What Is Employee Timekeeping? A Simple Guide for Businesses

If you’ve ever thought a Daily Time Record (DTR) and employee timekeeping were the same thing, you’re not alone. They go hand in hand, but they serve different purposes. 

A DTR records when an employee starts and finishes work. Employee timekeeping begins after that. It’s the process of reviewing those attendance records and turning them into information that helps HR manage working hours, leave, overtime, and payroll. 

Employee Timekeeping Starts Where the DTR Ends  

Think of a DTR as the starting point.  

Once employees have clocked in and out, HR still needs to answer questions like:

• How many hours did the employee work?

• Was there any overtime or undertime?

• Were there late arrivals?

• Was the employee on leave that day?

• Is everything ready before payroll is processed?

  
  

These are all part of employee timekeeping. Instead of simply recording attendance, timekeeping helps businesses understand what those attendance records mean.  

What Happens During Timekeeping?

While every business has its own process, employee timekeeping usually involves: 

• Reviewing employee attendance records

• Computing working hours

• Checking overtime, undertime, and tardiness

• Recording approved leave and absences

• Organizing attendance records before payroll

Whether these tasks are done manually or through software, the goal is the same: keeping employee records organized and easier to review.  

Why Businesses Move Beyond Manual Timekeeping

A spreadsheet can handle attendance. The real question is how much work goes into keeping it updated.

As teams become larger and work schedules become more varied, HR has more than time-in and time-out entries to consider. Overtime, undertime, tardiness, leave, and working hours all need to be reviewed, which can make manual timekeeping increasingly time-consuming. 

DTR and Timekeeping Work Together 

A simple way to remember the difference is this:  

A Daily Time Record tells you when an employee worked. 

Employee timekeeping helps you understand what those attendance records mean.  

Both are important. One creates the record, while the other helps businesses review, organize, and make use of that information.  

From Timekeeping to Payroll 

Timekeeping does not end with reviewing attendance records. The information gathered from timekeeping, such as working hours, overtime, undertime, tardiness, and leave, can also become part of the information used for payroll. Which is why keeping timekeeping records organized is important before moving on to the payroll process.