High on the list of tasks that get on the nerves of the average manager is the struggle to collect employees' time cards.
Whether it's tracking down the worker, fixing sloppy data or double-checking to make sure the cards are accurate, it all takes time and effort managers would rather spend on something more productive.
Erik Rowland, a software developer, was talking to a friend about that very problem three years ago. His friend was running a tire store, and Rowland suggested that an online time-card system might go a long way toward fixing such problems.
"His eyes lit up, and he said that would be a great idea," Rowland said. "We looked at what was out there and saw a few competitors. But we felt nobody was doing it as well as it could be done. So we set off to start developing the company."
After more than a year of development, they used the tire store as a beta site for the time-tracking software, Rowland said. They also showed it to other friends and family members, and they all loved it.
So Rowland, along with his partners, Dan Smith and Bryan Rowland, launched HourDoc.com, 4190 S. Highland Drive.
"We found that our niche was to provide the service to payroll providers — companies that take time entries and cut paychecks for other companies," Erik Rowland said. "They didn't have a way to electronically transmit time-tracking information. . . . As soon as they saw they could use our system and put their logo on it, we've had phenomenal success getting payroll providers."
HourDoc.com's online time clock allows an employee to log in with a user name and password, then hit a button to "punch in." When employees are done with work, another button lets them "punch out." Wherever they may be, managers can log in to the system to see who is at work and who is out, and they can even use the program for scheduling.
"Really the whole premise of the system is that it's an online system," Erik Rowland said. "It eliminates any problems people have with software. They don't have to install anything or update anything. It's all accessed through a browser, and companies love it."
It may seem that such a system would allow a devious employee to log in at home and appear to be "on the clock" while really "in the bed." But Erik Rowland said the system has security measures that prevent such problems.
The standard, one-time set-up fee for the HourDoc.com system varies from $10 to $15 per employee, depending on the size of the account, he said. After that, the company charges a monthly fee for bandwidth, updates and customer support that ranges from 99 cents to $4 per employee, again based on what options the customer wants.
"We've only had our doors open for about a year and a half maybe, and currently we have 1,500 users that are using the system," Erik Rowland said.
Much of HourDoc.com's growth has come during the past six months, he said, keeping the three partners and their five employees busy — a problem they are happy to have.
"We kind of stumbled onto this, and we're finding that we kind of walked into this window where the technology was there just at the right time, and the need was there at the right time," Erik Rowland said.
"We hope in a couple years to be a household name with time tracking and attendance. . . . We're hoping that we can be a strong resource, especially for small to mid-sized businesses."
E-mail: gkratz@desnews.com