Learn How to Check a Time Sheet for Accuracy and Potential Fraud
Time sheet accuracy is critical to the profitability of your small business. If the time sheets that are coming through your payroll have errors or fraudulent tallies, then you could be in for unnecessary financial losses and expenses. This is why it is important to develop internal control strategies that will help you to determine if a time sheet is filled out properly, if the tallies are correct and if the entries are valid.Internal Control Tip #1 - Utilize Bookkeeping Software
One of the best internal control strategies for time sheet accuracy is to utilize a bookkeeping program. This system will double check the tallies and coding for each time sheet as you enter the information into the system. If the amounts on the handwritten time sheet do not match those generated by the software program, then you will know that an error occurred. Also, as you enter the coding from the time sheet into the software program you will get an error message if the code is invalid and you will also be able to double check that the client code used is the right one.
Internal Control Tip #2 - Have Employees Keep a Time Journal
Time keeping journals are a great internal control tool that you can use to double check the employees' time sheets against. For this strategy to work each employee will need to write down when they work on a client's account and for how long. They can also track their mileage in this journal by writing down their odometer readings or by writing down receipt numbers. If a time sheet's accuracy is in question you can look at the employee's time journal.
Internal Control Tip #3 - Require Receipts or Use Per Diems for Expenses
Tracking employee expenses can be difficult if you do not have some way to verify the information. For many things you will want to the employee to provide you with a receipt, such as for hotel rooms, meals and training registration. However, for standardized expenses like meals, entertainment and mileage, you can require your employees to use the per diem amounts created by the IRS. You can further streamline your expenses by creating a mileage chart for specific clients.
|
|