Engineering is all about precision. Whether you’re designing, fabricating or managing projects, accuracy and efficiency are what keep the wheels turning. But when it comes to tracking hours, many engineering firms are still using paper timesheets, and that’s where things start to come unstuck.

The Problem with Paper

On the face of it, paper timesheets look simple. In reality, they create more headaches than they solve:

• Guesswork instead of accuracy: Most people fill in their hours at the end of the day, or worse, the end of the week. It’s based on memory, not actual start and finish times, so project hours are often off the mark.

• Mistakes creep in: Handwriting gets hard to read, maths goes wrong, and hours don’t always add up. Those little errors quickly flow through to payroll and job costing.

• Admin overload: Someone has to chase up missing timesheets, double-check them, then type everything into payroll or costing software. That’s time your admin or project managers could be using on more valuable work.

• Compliance risks: Dodgy or incomplete records can put you on the wrong side of employment law.

Why It Matters in Engineering

Engineering projects often run on tight budgets and timelines. If your team’s hours aren’t spot on:

• You can underquote or blow the budget without realising where the time went.

• Clients may question invoices if the records don’t stack up.

• You lose visibility on labour costs while the job is still running.

At the end of the day, paper timesheets don’t give you the control or confidence you need to run projects smoothly.

A Smarter Way

Digital time and attendance systems take the hassle out of timesheets. Staff record their hours in real time on a phone, tablet or on-site kiosk. The result is:

• Accurate records of how long each task or shift took.

• Payroll and job costing that runs without manual data entry.

• Less time wasted on paperwork and more time spent on engineering.

• Peace of mind that your records are compliant.

Time to Move On

If your business is built on precision, why leave something as important as timesheets to guesswork and messy handwriting? Shifting from paper to digital is a simple change that improves accuracy, saves money, and gives you the visibility you need to keep projects on track.

In engineering, the details matter. And when it comes to timesheets, paper just doesn’t cut it.