Time Recording

OPERATION:

The user will first use the setup program to enter in basic parameters of the company using the Time Recording program.  Once these parameters are entered, the master files data will be created using the maintenance programs.  When this is complete, the time may be recorded on any terminal by running the Time Recording program on the main menu.  The only input to this program is the employee number.  If the employee is currently punched out, a new transaction will be created in the Time Recording Transaction file using the current date and time as the punch in time.  If the employee is punched in, he will be punched out.  These punches are called hard punches and cannot be changed.

At the beginning of each payroll period, the operator will use the Pay Period maintenance program to enter in the payroll period beginning date.  The ending date will be calculated by the system based on the number of days in the payroll pay cycle.  This data is entered in the setup program when establishing the system.

There is also a Time Edit program which can put the Time Record transaction file into many uses.  Transactions in this file have a hard punch time if the Time Recording program created them.  Although the hard punch time cannot be changed, there is also the corrected punch in and out fields.  Initially these fields are equal to the hard punch time, but these fields can be edited.  This is so an audit trail of the employee's physical punch in and out times can be maintained.  The Time Edit program can also be used to create new records such as late arrival transactions, sick time transactions, vacation transactions, punch in/out records for employees not physically at the plant (offsite meetings).  Data records created in the Time Recording Transaction file will initially be set to the employee's default department.  Utilizing the Time Edit program, the time on one transaction can be allocated into a maximum of five departments.  The Time Edit program calculates and displays the regular, overtime, and double time hours in real time on the screen to assist the operator in editing the time transactions.

After entering the Time Recording transactions, timesheets can be printed for each employee to review and sign.  The Time Edit program identifies and corrects any discrepancies so the timesheet can be reprinted.

The final step in a payroll cycle is to print the Time Recording Journal and post the data into the Payroll data entry program.  The Time Recording transactions are flagged as transferred so data cannot be uploaded again.  The earnings data can still be modified  within the Payroll data entry program.

The Time Code report is another available report, which shows transactions for any range of time sorted by employee, time code and date.  With this report the number of vacation days and hours can be determined.  Also, all late punch  in occurrences can be reported.

The Time Recording program requires only the employee number for input.  When the employee number is entered, the employee master file is accessed to verify the validity of the employee number.  If the employee number is invalid, a message is displayed.  Otherwise, the Time Recording employee master file is accessed.  This file contains the status of the employee (punched in or out) and the transaction number (if punched in).  If the employee is punched out, then his status changes to punched in and a new transaction is created using the current time and date as the punch in time.  If the employee is punched in, then the active punch in transaction is accessed and the punch out time is recorded.  Then the Time Recording employee master file is marked to punched out.  When creating the Time Recording transaction, the department is defaulted to the department contained in the Time Recording employee master file.  The Time Recording code is set according to the time of the day when the employee punches in.