A new study should give companies some help making their case.

Switching from manual to electronic T&A (via, computer- or Web-based software, timeclocks, etc.) gives companies a significant benefit, according to a survey from Nucleus Research.

In the companies interviewed after making the switch, the biggest benefits were:

1. Productivity boost

Automation makes the process easier for everyone involved — employees don’t have to spend time filling out timesheets, managers can approve attendance information more quickly and payroll no longer has to manually collect, check and transmit the data from paper records.

The bottom line: Everyone has more time to work.

2. Fewer errors

On average, the companies surveyed saw payroll errors decline by 1.2%. Going electronic significantly reduces the possibility of human error.

3. Better control of overtime costs

When employees submit their hours at the end of every pay period, managers often don’t know much time everyone’s worked so far in the current week.

With electronic tracking, managers can keep tabs on who’s in danger of incurring overtime and assign extra work for the week to those least likely to exceed 40 hours.

4. Elimination of paper costs

The final benefit is simple: You don’t have to spend money on paper.

Companies with a manual process spend an estimated three cents for every time sheet. Multiply that by the number of employees and pay periods, and you’ll have an idea of how much you can save.

To download a PDF of the report, click here.

That goes for electronic time and attendance tracking, too.

Here are three things companies must do to help ease the transition from a manual to automatic process:

• Stress how it benefits them — Instead of explaining how much money it’ll save the company or how it will make things easier for HR or management, stress the ways employees will benefit. For example, the system could reduce errors that leave them underpaid and eliminate the need to manually add up the hours every two weeks.
• Get them involved early in the process — When viewing demos for a new system or designing one in-house, it’s important to get the opinion of every affected party — that includes employees and managers. That will help you develop a system that works for everyone and aid the transition.
• Train employees — For any new technology project, training is a must.