Why Time and Expense Tracking Matters
You know that time and expense tracking are important business functions, but you probably don’t know how important. Many companies only use them for their most basic functions like payroll and expense reimbursement, but they can make a huge difference in your bottom line if used to their full potential. Curious how your company can maximize the value of time and expense tracking? Here are six business functions that benefit from a robust time and expense tracking program.
Six Business Areas Where Time and Expense Tracking Make a Difference
Time and expense tracking impact nearly every aspect of your business, including:
Billing. Do some of your employees bill clients by the hour? Are client-reimbursable expenses included on invoices? If so, a time and expense tracking software that automatically creates invoices for these items eliminates cumbersome paperwork for your employees and reduces the workload for your billing department.
Bids and Budget Projections. Historical data is the best predictor of future costs. A comprehensive time and expense tracking program allows employees to assign their time or expenses to individual projects, giving you valuable insights into the actual costs of projects. This information will help you write more accurate bids for future proposals and allow you to make data-informed budget decisions to help keep your company in the black.
Project Management. Time and expense tracking software can play a role in managing projects. Real-time systems help managers keep track of up-to-the-minute expenses and view the number of hours employees have spent on projects, giving them valuable data on project progress and budget.
Accountability and Security. A good time and expense tracking system will have built-in controls to reduce fraud and data loss. Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to fraud. Using a time and expense tracking program that has secure access controls, logs historical changes to documents, and securely backs up all data and digital supporting documents (like receipts) will help minimize your risk.
Performance Reviews and Goal-Setting. Time and expense reporting systems are frequently overlooked as a tool for reviewing performance and setting employee goals. Review an employee’s productivity, check on hours worked vs. tangible project progress, or set a goal for monthly billable hours. Use tools you’re already using to set quantitative goals rather than making goals that are qualitative and difficult to track objectively.
Hiring. Salary offers shouldn’t be arbitrary; they should be grounded in data. Will the employee be in a revenue-generating position? Are they in a support role? Having detailed time and expense data will help you make salary offers that are data-driven to keep your company profitable.
Your Resource for Time and Expense Tracking
Time and expense tracking are so closely intertwined that it makes sense to use a system that tracks both. MindSalt Time & Expense allows you to record both on one easy-to-use app. And since it’s web-based, it’s accessible to your employees from anywhere! Maximize the value of time and expense tracking data with MindSalt, and save money by subscribing to one platform for both functions. Try it for free!
