calculations.
2. Change the worker lunch label if you'd like to be more explicit (like 'Unpaid Lunch').
3. Verify lunch calculations are unpaid.

Now instead of stopping work to go on a lunch break, employees can click the Lunch icon on the toolbar in the main time clock window. Their status will change to 'Lunch'. When they come back from lunch, they simply double-click their name, pick what activity they're returning to, and enter their password. Time spent at lunch will be recorded in a separate 'Unpaid' column on your worker timecard reports.

If you don't want employees to use the lunch tracking feature, then you can remove it within your program preferences.

1. From the Virtual TimeClock menu on Mac, or the Edit menu on Windows PCs, choose Preferences.
2. Click the User Access tab.
3. Uncheck Worker Lunch in the Toolbar Buttons section and save.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service Team

Redcort Software

How Do You See Time?

Time can be a funny thing, especially when you're trying to switch between decimal and time calculations for the same hours worked. Let me give you an example. Total hours worked of eight hours and fifteen minutes can be displayed as either '8:15' when displayed in time format, or as '8.25' when displayed in decimal format. Both represent eight and a quarter hours. The conversion itself comes down to basic math. To covert minutes to decimals you need to divide by 60. To convert decimals to minutes you need to multiply by 60.

The dilemma is that workers typically like to see their timecards showing total hours worked as hours and minutes (it's a lot easier to understand 50 minutes than .83 hours), but decimal hours are usually required for payroll processing. The good news is that your Virtual TimeClock software will perform all of these calculations for you based on a single configuration setting.

1. From the Reports menu, choose Report Writer.
2. The Timecard Detail report should already be selected for you.
3. Click the Format tab.
4. In the Time Display section you can choose how to display total hours worked.

Check out the missing dollar riddle article for a great explanation on the time to decimal conversion dilemma.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service

Redcort Software

Time Clock Software Implementation Strategies

New Virtual TimeClock software users often ask us the best way to get their new employee time clock software off the ground and running smoothly. Since we've been helping businesses with their time and attendance needs for over 20 years, we usually have some suggestions! So here are some ideas and strategies for implementing your new employee time tracking system.

Previous Time Tracking Methods

How you were handling employee time tracking before plays a role in how employees, both workers and management, will respond to the new time and attendance system. Generally speaking, if employees were accustomed to going to a central location to punch in, like an employee break room, then they'll have a fairly easy time adapting to time clock software running on a computer in any central and convenient location. In other words, the habit of going to a dedicated place for punching in has already been established.

Companies that have been using paper timesheets to track employee attendance may experience a tougher transition. This is mostly due to the fact that most employees have not been held accountable for their time, and are likely filling out timesheets the day before payroll is due.

Time Clock Software Implementation Strategies

A common scenario, especially for larger businesses, is to go live with the new time and attendance system with only part of the staff. This gives you time to fine tune security settings and processes based on your business workflow and rules before rolling the system out to all of your employees. It also allows you the opportunity to experiment with different time clock station locations while impacting a minimum amount of staff. One of the keys to a successful implementation is making time clock stations easily accessible.

Since the early adopters become familiar with both the software and any new processes, they become excellent trainers for their colleagues that are to follow later. This staged deployment has several practical benefits, especially for larger organizations.

I hope this provides you with some ideas for deploying your new employee time clock software.

Jeff Morrow

Help Desk

Redcort Software

How to Change Your Punch Time Display Format

Tracking and displaying time is at the heart of any time clock program so it's nice when your time clock software is flexible in how time and dates can be formatted. Your Virtual TimeClock software relies on the date and time formats set by your operating system to control the display of those elements in the time and attendance program, most noticeably in the main time clock program window and on your employee time card reports. This is what makes Virtual TimeClock so successful all over the world, it can adapt to just about any business environment and most cultural settings that require special date and time formatting.

A common request is how to display punch times in military time, which operates off a 24-hour clock.

How to change the time format on Mac

1. Open the Date & Time System preference.
2. Click Open International.
3. Click the Formats tab.
4. Click the Customize button in the Times section.
5. Click the hour drop-down list and choose one of the 24-hour clock formats.
6. Click OK and then restart your time clock program for the change to take effect.

How to change the time format on Windows

1. Open the Date and Time Control Panel.
2. Click Regional and Language Options.
3. Click Customize this format.
4. Click the Time tab.
5. Click the Time format drop-down list and choose one of the 24-hour clock formats.
6. Click Apply and then restart your time clock program for the change to take effect.

Jeff Morrow

Help Desk

Redcort Software

Moving Virtual TimeClock Made Easy

Moving employee time clocks can seem intimidating at first, especially when you don't know the first step. You may find it necessary to move your computer time clock to another computer that offers more convenient access to all your employees, like a break room or employee entrance. Or you may need to move your time clock software to a different computer because of hardware failure or personnel changes.

Here's a quick overview:

1. If you're moving Virtual TimeClock Pro or your Virtual TimeClock Server, you'll need to make a backup of your database.
2. After creating the backup file, you'll need a method of transporting your database file to the new computer, like a USB flash drive.
3. Download your edition of Virtual TimeClock onto the new computer and restore the database.
4. Activate your software license on the new computer.

We've got detailed instructions for moving employee time clock software on our website, including what to do if hardware failure prevents you from creating a backup file.

Moving is not so bad, especially when you don't have to pack any boxes!

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service

Redcort Software

Switching Employee Leave Tracking Systems

Virtual TimeClock is more than just a simple punch clock replacement. It provides full time and attendance tracking with payroll integration. If you're tracking employee leave in with some other system, you may want to consider switching the leave tracking responsibilities over to your employee time clock software. Depending on when you want to make the switch, there are a couple of options for bringing over those leave balances depending on how you're accruing leave benefits.

Of course, the best time to make the switch is when starting a new benefit year. If you're switching mid-year and you're accruing benefits based on an annual award, then you can just enter the current employee balances as carryover into Virtual TimeClock. You'll just need to adjust the carryover based on your business rules at the end of the benefit year and set up the new annual award amounts.

If you're already accruing benefits based on a calculated award, then you can still enter current employee balances as carryover into Virtual TimeClock, but then you'll need to either adjust the calculation rate based on the time remaining in the current benefit year, or set the employee's award anniversary to the date you want to start using your employee time clock software to start tracking leave. You'll still need to adjust the carryover and accrual rate at the end of the benefit year.

Jeff Morrow

Help Desk

Redcort Software

Secure and Flexible Time Clock Software

One of the brilliant design features of Virtual TimeClock is how the main time clock software window functions as a virtual in/out board. This let's you quickly determine who's in and out with just a glance. This is also what allows you to easily deploy Virtual TimeClock as a time clock station that can be used by multiple workers. To make the punch in and out process as quick as possible for all time clock users, they aren't asked to login to the software at first launch. However, they are required to enter a password before accessing any of the functions within the time clock program.

For some time clock administrators, this may become tedious as they move around within the time clock program performing their different administrative functions. There is a way to quickly disable password protection temporarily so you don't have to keep entering your password. From the Tools menu, choose Enter Administrative Mode. Now enter your administrative password. You'll see the phrase ADMINISTRATIVE MODE displayed in the lower left-hand corner of your time clock.

To restore password protection on your time clock, simply exit and re-launch the program, or choose Exit Administrative Mode from the Tools menu. Remember, this only disables security on your time clock, security is still enforced on all the other computer time clocks on the network.

Jeff Morrow

Help Desk

Redcort Software

New Time Clock Software Features

Virtual TimeClock has certainly changed over the years. Many of those changes are the result of ideas and feedback that come directly from our customers, the ones who use our employee time clock software everyday. We regularly release software updates to incorporate some of those great ideas. Of course, those upgrades are free for customers enrolled in our time clock software maintenance and support program.

We love to get feedback about our employee time clock software! Here's how you can request a new feature. Contact us by telephone or email. Describe what you what like to see added to the time clock program, how you would use the new feature, and why it's important to you. As part of our engineering review, we evaluate feature requests based on three criteria:

• How well does the requested feature fit logically with our existing feature set?
• How much engineering time and effort is needed to implement the requested feature?
• How many other customers have requested the feature?

We can't promise that your new feature will be included in the next software release, but we'll definitely let you know if it does get included.

Maggie Hofer

Customer Service

Redcort Software

Reopening Closed Payroll Periods

In order to use your employee time clock software effectively, it's important to understand the role of closing payroll periods. Closing payroll periods performs two functions:

• Virtual TimeClock calculates and writes the total hours, overtime, and gross wages for the current payroll period to your time clock software database.
• Virtual TimeClock advances the current payroll period to the next period using your payroll cycle settings.

Why Closing Payroll Periods Is Important

When viewing or printing timecards, Virtual TimeClock will always use the stored totals from a closed period rather than recalculating the totals again. This is important because wages, overtime, and time deduction rules may change over time. By closing payroll periods, reports for a closed period use the historical totals rather than calculating them all over again using the current settings for each worker which may have changed.

Reopening A Closed Payroll Period

Remember that closing a payroll period causes all of the totals for the period to be written to the database. Therefore, your time clock software will not allow you to add, modify, or delete entries in a closed period in order to preserve the integrity of the totals for that period.

If you need to perform edits to timecards in a closed payroll period, you'll need to reopen the period. From the Tools menu, choose Payroll Period. In the Current Period section, enter the start and ending dates of the payroll period you want to reopen. Save the changes, make your timecards edits, and close the period again.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Support Specialist

Redcort Software

Time Clock Software License Errors

There are several license errors that you may receive from time to time when using your employee time clock software. Some are more common than others, and several only occur when using networked time clocks.

Pro Edition License Errors

The only license error message you're likely to see with Virtual TimeClock Pro is if you upgrade your time and attendance software and you're not enrolled in our software Maintenance & Support program, or you're enrolled but haven't entered your most recent license keys.

Issue:

On program launch you receive a message stating that your installed license is not valid with the latest release of the software.

Resolution:

If you're not enrolled in our time clock software maintenance program, you can either purchase a discounted upgrade license, or you'll need to roll back to your licensed version of the software. If you're enrolled, you'll need to enter your newest license key according to the instructions on your license registration email. If you need another copy, contact us and we'll be happy to send one off to you. Your program will run in evaluation mode for 300 timecard punches until a valid license key is entered.

Network Edition License Errors

In addition to the same license error message that's seen with Virtual TimeClock Pro, there are two other license errors you may encounter.

Issue:

When Pro Client launches, you get a message stating that you're out of licenses.

Resolution:

When a Pro Client connects to the TimeClock Server, it registers its computer information and uses up a license. This error usually occurs after moving a Pro Client to a different computer or your old computer dies and you get a new one. You'll need to remove the old registered client computer from the Licenses panel of the TimeClock Server. This will free up a license to be used with your new computer.

Issue:

When Pro Client launches, you get a message stating that your client ID is in use by another computer.

Resolution:

Just like the out of licenses error message, you'll need to remove the referenced client computer from the Licenses panel of the TimeClock Server. This error usually occurs after your IT team has been moving around and renaming computers.

Virtual TimeClock always provides very specific messages if there's a licensing issue. Just carefully read the error message dialog for information on what the problem is and instructions on what to do next.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Support Specialist

Redcort Software

Converting Version 5 Data files

We've got a detailed time clock software upgrade guide that will walk you through the upgrade process from version 5. Usually, the Virtual TimeClock data converter utility will automatically find your version 5 data file. However, you may want to take this upgrade opportunity to move your employee time clock software to a different computer, or maybe migrate from a stand alone time clock to networked time clocks. If that's the case, you'll need to manually select your version 5 data file for conversion.

Your Virtual TimeClock version 5 data file will always be stored in the documents folder of the user account that runs your time clock software.

Macintosh

Macintosh HD:Users:Your User Account:Documents:Virtual TimeClock User Data:Your Company Name folder:Your Company Name.vtc

Windows Vista

C:\Users\Your User Account\Documents\Virtual TimeClock User Data\Your Company Name folder\Your Company Name.vtc

Windows XP

C:\Documents and Settings\Your User Account\My Documents\Virtual TimeClock User Data\Your Company Name folder\Your Company Name.vtc

The '.vtc' file is your actual data file and can be transferred to the new time clock computer so you can select it when running the conversion utility. Just make sure the data file you're converting is on the local hard drive. See the Troubleshooting page of the upgrading guide if you need help finding the data file currently in use by older versions of Virtual TimeClock.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Support Specialist

Redcort Software

Understanding the Payroll Process

There are several different systems involved with processing employee payroll, and each one serves a critical function. You've got the employee time tracking system which gathers employee hours. You've got the payroll system which generates the checks. And you've got the business accounting system for recording the payroll entries in your general ledger.

It's easy to get confused about the role of these payroll processing systems and how they're interrelated. Hopefully, this brief description will clear up any confusion.

Time Clock Software

Your employee time tracking system may consist of time cards and a punch clock, hand written paper timesheets, or time clock software. Employee time clock software takes much of the effort out of time and attendance tracking by providing accurate and impartial recording of all time worked, which keeps employees accountable for actual time on the clock. It saves you countless hours by automatically applying overtime rules and performing all of the time card calculations for you. Think of employee time clock software as providing the first step in payroll processing by instantly gathering and totaling all hours worked during the payroll period. Employee hours can then be reported to your payroll provider, manually entered into a payroll system, or exported to a file for easy import into your online payroll service.

Payroll Software

The next step in processing payroll is to generate employee checks. Your payroll solution will make all the necessary calculations for gross pay based on the hours provided by your time clock software, as well as all of the deductions for federal and state income tax withholding, FICA, and any voluntary deductions for insurance premiums or retirement plans. You may print employee paychecks in-house with your own payroll software, fax or phone in employee hours to your payroll service or accountant, or submit employee hours using an online payroll service that pays employees through direct deposit. Your payroll service may also file all state and federal quarterly and annual payroll taxes on your behalf.

Accounting Software

The final step in payroll processing is to get the payroll entries into your general ledger. This can be accomplished by either manual entry of the data based on the payroll reports received from your provider, or automatic posting of the payroll entries by exporting the payroll data from your online payroll service into your accounting software.

Each system is interrelated but has a distinct role and function within the payroll process, but there could be some overlap. For example, your accounting software may also be able to generate employee paychecks through an add-on payroll module or service. I hope this helps explain the progression from time clock to pay check.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Support Specialist

Redcort Software

What's the Best Time Clock Software for My Business?

There are lots of options available when it comes to choosing a time and attendance system, but not all of them are created equal. When reviewing time clock software, make sure you consider what features the program has to offer, what reports are available within the program, and how user friendly it is. We've scaled our time clock software to meet just about every business size and need, so the summary below should make it easy for you to compare employee time clock software.

Virtual TimeClock Basic

The Basic Edition is perfect if you need an inexpensive time clock for a few employees. Virtual TimeClock Basic Edition can be setup as a stand alone time clock to provide access for up to 3 employees.

Bottom Line: Install the Basic Edition when you need a simplified feature set and limited employee access from a single computer.

Virtual TimeClock Pro

The Pro Edition allows you to easily track paid an unpaid activities, manage accrued and used leave, and print sophisticated employee time cards for unlimited employees from a single computer. Virtual TimeClock Pro Edition can be setup as a stand alone time clock to provide company wide access for all workers.

Bottom Line: Install the Pro Edition when you need advanced Pro level features and unlimited employee access from a single computer.

Virtual TimeClock Network Edition

The Network Edition makes it easy to centrally manage employee hours and overtime with networked computer time clocks, even at multiple locations. Virtual TimeClock Network Edition is composed of two separate software downloads. The Virtual TimeClock Server is designed to run securely as a background process. The Virtual TimeClock Pro Client connects to the TimeClock Server over the network and lets the TimeClock Server handle all of the database processing and file management.

Bottom Line: Install the Network Edition when you need advanced Pro level features and unlimited employee access from multiple computers.

Maggie Hofer

Time Clock Software Customer Service

Redcort Software

Adding Paid Holidays to Employee Time Cards

Coming off the recent Independence Day celebration seems like an appropriate time to discuss how to add paid holidays to your employee time cards. As you may already know, your Virtual TimeClock software can keep track of accrual and use of all paid and unpaid time off. So the process we're describing for holidays can be easily applied to vacation, sick days, and personal time off.

If you haven't already done so, you'll need to add the total paid holiday hours for each employee as an annual leave award. From the Lists menu, choose Users. Each user has unique leave settings so different benefit awards can be given for each type of leave. Select the Holiday leave category and assign an annual award for the number of hours of paid holiday leave. So, for example, if your company observes all of the federal holidays, you'll add an annual award for 80 hours (10 days x 8 hours).

Once the holiday benefits have been awarded, it's time to enter the holidays into your time and attendance software. From the Actions menu, choose Add Leave Entry. Select the employees that get paid for the holiday and then select Holiday from the Leave drop-down list. Select the date of the holiday and maybe add a note so the name of the holiday shows on employee time cards. Click the Save button and you're all done. You can enter paid holidays as they occur, or you can enter all of the holidays at the beginning of the year and they won't appear on worker time cards until the payroll period in which the occur.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Support Specialist

Redcort Software

Getting Started with Employee Leave Tracking

It's fairly common for new time clock software users to get their new time and attendance system all setup and functioning at a basic level and then come back several weeks or even months later and start deploying some of the 'bells and whistles'. Tracking vacation and sick time is one of those 'bells' that typically gets setup later.

Things to Think About

There are a couple of decisions that need to be made prior to setting up accrued and used leave tracking in Virtual TimeClock. The first is to decide what leave categories you'll be using. Your new time and attendance software already includes holiday, personal, sick leave, and vacation, but you can add as many new leave categories as you want.

The second decision is how you'll accrue paid time off. Leave benefits can be setup as either an annual award or a calculated award based on hours worked. An annual award is basically a lump sum that gets deposited into the user's leave account at the beginning of the benefit year. With a calculated award, employees have to actually work hours before any leave hours accrue and are available to be used. We've got complete instructions for setting up employee leave tracking with Virtual TimeClock.

Leave Balance Forwards

The tricky part of getting started tracking employee leave benefits with your new computer time clock is what to do when you've already been tracking leave accrual and paid time off with some other system. There are a couple of options for bringing over those leave balances from your other time tracking system depending on how you're accruing leave benefits.

If you're accruing leave benefits based on an annual award, then you can just enter the current employee balances as carryover into Virtual TimeClock and not worry about total accrual amounts until the next benefit year. If you're already accruing benefits based on a calculated award, then you can still enter current employee balances as carryover into Virtual TimeClock, but then you'll need to either adjust the calculation rate based on the time remaining in the current benefit year, or set the employee's award anniversary to the date you want to start using your new time clock software to accrue paid leave. Either way, you'll need to review the leave settings for each employee at the end of the benefit year.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Support Specialist

Redcort Software

Free Time Clock Software Upgrades

All new Virtual TimeClock licenses come with 30 days of priority technical support and free upgrades built right in. But if you want the freedom to be able to talk to a technical support specialist whenever you need to and have free access to the latest and best version of Virtual TimeClock, then you'll want to enroll in our time clock software Maintenance & Support program.

Program Benefits

• All software upgrades (typically 2-3 annually)
• Unlimited priority technical support
• Personalized training on program features and new functionality
• Request new features for upcoming releases
• Information filled monthly Tips & Tricks newsletter
• Maintenance releases for compatibility with new OS and security updates
• Data file evaluation and repair following hardware or system failures

If you choose not to enroll, we'll still keep in touch with announcements of new releases and upgrade offers, and we're still here when you need us for time clock software support on a fee for service basis. Our time clock software support program is the best way to ensure the long term, economical, and uninterrupted operation of your time and attendance software.

Maggie Hofer

Time Clock Software Customer Service

Redcort Software

Reviewing Your Time Clock Software Preferences

There are many advantages that employee time clock software has over mechanical punch clocks. One of those advantages is the ability to create a unique user experience for each employee, or group of employees that uses the time clock. This is accomplished through program preferences. It's a good idea to review your time clock software program preferences so you can match your office workflow with the exact look and feel you want.

You can access your time clock program preferences from the Virtual TimeClock menu on Apple Macintosh OS X computers and from the Edit menu on Microsoft Windows computers. The time clock program preferences control how the worker information in your main time clock window is displayed, what menu items and toolbar buttons are available, and what sounds your time clock software makes. For your convenience, Virtual TimeClock will remember your custom settings between each program run.

Display Columns

We often get asked about hiding worker information on computer time clock stations that are available for company wide access. Many times, business owners don't want employees to know the status of other employees, or the times that they're coming and going. In that case, you can just remove the Date, Status, and Time columns in the TimeClock panel of Preferences.

Toolbar Buttons

By removing certain toolbar buttons that you don't use, you can create an easy to use time clock that just allows workers to clock in and out. You can even adjust the size of the main time clock window to create a time clock program that can run unobtrusively in the corner of your computer monitor. Toolbar buttons can be removed in the User Access panel of Preferences.

So go ahead and experiment with creating custom time clock program displays. And since the program preferences are local settings, each computer time clock in your organization can have a unique time clock display to enhance the user experience and adapt to your workflow needs.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Support Specialist

Redcort Software

Lost Your Time Clock Software License?

If your computer time clock crashes or you just need to move your time clock software to a different computer in order to make it more convenient for employees to punch in and out, then you'll need a copy of your most recent software license key. Your software license key is emailed to you shortly after purchasing or renewing your time clock software maintenance and support.

If you've lost, misplaced, or deleted your registration information, don't worry! We keep great records. Contact us with your company name and the software product you need to register, and we'll be happy to provide you with a copy of your software license key. Meanwhile, go ahead and get your time clock software moved to that new computer. Virtual TimeClock will run in evaluation mode until a valid program license key is entered.

Maggie Hofer

Time Clock Software Customer Service

Redcort Software

Finding Employee Time Clock Software Help and Support

It can be a frustrating thing to be using a software program and get stuck. It's even more frustrating when you can't find the help or support you need to keep moving forward. We've spent a lot of time making our Virtual TimeClock software intuitive and easy to use, but sometimes you may need assistance getting up and going again after a computer crash, or maybe you just forgot how to assign worker overtime rules. We have a large number of resources available to help you find the information, support, and help you're looking for.

Time Clock Program Help

Virtual TimeClock comes with a comprehensive built-in help system. From the Help menu, choose Virtual TimeClock Help. You can look through a complete table of contents, search an index of keywords, or perform your own topic search. This same information is also available as a User's Guide in PDF format that you can link to directly from the Help menu.

Redcort Software Web Site Help

You can also access the time clock software support web site directly from the Help menu within Virtual TimeClock. There's a ton of help, support, and information available on the web site, like documentation guides available for installing, getting started, upgrading, and using every edition of Virtual TimeClock. You'll also find a list of frequently asked questions organized by topic, an up-to-date and relevant support blog, an archive of our popular 'Tips & Tricks' newsletter, and how-to articles covering some of our most popular training topics. These are all free, self-service resources that are available 24/7.

Personalized Training and Technical Support

We have technical support and training specialists available free for all customers evaluating Virtual TimeClock and for 30 days following a license purchase. Support and training remain free for customers enrolled in our optional time clock software maintenance and support program. Customers not enrolled can purchase a support incident anytime they need personalized assistance. You can talk to a U.S. based support specialist Monday - Friday from 8AM to 5PM PST via phone or live chat. Or drop us an email and we'll respond back to you promptly the next business day.

With all of these options, you shouldn't have any trouble finding the help you need when you need it.

Jeff Morrow

Help Desk

Redcort Software

Registering Your Time Clock Software

It's important to register your new Virtual TimeClock software soon after purchasing so you can continue to use it without interruption. For those of you who've taken advantage of the free time clock software evaluation, entering your license key turns your free time clock software trial into your permanent time and attendance solution. How easy is that?! There's nothing new to download and you don't have to rekey your employee information all over again.

After processing your order, we'll send you a custom software license key via email. Be sure to follow the step-by-step instructions in your license email for entering your new license key, since they may be different depending on which edition of the time clock software you're using. Your company name and address information must be entered into Virtual TimeClock exactly as it appears on your software license email, this includes capitalization and punctuation.

You should receive a confirmation dialog stating that your software has been successfully activated. If your license activation fails, you'll always receive a very specific message telling you the reason why. It's usually because the company name or address doesn't match, or you're trying to register a different edition of the software than what you purchased the license for.

Maggie Hofer

Time Clock Software Customer Service

Redcort Software

Daily and Weekly Overtime Calculations

The automatic calculation of regular, overtime, and paid leave hours is one of the main reasons businesses invest in time and attendance software. So it's important to make sure your employee time clock software configuration matches your business rules. There are some settings in Virtual TimeClock that can affect how daily and weekly overtime is calculated. These settings should rarely change, but it's a good idea to know how they impact your time card software reports if you decide they do need to be adjusted.

The Time Calculations tool window allows you to set what time rounding rules are currently in effect, how worker breaks are calculated, how the time format for certain reports and export files is displayed, how overtime is calculated for multiple daily shifts and paid leave, and how salaried worker hours are computed for job costing. We're going to take a look at the settings that directly affect daily and weekly overtime calculations.

Hours off the clock before restarting daily overtime calculations

This setting controls how daily overtime totals are calculated for multiple daily shifts. Essentially, it determines how much time a worker needs to be off the clock before shift totals are restarted. By default, a new shift will start for workers after 4 hours off the clock. This means as long as an employee clocks out and back in within 4 hours, Virtual TimeClock will still consider that as one shift and apply the daily overtime rule assigned to the employee. However, if the employee clocks out and then punches back in after 4 hours, Virtual TimeClock considers this the start of a new shift and restarts daily overtime calculations.

Include leave in weekly overtime calculations

This setting controls whether paid leave is included as hours worked for the purpose of calculating weekly overtime. This is certainly a non standard practice and will cause all paid leave hours to be treated as both regular and overtime hours. If this setting is enabled, Virtual TimeClock will no longer display leave in a separate column on your printed or exported time card software reports.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Specialist

Redcort Software

Upgrading from a Single Computer to Network Time Clock

Business growth is usually a good thing, and it's nice to have a time and attendance system that can expand with your business. If you're using the Basic or Pro Edition of Virtual TimeClock, then you already know it's designed to provide a great single computer time clock. The Network Edition allows you to deploy network time clock stations at strategic locations within your organization, or even turn the computer of every staff member into a personal time clock. This is especially useful if you want to start job tracking, improve office communication with the built-in messaging module, or replace that old in/out whiteboard with real time tracking of who's in and who's out.

The Pro Edition and Network Edition have the same database structure, so upgrading to the Network Edition is as simple as making a backup of your database, installing the Virtual TimeClock Server software, and restoring your database. If you're upgrading from the Basic Edition, then the Virtual TimeClock Server will automatically convert your database when you restore your Basic Edition backup file. We've made it pretty easy to scale your employee time clock software to the needs of your business.

Maggie Hofer

Time Clock Software Customer Service

Redcort Software

Automatic Time Deductions

Virtual TimeClock employee time clock software has a great feature called Time Deductions that allows you to automatically deduct unpaid lunch or break time without requiring employees to clock out. Even better, a different time deduction rule can be assigned to each individual worker. This makes it easy to apply different time deduction rules to different types of employees. For example, maybe you want to automatically deduct lunch breaks for your warehouse workers, but require your office employees to clock in and out for their lunch breaks. New time deduction rules can be setup at anytime from the Lists menu within your time and attendance software.

Automatic time deductions are included on worker timecards with other time clock entries for the payroll period. The amount of the time deduction will be displayed in the unpaid hours column of the worker timecard.

Since employees aren't punching out for lunches, if they happen to work through their lunch break the automatic time deduction will still occur. Here's an easy way to make sure employees still get paid for working during their scheduled lunch break. First, create a new activity called something like 'Working Lunch' and set the type to manual entries only. Now, whenever an employee works through lunch you can add a manual entry for 'Working Lunch' for the time they remained at the office. This will offset the automatic lunch deduction so employee timecards reflect correct daily and weekly overtime totals.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Specialist

Redcort Software

Job Tracking with Virtual TimeClock

Many business owners think of employee time clock software as a secure and impartial means of keeping employees accountable for their hours worked. They just want to make sure they're not underpaying or overpaying employees. Since you're already keeping track of employee hours for payroll purposes, why not use those same hours to perform labor cost analysis or help accurately bill your clients.

The key to job or project tracking is setting up different activities within your time clock program. Activities are used to track the current status of your employees, what they're currently working on, or where they might be working. For example, you may want to use activities to track tasks, jobs, clients, or employee location. Employees may work on several jobs or projects throughout their workday and can quickly switch from one activity to another. Activities can be paid, only paid until a maximum time threshold is reached, or unpaid depending on your business workflow needs.

Here's a brief description of the activity setup window available from the Lists menu. The activity type determines when the activity is available for use. Activities that are available for both time clock and manual entries can be selected when starting a new shift or switching to a new activity from the main window of your time clock program. They can also be used for manual timecard entries. For example, when a worker misses a normal punch time, or to give a worker credit for time worked off-site or away from regular punch clock access.

Activities that are available only for manual entries are used to record timecard entries for activities like jury duty, travel time, and off-site training. These activities aren't available from the drop-down lists in the main time clock software window since they're typically only used in special situations.

The activity calculation determines whether this is a paid activity, or an unpaid activity used for tracking purposes only. Time spent on unpaid activities will display in a separate column on your timecard reports.

Combining job tracking with the timecard notes feature built right into your employee time clock creates a great way for recording and tracking information related to jobs and projects. We've got an article about managing labor costs that you may find helpful as you start tracking jobs with your time and attendance software.

Jeff Morrow

Time Clock Software Specialist

Redcort Software

Using Time Clock Software Over the Internet

We get a lot of questions from businesses regarding using their employee time clock software from different locations. Sometimes they've got a couple of stores across town, or maybe it's a dental group practicing in several different cities, and other times it's a small business owner wanting to do payroll from home. With all these scenarios, businesses are looking for the same thing: they want all their time clock program data available from a single, centralized place. I should be able to clock in at Store A, then drive across town and clock out at Store B and have all of my hours worked show on a single timecard software report. That's the advantage of using Virtual TimeClock software over the Internet.

There are 2 requirements for setting up a remote time clock:

• Obtain a static IP address from your ISP (Internet Service Provider)
• Setup a port forward on your router

The key to remote access is to open a port on your router to allow remote time clock software clients to connect using the static IP address of your router. The router then sends the information to the time clock server. This is commonly known as 'port forwarding'. For information on setting up a port forward, take a look at the user's guide that came with your router, call your ISP, or visit helpful websites like portforward.com.

Server Location Setup

1. Launch your Virtual TimeClock Server app and note the TCP IP address and port in use by the time clock software on your network.
2. Access your router configuration settings and note the WAN static IP address assigned by your ISP.
3. Setup a new port forward on your router using the IP address and port noted in number 1 above.

Remote Location Setup

1. Install and launch your Virtual TimeClock Pro Client app.
2. From the File menu, choose Connect Manually To Server.
3. Enter the WAN IP address and port, then click Connect.

More detailed information about using network time clock software over the Internet can be found on our website.

Jeff Morrow

Time and Attendance Specialist

Redcort Software