Time Theft Calculator: What Padded Time Cards Cost You
A few minutes added to a time card looks harmless. Across a team and a year, it adds up. Enter your team to see the yearly cost, then compare it with a time clock.
Yearly cost of padded time
$1,792
90 hours of paid time a year that wasn’t worked
The 5 minutes and the 43% are examples: leaving at 4:55 and writing 5:00, and a little under half the team. Change both to match your team.
What Adding Up Paper Time Cards Costs
Someone has to total every paper card, check it and enter it into payroll. Enter how long one card takes and how often you run payroll.
Yearly cost of adding up time cards
$542
22 hours of payroll time a year
What TimeClick Saves
TimeClick is paid once. The first year of TimeClick Unlimited (updates, support and the mobile app) is free. After that, it renews each year if you want it.
Lost each year
$2,333First year savings
$1,584Every year after
$2,084At these numbers, the license pays for itself in about 4 months.
How to Use the Time Theft Calculator
Every number is yours to change. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
- 1
Enter your team
The number of employees, their average hourly wage and how many shifts each works in a year.
- 2
Set the two assumptions
Minutes added per shift and the share of employees who add them. Both defaults are examples to change.
- 3
Add the paper time cards
How long one card takes to add up, the payroll person’s wage and your pay schedule.
- 4
Compare with TimeClick
Pick a license size. The savings and the payback time update as you type.
Time Theft FAQ
Short answers to the questions people ask about padded time and buddy punching.
What is time theft?
Time theft is pay for time that wasn’t worked: minutes added to a time card, clocking in for a co-worker who isn’t there yet (buddy punching), or personal time recorded as work. Most of it is small and not meant as theft, but it adds up.
How much does time theft cost a business?
It depends on your team. With 10 employees at $20 an hour, if 43% of them add 5 minutes to each of 250 shifts a year, that’s about 90 hours, or $1,792 a year. Enter your own numbers in the calculator above.
How does a time clock reduce time theft?
A time clock records the actual time of each punch instead of a time someone writes down, and it adds up the hours for payroll, so nobody has to total paper cards by hand.
Is the calculator free?
Yes. There’s no sign-up, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.
More Free TimeClick Tools
Track Every Employee’s Hours Automatically With TimeClick
TimeClick keeps every time card for you, totals overtime and exports payroll-ready reports. Pay once, with unlimited employees.