Jim Courtwood
Author of the Time & Attendance Consultant's Guide Series
Who’s Actually Involved in a Time & Attendance System? More People Than You Think.
When businesses start looking for a new time and attendance system, the question usually begins with a simple request:
“Can you give us a quote for a clocking system?”
On the surface, it looks like a straightforward purchase, install a clock, collect times, send them to payroll.
In reality, a time and attendance system is one of the few technologies that affects almost every person in the business, from the front-line employee to the executive team.
If the selection and implementation are handled as a “simple purchase,” it almost always leads to frustration, payroll errors, and avoidable project delays.
Here’s why it matters and who is truly involved.
1. The Executive Team: Setting the Direction
Time and attendance isn’t just a compliance tool; it governs labour cost, operational stability, and business risk.
Executives ensure the system:
Supports growth
Reduces manual processing
Improves reliability
Enhances auditability and compliance
Their role is strategic: approve budgets, evaluate ROI, and make sure the project aligns with the business’ direction.
2. Payroll: The Beating Heart of the System
If one group understands the consequences of a bad T&A decision, it’s payroll.
Payroll officers must:
Validate all award interpretations
Confirm break rules, rounding, overtime triggers
Review daily and weekly calculations
Manage exceptions, missing clockings, and leave
Perform payroll exports and audits
A purchasing officer cannot know these rules.
An IT manager cannot know them.
Only payroll fully understands the implications.
In many projects, payroll is brought in far too late — usually after the system has already shown its limitations. That’s when businesses discover that “simple” systems cannot handle even basic award compliance.
3. HR & Compliance: Policies Become Practice
HR translates company rules into system rules.
They oversee:
Employee onboarding
Classification accuracy
Leave policies
Workplace agreements
Fair Work compliance
A good system must support the policies HR designs; it can’t fight against them.
4. Supervisors: The Daily Traffic Controllers
Supervisors interact with the system more than anyone else except payroll.
They’re responsible for:
Approving exceptions
Monitoring attendance daily
Ensuring break compliance
Managing shift swaps and overtime
Supporting team behaviour
Their involvement determines whether the system stays clean or becomes a “fix it later” mess.
5. IT: Keeping the System Secure and Connected
Today’s attendance systems require real technical oversight, including:
Network connectivity for time clocks
API integrations to payroll
Security and access controls
Data retention and backups
Device management (mobiles/tablets/clocks)
Time and attendance is a data-critical system — it must be treated as such.
6. Purchasing & Finance: Commercial Guardians
Procurement handles the commercial aspects:
Quotes
Vendor validation
Contract terms
Pricing structure
But their decisions can only be correct if they are guided by the people who understand the rules.
This is why purchasing must never choose a system based on price alone.
Finance also relies on accurate attendance data to:
Track labour cost centres
Forecast overtime
Validate budget performance
Identify cost leaks
7. Employees: The Largest User Group
Employees clock in and out, request leave, and follow attendance processes.
Their consistency determines:
Data cleanliness
Accuracy of payroll
Compliance with shift rules
Reduction of exceptions
A good system makes this easy.
A poor system makes it impossible.
Why So Many People?
Because Time & Attendance Touches Everything
Time and attendance is not a standalone tool — it is a business-wide operational platform.
When all stakeholders are involved:
Rules are interpreted correctly
Data is consistent
Compliance is protected
Payroll is accurate
Supervisors stay in control
Management gets real visibility
ROI is achieved quickly
When stakeholders are excluded, the system becomes a patchwork of manual fixes and workarounds.
Final Thought:
It’s Not Just a Clock — It’s a Business System
A time and attendance system is successful only when everyone who depends on it is part of the journey.
From executives to employees, each role contributes a piece of the puzzle.
Treat it as a multi-department project, not a quick purchase, and you will avoid the most common pitfalls
Jim Courtwood
Time & Attendance Consultant
jimc@timeandattendance.com.au
1300 553 254
0437 772 977