Have you ever noticed that when you print employee timecards for payroll that you have to change the current period dates? That's because you haven't been closing your payroll periods.When printing timecards, Virtual TimeClock will always use the stored totals from a closed payroll period rather than recalculating the totals again. This is important since wages, overtime, and time deduction rules may

A couple of weeks ago, I provided you with instructions on how to set a static IP address on Windows computers. This post will show you how to do the same thing on a Mac. You'll want to do this if your time clock clients fail to connect to the time clock server after the computer is rebooted. It's probably getting a dynamic IP address from the router which causes it to sometimes get a different address

If you're running networked time clocks and clients are unable to connect to the time clock server at random times, or clients are being mysteriously disconnected, then you'll want to check the energy saver settings on the time clock server computer.Go to the Apple menu and choose System Preferences. Select Energy Saver from the Hardware row. The first setting you'll see is a slide bar to control when

The Report Writer is a great tool for customizing the different timecard reports that are built into your time clock software, or for creating new ones. You can change report options, formatting, and even what data to include. If there's a particular report you run often, you may want to set the default date range so you're not always having to change it at run time.For example, let's say you've created

One of the reasons time clock clients fail to connect to the time clock server is because the IP address of the time clock server computer changes. The reason this happens is because the computer running the time clock server is receiving a dynamic IP address from the router. This makes it easy on the end user since no configuration is required to set up your computer and use the Internet, but your

We've talked recently about how to track down missing overtime on your employee time cards. The steps went something like this:Check employee overtime assignmentsCheck overtime rule configurationCheck employee salary typeCheck the shift restart settingIt's the last step I want to discuss because this setting's impact on your employee time cards can be tricky. Go to the Tools menu and choose Time Calculations.

We talk to a lot of business owners trying to solve a variety of time and attendance problems. Two of the most common we hear about are how to prevent buddy punching and how to prevent unauthorized overtime. We have some new security features coming next year that will help with buddy punching, and you can use the current shifts feature to help prevent unnecessary overtime.You can keep track of approved

Connecting time clocks at different locations can be intimidating for many people. Especially when you start talking about static IPs, router config, and WAN addresses. Here's a little two-step process you can use to start using your time clock software from home or another office location.Call your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and have them do 2 things for you:Have them assign the router at the

Virtual TimeClock has an easy-to-use backup utility that allows you to schedule automatic backups that will ensure you've got a current copy of your time clock data should disaster strike. However, your backup may fail if you're attempting to back up to a shared folder. That's because the time clock server background service doesn't have default access to the shared folder.We've got instructions for

Don't forget that Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends this Sunday, November 6. New Virtual TimeClock software users are often a little anxious when the first seasonal time change occurs after they've begun using their new time clock software. Don't worry, there's really nothing you need to do since most newer computers handle the time change for you automatically. The Basic and Pro Editions record

Did your free time clock software trial expire even though you purchased a license? Chances are, you never entered your key codes. The Virtual TimeClock evaluation is a great testing tool because:It's fully functional, which means you can test every feature.There's nothing new to download or install after purchasing a license.You don't lose any of the employee data you collected during the trial period.So

Many new users contact us right after running their first payroll because no overtime has been calculated on their employee time cards. If that's happened to you, here are the time clock software settings you need to check, starting with the most common and ending with the least used.Has an overtime rule been assigned to each employee? Go to the Lists menu, choose Users, and select an employee name

We occasionally chat with customers who can't get a static IP address from their Internet service provider (ISP). Usually, it's because they're in a remote area where static IP service isn't offered. Without getting too technical, a static IP address is needed if you're planning on using Virtual TimeClock over the Internet because a static IP address doesn't change. If the IP address assigned to your

Employee tardiness can be a real source of frustration for business owners and managers. Very few employees are likely to mark themselves as late when filling out paper time sheets. That's why time clock software is such a great tool for tracking the real time arrival and departure of your employees. It holds employees accountable and gives business owners several ways to monitor late employees.Real-Time

We often get asked how to force certain hours to be overtime. In many companies, employees get paid a premium when performing duties after hours or when they're on call. That's easy to do when using activities, but first I want to discuss the difference between time clock software and payroll software.The purpose of time clock software is to keep track of how many hours an employee has worked