Making on-time payments can change into tricky if employees regularly fail to submit timesheets.
So what’s the answer? With timesheet reminders, you possibly can send automated alerts weekly, biweekly, or monthly to streamline the method and improve success rates.
In this text, we’ll cover how timesheet reminders work, explore how they’ll profit distant team managers, and take a look at tips on how to save time with automated time tracking.
Table of Contents
What’s a timesheet reminder?
A timesheet reminder is a notice that prompts employees to finish and submit their timesheets before a weekly, biweekly, or monthly deadline.
You possibly can actually send timesheet reminders manually. But when you’ve gotten ongoing timesheet deadlines, automating the method can prevent time and hassle.
Why is there a necessity for timesheet reminders?
Timesheet reminders are almost definitely one among the one things that employees will get to, well, remind them about completing and submitting their timesheets for a given period.
While you possibly can trust many employees will stay on top of their personal timesheets with minimum supervision and reminding, it’s still best practice to send a general reminder for everyone, especially in case anyone forgets.
In any case, teams can get busy, things get forgotten, and folks overall could have other things to remain on top each month. It’s helpful to send reminders every now and then, especially when payroll is coming.
Timesheet reminders are also crucial for any fully distant team, especially within the absence of a workplace where you possibly can remind people in person. Because teams that work together virtually may mean working asynchronously, it’s essential that some announcements – including timesheet reminders – are made often.
Common kinds of timesheet reminders
Now let’s take a take a look at some common kinds of timesheet reminders, from the formal to the informal.
Emails
Email might be probably the most common way an organization can send employees timesheet reminders. You possibly can easily automate emails to send to the whole company, or to a selected team, particularly when you work with freelancers or independent contractors who could have a special payroll schedule than regular employees.
Text messages
Reminders sent as text messages are also becoming more commonplace, as advancements in technology and communications has made it possible to automate and even personalize SMS messages.
This could be a fantastic strategy to send automated timesheet reminders for firms with employees in the identical location or region. But text messages will also be sent via popular messaging apps. So if your organization and teams are on apps like Telegram or WhatsApp, for instance, these could be great channels to send text message reminders.
Memes
Last but not least, memes could make for funny timesheet reminders. Creating and filing timesheets could be an administrative task that some employees don’t all the time love doing, so inject just a little whimsy and fun by sending memes to commemorate the upcoming deadline.
Slack
If your organization uses a communication platform like Slack to cut back the necessity for emails and texts, then sending in-app timesheet reminders is a great selection.
Depending in your Slack setup, you may create a channel only for timesheets, payroll reminders, and updates to send regular reminders. Alternatively, you should use Slack messages to remind employees and contractors directly.
How you can automate timesheet reminders?
We’ve tackled a number of common ways you possibly can deliver your reminders, so the query you may now be asking is: how do you truly automate these timesheet reminders?
Listed below are 5 ways you possibly can automate timesheet reminders in your organization. Be at liberty to make use of only one or a combination of a number of to essentially see which works best for you and your employees.
1. Schedule reminder emails
Scheduling reminder emails could be probably the most straightforward option. In any case, everybody checks their company email often, and also you’ll be sitting at the highest of their inbox.
Email also works best when you work with distant employees and freelancers who is probably not a part of your organization newsletters or shared workspaces. This can be one among the higher platforms to make use of to send formal, skilled reminders.
Listed below are some example templates of a timesheet reminder email you possibly can send:
Formal timesheet reminder email
Hi,
That is to remind you that your timesheets for the period of (start period date) to (end period date) is due this Friday, end of day. Late or no submission of timesheets may end in delayed payments. If you’ve gotten any concerns and questions, please get in contact along with your team lead.
Formal timesheet reminder email for overdue timesheets
Hi,
That is to tell you that your timesheet for the period (start period date) to (end period date) is overdue. Please submit your timesheet as soon as possible to avoid long delays in your payroll. If you’ve gotten any problems submitting your timesheet, please get in contact along with your team lead.
In fact, you may as well send shorter, more informal email reminders, particularly when you’ve been with a team for a very long time where everyone knows one another well.
Informal timesheet reminder email
Hi,
Just desired to remind you that your timesheet is due tonight before the tip of the workday. Please send it in as soon as you possibly can. Thanks!
Informal timesheet reminder email for overdue timesheets
Hi,
Here to let that your timesheets have overdue. If you’ve gotten any problems, please get in contact with (Name) from HR. If not, please send them in as soon as possible. Thanks!
How you can arrange scheduled email reminders
Most corporate email providers offer you the choice to send scheduled emails to your entire team. Listed below are most of the essential steps you’ll likely have to do to establish automated timesheet reminder emails.
1. Use a transparent subject line, e.g. “REMINDER: Your timesheets are due today” or “(TO DO) Submit your timesheets here”
2. Type out the e-mail body with all relevant information, including who people have to get in contact with for questions or concerns.
3. As a substitute of hitting Send, search for a Send Later or Schedule Send option.
4. Set the time once you want the reminder to be sent.
5. Schedule the e-mail, sit back, and watch the e-mail send on the designated day and time.
6. Repeat this process for every payroll cycle, or schedule several emails for multiple payroll periods ahead of time.
2. Send a reminder on Slack
In case your team is on Slack, you possibly can arrange a recurring message that you may send to the whole company or a selected Slack channel right from the app itself.
The fantastic thing about an automatic reminder on Slack can be that it sends reminders as a task for the recipient, so that they’ll have to mark it as “complete.” This makes sure employees are in a position to tick this task off their list, since the reminder will stay energetic on their end in the event that they haven’t accomplished the timesheet submission.
How you can arrange recurring reminders on Slack
- Should you don’t have one yet, create a channel for company-wide announcements and reminders. Optionally, you possibly can create a channel specific to timesheet reminders. On this walkthrough, we’ll assume you created a brand new channel called #reports-reminders.
- Go to your personal Slack space, type in the next command:
/remind + #channel-name on (day) at (time), to submit their timesheets
So calling back the channel #reports-reminders, your command would seem like this:
/remind #reports-reminders on Fridays at 4:30PM to submit their timesheets to HR - Should you ask employees to send timesheets every other week as a substitute of weekly, an example command you should use to establish your reminders could be – /remind #channel every other Friday at 4:30PM to submit their timesheets to HR
3. Create a shared calendar
Next, a company-wide shared calendar could be useful for showing recurring events and reminders without having to continuously remind everyone via different channels.
A standard use case for shared calendars now, for instance, are regular virtual meetings and company-wide town hall meets. A very distant team simply needs a recurring event to their shared company calendar, so if the event is a gaggle meeting for instance, they’ll run the meeting using reliable webinar software in the event that they can’t meet in person.
This manner, all participants have to do is use their calendar to search out all the small print for the meeting to have the option to affix with minimal to no back-and-forth messaging.
But this shared calendar event feature will also be became a recurring timesheet reminder.
How you can use a shared calendar event as a timesheet reminder
Follow these steps to establish a recurring timesheet reminder in your company, especially on a shared calendar. On this walkthrough, we’ll assume you’re already using a shared calendar service – on this case, Google Calendar.
- Go to Google Calendar. Under My Calendar, hover over your company-wide calendar and click on More > Settings and Sharing.
- Under Access permissions, select Make available for (organization name) so this calendar is viewable for all individuals under your organization. Should you work with freelancers without company emails, opt to individually share the calendar with them.
- Create a Recent Event and label it accordingly, e.g. “Timesheet Submission Deadline” with a selected date and time.
- Under the date and time options, set it to recur at your designated periods, e.g. weekly or every other week.
- Under Notifications, set it to send notifications to everyone to start of event. Determine whether you wish Google Calendar notifications only or if you desire to include email notifications as well. Pro-tip: the latter is best in case employees wouldn’t have Google Calendar installed on their phones or don’t have their calendar open on one other tab.
4. Send a text message
Employees almost definitely check their phones more often than they do email, so this could be a fantastic place to send a timecard reminder. To automate SMS messages for a corporation, you’ll need to get popular business texting software like Weave to aid you set this step up.
How you can arrange automated text message reminders
On this walkthrough, we’re going to assume you’ve gotten a business texting app. We’ll be using Weave for instance of the overall steps you possibly can expect, but the method may vary depending in your provider.
- Create a Recent Group and add all employees.
- Create a brand new Appointment Type and name it accordingly, i.e. Timesheet Deadline.
- Go to Auto-Reminder > Appointment Reminders, then arrange the dates and times you’ll want your reminder texts to send to employees. Pro-tip: schedule the SMS to send on the time the timesheets are due.
- Add the Timesheet Deadline event under this auto-reminder setting, arrange your reminder message, add personalization. You possibly can then preview your message before turning on this automation.
5. Put money into automated time tracking software
Key takeaways
Incessantly asked questions (FAQ)
1. What’s the most effective tool for timesheet automation?
The very best tool for timesheet automation relies on your organization’s specific needs, akin to team size, budget, and required features. Nonetheless, among the top tools known for his or her timesheet automation capabilities include:
- Time Doctor: Known for its comprehensive time tracking features and automatic timesheet reminders, Time Doctor is good for distant and hybrid teams.
- Clockify: A free time tracking tool with automated reminders, useful for smaller teams and freelancers.
- TSheets: Offers advanced time tracking with reminder features and integrates easily with payroll systems like QuickBooks.
- Harvest: A user-friendly tool with time tracking and automatic timesheet notifications, great for project management and invoicing.
Evaluate aspects akin to ease of use, integration with payroll systems, and mobile compatibility when selecting the suitable tool in your organization.
2. How can I ensure employees reply to timesheet reminders?
To extend the likelihood of employees responding to timesheet reminders, consider these best practices:
- Personalize reminders: Tailor your messages to different teams or individuals. A customized message is more more likely to grab attention than a generic reminder.
- Set clear deadlines: Be certain the reminder includes the precise due date and any consequences for late submissions, akin to delayed payroll.
- Use multiple channels: Send reminders through various channels, akin to email, text messages, Slack, and even in-app notifications to make sure nobody misses the alert.
- Create accountability: Use a tool that tracks whether employees have opened and acted on the reminder. For instance, Slack reminders that require marking tasks as “complete” will help increase accountability.
- Add fun elements: Using memes or humor in your reminders could make a secular task more engaging and memorable for workers.
3. How does automated time tracking improve productivity?
Automated time tracking improves worker productivity in several ways:
- Accurate time records: With automated tracking, employees’ working hours are logged in real time, reducing errors and discrepancies in timesheets, resulting in more accurate payroll and higher insight into productivity patterns.
- Fewer distractions: Since time tracking is automated, employees don’t should manually log their hours, which minimizes distractions and allows them to focus more on their tasks.
- Higher resource allocation: Automated time tracking tools often include reporting features that give managers insights into how time is spent. This data could be used to optimize workflows, reallocate tasks, and be sure that resources are getting used effectively.
- Encourages accountability: When employees know that their time is being tracked mechanically, they usually tend to stay on task, which fosters a culture of accountability and helps improve overall team efficiency.