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Time and attendance tracking is a critical task for any business with hourly employees. Accurately tracking when employees start work, take breaks, and end their shifts ensures payroll is processed correctly. It also provides visibility into things like overtime and adherence to schedules.

For companies that still use paper timesheets or spreadsheet tracking, making the switch to automated time and attendance software can save significant time and frustration. However, with many options on the market, it can be daunting to select the right solution for your needs and budget.

In this blog post, we'll provide a comprehensive review of TimeGuardian, a full-featured time and attendance system by Amano. Read on to learn everything you need to know about TimeGuardian's features, hardware, installation, support, and pricing.

Overview of TimeGuardian

TimeGuardian is a robust time and attendance software application developed by Amano, a global leader in payroll solutions. It's designed to track hourly employee time, calculate pay, and integrate with payroll systems.

Some key facts about TimeGuardian:

- PC-based software that installs on Windows PCs
- No web or cloud version available
- Includes license for 100 employees
- One-time purchase around $450
- Optional badge time clocks available
- Free support for 30 days, paid support plans after


With a one-time purchase that includes the software and employee licenses, TimeGuardian provides an affordable option for small to mid-sized businesses to automate time tracking.

It's important to note that TimeGuardian is a locally installed PC program, not a web-based or cloud solution. For some businesses, this provides more control over data security and availability. However, it does mean you'll need a dedicated Windows PC for running the software.

Installing and Setting Up TimeGuardian

The first step in using TimeGuardian is installing the software on a Windows PC. It supports Windows 7, 8, and 10 machines. The PC will need sufficient processor speed, RAM, and hard drive space to run the program efficiently.

According to Amano, the installation itself is straightforward. The installer will guide you through the steps of choosing a database location, configuring program settings, and setting up supervisor accounts.

Once installed, you can dive into the software and start setting up your various configurations. This includes:

- Adding employees
- Creating pay rules like regular and overtime pay rates
- Setting up schedules and shifts
- Adding worksite locations if applicable
- Integrating with payroll software


For most businesses, it takes several hours to fully setup TimeGuardian with all employees, rules, and integrations in place. Amano provides documentation and video tutorials to guide you through the process. Support technicians are also available for the first 30 days.

Tracking Time with Badges, Web Portal, and Mobile App

At the heart of any time and attendance system is how employees will clock in and out each day. TimeGuardian offers several options:

Badge Terminals: You can purchase compatible badge time clocks that connect to TimeGuardian. Employees simply swipe their badge to clock in or out.

Web Portal: Employees can access a web-based self-service portal to review schedules, request time off, and enter hours manually.

Mobile App: Amano offers a mobile app for clocking in and out from iOS or Android devices. Employees can also see schedules and timecards.

The variety of options allows businesses to choose the clocking methods that work best across their workforce. Using badge terminals ensures accurate punch data while still allowing manual input as needed.

Powerful Reporting and Analytics

TimeGuardian provides over 80 built-in reports that allow you to analyze payroll, productivity, and attendance trends. Examples include:

- Hours worked - See regular and overtime hours by employee, department, or location

- Attendance - Track absenteeism, tardiness, and early departures

- Labor cost - Analyze labor as percentage of sales or dollars spent on labor

- Schedule adherence - Ensure employees are sticking to assigned schedules

- Individual timecards - Review employee hours for accuracy before finalizing payroll

Supervisors can access reports from within the TimeGuardian software. Settings allow reports to be generated on demand or scheduled for automatic delivery via email.

The advanced reporting provides visibility into time and attendance that streamlines payroll processing and improves workforce productivity.

Benefits for Payroll, Compliance, and HR

Let's look at some of the key benefits companies can realize by implementing TimeGuardian for time and attendance:

Payroll Efficiency

- Integrates with popular payroll platforms
- Eliminates manual timesheet calculations
- Ensures accurate OT and labor cost reporting
- Exports hours data to payroll with one click


Compliance

- Maintains detailed audit trails
- Enforces work schedules and labor laws
- Provides documentation for compliance audits
- Alarms for unauthorized OT or missed breaks


HR Insights

- Identifies patterns of absenteeism or tardiness
- Determine schedules that align with demand
- Tracks employee certifications and training
- Reporting on productivity by department or job


Together, these benefits translate to significant time and cost savings while also mitigating compliance risks and improving workforce productivity. The ROI is often realized within a few months after purchasing the system.

Support Plans to Fit Your Needs

Amano offers flexible support plans based on your timeline for getting up and running:

- Free phone, email, and remote support for 30 days after installing TimeGuardian

- Basic plan ($300/year) - Mon-Fri, 7am-7pm CST phone support

- Gold plan ($600/year) - 24/7 unlimited phone and remote support

- Platinum plan ($1,200/year) - 24/7 support plus free training and upgrades

For many businesses, the free 30 day coverage is sufficient to get started. After that, choosing a paid plan provides peace of mind. You can request extensions of the free support if needed.

Competitively Priced for the Features

For all the robust functionality it provides, TimeGuardian is competitively priced compared to other solutions:

- One-time purchase around $450
- Includes 100 employee license
- Additional employees around $2 each
- Free support for 30 days
- Basic ongoing support $300/year


There are certainly lower cost basic options on the market. However, TimeGuardian delivers significantly more features for just a slightly higher investment. The advanced reporting and analytics make the added value worthwhile for many businesses.

When you consider the long term payroll accuracy and compliance benefits, TimeGuardian delivers outstanding ROI without the risks and costs of more complex enterprise systems.

Is TimeGuardian Right for Your Business?

TimeGuardian provides a scalable solution for businesses that want to:

- Transition from paper timesheets to automated tracking
- Upgrade from basic excel or web based time clocks
- Gain robust reporting and analytics capabilities
- Integrate time data with payroll systems
- Monitor attendance, schedules, and productivity


It's best suited for companies with hourly employees across one or multiple locations. The badge terminals make it easy to track time across dispersed worksites.

Businesses with more complex needs may require an enterprise solution. However, TimeGuardian makes sense for small to mid-sized organizations looking for full features without excessive IT investment.

The bottom line - TimeGuardian delivers exceptional value for growing businesses ready to optimize time tracking, payroll, compliance, scheduling, and workforce analytics. And with free support for 30 days plus affordable ongoing plans, you get the help you need at each stage.

To learn more and request a demo, visit Amano's TimeGuardian website. The combinaton of robust functionality, ease of use, and great support make it our top choice for Windows-based time and attendance software.

Diving Deeper Into Key TimeGuardian Features

Now that we've provided an overview of TimeGuardian's capabilities, let's take a deeper look at some of the key features that enable robust time and attendance management.

Flexible Data Collection

TimeGuardian gives you multiple options for collecting employee time data:

- Badge time clocks - Amano's clocks connect via USB and allow employees to punch in/out with proximity badges. Clocks can also collect data like job codes and tips.

- Web portal - Employees can visit a self-service portal to view schedules, request time off, enter hours manually, and more.

- Mobile app - Available for iOS and Android devices so employees can clock in/out and view data from anywhere. Uses GPS to validate location.

- Import from external systems - TimeGuardian can import clock data from other systems like door access control or shop floor terminals.

No matter how your employees prefer to enter time, TimeGuardian likely supports it. And the badges provide reliable punch data while still allowing manual input as needed.

Powerful Scheduling Engine

Creating and managing employee schedules is critical for staffing correctly while controlling labor costs. TimeGuardian provides robust scheduling functionality:

- Configure work shifts with start and end times, breaks, and more
- Build schedules from scratch or use templates to save time
- Assign schedules to employees by location, department, or position
- Set rotation rules like alternating weekends or back-to-back shifts
- Validate schedules against state and local labor laws
- Enable shift swapping between employees
- Automate schedule distribution via email, portal, and mobile app


The scheduling engine accounts for variables like time off, skills, and availability to create schedules that meet demand without excessive labor spend. And automation keeps everyone informed.

Robust Attendance Tracking

TimeGuardian not only tracks when employees start and end shifts - it also provides attendance reports and alarms that improve compliance:

- Enforce schedules with tardiness and early departure alarms
- Track planned (PTO) and unplanned absences
- Monitor absenteeism trends by department or across locations
- Ensure breaks are compliant with labor laws
- Customizable notifications for supervisors
- Detailed attendance history reports


The built-in attendance policies promote proper break compliance while identifying trends that can improve productivity. Supervisors get real-time alerts to emerging issues.

Custom Pay Rules

Of course, the heart of any time system is properly calculating pay. TimeGuardian supports flexible pay rules and premiums including:

- Regular and overtime pay rates
- Multiple pay types like salary, hourly, commission
- Shift differentials and premiums
- Complex overtime rules such as daily/weekly OT thresholds
- Retro pay, allowances, and other adjustments
- Detailed audit trail of manual edits and reasons


Robust pay rules automation enforces policies and ensures accurate earnings. Custom rules can support almost any pay scenario including commissions, retroactive pay, allowances and more.

Powerful Analytics and Reporting

The built-in reporting provides actionable insights into time, attendance, schedules and more:

- Labor Distribution reports allocate hours across departments
- Labor Cost Percentage tracks labor as percent of sales
- Scheduled vs Worked analysis identifies gaps
- OT Detail reports monitor excessive OT
- Absenteeism reports highlight patterns
- Custom reports can be saved and scheduled


With over 80 standard reports plus custom options, TimeGuardian delivers visibility that improves payroll accuracy, controls labor costs, and identifies problem areas.

Secure and Customizable Access

TimeGuardian allows granular access control with configurable roles and permissions.

- Separate roles for supervisors, payroll, HR and employees
- Employees only see their own timecards and schedules
- Set permissions for editing timecards, enforcing rules, generating reports and more
- Audit trail tracks changes, edits and deletions


Combined with local on-premise installation, businesses can tightly control data access according to their needs. Custom roles and permissions enable secure access for supervisors, managers, HR and other staff.

Rounding Out a Complete Solution

These features provide a comprehensive time management system:

- Multi-option data collection
- Powerful scheduling
- Attendance enforcement
- Configurable pay rules
- Robust reporting and analytics
- Secure access controls


Together, TimeGuardian delivers everything growing organizations need - from punch to payroll - in an easy-to-use Windows application. Contact Amano to schedule a demo and evaluate if TimeGuardian is the right fit for your time tracking needs.