July 2, 2008
How Does Payroll Time Rounding Work
A common question I get is how exactly does payroll time rounding work? So I thought it would be worthwhile to cover it in some more detail to help Time Clock MTS users.
How is Report Rounding Turned On?
You can turn on report rounding on the Tools->Options->Payroll Settings page. For more information take a look at the Time Clock MTS Payroll Settings help topic.
How Does Rounding Work?
Rounding is applied to time information at report time only. The rounding used is just normal arithmetic rounding. Here's an example, let's say we have the time rounding set to 15 minutes and the normal clock in time for your employees is 7:30 AM. In this example, anything on or before 7:37:29 AM is rounded down to 7:30 AM, and anything on or after 7:37:30 is rounded up to 7:45 AM.
What Does the Least Quantity Checkbox Do?
Checking this box over-rides the rounding scheme as shown above. The most basic way of explaining it is that all clock ins are ROUNDED UP and all clock outs are ROUNDED DOWN. So, in our example above any employee clocking in after 7:30:00 AM will have their time rounded up to 7:45:00 AM. Let's say the normal clock out time for the above example is 4:30:00 PM. When the Least Quantity check box is marked, any employee clocking out between 4:30:01 PM and 4:44:59 PM will have their clock out time rounded down to 4:30:00 PM. The practical effect of the Least Quantity check box is that the hours worked are minimized.
What Effect Does Rounding Have on Stored Time Information?
None, clock in and clock out data is still stored to the nearest second, the rounding takes effect when you run a report. In fact, you can now generate reports and suppress the rounding so you can view your raw time information. To do this all you need to do is check the Turn Off Rounding checkbox on the Report Configuration screen.
Why Would you use Time Rounding?
To comply with either your workplace payroll rules or government payroll regulations. A lot of workplaces have a minimum amount of payable overtime, so rounding can be easily used to prevent employees accumulating small amounts of overtime by clocking in slightly early, or clocking out slightly late. Another reason could be to allow for some leeway in clocking in or out, clearly not everyone can clock in exactly on time so time rounding allows for this. For example, Californian labor law allows for some leeway in rounding of time, allowing employers to not pay overtime for employees who clock in slightly early or out slightly late (provided they are not actually working of course). For more information on this take a look at the Department of Labor Website.
That about sums it all up, if you have any questions, as always post a comment or email us.
Posted by mnemtsas at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2008
Using a Webcam with your Time Clock Software
A key problem with any time clock system is that of employees that clock in and out for each other. This is known as 'buddy punching' and is the main method by which employees try to manipulate their time card information. The use of magnetic cards, proximity devices, and PINs can help reduce buddy punching, but of course it does not prevent employees sharing their card, prox device, or even their PIN with a co-worker and still providing fraudulent data.
There are a couple of ways of eliminating buddy punching, one of these is capturing an employee image at the time of clocking or out. Using a computer along with Time Clock MTS and cheaply available web cameras allows you to have a very secure time and attendance solution that can largely eliminate buddy punching and help reduce your payroll costs accordingly.
Camera Hardware Requirements
You don't need anything special to allow Time Clock MTS to capture images when employees clock in and out. Time Clock MTS will work with almost any sort of USB web camera, if your version of MS Windows can detect your web camera then Time Clock MTS can probably use it.
Software Requirements
There are no additional software requirements, if you have Time Clock MTS Version 2.0.2 or newer then you have all the software you require to use a camera with Time Clock MTS. You can always download Time Clock MTS from here.
Setting Up Time Clock MTS to Use a Web Camera
Just make sure your web camera is plugged into your computer and then run Time Clock MTS and log in as the administrator. Go to the Tools->Options->Camera Settings page. You'll see the following screen:
If your camera is connected properly and is accessible by Time Clock MTS just check the Enable Image Capture check box. See below for a range of configuration options to setup image capture to suit your requirements:
- You can decide when you want to capture images (clock in, clock out or clock in and out), it is recommended that you capture images on both events for maximum security.
- The image capture location can be easily set using the Set button. By default it will have the location set to the same directory that your Time Clock MTS database is stored in.
- Because captured images take up disk space you may decide to only keep the recorded images for a certain amount of time. Time Clock MTS can delete older images based on their age, you can decide to keep images for a week, a month, 6 months, or forever.
- If you have more than one camera attached to your Time Clock MTS computer you can choose which one to use by clicking the Select Camera button. Time Clock MTS will default to the first camera attached to your computer if the selected camera is no longer attached to the PC.
- Currently Time Clock MTS captures images into BMP format, which means that for bigger images the file size can be quite large. To help combat this you can select the captured image size by clicking the Select Image Size button. It is recommended you choose the smallest available capture size.
Viewing Captured Images
If you suspect that buddy punching is going on in your work place then you can view captured images easily from within Time Clock MTS. While you are logged in as the administrator go to the Tools->Edit Times screen.
You will see a button in the toolbar above the list of times with a camera icon on it. Just select the time you wish to view the captured image for, and then click the camera button. You'll then be shown the following screen showing your captured image along with the clock in/out and user details that are associated with the captured image.
(In case you're wondering no that's not me!)
That's all there is to it. If you have a web camera and want to ensure that your time clock information is secure and accurate then I'd strongly recommend using this feature to help reduce your payroll costs!
Posted by mnemtsas at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2008
Creating Employees the Easy Way
One change to Time Clock MTS is simply a new item added to the Employee Maintenance menu. This deceptively simple menu item Copy Selected Employee fixes up one of the most common complaints I had about Time Clock MTS. Usually the complaint went something like this:
"How can I add employees to Time Clock MTS without having to type in all the details for every single one?"
Well, prior to Version 2, the answer to this question was you just can't add a number of employees quickly and easily. Right though, with the addition of the menu item above the job of adding many employees to Time Clock MTS has suddenly become a lot easier.
Here's how to quickly add an employee using another employee record as a template:
- Add the employee you want to use as a template, give them all the settings you require including payroll, assigning to a department, a shift, and whatever else you need. For the sake of this example we'll call this employee 'John Smith'.
- Select the employee 'John Smith' in the employee list and then select the Employee Maintenance->Copy Selected Employee menu item.
- The employee maintenance screen will now been displayed with all the details already filled in, the name of the employee will be set to 'Copy of John Smith'. All you need to do now is edit the details you want to change for this employee (such as the name, address, and PIN) and in just a few seconds you've created a new fully configured employee.
Posted by mnemtsas at 7:23 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2008
Easily Finding Employees on the Employee List Interface
The employee list interface of Time Clock MTS is simple and easy to use when you have a mouse and keyboard available. However, when the list of employees becomes long it can be a chore to sort through it to find a name to be able to clock in or out. Time Clock MTS Version 2.0.1 introduces a new feature to allow you to easily find a name on the list with just a few keystrokes.
At the bottom of the employee list you can see a light blue colored text box, in its default state this box says <Search for an Employee>. If you type some letters in this box Time Clock MTS will find the first employee in the list whose name starts with those letters, the more letters you type the more refined the search will be.
For example, in the screenshot above lets say you type a 'J' into the box, Time Clock MTS will find the first person whose name starts with 'J' and select them (in this case John Smith). If you then type an 'o' it will select the first person whose name starts with 'Jo' (again John Smith). If you refine the search further by entering a 's' it will select the first person whose name starts with a 'Jos' (this time Jose Martinez is selected).
So, if you have a long employee list, and need to find your own name (or someone elses ) quickly and easily, just select the Search for an Employee text box, type in the first few characters of their name, and you'll be taken to their listing almost immediately.
Posted by mnemtsas at 3:46 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2008
Problems with Maryland NTP Servers
We have been seeing problems with time synching to the Maryland NTP time servers in the last few days. If you're seeing problems with this then please select any of the three time servers in Colorado. You can choose the time servers on the Tools->Options->Security page.
Posted by mnemtsas at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2008
Setting Up Yearly Accruals
A user asked an interesting question last week, and one that had me stumped for just a few minutes. Can Time Clock MTS handle yearly accruals of Vacation and Sick Time? Yearly accruals work by crediting the employee with the full allocation of their sick or vacation time upon the anniversary of their employment or the start of the fiscal year. Typically this sort of accrual scheme will credit the employee with their full amount at the start of the yearly period and allow them to deplete it during the year. Here's how to set it up:
- Create a new accrual scheme called yearly accruals (or whatever you like).
- Set the accrual delay to zero to start accruing at hire date.
- Set the starting balance to the yearly allocation to allow accruals in advance or leave it at zero to not give them any accrual until 1 year of service.
- Set the accrual amount per unit to the yearly allocation and the accrual period to 12 months.
- Check the Use Hire Date not Fiscal Year checkbox to use the anniversary of hire to reset accruals (if you need them reset).
That's all there is to it. As always feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Posted by mnemtsas at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)
May 7, 2008
Administrator Passwords
Time Clock MTS has two levels of user access. That of the normal user or employee who just needs to clock in or out, and that of the Administrator who needs to configure Time Clock MTS and run reports. To use Time Clock MTS as the adminstrator you need to log in as the Administrator using a password.
How Is the Administrator Password Set?
The administrator password is set by you when you first install and run the Time Clock MTS Administration program. The screenshot below shows where you enter the administrator password.
How do I log in as the Administrator?
By simply using the File->Log in as Administrator menu.
Can I Change the Administrator Password?
Yes you can change the administrator password any time you like. All you need to do is run the Time Clock MTS Administration program and log in as the administrator. Then go to the Tools->Options->System Options screen. For more help on this try taking a look at the System Options Help Topic.
I've Forgotten the Administrator Password What Do I Do?
You need to send us your Time Clock MTS database so we can reset it for you. There's detailed instructions on how to recover a forgotten Time Clock MTS Administrator password on our support forum.
Why Cant I Reset it From Within Time Clock MTS?
For security reasons. If there was some method within the software to reset the administrator password the unscrupulous people could do so to manipulate the software for fraudulent reasons.
Posted by mnemtsas at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2008
Time Clock MTS Configuration and Log File Directory Part 2
In Part 1 of this entry we had a look at the directory where Time Clock MTS stores all of it's local configuration and logging information. Now we'll take a quick look at the files in this location and what they are used for.
- clientlog.txt - contains all the logging information for the client version of Time Clock MTS
- log.txt - contains all of the user interface logging information for the administrator version of Time Clock MTS
- logdll.txt - contains all of the business logic logging for both the client and administrator versions
- timeclock.ini - contains all the local configuration options for both versions of the software
- timeclock.mdb - found in the Database sub directory this is the MS Access version of the Time Clock MTS database. If you cant see this file then it's because it has been moved.
Just a quick final tip. If you are having problems with Time Clock MTS and you're emailing us about them it's always a good idea to attach the log.txt and logdll.txt files to the email as they can contain a lot of useful information that helps us get to the bottom of your problems.
Posted by mnemtsas at 9:12 AM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2008
Time Clock MTS Configuration and Log File Directory
Time Clock MTS stores all of its' local configuration and log files in the common program data directory on the computer that it is installed on. It can be useful to know where this directory is for several reasons, you might want to move the Time Clock MTS database, you might want to copy the main configuration file to share it among other computers, or you may need to send the log files to us to help sort out problems you are having. The exact location of the directory depends entirely on the version of Windows that you happen to be running. To determine where your information is take a look at this list:
Windows Vista (All Versions)
c:\ProgramData\Time Clock MTS\
Windows XP / Windows 2003 Server / Windows 2000
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Time Clock MTS
Windows Me / Windows 98 SE
C:\Windows\All Users\Application Data\Time Clock MTS\
Usually you can just navigate directly to this directory using Windows Explorer but in some cases Windows can be configured to hide system files and folders (of which this is one) by default. If this is the case then you'll need to use Windows Explorer to change some settings to allow you to find this directory. You can learn how to do this on your version of Windows by taking a look here.
In the next entry I'll take a look at the files in this directory and run through what they are and what they are used for.
Posted by mnemtsas at 4:01 PM | Comments (0)
April 4, 2008
Free Time Clock Software
Time Clock MTS can be downloaded , installed and used completely free of charge for 30 days with no restrictions whatsoever. So you can trial it on one PC, or on many PC's with the multiple client version, you can make use of the standard MS Access database backend, or with one of the advanced database options like SQL Server or MySQL. When the trial period runs out, and you haven't purchased an appropriate license most of this functionality is disabled and the software will revert to the Free Mode of operation.
When Time Clock MTS is operating in free mode it is still useful as a time and attendance software package, and for a lot of small or micro businesses it will be all they ever need until they grow beyond a certain size. The free version of Time Clock MTS operates with the following restrictions:
- Restricted to three active employee records. When you have more than this you will not be able to add times, run reports, or do anything other than disable or delete employee records.
- Restricted to using the software in single computer mode. This means that the Time Clock MTS Client will no longer function when the software has reverted to the free mode of operation.
You can use Time Clock MTS in free mode forever given that you don't exceed the three active employee limit. And of course, at any time you can purchase a license for the software and register it to unlock the more advanced capabilities of the program.
Posted by mnemtsas at 9:56 AM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2008
On Employee Types and Accruals
Of course being a Time and Attendance software package Time Clock MTS focuses primarily on Employees. Each employee can be classified by Employment Type. When Time Clock MTS was designed these employment types were thought to be things like 'full time', or 'seasonal', or 'contract' or whatever sorts of employment types you might need. This classification is of course useful for reporting and sorting purposes.
As time has progressed our users have found that it is also very useful for setting up of Vacation and Sick Time Accruals. These accruals, rather than being set by employee, are set by employee type. This allows you to have just a few accrual policies that cover all of your employees. This sort of ease of use is great, except where companies have unusual accrual schemes, or many different schemes. While Time Clock MTS cannot handle every different accrual scheme automatically, it does have the flexibility to allow you to handle them manually. An accrual scheme that we have been asked about is one that allocates vacation time based on years of service. This is different to the assumed scheme in Time Clock MTS which assumes a basic accrual over time calculation system, and cannot handle the years of service based system automatically. However, it can handle it through creative use of Employee Types.
Let's say you have a scheme that allocates 1 week of yearly vacation time for each year of service up to a maximum of 4 weeks. All you need to do is create 4 different employee types, perhaps calling them '1 Year of Service', '2 Years of Service', '3 Years of Service',and '4+ Years of Service'. Create a vacation accrual scheme for each employment type to have an initial amount of 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks accordingly. Then you can go ahead and assign your employees to the correct employment type and they'll now all be allocated the correct vacation time. Each year at the same time (the end of the fiscal year would be good) work your way through your employee list and make sure to allocate each of them to the correct employment type again.
For more information you might find our Setting Up Vacation Accruals article helpful. The Employment Type Help Topic is also worth a look.
Posted by mnemtsas at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2008
Microsoft Access Database Password Support
Version 1.6.2 of
Users finding and manipulating the back end database of Time Clock MTS has always been a problem. Time Clock MTS has always included a series of internal checks to try to detect this sort of manipulation, but of course no system is perfect. By including support for Access database passwords we have added one additional layer of security to ensure that your time and attendance information is accurate. Using a database password with a Microsoft Access database encrypts the data it contains and prevents non authorized access to the database when someone tries to open it with MS Access.
To setup Time Clock MTS to work with an Access database that is password protected follow these simple steps:
- Password protect your Access database using MS Access. How this is done depends largely on the version of MS Access that you have. Consult your MS Access help documentation for detailed instructions.
- Run the Time Clock MTS administrator program, the software will detect that the database back end is password protected and prompt you to enter the password.
- Once entered click OK and re-start the software as prompted. If you entered the information correctly then you'll connect directly to the database. If you didn't enter the password correctly you'll be prompted to enter it again.
- You'll need to repeat the password entry process for every client installation you have.
That's all there is to it. If you're wondering, the MS Access database password you enter into Time Clock MTS is stored locally on each computer (which is why you need to enter the password for every Time Clock MTS Client you have). The password itself is stored in an encrypted format for extra security.
Posted by mnemtsas at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
March 4, 2008
When an Employee Forgets to Clock In
Employees forgetting to clock is a common problem that all employers have to deal with. Today we received an email from a Time Clock MTS user asking the best way to deal with this situation. Here's the users question:
What I am trying to do is to clock in employees while they are working, because sometimes they forget to clock in at the beginning of the shift and they tell me about 2 hours later to clock them in, but I can't because it won't let me clock them in without giving them a clock out time as well, and well the times they leave varies because we work in the restaurant business
Solving the problem is easy. Here's how in just a few simple steps:
- Log into Time Clock MTS as the Administrator
- Go to the Tools->Edit Times menu
- Select the employee you want to add the time for and then click the Add Clock In/Out Time button and select add a single clock in/out time.
- Make sure the clock in time and date is correct (it doesn't matter about the clock out) and add the clock in/out time.
- Select the clock out time for the time you have just added on the list of times.
- Click the Delete Time button and select the Delete Selected Time Only menu item and this will delete the clock out time for the time you have just added.
So now the employee is clocked in, with the time added manually and they can clock out normally at the end of the day. This process takes just under a minute and really couldn't be easier.
Posted by mnemtsas at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2008
Time Clock MTS Advanced Database Support - Why do I want it?
Advanced database support allows Time Clock MTS to use a number of fast, efficient, reliable and industrial strength databases to store it's data. The benefit to you, the customer, is software that will run faster and more reliably allowing you to collect information at a large number of work stations. The standard MS Access database used with Time Clock MTS is generally fine for most applications, but for added reliability and safety advanced database support is recommended. If you want more than 20 Time Clock MTS Client work stations then Advanced Database Support is your only option.
Currently Time Clock MTS supports MSDE, SQL Server 2000/2005, SQL Express, and MySQL. If you have a license for any of these products then please make use of them in conjunction with Time Clock MTS. If you are an existing user of Time Clock MTS you can purchase an upgrade to use them at any time, just contact us for more information. If you are considering using Time Clock MTS then please make use of the Advanced Database Support that is enabled by default in the free 30 day trial of the software.
Posted by mnemtsas at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)