Any company that employs a quantity of workers is likely to want and need to keep track of their attendance. This is especially important if those same staff are paid an hourly rate and work shifts or overtime. Clock card systems and manual clocking registers are not as reliable as using easy time clock software which is beneficial to any business. Managerial staff is then freed up to focus on other aspects of running the company while knowing that their attendance is accurately monitored.

Workers that are not making their weekly attendance requirement will be able to be dealt with in an appropriate manner, correcting any tardiness and slacking and eliminating time wasting. This will ultimately improve productivity within the company. Staff morale could improve as a result.

The old way of capturing hours worked, using a book and either letting staff capture their own arrival and departure times or having a supervisor do it, is generally not accurate. Either people would falsely capture the information to cover up wrong-doing such as arriving at work late or leaving early, or claim overtime when they had not worked longer hours.

Supervisors that were less than honest had the control and could easily lie in the old system. They could show bias towards particular staff members, altering times to either favour or penalise them as they felt like doing. Besides the obvious matter of unfairness to the staff member that is now losing time that they worked, it's stealing and should be considered as such.

The risk of abuse is reduced immediately an automated clocking system is installed. There is no longer an opportunity in the workplace for time cheaters. Data that is collected is protected within the system, readily available to those that require it as well as being updated constantly with no more delays while head office waits for an outlying branch to send over information. Manual calculations for wages are no longer needed upgrading accuracy and re-establish fair business practices.

Once the devices are installed, they are linked to either the local wireless internet or in some cases, 3G. Data is now instantly available for a manual search or various levels of reporting can be established whereby the program is set up to automatically send out time and attendance reports to specific managers on their own staff. Because the units are linked online, they can be repaired and updated remotely as well as release data immediately.

Installing readers on main entrances as well as restricted areas offers control and security to the company. Once a worker places his or her finger onto the reader and they are identified, their time is automatically and immediately linked to their file. If they have been granted access to that area, the door or gate will automatically open for them. Security can also dictate that a particular worker or set of workers only has access to the premises at certain times or on certain days, or have no access to specific areas.

While manual clock cards are still open to abuse in some way, the biometric clocking system is practically foolproof. The workforce is required to have their fingerprints scanned and linked to their identity. Within the system, everything relevant pertaining to that staff member is recorded. Their position, the shifts they are expected to work, their annual leave days as well as their pay rate, depending on the chosen program.