When it comes to time tracking in your business, are you still relying on old traditional methods such as pen and paper? Or even the trusted punch card system? It’s time to change your mindset.
How sure can you be that your staff are working as many hours as they say they are? There is simply no way of tracking possible time theft or buddy punching. And if you think that a couple of minutes here and there won’t affect your business, think again! Businesses waste a whopping $373M on buddy punching alone each year.
If you’re still stuck in the dark ages, then you know the total chaos and hours you spend on trying to accurately get your payroll correct. That’s regardless of the countless discrepancies over who worked what, who worked when, and that’s without the amount of overtime your employees say they worked. However, there is a simple solution, which is why more and more businesses are digitizing their timeclock.
Why should you use a digital time clock solution?
US-based employees reportedly waste an average of 2.09 hours of their 8-hour working day. That’s a quarter of their day, doing nothing. When we examine that amount of time in dollars, it works out to around $39.98 per day.
Nonetheless, when you digitize your time clock you can reap the following benefits:
- Wave goodbye to time theft and buddy punching
- Store employee data in one place
- Improve productivity
- Encourage breaks
- Advise employees to clock in and out preventing overtime
- Create better schedules
- Be an efficient company
- and much more
Therefore, we’ve researched the market to bring you the top 5 employee time tracking apps.
Top 5 Employee Time Tracking Apps
- Connecteam
Connecteam’s employee time tracking app is by far the best app with its advanced features beyond just its time clock capabilities.
When it comes to time tracking, employees can clock in out via the app with a GPS time stamp. If you’d like to take things further, you can also limit the geographical area – geofencing – that your employees can clock in from, as well as set a time limit (for example, 5 minutes) that your employees can clock in from before their shift begins.
If you’re worried about your employees wandering from where they’re meant to be, then Connecteam’s integrated GPS breadcrumbs feature tracks your employees while they’re on the move, even giving you a list of real-time locations of where they’ve been.
As a manager, you can instantly view how many hours your employees worked, direct from your app. But not only that: the Connecteam app tackles the mental load from you, sending automatic push notifications to remind your staff to clock in and out. Once shifts are completed, you can even choose to lock the timesheet so no employee can add extra hours without permission.
Connecteam also has a Kiosk app where your employees can clock in and out from a fixed station, should they forget their phone or be required to work without one. And that’s only the start of what the Connecteam app can do for your business: you can easily communicate with your employees directly from the time clock, either via private message or in a group chat.
Price: Pricing starts at $39/month for up to 50 seats.
Free Trial: There is a 14-day free trial and a free-forever plan.
- When I Work
Your employees can easily download When I Work straight to their smartphones. When I Work can be installed on an iPad or computer for your employees to clock in and out from. This is useful for restaurants or construction sites. As your employee clocks in, a GPS timestamp is included with the time they clocked in. If an employee forgets to clock in or out an automatic reminder is sent to them. The time clock and the scheduler can both be exported to apps such as Quickbooks, Square, and more.
Price: $2/user/month for up to 100 users.
Free Trial: No free trial, however, you can use the free solution.
- Quickbooks
Even without WiFi or phone service, your staff can clock in and out. Just like Connecteam, when your employee clocks in, their GPS timestamp is recorded too. Workers can also attach photos should they wish to provide a detailed report. The app provides you with full access to who’s clocked in and where they are located. Furthermore, you can even approve time off.
Price: $180/month for their advanced plan which is over 5 users.
Free Trial: 30-day free trial
- Jibble
Your employees can easily clock in and out from desktop, mobile devices, Microsoft Teams, or Slack. To avoid buddy punching, you can enable “selfie” verification. Therefore, employees can clock in and out once they’ve sent their selfies. You also have access to weekly and monthly timesheets assisting with payroll. From the data collected, you can view the team’s productivity and see where improvements can be made.
Price: $1.50/user/month/
Free Trial: Yes, there is a free trial as well as a free plan.
- Toggl
Toggl lets your employees take a break and clock back in on their return. Toggl sends reminders when an employee forgets to clock in. If your establishment doesn’t require a real-time clocking in and out, employees can manually enter their hours. The app can be integrated with over 100 other apps and your calendar. Toggl can be filtered to locate what products are currently being worked on along with how many hours were spent.
You can download the report in a CSV, PDF, or Excel format.
Price: $18/user/month
Free Trial: 30-day free trial, but there is a free plan for up to 5 users.
The Bottom Line on Employee Time Tracking Apps
Accurate time tracking isn’t just a thought, it’s a must for both your business and your employees. You no longer have to worry about costly errors and unhappy employees. With the correct time clock solution, you can avoid any issues regarding payroll. Take a pick of one of the five employee time tracking apps and see the difference today!
