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Version: 5.3

Settings

Overview​

The possible settings of TimePunch can be found in the navigation bar at the bottom left, under the menu item "Settings". Depending on the user's role, more or less settings options are displayed on the "Settings" page.

Settings - Overview

User interface​

The following options can be set in the "User interface" tab on the "Settings" page.

  • Start in : Here you can select whether TimePunch starts in full screen or window mode.

  • Application Mode : The application mode determines whether a dark or light color scheme is used.

  • Layout : The layout determines whether child dialogs are displayed to the right of the current dialog, or replace the current dialog.

  • Scale : By selecting the scaling, the entire content can be displayed in three different sizes. The normal size is 100%, the small size is 80% and the extra small size is 60% of the regular size.

  • Language selection : In the language selection the display language as well as the date and currency formatting can be selected.

  • Time display : The time display defines whether time values are displayed with industrial minutes or in real minutes.

  • Start Page : This setting defines which data TimePunch will display immediately after startup.

  • Report footer : The text in the report footer is printed at the end of each report.

  • Display project colors in reports with time entries : This setting determines whether the project colors should also be used in the reports.

  • Maximum number of search results : In this selection list you can set how many search results are returned by the integrated searches. This concerns e.g. the search for employees, of projects and customers.

Time entry​

In the tab "Time entry" on the page "Settings" the following options can be set.

  • Show billing information of the project in the time entry** : This setting defines whether the employee should be shown the the accounting information of the project is displayed to the employee during the online recording.

  • Display the important marker in the time entry : Defines whether employees can mark the time entry as important.

  • Display the not-calculated marker in the time entry : Defines whether employees can mark the time entry as not calculated.

  • Display the on-site marker in the time entry : Defines whether employees can mark the time entry as on-site.

Color selection​

The color selection can be set individually for the user. The following options can be set in the "Color selection" tab on the "Settings" page.

  • Break times : This color determines how the break times between the working time entries are displayed.

  • Active time entry : This color determines how the active time entries are displayed. Active entry means the current recording of the working time.

  • Missing days : This color determines how missing days are highlighted.

  • Changed entries : This color determines how manually changed time entries are highlighted.

  • Data preview color : This color determines how the automatically precalculated working times are highlighted. The precalculation of the time entries can be set in the settings under "Internas".

Recording​

The "Recording" tab on the "Settings" page determines how time entries should be recorded by TimePunch.

  • Recording Mode :

    • Full time recording with pause mode : In this mode the user is free to switch or restart the project, stop or pause the recording.
    • Simplified start/stop time recording : With the simplified start and stop time recording, the user is free to change or restart the project and stop recording. A pause is implemented by stopping and restarting the time recording.
    • Automatic time recording and project selection only : In the simplest mode, the user can only select a new project and start this. A manual break can no longer be inserted. However, automatic pauses are still recorded (e.g. when the screen saver is activated). This setting also prevents accidental recording gaps by stopping the time recording.

  • Start time recording when Watcher is started and stop it automatically when Watcher is stopped : If this setting is set, then time logging will start immediately after logging in to the PC. In this case the logging starts with the project of the previous day. In addition, this item causes that logging is stopped as soon as TimePunch Watcher is closed.

  • Specify start project : In TimePunch, the respective start project can be specified in the TimePunch Watcher. The start project determines with which project/activity the first recording should be started.

  • Remind project update : With this option TimePunch can remind to check the time recording. Especially if the projects / activities are changed frequently during the day, it can be useful that TimePunch reminds the user to check his own activity by showing the window.

  • Lock Windows : With this setting you can define how TimePunch behaves when Windows is locked. The following options are available:

    • Pause time tracking :TimePunch goes directly into pause mode after locking Windows and continues running automatically as soon as the PC is unlocked again.
    • Ignore 5 to 30 minutes of absence :With this option, TimePunch continues to run until the set time is reached. If the PC is still locked after this time, then the complete time from locking the PC until logging in again is calculated as a pause.
    • Do not interrupt time recording : Even if the PC is locked, time recording will continue unless you manually switch to pause mode.

    But no matter which setting is chosen: As soon as the PC is locked for more than 6 hours, the time entry will be aborted. The end date is the time of the lockout. Note: The screen saver also locks the PC. This setting can therefore be used to ensure that an activated screen saver is automatically entered as a pause time as soon as the specified time period has been exceeded.

  • Recording accuracy : This setting determines the rounding of the start and end time during time recording. By default, a minute-by-minute accounting is preset. However, especially for craft businesses, it can also be useful from a billing perspective to set the rounding accuracy to 5 minutes or higher.

  • GPS Tracking : Currently, location tracking is only available for the online version of TimePunch. However, here you can then set how the GPS data should be plotted. The following options are available.

    • Never : TimePunch will not record GPS data. Not even if the setting in the smartphone would allow it.
    • On demand : GPS data recording is optional in TimePunch. If the setting in the smartphone allows it, there will be no demand from the employees. In case of demand, employees can allow or disallow it.
    • Required : In this mode, GPS data recording is mandatory. If employees refuse the recording by deactivating the option on the smartphone, the time recording can neither be started nor stopped.

  • Prevent adding a default break time: This option can be used to optionally deactivate the default break time stored in the cutter for the employee for new time entries. This is particularly useful for project time recording, as several time entries often have to be created per day.

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In order to change the settings for several employees at the same time, the employees must first be marked in the list. After that the settings can be changed for all marked employees.

Subsequent project account assignment​

In the tab "Subsequent project account assignment" on the page "Settings" the options for project account assignment are defined. Subsequent project account assignment means that employees do not have to change projects immediately when they start a new job. Employees therefore always post to the project defined for subsequent project account assignment; by default, this is the "Project distributor". When posting to this project, employees can freely distribute working time to different projects at the end of work, or even days later. This is done via the so-called subsequent project account assignment.

The following settings can be set for the subsequent project account assignment.

  • Project account assignment allowed for project : Defines the project which is intended for the subsequent account assignment.
  • Minimum remaining time for open project account assignment: Defines the remaining time but which the remaining time will be added to the last account assigned project. With a default setting of 15 minutes, the remaining unaccounted time less than 15 minutes will be posted to the last assigned project.
  • Subsequent project account assignment allowed for: Defines the number of days employees are allowed to allocate Project Allocator work time to different projects.
  • Remind employees of project account assignment: Defines the number of days from which employees are reminded to perform project account assignment.
  • Inform team leader about missing project account assignment: Defines the number of days from which the team leaders will be informed about the missing project account assignment of their employees.

Automatic registration​

The "Automatic registration" tab on the "Settings" page defines whether and how new employees can connect to TimePunch.

  • Automatically assign licenses : If this option is enabled, then free licenses will be automatically assigned to new employees. While this can be convenient, it is not always desired.

    Example: There are 5 TimePunch PRO licenses available. However, only two licenses are currently assigned to the personnel office. If another employee tries to connect to TimePunch PRO (who, for example, only has a data entry license), he or she will automatically be assigned a new license if this checkbox is active. This behavior can be quite problematic in larger companies and can therefore be turned off here.

  • Allow self-registration of new employees : If this option is active, the option to switch to registration is displayed on the login dialog. If an employee is not in the selection list of possible employees, he/she can create and register him/herself in TimePunch. This option can also lead to undesirable behavior in larger companies if employees can register themselves even though they may have already been created by the HR department. By disabling the option, the "Switch to registration" button is omitted. Employees can be created in this case only by the personnel department in the master data.

  • Default authorization for new employees : In this selection box, you can define which rights new employees receive when they create themselves in the system via self-registration.

Automated mails​

In the tab "Automated mails" on the page "Settings" is defined which mails are sent automatically to which recipients.

  • Core time violations : Here you can define the mail recipients that should be informed in case of a core time violation.

  • Audit of changes to time entries : This area defines mail recipients who will be informed when changes are made to existing time entries.

  • Monthly closing : If a monthly closing is carried out, the employees can be informed by mail according to the settings.

  • Automated terminations and re-settings : With the help of this option, employees can be informed by mail in case of terminations and re-settings.

Internals​

Internal calculation logics are defined in the "Internals" tab on the "Settings" page. This includes the continuation of pay, the calculation of overnight entries, as well as settings for employees and projects.

  • Pay Continuation : This setting defines how vacation pay, sick pay, or vacation pay should be calculated.

    • Corresponds to target hours : If this setting is selected, then the employee will be credited with the salary as vacation pay that is also reflected in the target working hours of the working time model.
    • Corresponds to the average earnings of the last 13 weeks : This setting conforms to the current legal situation in Germany. The vacation pay is calculated from the average earnings of the last 13 weeks. See also: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/burlg/__11.html
    • Corresponds to the average earnings of the last 6 months : As a further option, the average continued pay can also be calculated according to the earnings of the last 6 months.

    Note. If a change in the calculation logic is to be made, then all old months must be closed (Extras / Month closure). Only then can the calculation logic be changed over without fear of changing the overtime. If the calculation logic is changed without a previous month-end closing, then this can possibly lead to a recalculation of the working time and a change in the overtime account.

    • Minimum is the payment of the regular target time : This option specifies that the salary continuation cannot fall below the regular target time. This may be the case, for example, if an employee has been on extended sick leave (unpaid) or has taken an unpaid sabbatical.

  • Overnight entries : TimePunch knows two different models for displaying overnight entries.

    • split overnight entries : In this mode, overnight entries are split between the two working days. For example, if an entry starts at 10pm until 6am, then 2 hours will be booked on the first day and 6 hours on the second day.
    • Combine overnight entries : In the default setting, overnight entries are assigned to the day on which they were started. This setting increases clarity for employees.

  • Calculation logic :

    • Overbooking of target working time : With this feature it is possible to overbook the defined target time of a working day with vacation, sickness or other absence types. This may be necessary if the stored target time does not correspond to the actual working time of the employee.

    • Data preview for the current month : If this feature is activated, then TimePunch internally uses a projection for the days that have not yet been booked. As a result, the data in the current month will be displayed as if the employee worked the rest of the month with regular scheduled time.

  • Employees : The following employee specific settings can be set.

    • Employees can reassign break : If this checkbox is set, employees without special editing rights can also assign a break time entry to a project. Start and end of the break are still not changeable for employees without special editing rights.
    • Project managers can assign employees : This setting allows project managers to change the employee assignment to the project, i.e. to assign employees to the project. If this checkbox is not set, then only employees with administration rights can authorize employees to the projects.
    • Prevent creation of master data during import : Activating this option means that when importing time data from the CSV format, all projects and activities must already exist in TimePunch. If this is not the case, the import will be aborted with an error message. By default, this option is disabled, i.e. the referenced projects/activities from the CSV file are automatically created in TimePunch.

  • Project Settings : The following project specific settings can be set.

    • Access rights for new projects : This setting defines with which access rights newly created projects are created.

Surcharge relevant times​

In the "Surcharge-relevant times" tab on the "Settings" page, the periods can be defined for which separate wage types are used during wage data export.

  • Night surcharge : The night surcharge is optional in TimePunch. Therefore, the settings made here are only used if a corresponding wage type for the night surcharge has been set in the DATEV export.

    • Night Surcharge Start : The time set as Night Surcharge Start is used to calculate any night surcharge.

    • Night surcharge end of core time : The core time for the night surcharge is the time from 0:00 to the specified time. An increased night surcharge may be paid during this time.

    • Night Surcharge End : The time specified as Night Surcharge End is used to define the end of the night surcharge.

    • Saturday Surcharge Split (morning / afternoon) : For Saturday, different wage supplements can be claimed for morning and afternoon. The splitter here only defines up to when the morning surcharge starts and from when the afternoon surcharge starts.

      • Overtime surcharge : Overtime surcharge can be calculated on a daily basis or on a monthly basis. In both cases, it is possible to specify whether an overtime bonus is paid from a fixed working time or according to the employee's individual target working time.

    • Example per day : A 37.5 hr. week is defined for an employee*. This means that the target time per day is 7.5 hours. An overtime bonus is fixed for 8 hours or more. This means that the employee only receives an overtime bonus if his real working time exceeds 8 hours.

    • Example per month : The employee has a real working time of 170 hours. From 160 hours an overtime bonus is paid. He/she is therefore paid 10 hours separately.

Note: In order for overtime bonuses to actually be paid, overtime (special bonus) must be activated in the wage data.

Wage and salary payment​

In the "Wage and salary payment" tab on the "Settings" page, you can specify which system is used to export the wage data and to which wage types the posted times are to be exported.

Wage data​

In the "Wage data" tab on the "Settings" page, it is specified when special bonuses are paid. This concerns, for example, the night supplement, then the checkmark must be set for night supplement and a corresponding wage type must be entered.

Note:

The wage types can also be stored in the employee profile per employee. The specific settings then overwrite the global settings from the Extras / Options dialog.

Statistics wage types​

In the tab "Statistics wage types" on the page "Settings", statistics data can be exported to the payroll software in addition to the regular wage data. This concerns the statistics on vacation, sickness and the working time account in TimePunch, if it is not managed in the payroll software.

This statistical data has no influence on the salary calculation, but it can be printed by the payroll software on the employee's remuneration statement.