Attendance management for CA, legal and consulting firms

Office, client site or court: where the day starts

Staff who start at the office can punch on a biometric device at reception, or on the web from the office's own network. An audit team at a client's plant in Sanand, or a litigator waiting for a matter to be called at the High Court, cannot. For them the mobile app records the punch with its location, and an on duty request names the client or court for the day. The engagement manager approves it, which also gives the billing team an independent record of site days.

Article assistants: a record that supports the training

Article assistants serve their training under a principal, and the firm should always know where each article was working. A daily punch plus on duty entries for client assignments builds that record without a separate register. Keep articles under their own employment type, so their attendance, leave and client days can be reviewed apart from employees whenever the principal checks progress or the institute's paperwork needs support.

Late evenings, not late mornings

In a CA or law firm, the attendance problem in season is rarely the morning. It is the evening that ends at 11 pm with nobody punching out. A rule that treats a missing punch-out as a half day punishes the people working hardest, so count hours to shift end instead, and let the missed punch-out alert remind them an hour after the shift. Effective hours, which leave out breaks, show partners how long the team is really working during filing weeks.

Hybrid days for consultants

Consulting and advisory teams often work two or three days a week from home. Set the default work model to hybrid with named office days and a monthly work from home limit, and let people apply for work from home days that the manager approves. Days spent at a client's office remain on duty, not work from home, so at month-end the firm can see how many days were spent billing on site.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. Put a biometric device or a kiosk tablet at reception, and allow web punches only from the office network through Capture controls.
2. Give audit, tax and litigation staff the mobile app with phone binding, so client-site and court punches carry a location and come only from their own phone.
3. Ask staff to raise an on duty request naming the client or court for each day away from the office, for the engagement manager to approve.
4. In Attendance rules, set a missing punch-out to count hours to shift end, so late nights in season are not marked as half days.
5. Make hybrid with office days the default work model for advisory teams, and cap work from home days per month in the work terms settings.
6. Create an employment type for article assistants and trainees, and review their attendance and on duty days with the principal each month.

Read more about attendance in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions