Attendance and Payroll Procedures
Chapter Eighteen
Syllabus topic 6, "Attendance and payroll procedures, Overview of statutory requirements of Idle time and Overtime Incentives"
Pages 48 to 50 of 82
In one line
Time keeping records that a worker was present; time booking records what he did while he was there; and the difference between the two is idle time.
Time keeping: recording attendance
Purpose. To know who was present and for how long, so that wages can be calculated, attendance-linked benefits given, and the discipline of the factory maintained.
Methods, from oldest to most usual:
| Method | How it works | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance register | A clerk records arrival and departure | Slow; open to obliging a friend |
| Metal disc or token | Each worker moves his numbered disc from one board to another on arrival | Cheap; a worker can move another's disc |
| Time recording clock | A card is punched on arrival and departure | Reliable on time; still open to punching another's card |
| Card or biometric reader | An identity card is swiped, or a fingerprint or face read | Removes the substitution problem |
The weakness column matters more than the list. Every method up to biometric identification is defeated by one worker answering for another, and that is the control problem time keeping exists to solve.
Time booking: recording what the time was spent on
Purpose. To charge the right job with the right hours, so that the cost per job is right and idle time is visible.
Documents:
| Document | What it records |
|---|---|
| Daily time sheet | Each worker's day, split across jobs |
| Weekly time sheet | The same, for a week; fewer forms, less accurate |
| Job card or job ticket | The time spent on one job, often by several workers |
| Piece work card | The quantity produced rather than the time |
| Idle time card | Time not booked to any job, and its reason |
The job card follows the job; the time sheet follows the worker. Both exist because a cost accountant needs to look at it from both ends.
Why both records are needed
Time keeping gives the hours to be PAID for. Time booking gives the hours to be CHARGED to jobs. They should agree, and where they do not, the difference is idle time and must be explained.
| Time keeping | Time booking | |
|---|---|---|
| Records | Attendance - in and out | Utilisation - what was done |
| Kept by | The gate or time office | The foreman on the shop floor |
| Used for | Computing wages payable | Charging jobs and finding idle time |
| Unit | Hours present | Hours on each job |
The reconciliation of the two is the control, and it is the reason the next chapter exists: a worker paid for eight hours and booked to jobs for seven has an hour that somebody must account for.
Payroll procedure
The payroll, or wages sheet, is prepared from those two records and runs:
- gross wages - time or piece earnings, plus allowances, overtime and incentive earnings;
- less deductions - provident fund, employees' state insurance, professional tax, income-tax deducted at source, advances, fines;
- net wages payable;
- plus the employer's own contributions, which are a cost though not a payment to the worker;
- analysis of the total across jobs, departments and overhead, from the time booking records.
The rest of this chapter
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The rest of this subject
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