Labor Management. NOW Simple.

Many of TimeForge’s November and December updates included improvements to scheduling, enhanced multi-unit capabilities, additional Point of Sale capabilities, and new training videos.

We have also been hard at work on many improvements to TimeForge Attendance.   TimeForge Attendance is a labor management software tool that focuses on employee time cards and managing payroll expenses.   Employees can clock in and out using the system, managers can review staff timecards, and then managers can approve the employee time punches for third party payroll processing.

If you are using a standard time clock, or are having staff write their arrival, departure, and lunch breaks on a piece of paper, switching to TimeForge Attendance will save you hours of headaches each and every week!

Some of the most recent improvements to TimeForge Attendance include:

• Several new TimeForge Attendance tutorials are online and available for your review! Don’t get lost or confused about how to edit time cards, modifying clock in parameters, or setting up IP addresses for restricting employee time punches.   Review the TimeForge Attendance manual (videos are coming soon), and read about all of these profit saving topics.

• Quickly identify employee time punches and problematic time cards using the TimeForge Most Different notifications. As you process and approve / export payroll, TimeForge automatically identifies different (or strange) time punches, and ranks each shift based on how different the shift is from the other staff member time punches.   Managers and payroll supervisors can use the “Most Different” field to quickly identify potential problems before cutting checks for staff members.

• Show the last person to edit or change time card data. All time card changes are recorded and can be viewed in the TimeForge Daily Log by qualified managers.   However, you can now easily review which manager (or supervisor) most recently modified any specific time card entry.   Reduce fraud and and identify compliance issues immediately.

View the last manager to edit a time entry

• Identify hours worked on the Clocked-In Employees page. You now have the choice to manage labor by scheduled or actual labor costs, or by the scheduled or actual labor hours while you are reviewing who is clocked in, or which staff members were previously clocked in during the business day.

Review Worked Hours and Total Costs

• Manage attendance and timecards by departments. When you have a large number of staff members, managing your labor can be complicated.   You can now browse and edit staff time sheets based on the department that you are interested in reviewing.

Edit Attendance by Department

Look for more information about recent improvements to TimeForge Attendance very soon.   We continue to improve the software so that you can manage your workforce effectively, and go home early!

You should be using a time and attendance system to make your life easy! TimeForge can quickly and easily manage time cards, employee attendance, and export payroll for processing.   Sign up for a trial today to use TimeForge Attendance to track employee time.

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August 21, 2008 , Lubbock, TX , It happens on every Friday of every work week in hospitality, restaurant, and retail businesses around the world. Employees call and want to know when they are scheduled to work during the upcoming week, but the manager hasn’t posted the schedule. Staff members are not able to plan their personal lives without the work schedule which creates conflicts and leads to employee terminations and resignations as soon as the schedule is posted. With labor scheduling software tools, management can reduce schedule conflicts, minimize turnover, and improve profitability at their business.

Managing a labor force requires scheduling part-time and full-time employees properly before they are needed for work and also tracking when employees clock-in and clock-out. Good managers reduce the difference between the theoretical work schedule and the actual hours worked while maximizing sales at the business. Improper employee scheduling leads to one of two circumstances:

1. More employees are scheduled to work than are necessary – increasing payroll costs and reducing profits. Employees may be cut from the schedule without working their scheduled hours.
2. Not enough employees are scheduled to work – decreasing sales and reducing profits. Employees must be called in to work, creating frustration and high turnover among personnel.

Neither option is desirable and the key to avoiding both situations is to monitor and refine the schedule at your business. As experienced managers know, building an accurate schedule takes several hours a week and must consider all of the following items:

• Availability sheets
• Communication and request log books
• Shift swaps and trading
• Minor rules
• Scheduled breaks
• Lunches
• Employee notifications
• Training and certifications
• And many other factors …

Using TimeForge, a web-based labor management system, managers quickly build accurate schedules while reducing turnover, enhancing communication, and improving retention. The recently updated TimeForge provides more time saving features, new pricing plans, and now includes a powerful Daily Log.

With a comprehensive labor management tool, payroll expenses are reduced and employee turnover is continually monitored. TimeForge keeps managers out of the back office and puts them back on the floor where they can directly influence the profits of the business.

About TimeForge
TimeForge, www.TimeForge.com, develops easy-to-use software products to manage employee scheduling, time and attendance, and communication logs. TimeForge’s web-based product suite is designed to meet the demands of the retail and restaurant industries, providing solutions for both independent and chain operators.

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The TimeForge team has been hard at work adding to the TimeForge software product, making employee scheduling simple, and time and attendance monitoring easier.   We now offer Biometric Fingerprint scanning to all TimeForge Max users.   We have partnered with M2SYS to offer an out-of-the-box and affordable solution to all users, and are proud to be listed on the M2SYS partners page.

A joint press release about our partnership was recently issued, and can be found on the M2SYS website in full.   The interesting tidbits for TimeForge users include:

According to Anthony Presley, Founder of TimeForge, “Our customers already schedule their employees online, but many continue to use traditional time clocks to track when employees punch in and out at their business. The M2SYS biometric product allows our customers to easily track time and attendance data and compare it to existing schedules — providing important and accurate payroll information. By eliminating the need for passwords and employee identification cards, it should significantly reduce buddy punching, which will save our customers up to 5-7% of their annual payroll expenses.”

“Companies in the retail and hospitality industry are quickly recognizing the benefits of using biometrics, including the reduction of buddy punching and an overall improvement in time and attendance data accuracy,” states Michael Trader, President of M2SYS Technology. “We are excited about being chosen by TimeForge, and look forward to a long-standing relationship with them and their customers.”

For more information about pricing, or how to get a Fingerprint scanner, contact the TimeForge sales department.

Can you build a schedule in less than 10 minutes? How many thousands of dollars do you spend making schedules every year? Did you know that TimeForge can minimize costs and increase profits through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, pizzeria, hotel, club, bar, or retail business. Sign up today for a free trial!

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Managers Save Hours Making Employee Schedules, Reduce Turnover

Lubbock, TX , October 22, 2007 – Labor is one of two large cost centers in the food-service business, and can account for more than thirty-percent (30%) of the expenses in a well managed restaurant or club. Managers spend hours every week deciding how to schedule their labor force , time that could be spent with guests or managing other aspects of the business. Poorly scheduling the work force can result in severe negative consequences for the business including higher turnover, reduction in morale, and increased payroll expenses. In development for almost three years, the latest version of TimeForge.com provides a quick, simple, and affordable solution for managers to schedule their work force.

According to a recent study performed by TimeForge.com, managers in the restaurant, bar, and club industry spend between one and eight hours every week building their labor schedule. Scheduling employees is a complicated and thankless task, requiring that managers juggle availability sheets, request and manager log books, and sticky notes in addition to memorizing overtime regulations, labor laws, and the staffing needs of the business. With an average salary and benefits package of more than $62,500 per year, managers can cost a restaurant more than $1,000 a month to maintain a basic labor schedule. The latest version of TimeForge.com turns employee scheduling into an automated task that can be performed in a few minutes – saving thousands of dollars every year for the store.

TimeForge.com is an easy-to-use web application that can be accessed remotely by both employees and managers. The software currently assists more than 600 businesses schedule their employees, including many hospitality and food-service establishments such as restaurants, bars, hotels, clubs. However, other companies such as retail centers, health clinics, movie theaters, and realty companies are taking advantage of the easy-to-use and affordable scheduling software. “… I know that it is geared towards restaurants, but we are a real estate company and we love it because it is inexpensive and it is so easy to use.” said Nicole, Managing Administrator for Exit Premier Realty.

The labor scheduling software comes with a number of features designed to make managing a schedule simple:

• Managers can display schedules in list, grid, or graphical formats.
• AutoScheduler™ system builds a complete schedule in seconds.
• Requests and employee availability are stored indefinitely, and automatically appear on the schedule.
• Employees are automatically notified by email and text messages of any posted schedule changes.
• Managers can compare theoretical schedules and actual payroll costs to calculate performance.
• Employees can swap shifts with other qualified employees.
• And much more!

Other users, such as Sherry, a manager at Music Man’s BBQ, enjoy easy employee scheduling with the TimeForge.com AutoScheduler™ system. According to Sherry, “It’s cut my time to make a schedule in half!” The AutoScheduler™ system considers millions of employee combinations based on factors such as availability, labor costs, employee strengths, and overtime regulations. The best schedule available for the business is calculated in seconds, and management can modify it where necessary.

If you manage employees, online labor scheduling software is a worthwhile investment. Properly managing labor saves time and money for the business, and improves the job satisfaction of both employees and managers. For more information about TimeForge.com, and to sign up for a Free Trial, visit the website at http://www.TimeForge.com

About TimeForge.com
TimeForge.com is the premier employee scheduling software, designed to provide fast ROI benefits to the business, and to meet the growing demands of the work force. TimeForge.com is affordable software that works for both independent and chain operations.

How long does it take to make your employee schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, club, or business.

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Scheduling Is Not Usually Simple

Scheduling is much more than simply anticipating customer volume and then ensuring that there are an adequate number of employees present to handle peak busy periods. Because payroll is one of the largest controllable expenses, it is important to understand the underlying financial metrics involved in controlling payroll costs while still maintaining optimum staffing levels.

One of basic metrics is the “payroll to total sales ratio” which encompasses all fixed and variable payroll expenses including management salary. Mangers who strive for more accurate measurements often include non-payroll costs such as entertainment fees paid to live performers.

How long does it take to make an employee schedule? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that labor costs could be as much as 30% of your expenses? TimeForge can help streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, or club.

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