Time keeping, accounting and information system

Now time keeping is integrated and is useful for HR, Marketing, Accounting, Costing, and Finance. IT department provides latest tools for time keeping and recording, which helps the organisation to keep proper record of timing.


Time-keeping is the function of recording workers’ time of arrival and departure. In a small concern, this function is accomplished by the pay-roll department. However, time-keeping is the responsibility of a separate department. The time-keeping department, as it is called, function on the basis of employee records supplied by the personnel department. In turn, it supplies the necessary information to the pay-roll department to enable the latter to prepare the wages sheet.

The numbner of hours an employee is present at his place of work should be recorded so that the wages due to him can be calculated. Thus the attendance record forms the basis of wage payment. It is the time-keeping department that provides an assurance through the attendance record to the payroll department that the hours shown in the record were actually worked. Hence, the chief object of time-keeping is the preparation of the payroll with a view to ascertaining the wages of workers who are paid @ so much amount per unit of time, i.e. hour or day.
Although time-keeping is necessary in the case of workers who are paid on the basis of time, it is equally necessary in the case of those who are paid on the basis of output produced. In fact, according to the Indian Factories Act, 1948, no workers can be made to work for more than 9 hours a day or 48 hours a week. This statutory requirement can be complied with only by the maintenance of attendance record. This record also assists the cost accounting department in ascertaining the loss of labour time, which is known as idle time. Again, this record becomes necessary to satisfy social legislation and taxation laws. Thus, the various objects of time-keeping are:
a) For preparing the payroll,
b) For satisfying statutory requirements,
c) For ascertaining the labour cost,
d) For ascertaining idle time,
e) For calculating overtime,
f) For overhead distribution,
g) For labour cost control, and
h) For disciplinary purposes.