---
title: Official Business vs. Certificate of Attendance--Which One Should I File?
---

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# Official Business vs. Certificate of Attendance--Which One Should I File?

On Sprout HR, **Certificate of Attendance** and **Official Business** serve the same function--to act in place of *biometric* logs. Although they operate in the same way, there are specific scenarios wherein one application type is more appropriate than the other.

 

In this knowledge-based article, I will be discussing several situations wherein Certificate of Attendance and Official Business requests are applicable. To start, let me differentiate the two:

 

(1) **Official Business:** often applied for any work done outside the walls of the office;most relevant to employees who regularly work-from-home or those who are required to work remotely.

 

*Schedule Type:* Normal

*Work Schedule:* 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM (*Monday to Friday*)

*No. of Hours to Work Including Break Hours:* 9 hours

 

**Scenario 1:** Employee A is nearing her expected date of delivery. As advised by her ob-gyn, she decided to work from home up until her anticipated due date. In order to guarantee that she is properly compensated for the number of days she started working away from the office, she has to file an Official Business indicating the *date range* of the OB, its *purpose*, and *location*.

 

**Scenario 2:** Employee B is a part of the company's Sales Team. Part of his work obligation is to regularly attend client meetings done outside the walls of the office. Last September 11 (*Tuesday*), right after his lunch break, he immediately left the workplace for a product demonstration. Since the demo ended late, he went home immediately after. To ensure he doesn't incur any late minutes or *missings logs* for that date, he needs to file an Official Business request from *1:00 PM - 6:30 PM*.

 

*Note:* Even though an Official Business already serves as an employee's biometric logs, the time indicated on the OB application will not appear on the **Attendance Management**.

 

(2) **Certificate of Attendance:** serves as proof that the employee reported for work on a certain day, but something went wrong with the *biometric device* (e.g. biometric malfunction, power outage)*.*

 

*Schedule Type:* Normal

*Work Schedule:* 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (*Monday to Friday*)

*No. of Hours to Work Including Break Hours:* 9 hours

 

**Scenario 1:** At the end of his shift, Employee A hurriedly left the office to attend to a family emergency. A few days later, he found out that he incurred *missing logs* since his latest clock-out for that day was at *12:50 PM*. In order to resolve this, he has to file a COA indicating that his actual log-out time was at around *5:00 PM*.

**Scenario 2:** Last *September 11*, there was a power outage that lasted from *6:00 AM* up until *12:00 PM*. As a result, the employees' actual clock-in time did not properly register on HRHub. To remedy the issue, the HR Admin sent an email blast advising all (present) employees to file a *COA*, indicating the time they arrived in the office for that specific date.

 

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