Sometimes just entering the number of hours per task in a timesheet is insufficient information for an organization. In some situations, knowing the time that an employee was doing the work is essential to knowing how to invoice and track that task and that employee. When that’s the case, TimeControl has functionality designed to start the start and stop times of an employee’s work day.

In User Profiles, A TimeControl Administrator can elect to make the Start/Stop button appear on the timesheet of people with that role.

One start and one stop per day
There are two options in the Start/Stop area: Single and multiple start stops. If Single Start/Stop has been turned on, then clicking the Start/Stop clock icon on the timesheet makes a series of columns appear above the timesheet grid. Each column allows the user to enter the start time and stop time of the day. The total hours for that day are then automatically calculated by TimeControl. The entries can also be automatically pushed into these values from external sources such as a security swipe-card system.

Once there are entries in the timesheet, they can be used in automated Validation Rules and will be maintained in that timesheet. Validation Rules could check to ensure that all the hours in a day are accounted for or check that there is a start stop time for each work day or that someone must have been onsite in order to book the hours.

Multiple starts and multiple stops per day
There are some organizations that will have staff whose time in and out must be checked in more detail. They might have multiple shifts per day or they might need to check out when they take a meal break and check back in when they return. For those organizations, TimeControl provides the Multiple Start/Stops per period option.

By selecting the Multiple Start/Stop option, users with this profile who click the start/stop clock icon will see a panel open to the left of the timesheet grid. This allows an unlimited number of “intervals” to be created for each day. The time in and time out will result in a total number of hours which are then totalled for the day. Once again, these values can be used in automated Validation Rules and the times are maintained with the timesheet record.

Taking starts and stops a bit further
There are some TimeControl users who need to track even more detail. TimeControl’s flexibility allows the system to be configured so that every line has a start field and stop field on it. A start and stop field could even be made for each day of the week to track the starts and stops for each task.

TimeControl allows not just whether you were working and what you did with your time to be tracked but also when you did what you were working on!

If you’d like to see Starts and Stops in action on TimeControl, then take a look at the mini-lesson called Tracking Start/Stop times on the timecontrol.com website.