When you’re looking for on-premise time clock software, the big must-haves on your list are often: a) secure, b) affordable, and c) accurate tracking of your employees’ time.
And those must-haves are critical, but there are limits to on-premise software that you may not be aware of.
With on-premise time clock software, you can only manage one location. This means on-premise software doesn’t work for you if you’re managing employees who travel to multiple locations or switch job sites, or if you’re dealing with remote teams or hybrid teams (where some days are work-from-home, and others are work-from-the-office).
Or if you need to manage your team’s timesheets in real-time when you’re working remotely (for example, if you manage one location but want to make a key change to the schedule from your home or when you’re on the road).
You don’t always get advanced clock in and out features, such as limiting when employees can clock in, rounding punches, requiring photos when your team clocks in, geofencing, and more.
On-premise time clock software doesn’t generally help with other key aspects of time management, such as payroll and paid time off tracking, so you’ll need to get additional software. That’s more tabs to manage and more fees to pay.
Still, on-premise time clock software may be the best option for you in certain cases, so in this post, we cover both types: on-premise software and cloud-based time tracking software (which is made to solve the problems listed above).
We start with Buddy Punch. Buddy Punch is web-based / cloud-based time clock software that you can easily set up on your computer and mobile devices. It ensures accurate time tracking with advanced features like geofencing and IP locking, and is also a payroll provider, scheduling system, and PTO tracker. It’s perfect for one-location businesses, and for businesses with multiple locations or remote workers.
After Buddy Punch, we cover these 3 popular on-premise time clock software:
Buddy Punch: Secure, Accurate, and Reliable Cloud-Based Time Clock Software
Buddy Punch is a cloud-based time clock that is:
Easy to set up. Buddy Punch works on your smartphone, tablet, and computer. It’s easy to download and works with iOS and Android devices.
Accessible at any time from virtually any location. This is perfect for remote or traveling workers, if your business has multiple sites, or if you need to access your team’s time clock remotely.
Secure and accurate. Buddy Punch has several different advanced features that make sure the right person is clocking in and out. Everything from a custom pin code to geofencing to biometric options (taking a photo when you clock in for your shift).
Plus, with Buddy Punch you can streamline both your payroll and paid time off process. You can use Buddy Punch as your payroll provider, or integrate your Buddy Punch account with your current payroll processing system. And you can use Buddy Punch to track, record, and facilitate paid time off (PTO).
If you want to see how Buddy Punch will work for you as time clock software, start a free 14-day trial or schedule a demo. Or you can keep reading below for more info.
How to Set Up Buddy Punch’s Cloud-Based Time Clock
Setting up Buddy Punch takes hardly any time at all. Simply make an account, and then log in through our website or mobile app to begin using our time clock software.
Employees then easily punch in through their preferred device, which again could be a smartphone, tablet, or computer, all through our intuitive and user-friendly interface.
Naturally, our software can be accessed at virtually any location as long as you have your device on hand. This makes it perfect for companies with multiple job sites, traveling employees, a remote team, and any other type of business.
How to Use Buddy Punch to Change Punch Rules and Increase Employee Accountability
Thanks to Buddy Punch’s cloud-based functionality, it offers greatly increased flexibility with how, when, and where your employees can punch in and out. This helps ensure that time is tracked accurately to your particular needs, as well as holding employees accountable.
Note that all of our accountability features are turned off by default and can be utilized at your discretion.
Geofencing is one unique way that you can use Buddy Punch’s cloud-based time clock software to limit punches by location.
A geofence is a geographic radius (say, 500 feet from your business location in any direction) that restricts punches to that particular distance. If any employee were to attempt to clock in outside of the preset geofence, they will be met with an error message and asked to try again.
This makes sure that your employees are punching in when they actually get to their work location and helps to avoid time theft.
If your business uses multiple punch locations, you can use Buddy Punch’s geofencing feature to set up multiple geofences.
Another way to increase employee accountability with our cloud-based software is through IP Address locking.
If your business utilizes a central WiFi network, then you can limit punches to be accepted only when a user is connected to that particular IP Address.
Similarly, you can designate one device, such as a work tablet, to be the only device where employees can punch in and out.
You can also easily limit when employees punch in and out by setting up punch-limiting rules. Simply go to the settings tab and select “punch limiting” to be taken to the punch limiting rule page.
You will then see the option to add a new punch rule, which allows you to set the parameters of how early and late employees can punch in and out. This can save your business a lot on wasted payroll. Say an employee clocks in 5 minutes early every day, and leaves 6 minutes late. That’s 12 minutes of extra time. Multiply that across a two-week pay period and you’re paying 2 hours in extra payroll. And that’s just for one employee.
You can also designate which days of the week and at what time this rule will take place, as well as which employees this rule applies to.
Punches can easily be added, deleted, or edited through our cloud-based software. Simply open up the Buddy Punch dashboard to view all your employees.
You can then click on any individual’s time card to view their punches.
Here, you can click “add new” to add a new punch, click on “edit” for an existing punch, or use the “trash can” icon to delete a punch that was added by mistake.
Other Key Time Clock Features
There are several other ways you can customize punches and increase employee accountability with Buddy Punch’s cloud-based time clock software. This includes, but is not limited to:
Buddy Punch’s cloud-based software has the added benefit of several built-in payroll features that save you valuable time and money. You can either use Buddy Punch as your payroll provider, or you can set up integrations with Buddy Punch and your current payroll processor (such as ADP, Gusto, PayChex, etc.).
With Buddy Punch’s payroll functionality, you no longer need to use several applications to accomplish one task. Instead, everything is centralized in our time clock software, naturally saving you time and money.
Here’s a look at how it all works:
First, use the payroll dashboard to review all pertinent information, which could include employee hours, time off, preferred payment method, additional earnings (such as bonuses, commissions, per diems, etc.), and more.
Then, simply hit submit and allow our system to handle the rest. In particular, we will provide pay stubs and direct deposits to your staff, and file and pay your state and local taxes.
If you already have a payroll system in place that you want to keep, keep reading to see how Buddy Punch can make it easier to run payroll with your current setup.
Our cloud-based time clock automatically calculates all regular hours, time off, overtime, and more, which you can then access at any time via a PDF or excel report. This, of course, saves you countless hours of manual data entry work that is prone to human error and could negatively impact your payroll process.
Time-off management is easily handled through our time clock software. Employees can submit requests right through our application, and you can choose whether these requests need to be reviewed by an administrator prior to getting approved.
You can then find a complete summary of all paid and unpaid time off hours via a PDF or excel report.
Buddy Punch is a cloud-based time clock software that offers countless features that make clocking in and out, time tracking, and payroll effortless. However, there are even more features that we did not cover in this article, but you can see a comprehensive list here.
“Minimal training for end users (employees or managers). The back end (admin) features are just as simple and intuitive. We wanted a product that was simple to use, cost friendly and allowed us to customize — all of these areas were met. Very impressed!”
“We signed up for the trial period, and our employees were impressed immediately. They were able to start… immediately with zero training or assistance, which was a priority for us. The system is also very easy to use from an administrator end.”
“The team is responsive, and eager to assist. Any questions we’ve had, whether using the free trial, or after we signed up as a customer, have been answered quickly”.
“Their team is knowledgeable about my organization and the way that we use the platform — I have received many helpful suggestions to how we can best leverage the Buddy Punch platform in our sometimes complicated organizational structure. We have had very few issues, but have always received immediate resolutions when anything has come up.”
See What Cloud-Based Time Clock Software Can Do for You
If you think Buddy Punch’s cloud-based software is a good fit for your business, check out some of these resources below to learn more and try it out for yourself:
“Very good! Ease of use for staff to clock in and out. Also for me as the administrator for fixing problems with staff clocking in and out and reports.”
“It is a good software to keep a track of working hours. By this way employees don’t use internet for social networking sites and for other sites also.”
Finally, TimePilot is one other time clock software worth considering. It offers an on-premise time clock system that comes with a physical time clock device.
There are 4 kinds of devices available with each plan, and their functionality differs on a variety of variables, including:
Ability to be used outdoors
Portability
ID Code Clock-in
And more
You can read more about TimePilot’s on-premise software here.
At the time of this writing, TimePilot doesn’t have any reviews on Capterra, but for more information, watch this brief video:
See What Cloud-Based Time Clock Software Can Do for You
If you think Buddy Punch’s cloud-based software is a good fit for your business, check out some of these resources below to learn more and try it out for yourself:
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