As a Danish business owner, have you ever considered how your firm’s success and employees’ well-being are related? It is time to reflect on this connection with Denmark’s new work time rules or lov om tidsregistrering coming in July 2024.

Companies must track how many hours their employees work daily. The law ensures employees balance work and rest to avoid burning out and other mental health issues.

Why the new rule, lov om tidsregistrering exists?

Have you ever felt the stress of long hours affecting your personal life and work performance?

The new Danish rule on work time tracking, lov om tidsregistrering, starting in July 2024, is a part of the EU’s approach to labour laws, particularly the principles established by the 1993 Working Time Directive (WTD). 

The WTD applied broad standards for working hours across the EU. Denmark’s daily working time tracking law is more detailed to ensure the standards are met. Denmark is setting an example that could influence future labour regulation within the European Union.

As a business owner, now is the time to start looking at options and planning how to implement time-tracking software in your firm.

The business benefits of time-tracking software

While initially seeming like a hassle, lov om tidsregistrering is a chance to improve your firm’s operations.

Most profit increases come from identifying areas where employees could use time more effectively. For example, a client gives extra tasks to an accountant that are not included in the provided service.

Time tracking helps firms to optimize operations and increase billable hours.

An example of time tracking in a large accounting firm – Leinonen Group

The 300 employees of Leinonen Group have implemented time tracking in their workflows:

• To speed up their invoicing process,
• Standardize services,
• Guarantee work-life balance,
• Manage vacations and overtime better.

 Külli Kink, Leinonen Estonia’s head of accounting, said:

“Many people have found they have more time.”

The benefits of time tracking for employees

Employees often think of time tracking as a punishment or micromanaging.

Lov om tidsregistrering or the time-tracking law is about making your firm a healthier place for employees. If done right, time tracking protects the employee’s mental health and provides a work-life balance.

Read more about how time tracking protects employees.

One of the essential parts of the new rule is that employees must have access to their work time records. They can point it out if something’s wrong and get compensated. Businesses must keep time records for 5 years, to protect employee rights.

What does lov om tidsregistrering mean for accounting firms?

The deadline for implementing the new time-tracking system is fast approaching. You have a choice:

• Do you go for a quick fix that meets the requirements?
• Do you take the opportunity to rebuild how you manage time and productivity in your firm?

An example of time tracking in a medium-sized accounting firm: Grow Finance

One of Estonia’s most successful accounting firms, Grow Finance OÜ, doesn’t use Uku’s time tracking to check how much work accountants are doing but to measure how much time a task or a client takes to see if the workload follows the client’s agreement. 

Grow Finance partner Helari Pallas said: 

“Everyone has benefited from using Uku – our clients, employees and management.”

What does the business owner have to do according to lov om tidsregistrering?

If you’ve never tracked employee hours, by July 2024, you need to choose a system to record your employees’ daily working hours.

Your new time-tracking app must:

• Meet the government’s legal requirements,
• Enhance your firm’s productivity,
• Improve employee satisfaction,
• Be reliable,
• Give employees access to their time entries.

The good part is that you can choose how to track time in your firm because the rule doesn’t force one specific type of system.

The challenge of implementing new time-tracking software

Setting up a new system to track work hours is a lot of work. Accounting firm owners must look into different systems, decide which one to use, and ensure everyone knows how to use it. 

Ethical considerations include:

• Respecting employees’ privacy,
• Fostering trust,
• Avoiding a surveillance culture.

To successfully implement a time-tracking system, be transparent to employees and emphasize its purpose to support their well-being rather than micromanaging.

An example of time tracking in a small accounting firm: Alpaca Office

Alpaca Office from Poland uses time-tracking to provide remote work and flexible working hours. Some of their clients require assistance after the universal working hours, and helping them is always accounted for in the invoices.

Adrian Grajczak, the founder of Alpaca Office, revealed: 

“We have sped up our processes by 40% and save about 30% of the time with everyday tasks.”

How to choose the right tidsregistrering app for your firm?

When choosing time-tracking software or tidsregistrering app for your accounting firm, consider features that align with your needs.

Here are the essential features to look for in a time-tracking software:

Time-tracking capabilities: A stopwatch and manual time entries are ideal for providing options for employees.

User-friendliness: Easy-to-use interface for managers and employees, ensuring smooth adoption and daily use.

Integration capabilities: Integrates with existing accounting software. Another option is using software that does everything.

Scalability: A software that grows with your firm, accommodating more users and clients without compromising performance.

Reporting tools: Generates detailed reports on time usage, productivity, and profitability, helping you make data-based decisions.

Legal compliance: With new laws like Denmark’s working hours regulation, the software must allow for adjustments to meet legal standards, including data storage and employee access.

Cost: Transparent pricing. Consider immediate and long-term costs, looking for value over the cheapest option.

Trial: Has a trial period to test how well the software integrates with your operations and meets your needs.

Support: Software with customer support is essential, including training resources and a responsive helpdesk.

Uku, the time tracking and practice manager software of your dreams

An example of software that incorporates the features necessary to comply with lov om tidsregistrering and the features you need in a tidsregistrering app is Uku. The software simplifies accounting work, including time-tracking. How does Uku match the requirements discussed before?

Time-tracking capabilities:  A stopwatch, manual time entries and time estimations.

User-friendliness: Users have said Uku has a unique, clean, but eye-catching design and is very intuitive.

Uku is available in Danish.

Integration capabilities: Uku integrates with the most popular accounting software: e-conomic, Xero, Quickbooks, etc. In addition, Uku’s public API allows data transfer. 

Scalability: Enter as many clients and members as necessary; Uku does not have limits.

Reporting tools: Uku has two types of reporting: time spent by tasks, users, clients, etc., and client agreement monitoring. Both allow you to see places of improvement. 

Legal compliance: Uku stores your employees’ time-tracking information and allows time entry modifications and visibility, covering everything the Danish government requires.

Cost: Uku is one of the more affordable accounting practice management software. In addition, you get two weeks of free Uku and 2 hours of free onboarding help, making the onboarding process very simple.

Trial: 14 days for free with no credit card information required.

Support: Uku’s customer support responds within a few hours and is available during working hours from Monday to Friday. Additionally, Uku offers a thorough help centre so you can try to fix your problems yourself first.

Read more about time-tracking apps for Danish accounting firms.

Conclusion

The new Danish law on tracking employees’ working time, lov om tidsregistrering, is coming in July of 2024, and it’s inevitable. It’s for a good cause – to help enhance employees’ mental health and prevent burnout. Making the changes can be challenging, but tracking working time has benefits. 

Make the changes before the last minute; start evolving your work processes now. When July comes, you can happily enjoy your vacation while others struggle to implement software.