Breaking down the best time and attendance apps for business owners looking to manage employee activity and improve payroll.
Multiple employees working different time shifts, remote and on-site employees, and project budgets all put your company at risk of time theft, buddy punching, and mismanagement. Time apps provide an entire department in the form of one software that tracks employee time, sends accurate invoices, and tracks project budgets in real time.
Learn the best time and attendance apps on the market including the key features of each one and the pros and cons.
What To Look For in a Time and Attendance App
The best attendance apps share a few qualities your business will need to consider before investing in a solution.
- Ease of use: The app is easy to use and won’t take long to integrate with your current system.
- Customizability: The time app adapts to the needs of your business, including time shifts and team structures.
- Quick login: Your employees can easily log into the app for accurate shift tracking.
- Automated alerts and reminders: Both admins and employees receive real-time alerts for efficient management.
1. Timely – Best for monitoring team performance in terms of key metrics
Your company will easily track every team member’s time and performance with Timely’s dashboard. All the critical time tracking metrics your company needs to record will be collected and displayed in real-time, such as overtime, scheduled hours, and more.
Timely’s tagging system labels each employee and the projects their working on. Track performance and notify employees who are missing hours or have yet to log them into the platform. This time attendance app also integrates with popular marketing tools like Toggle, Freshservice, Todoist, Trello, Wrike, and Asana.
By providing a clear record of work done, the software can help to ensure that everyone is accountable for their time, promoting transparency and accountability within teams. Timely is a powerful tool for any company looking to improve their project management, time tracking, and productivity analysis.
Key Features
- Overtime documentation
- Timesheet sharing
- Payroll
- Performance reviews
- Invoicing
Pros
- Easy to use
- Desktop and mobile access
- Good customer service
Cons
- Rather basic capabilities
- Text and SMS not included in the pricing
- The app is only available in English
2. Connecteam – Best all-in-one time and attendance app
Connecteam offers ease of use and flexibility to fit businesses of any size. Employee hours are tracked easily and accurately with a digital timesheet that can be accessed from any device anywhere in the world. With features like a single-touch time clock and job-specific tracking options, your team has comprehensive management of overall employee hours.
The company provides exceptional customer service along with a complete set of time attendance features. The platform is customizable to suit the needs of different shift types and team structures.
Several options are available for teams that need GPS tracking. Geofencing prevents employees from clocking in or out unless they are within the geofence areas. This prevents clocking in from the Connecteam mobile app before their shift starts, helping to eliminate time theft. The real-time location tracking monitors employees that are on-site to ensure they stay in the working area, and employers can choose to log the exact location of when an employee clocked in.
Employees can log in and out remotely from any place in the world with Connecteam’s automated timesheets. Admins have access to all recorded data like total hours worked, overtime, time off, or breaks. The app even highlights extreme discrepancies in the data, allowing you to spot any payroll mistakes or inaccurate timesheets.
Connecteam allows direct integration with popular payroll software programs like Quickbooks and Gusto. Export employee timesheets from Connecteam and upload them into your favorite software to eliminate manually transferring the data. This streamlines the payroll process and minimizes any mistakes.
Key Features
- One-touch clock in & out
- Time off management
- Payroll integrations
- Job, project, or client-specific time-tracking options
Pros
- All-in-one solution
- Great customer support
- Intuitive and easy to use
Cons
- More integrations in development
3. Harvest – Best for flexibility of tracking time per project
Harvest built a digital timesheet that includes a start and stop timer to make it easy for business owners to track all employee hours. Each project, task, and client can be broken down and assigned to specific team members so you know exactly where each project stands.
You also have expense tracking with Harvest that adds financial value to each hour tracked. As employees track their times for a project, you’ll be updated in real-time on project budgets. Each time clock also has note areas, so all team members are updated about recent communication.
Harvest includes integrations into various project management software like Trello, Zendesk, Slack, Xero, and Asana. Instead of changing your system when implementing Harvest, your team will seamlessly integrate it into your current operating procedures.
Key Features
- Automatic reminders
- Timesheet approval
- Track expenses
- Easy editing
- Track billable hours
Pros
- Easy to use
- Good invoicing capabilities
Cons
- Not many customizable features
- Poor customer support
- Interface looks dated
4. Hubstaff – Best for automated payments
Hubstaff is a comprehensive time and attendance tracking app that helps businesses manage their teams more efficiently. The app makes setting up employee schedules easy, tracking hours worked, and ensuring accurate payroll. It works with mobile devices and desktops and provides detailed reporting on employee performance.
With Hubstaff, companies can quickly and easily manage employee working hours, manage time-off requests, and access detailed analytics. It also integrates with leading payroll systems, so businesses can automate the payment system to minimize risks.
The app allows team members to clock in or out from any location via mobile devices or laptops and includes GPS location tracking. Essentially, you would track where your employees are if they’re working on-site. Adding payroll, invoicing, and other features makes Hubstaff a comprehensive labor and payroll tool.
Key Features
- Online timesheets
- Time off and holidays
- Detailed reports
- A central Kiosk app, if needed
- Expense tracking
- Geofencing
Pros
- Appealing user interface
- Good reporting feature
- Productivity management
Cons
- Lack of customization options
- Limited payroll options
- The productivity tracker has some bugs
5. Intuit Quickbooks – Best for 3rd party integrations
Intuit owns a variety of digital finance tools, and Quickbooks handles all aspects of payroll calculations. The app offers businesses the most comprehensive collection of accounting and payroll options. Other tools under the Intuit umbrella include TurboTax, Mint, and Credit Karma. While some of the apps on this list are more specific to time management, investing in Intuit gives you access to a number of helpful financial tools for your business.
You can set up employee profiles with their individual wage rates and hours worked. Create deductions, withholdings, taxes, and other pay-related elements for each employee in the system. Quickbooks also allows you to track vacation days, sick leaves, maternity leave, and other time-off requests.
Because Quickbooks comes with premium features that fit every business, big or small, the price you’ll pay is also premium. However, the resources provided simplify payroll and bookkeeping, allowing managers to focus on growing their business. Businesses with a budget and a large number of employees will prefer Quickbooks.
Key Features
- GPS time stamps
- Real-time reports
- Geofencing capabilities
- Available on desktop, mobile, and as a Kiosk
- View employee locations with “Who’s Working”
- Team management
- Alerts and approvals
Pros
- User friendly
- Detailed reporting
Cons
- Advanced features can be difficult to use
- Poor customer service
What Is a Time and Attendance App?
A time attendance app is software that tracks employee hours. It assists organizations in managing employee working hours and ensures compliance with federal laws.
Time attendance apps monitor all employee activity like overtime, lateness, clock punches, hourly wages, and more. Some apps have premium features that assign a monetary value to each hour so companies can better track project budgets.
Here are a couple of additional ways your business can use a time and attendance app:
- Use GPS to determine the exact location of an employee who is clocked in
- Digitally track employee hours and attendance and sync offline activity
- Manage PTO requests
What Are the Benefits of a Time and Attendance App?
Time attendance apps organize employee working hours, send accurate invoices, and minimize human errors while managing projects, ultimately saving your company time and money. More advanced software tools even include payroll, HR services, and project management tools all within one platform.
These types of apps also help companies comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act, which stipulates that all employee hours must be accurately tracked. Larger companies with lots of employees need a system to regulate tracked hours and statutory benefits. All records are even kept on the app for the length of service.
