When it comes to human error, the worst place it can happen is in the realm of finance.

Whether you are completing a timesheet, calculating what is owed, or uploading materials – making a simple mistake can end up costing significant time, effort and resource.

So what are the costs involved if errors are made and how can you prevent them from happening in the future?

What happens when a mistake is made?

Simply put, timesheet errors can be a nightmare to deal with.

As many degrees of oversight are required, it can demand signoff from multiple members of staff to confirm what went wrong, how to correct it and to learn how to avoid issues in future.

Some common results include:

• Lack of business knowledge about your teams, creating ‘missing workers’
• Excessive time spent fixing and checking timesheets
• Inability to see accurately where time is being spent and if you are providing value for money
• Issues with cashflow management
• Frustration from employees who may be over, under, or not paid at all

How can you avoid them?

While it is essential for companies to train employees in good timesheet hygiene, technology can be an invaluable tool when you need it most.

Many reliable systems allow you to carry out checks and validation that helps reduce the effort required to resolve issues when they happen.

Settling on a solid system can also make other elements of your workday easier – allowing you to unify processes while still helping to track down or prevent mistakes on timesheets impacting positively on stress levels and time spent.

How can Practical Software help?

Practical Software’s timesheets module is designed from the ground up to give you additional oversight and control with your work.

This includes an ability to allow users to submit timesheets online and provide traceable email alerts – avoiding ‘lost’ timesheet issues.

An option to review material through a unified dashboard also gives you an at-a-glance overview of your payroll actions, ensuring issues are spotted and addressed early.

This is supported by an intuitive and powerful set of reporting tools that let you quickly understand the problems around timesheet management.

And the flexibility to enforce validation steps at various stages throughout the process, introducting elements that keep any errors to a minimum.