5 Best iPad Time Clock Apps (In-Depth Look)

ByEric Czerwonka Last UpdatedMarch 1, 2024

Buddy Punch — our iPad time clock app — offers a plethora of features that increase employee accountability and save time on payroll. It not only works with iPad, but also with phones and computers (allowing for flexible punch-in options on a per-employee basis).

Several customers on Capterra (a widely-used software review site) have touched on Buddy Punch’s seamless compatibility with iPad and other devices:

“The product works well on iPads and PCs. I work with many non technical people and they caught on to the app quickly.”
Click here to read the full review.

“Being able to clock in and out on an iPad makes it so much easier than having to take turns using a computer. The photo feature keeps the employees accountable so there is no clocking in/out for other employees. We can pull reports whenever we want and customer service is readily available for anything we may need.”
Click here to read the full review.

“iPad compatibility is nice. The browser based admin panel is comprehensive and offers a good dashboard. The iPhone app for admins is very handy too.”
Click here to read the full review.

“We just have an iPad set up by our front door and I printed out QR codes for all the employees. It works like a charm. The break rules are great and the overtime accrual is amazing. We love it and would really recommend it!”
Click here to read the full review.

In this article, we’ll start by discussing how Buddy Punch works, and then we’ll share key features and reviews of other iPad time clock apps.

Best iPad Time Clock Apps

Buddy Punch
Connecteam
Clockify
QuickBooks Time
When I Work

Note: While we’re biased, we’re proud of the product we’ve built and feel that Buddy Punch is the best iPad time clock app for small businesses (from a functionality and ease-of-use perspective). If you feel that it fits your needs, sign up for a free trial and/or request a one-on-one demo.

1. Buddy Punch

A Brief Overview of How Our Employee Time Clock App for iPad Works

Employees can punch in and out via their iPad, phone, or computer, and we offer flexible punch-in options on a per-employee basis. For example, if you have 10 employees, you could configure it so that six of them are required to punch in and out via an iPad but four of them can submit a punch through any device of their choosing.

Buddy Punch on multiple devices.

2. Buddy Punch automatically calculates regular employee hours, paid and unpaid time off, and overtime in a given pay period. Per the below image, this information (and more) is available for easy export via Excel or PDF.

Payroll spreadsheet.

As one of our customers stated in their review:

“Before we began Buddy Punch, completing a weekly labor analysis would take over an hour and a half. Between contacting the locations to send the timecards, manually entering daily hours, deciphering notes scribbled on the cards and updating labor information for new employees we had enough! Now the process is as simple as logging on, setting the date range, exporting a CSV and migrating the data into an analysis template. What used to take over an hour, takes roughly 20 minutes.”

Comprehensive Overview: Buddy Punch’s Accountability-Related Features

Prevent time theft and increase transparency by activating one (or several) of the following features:

Geofencing

Geofencing.

Are you worried about employees punching in outside of the workplace?

If so, you should consider activating the Geofencing feature.

Simply enter the workplace address (e.g., 123 Pacific Drive) and designate a radius around it (e.g., 500 feet).

Punches outside your designated area will be met with an error message:

Error message when outside geofence.

IP Address Locking

Customize IP address lock.

IP Address Locking is best suited for businesses where employees punch in and out from within an office.

You can restrict punches to a shared Wi-Fi network and/or specific devices (such as a central office iPad or desktop computer).

Photos on Punch

Photo on punch screen.

The American Payroll Association estimates that 75% of companies lose money to buddy punching. To prevent this and improve your bottom line, consider activating Photos on Punch.

With this feature, employees capture a selfie photo (using an iPad, phone, or computer webcam) whenever they punch in and out.

As an administrator, you can quickly glance through the photos via a central dashboard and confirm everything is in order:

View photo next to hours on the payroll screen.

Other Accountability Features

Additional features to increase transparency and avoid time theft include GPS Tracking, Facial Recognition Punching, PIN Punching, Punch Limiting Rules, and more.

We recognize that each business has a different workflow, and we offer a buffet of features to account for that.

If you have questions about which features are best suited for your situation, reach out to us via live chat or book a one-on-one demo call. You can also sign up for a free trial and take the product for a test drive.

Comprehensive Overview: Buddy Punch’s Payroll-Related Features

Save time on payroll via the following features and functionality:

Payroll Reports on Demand

Export payroll to spreadsheets.

As stated earlier, Buddy Punch automatically calculates regular employee hours, paid and unpaid time off, and overtime in a given pay period. Per the above image, this information (and more) is available for easy export via Excel or PDF.

Payroll Provider Integrations

Payroll integration screen.

Buddy Punch seamlessly integrates with the following payroll providers:

QuickBooks Online (see setup instructions)
QuickBooks Desktop (see setup instructions)
Paychex (see setup instructions)
SurePayroll (see setup instructions)
ADP Workforce Now (see setup instructions)
Paylocity (see setup instructions)
Workday (see setup instructions)
Gusto (see setup instructions)
iSolved (see setup instructions)
Wagepoint (see setup instructions)
Justworks (see setup instructions)
Payment Evolution (see setup instructions)
And more. Click here to see our full list of payroll providers and integrations.

You can transfer employee hours from Buddy Punch to your payroll provider in the click of a mouse, and put an end to a traditionally manual and inaccurate data entry process.

As one of our customers stated in their review:

“The thing about Buddy Punch that I love most is the ability to sync/ integrate employees’ times with accounting software. This feature has made it incredibly easy to manage payroll.”

Time Off Tracking

Paid time off summary screen.

Buddy punch offers in-app time off requests, time off balance reports (both paid and unpaid), and more. Click here to explore our full list of time off tracking features.

Accruals

Time off accrual rules can be customized.

Buddy Punch offers flexible accrual options. Learn more via our help doc article and video on this topic. (Note that many other Buddy Punch features have an accompanying help doc article and video. Should you have any questions, we’re also happy to assist through live chat.)

Buddy Punch Offers Many Other Features

Buddy Punch offers a buffet of employee scheduling features — from schedule creation, to automatic shift notifications, to shift trade requests, and more. (See our article on employee scheduling apps for an in-depth breakdown.)

We also offer many time tracking, accountability, and payroll features that haven’t been mentioned in this article. Some of them include:

Click here to see a full list of our features.

Buddy Punch’s Online Reviews

As of this writing date, Buddy Punch has a 4.8 out of 5 star rating and 686 reviews on Capterra:

Buddy Punch received 4.8 out of 5 stars over 686 reviews.

A large portion of the reviews speak to Buddy Punch’s ease of use and customer support:

“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.”
Click here to read the full review.

“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”.
Click here to read the full review.

“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!”
Click here to read the full review.

“The chat staff has been super helpful to me every single time I have messaged them. They assisted me to get the software ready for a trial run which was very helpful! Every chat session was emailed to me for future reference.”
Click here to read the full review.

“The area I am most impressed with is with their support — they respond quickly, accurately and offer real solutions.”
Click here to read the full review.

Click here to explore all of Buddy Punch’s Capterra reviews.

Interested in Learning More?

2. Connecteam

Connecteam offers a great deal of features and functionality, some of which include:

It’s one of the best time clock apps for iPad. As of the writing date, Connecteam has a 4.7 out of 5 star rating and 151 reviews on Capterra.

“We have a couple employees who do not do computer stuff and they are able to view updates and chats on the mobile app. There is so much more to this than first expected and all has been good so far. We are just starting to use the Task Management feature which is going to be a game changer for us with making communication seamless between our field techs and our in-office sales and retail people.”
Click here to read the full review.

3. Clockify

Clockify offers a great deal of features and functionality, some of which include:

It’s one of the most popular iPad time tracking apps. At the time of writing, Clockify has a 4.7 out of 5 star rating and 4167 reviews on Capterra.

“Its cross-platform capabilities are useful for people who may work from different devices throughout the day (phone, tablet, computer)… Clockify has helped both myself and my teams to perform tasks with more efficiency and transparency. It has helped to manage expectations and hold teammates accountable to each other. This has resulted in better time management and projects that are closer to their budgeted time allotments.”
Click here to read the full review.

4. QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) offers a great deal of features and functionality, some of which include:

It’s a great iPad clock in app. At the time of writing, QuickBooks Time has a 4.7 out of 5 star rating and 5608 reviews on Capterra.

“The app is very accessible and can be downloaded on any device… It helps you track the time of each and every employee that you have put in the system. Through this app you can check how much time employees are spending on each job site and can check their clock in and clock out location. This helps you in saving a lot of money and time because the employee can not check in from any other location.”
Click here to read all reviews

5. When I Work

When I Work offers a great deal of features and functionality, some of which include:

It’s a solid iPad timesheet app. As of the writing date, When I Work has a 4.5 out of 5 star rating and 931 reviews on Capterra.

“When I Work is a great resource for our team. It allows employees to easily clock in and out from their own devices. You can also update your availability and request time off through their app.”
Click here to read the full review.

Interested in Learning More?

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Eric Czerwonka

About the author

As a prior multiple-location business owner, Eric knows all about time collection, scheduling, and everything in-between. From best practices, stories, and business experience, he’ll keep you up to date on the latest trends.