Missing Timecard Entries?

If you're running employee timecards and get a message that "No entries were found matching your selection request" then there are a couple of things to check before concluding that the timecard entries are missing. First, double-check the date range and worker selection. You may be trying to run a timecard for 'Yesterday' for someone who didn't work yesterday.

Next, make sure someone hasn't made changes to the default report settings in the Report Writer. Click Report Writer in the Configure menu. Click the Selection & Sort button for the timecard report you're trying to run and make sure the Who and Entries popup menus haven't been changed to only include a limited selection of people or activities.

Someone may have been experimenting with report settings without making a copy of the report first.

Jeff
Technical Support Team
Redcort Software, Inc.

Decimal Rounding

When new time clock software users discover 'missing minutes' on their employee time cards, they are often surprised (and sometimes skeptical) to be told the minutes only appear to be missing. The answer to the missing minutes is how numbers are calculated and displayed in decimal format.

Let's look at a sample time card report for an employee who works a 20-minute shift three times a day with totals displayed as decimals:

08:00 AM to 08:20 AM =.33
12:00 PM to 12:20 PM =.33

05:00 PM to 05:20 PM =.33

Total Hours = 1.0

Since.33 +.33 +.33 =.99, where's the missing time? 20 minutes in decimal format isn't really.33. In realty 20/60 =.3333333 to infinity, but we just use .33 to represent a third of something. So adding .3333333 three times gives us.9999999999 to infinity. We get a number really close to 1, but not exactly 1. Even if we used really long decimals on our time card reports, we'd still never be able to exactly represent 3 twenty-minute shifts as 60 minutes. So we show 20 minutes simply as.33 hours.

Jeff
Technical Support Team
Redcort Software, Inc.

Using Messaging Without Punching In

In older versions of Virtual TimeClock, if managers or time clock administrators wanted to use messaging then they needed to have their name listed in the in/out list of the main time clock window. This bothered some customers because these users typically didn't use the time clock software for punching in and out. With Virtual TimeClock '12, you no longer have to be listed in the in/out list to use messaging.

If you're not using the time clock to punch in & out and you want your name removed from the in/out list, then you'll need to remove yourself as a user of the display group. Turn on administration and from the Configure menu choose Users. Select the user and click the Groups button. Now just remove the user from the display groups in the Display Group User section. These users will be able to send and check messages from the admin toolbar after turning on administration.

Jeff
Technical Support Team
Redcort Software, Inc.

Departments vs. Display Groups

When new users are setting up their time clock software for the first time, they often wonder about the difference between departments and display groups. They're both ways to group employees, but there are some major differences in how they're used.

Display Groups
Display groups are the program rules in use for each time clock, including what interface employees will use to open their User Status window so they can perform an action like clocking in, viewing their timecard, or reading their messages. Display groups allow you to quickly view and manage employees by location or department from the Administration window. Here are some other ways to use display groups:

• Limit what activities and out memos workers can select when recording time 
• Control user and manager access to program features 
• Choose what reports users and managers can view and print 
• Set what user names get displayed in the in/out board list for each time clock

Departments

Departments are assigned to users only for reporting purposes, and get credit for all hours worked by that user. Virtual TimeClock already has built-in timecards reports sorted by department.

Don't be surprised if some of your department and display group names overlap and share the same membership. Here's a quick cheat sheet:

Departments = reporting

Display Groups = user access, security, what the time clock looks like

Jeff

Technical Support Team

Redcort Software, Inc.

Tracking Comp Time

What is comp time?
Comp (compensatory) time is an alternate way of rewarding overtime work. Instead of paying an hourly employee time-and-a-half for working extra hours, employers would give them an hour and a half of time off for each hour of overtime worked. The FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) places heavy restrictions on the use of comp time to avoid paying overtime. There are some exemptions for public sector employees like police officers and firefighters, and federal and state government employees. In most cases the practice is illegal for private employers. Each state's law can be different regarding comp time so it's best to check with the agency that handles wage and labor standards for your state.

Can I track comp time with Virtual TimeClock?
The answer is "Yes" but it does involve some manual processes. Virtual TimeClock software already segregates hours worked on employee timecards based on the overtime rules assigned to each employee. Rather than paying the employee these hours at the premium rate, you can create a new leave category called "Comp Time" and add them as an annual leave award. You do need to add the hours at the comp time rate rather than hour-for-hour. For example, for every extra hour worked the employee would earn one and one-half hours of paid time off.

Jeff
Technical Support Team
Redcort Software, Inc.

Importing QuickBooks Users

We introduced time clock payroll integration with QuickBooks earlier this year with Virtual TimeClock '12. It does require a one-time setup before you export your first round of employee hours for payroll processing. Importing your users from QuickBooks into your time clock software isn't required but it's recommended. Here's why. If you don't import your QuickBooks users before performing your first time clock export, QuickBooks may create duplicate employee records if it doesn't find a name with an exact match. Trust me, it's kind of a pain to clean up.

The way to prevent this is to import your QuickBooks users first. Choose Configure from the administrator toolbar and open the Users control panel. Click Add, Import Users, and follow the instructions for importing a QuickBooks IIF File. Virtual TimeClock will be updated with the personal information from QuickBooks if a matching social security number is found. For users with no social security numbers, you’ll be prompted to merge records for those users with the same last name. This will ensure the user names are identical in both systems.

Jeff
Technical Support Team
Redcort Software, Inc.

Turning On Time Clock Administration

Both time clock software managers and time clock administrators need to turn administration on in order to perform administrative functions. When you first created your time clock company file, you were asked to create a program administrator. The time clock administrator has full access to all program functions and features. You can create additional time clock administrators, but they will also have unlimited access.

Time clock Managers are able to edit employee timecards and do other administration functions when they turn administration on, select their user name, and enter their password. What functions and features managers have access to is set up within the Display Groups configure panel.

When you choose Turn Administration On from the File menu, a dialog opens that asks if you want to turn on administration features. If your name is not displayed, then click on the name that is displayed to reveal a list of time clock managers and administrators. Now select your name and enter your password to open the time clock administration window so you can perform the administrative functions that have been assigned to you.

A quick way to verify who is set as an active time clock administrator or manager is to choose Security from the Configure menu. This control panel will show who has administration access without having to check each user one by one. Only time clock administrators can open the Security control panel.

Remember to turn administration off when you're all done so your time clock security won't be compromised.

Angie
Technical Support Team
Redcort Software, Inc.