When cities and municipalities prepare their budget planning for 2027, numerous investments are put to the test. Which projects create long-term value? Where can processes be simplified? And which measures will help ensure that the administration remains efficient and capable of delivering in the future?
Digitalization plays a central role in this context. Initially, the focus is often on projects that citizens can see and experience directly. Online appointment scheduling, digital application procedures and service portals are designed to make administrative services more accessible and improve service quality. This is an important approach. At the same time, it is worth taking a closer look at the processes behind these services. Because every administration can only function as well as the processes on which it is based.
More than 10,700 cities and municipalities in Germany perform a wide range of tasks every day. Citizen service offices, public works departments, daycare centers, social institutions and technical services often work at different locations, pursue different responsibilities and still need to cooperate smoothly. This is precisely where information is generated every day that is relevant to managers, HR departments and employees alike.
As a digitalization partner for public administration, AKDB has been familiar with the requirements of municipal institutions for many years. ISGUS complements this experience with specialized expertise in time recording and Workforce Management. Together, this creates an in-depth understanding of the processes that cities, municipalities and public institutions need to manage every day.
A look behind the scenes
The public sector has been under considerable pressure for years. Increasing demands, the shortage of skilled workers and limited personnel resources shape everyday working life in many places. At the same time, current surveys show that many employees report a high workload, regularly work overtime and would like greater relief in their daily work. A significant part of the workload is not generated by the core tasks of an administration itself, but by the numerous organizational processes that take place behind the scenes.
A municipality must manage working hours, absences and substitutions, as well as provide data for HR administration and payroll accounting. This is supplemented by records, evaluations and the allocation of services to cost centers or projects. Many of these processes are interlinked and accompany employees throughout their entire working day.
ZEUS® Time and Attendance in everyday municipal operations
Working hours, absences, substitutions and approvals affect almost every area of a municipality. For these processes to run smoothly, everyone involved needs access to the same information. This is precisely where ZEUS® Time and Attendance, as part of the ZEUS® ALL-IN-ONE solution, delivers added value.
At first glance, the focus is on recording working hours. In practice, however, time recording forms the basis for numerous other processes within an administration. Vacation requests, absences, electronic certificates of incapacity for work (eAU) and approval processes are interconnected and accompany employees and managers throughout their entire working day.
Processes that are still organized in many places using paper forms, emails or manual follow-up work can be mapped centrally and managed in real time. Information is available wherever it is needed, regardless of whether employees work at the town hall, in a daycare center, at the public works department or in the field.
The benefits are not limited to employees themselves. Managers, HR departments and payroll accounting also work with the same data basis. Queries, manual data transfers and duplicate entry steps are reduced. Time recording thus becomes a central component of Workforce Management, as it creates the transparency needed to plan, determine availability and use personnel resources efficiently.
While a daycare center is preparing vacation planning for the school holiday period, it must also ensure that sufficient personnel are available to care for the children. A glance at the system is enough to view planned absences, available capacities and current time balances. In combination with ZEUS® Staff Scheduling, substitutions and personnel requirements can be identified at an early stage, allowing the care situation to be planned reliably.
At the public works department, everyday operations look quite different. Employees often start their assignments directly on site, switch between different tasks and are rarely at the town hall for the entire day. Working hours, attendance and absences, as well as feedback, therefore arise wherever the work is performed. When this information is recorded directly via the ZEUS® mobile App, it is available to the responsible departments without detours.
This information ultimately comes together in HR administration. Absences, working hours and approved leave no longer need to be compiled from different sources, but are already available in a structured format. This simplifies further processing and creates a reliable basis for payroll accounting, evaluations and records. These many small processes determine in everyday operations how much time is required for organization and how much time remains for the actual tasks.
An investment in employees and administration
When planning the 2027 budget, many decisions are made with citizens in mind. This is important. At the same time, it is worth taking a look at the workflows that accompany employees and managers every day.
The digitalization of time recording is often underestimated. Yet it supports employees, managers and HR professionals every day and affects numerous processes within an administration. By simplifying these processes, you can reduce administrative work, create transparency around available resources and gain time for the tasks that citizens experience directly.
Would you like to experience ZEUS® Time and Attendance live? Then visit ISGUS at the 7th AKDB Kommunalforum on October 29, 2026, in Munich. We look forward to speaking with you in person and discussing the future of modern administrative work in cities, municipalities and public institutions.
