Time book

A time book is a mostly outdated accounting record, that registered the hours worked by employees in a certain organization in a certain period.

The paid wages were noted in daybooks, in which daily expenses were registered, and eventually in the other accounts in the bookkeeping systems.

In the 19th century when organizations started to grow a separate register of labour hours emerged, which was called a time book.

[3]And furthermore: In short, it would be difficult to contrive a book more satisfactory for both master and servant than the time-book, as it prevents, as far as can well be done, the latter from deceiving either himself or his employer, and remains an authentic indisputable record of work done, and of vouchers for money paid during the whole period of the head gardener's services.

[3]In those days time books, as Loudon explained, were used on farms, but also in mines[4] and in the emerging Iron and steel industry.

In his 1885 book on factory accounting Metcalfe gave a description of normal system of labour registration mid 1870s: The timekeeper, generally the foreman, goes about the shop towards the close of the day and asks each workman how he has spent it; according to the workman's recollection he enters the time reported in a book, as hereafter described.

About the use of the service cards in relation to the time books Metcalfe (1885) further explained: When the service cards, duly stamped by the foreman, are received by the cost clerk, he sorts them first by names if they require it, and then by shop-orders, and enters the gross results under each shop-order on the time book...

Except for piece workers, the time book carries the subdivision of the order no further; details of the employment must be looked for on the service cards.

[12]In Kirkman's system different people were involved in governing the labor practices in employing labour, keep up the time and make up the accounts.

Kirkman first explained the theory of the subject, before taking up specific regulations necessary In handling the labor of a great corporation: The amount that a railroad expends for labor is so great that the rendering of accurate returns in connection therewith, including the making of true and faithful pay rolls, is a matter of the utmost importance.

Otherwise It cannot but follow that injustice will result, either to the employee or to the company....[13]And furthermore: ... the details (distribution) of each man's time should also pass through the hands of the local officials.

[15] Early 20th century the time book has become a regular tool of management, sometimes in the shape of a loose leaf binder.

[16] The handling the labor accounts, however, keeps causing great difficulties as Kirkman (1907) explained, and therefor he introduced the track time book.

On the left hand side appears first the timekeeper's check column.The instructions to the timekeeper on the back of the sheet (second image) are probably sufficiently clear, although it might be added that where the time sheet is used as a weekly report, as is generally the case, where the gang is small or where the work is unimportant, the time is checked and divided by means of the four squares under each date and opposite each name, each square thus representing one-fourth of a day.In the case of the time sheet as illustrated, the distributions shown are for a sewer job and the particular distributions required are shown printed in by means of a rubber stamp.

Under the old system with individual time sheets, prepared especially for each job, the forms of the time sheets were many and various, and, for this very reason timekeepers presumed to incorporate their own ideas and make changes and innovations, resulting in a bunch of data that required hours, and generally the personal attendance of the timekeepers, to work out.

[19]In his 1913 Principles of factory cost keeping by Edward P. Moxey one chapter is devoted to "Accounting for Labour," whereby different Methods of Recording Time are described.

[20] in the course of the 20th century the discipline of recording work time started to alter as the following quote from the dressmaking shop A.

& L. Tirocchi did use these printed time books, probably purchased from an office supply store, but the bookkeeper generally only recorded the wage paid weekly, not the hours worked.

[21]With the introduction of modern production control and standard cost accounting in the 1920s[22] the traditional time books became obsolete, as Herman M. Grasselt (1925), an authority in the Paper Making trade,[23] explained: The old- fashioned time-book has no place in modern industry; time-recorder and individual weekly In-and-Out Clock Cards are the only proficient means to obtain accurate data.

Each department is to be assigned a certain "block" of employees' clock numbers, with sufficient allowance for additions, according to the flow of operations.

When this system is used, as with the corner grocer, the original entry for the record is always used, the balance or total being carried forward from the last transaction.