Automated time clocks streamline your employee time tracking and payroll processes for improved efficiency, productivity, and accountability. This comprehensive review lists the five best time clocks for small businesses along with their key features, pros, and cons.
Manually tracking employees’ working hours is time-consuming and often leads to payroll errors. Time clocks help solve these problems by automating employee verification, providing detailed time and attendance reports, helping you schedule shifts, and more.
Below is a list of the best time clock for small business apps that will accurately and automatically track your employees working hours. Use these to free up your time to focus on other crucial areas of your business.
What to Look for in the Best Time Clocks for Small Businesses
Not all time clocks are created equal. To pick the best app to improve your processes, look for the following top qualities:
- Buddy punching and time theft solutions
- Detailed time reporting
- Easy-to-use interface
- Automated time clocking
- Error-free payroll
- Easy time-off requests
- Customizable dashboards
All the apps below have features that will improve employee time management. Which one is the best for you depends on your specific organization and its business goals.
1. Time Doctor
Time Doctor combines automated time-tracking with productivity insights for teams to make better HR decisions. Admins can label tracked hours depending on the client or project the employee is working on. This way, you know at a glance how many hours are being directed toward a project and can make adjustments as needed.
Time Doctor seamlessly integrates with over 60 online applications, including payroll systems. This means most organizations can use it without redoing their entire workflow. You’ll also get real-time analytics to keep up with recent schedule changes and fix any issues before they arise.
Small to medium-sized businesses will get the most out of Time Doctor’s features. The platform doesn’t include as many additional features that larger enterprises may require, such as geofencing or direct messaging. But it is a comprehensive time-tracking tool and will help you manage HR duties.
Key Features
- Detailed and comprehensive reports
- Automated reminders
- Easy-to-understand dashboard
- Screenshot capabilities
Pros
- Analytics updated in real-time
- Works for remote and in-house workers
Cons
- Not good for tracking attendance
- Workers have to turn on screenshots manually
Pricing:
- Basic: $5.90/user/month
- Standard: $8.40/user/month
- Premium: $16.70/user/month
2. Connecteam
Connecteam helps small businesses with non-desk workforce leaders manage their employees worldwide. Once your team downloads the app, they can clock in and out, access schedules, track working hours, and make time-off requests. As an admin, you can easily track how many hours your employees have worked each day, week, or month from one place.
While Connecteam organizes and improves your timesheets, it’s also an all-in-one solution to manage, train, and communicate with employees. The app allows for instant messaging between admins and employees and includes training courses for your frontline teams.
Here are several ways Connecteam’s app can benefit your business:
- Preventing buddy punching and time theft: Employees can clock in from any connected device after being verified, removing any opportunity for buddy punching or time theft.
- Streamlining payroll: Every clock in and out is automated and tracked in the app’s timesheets feature. Admins can easily export and import timesheets for quick payroll processing.
- Tracking employees with GPS: GPS tracking breadcrumbs let you know exactly where an employee is at all times. From the start of the shift to the end, you can view the entire work history of your employee.
- Creating geofences: Geofencing is available to ensure employees can’t clock in and out unless they are within a specific geographical area.
- Setting up notifications: The app notifies you of every employee action and discrepancies, such as overtime and unclaimed shifts, through the alert system.
- Creating accessibility for employees: Workers have access to a mobile app they can use while on the go. Employees can clock in and out, ask for time off, and communicate with colleagues from any device.
Key Features
- Direct messaging
- Timesheet exporting
- Statutory benefit management
- Reminders for time punches
- Geolocation tracking
- Shift assignment management
Pros
- Free plan for up to 10 users
- Automated time-tracking
- User-friendly dashboard
- Dedicated customer support
- Easily integrates into existing operations
Cons
- More integrations are yet to come
Pricing:
- Small Business: Free
- Basic: $29/month
- Advanced: $49/month
- Expert: $99/month
3. TimeCamp
TimeCamp combines time-tracking with billing and invoicing options to streamline payroll efforts. You can get estimates of how long a project is likely to take and how much you should budget for it. The app also suggests ways you can optimize your employee schedules so you don’t have to waste time manually inputting individual shifts.
TimeCamp tracks employee time punches in real time, and you get access to all updates from your device. Companies can use it for both in-house and on-site employees thanks to its geofencing abilities and mobile accessibility. Employees can clock in and out and manage their schedules from anywhere.
You’ll also get detailed project reports that outline your employee’s working activity. TimeCamp will track the locations your employees clocked in from so you can ensure they are not wasting labor hours. While the premium features on Time Doctor can get costly, the lower-priced plans are just fine for smaller teams.
Key Features
- Automated time punch tracking
- Comprehensive reports
- Timesheet management
- Compatible with desktop and mobile devices
- Easy-to-read visualizations
Pros
- Automates repetitive tasks
- Can set project rates for each hour tracked
Cons
- Premium features behind paywall
- Needs third-party integrations to unlock advanced functionality
Pricing:
- Free pan for basic time tracking
- Starter: $2.99/user/month
- Basic: $5.99/user/month
- Pro: $7.99/user/month
4. Clockify
Clockify is a free online time-tracking app. It helps boost productivity by automatically registering work shifts and team activity across phones, laptops, computers, and tablets. The app tracks employee work time for each project separately so you can get specific data on hours worked for each project. This helps predict future budgets.
Companies can use Clockify to organize all employee working hour data into one database, label tracked hours as billable or non-billable, and get detailed reports on every project.
Clockify is another time clock app that can work with small businesses or freelancers because of its forever-free plan. You won’t pay anything to start using it today or any day in the future. But while convenient for small teams or freelancers, the app lacks advanced features like geofencing and on-site time punch capability. As a result, it may not benefit larger enterprises.
Key Features
- Organizes employee on calendar and dashboard views
- Tracks billable and non-billable hours
- Automates time-off requests to streamline workflows
Pros
- User-friendly sign-up process
- Syncs offline data
Cons
- Steep learning curve to edit time punches
- The clock feature requires manual operation
Pricing:
- Free
- Basic: $3.99/user/month
- Standard: $5.29/user/month
- Pro: $7.99/user/month
- Enterprise: $11.99/user/month
5. Tick
Tick is a product that’s best for remote teams and managers who need to track workers on-site. It notifies you of any overtime or other time discrepancies in the app so you can take action to prevent operational problems.
Tick works on computers and mobile devices so all employees can have access and clock in and out from anywhere in the world. It also integrates with different payroll and project management software so you can integrate it with your current systems. Popular tools like Trello, Asana, and Basecamp are all compatible with Tick.
Tick is unique in its pricing options. Instead of paying per team member, you’ll pay for the number of projects. This makes it a great option for teams that only need to track time for a limited number of projects.
Key Features
- Can set timers to break up tasks
- Automated time punches
- Manage all time reports from one dashboard
- Export all timesheets for payroll streamlining
Pros
- Compatible with phones, laptops, desktops, and tablets
- Manages all employee working hour data
Cons
- The interface needs an update
- Takes time to edit time entries
Pricing:
- 1 Project: Free
- 10 projects: $19/month
- 30 Projects: $49/month
- 60 Projects: $79/month
- Unlimited Projects: $149/month
What Are Small Business Time Clock Apps?
Time clock apps help you create, manage, and analyze digital timesheets and working hours. They make it easier for companies and freelancers to track their time and organize all the data in one central location. Time clocks include automated time punches and integrations with payroll systems so the apps can streamline workflows.
The Benefits of Time Clock Apps for Small Businesses
All time clock apps have a digital timesheet feature that tracks working hours, but the right one for your business may have additional tools to address your needs. The best time clock for small businesses will help you:
- Save time and resources through automated time tracking
- Automate and improve employee scheduling
- Predict project timelines and manage budgets more effectively
- Promote efficiency and accountability by setting up alerts that notify you of all employee activity
- Prevent buddy punching and time theft using GPS breadcrumb technology and geofencing
- Export digital timesheets to your favorite payroll system to minimize errors
