The 11 Best Time Clock for Payroll Apps

time clock for payroll

Time Clock Payroll Apps combine the accountability and flexibility of tracking your employee work hours with the convenience of running that data through your chosen payroll software, ensuring that team members are paid accurately and promptly for their time.

In this article, we’re going to cover our top 11 favorite picks of Time Clocks with built-in payroll processing features. Additionally, we’ll show off some of the features that these time clock systems include for free to help business owners handle workforce management.

Time Clocks with Payroll Features

  1. Buddy Punch
  2. DeskTime
  3. Paymo
  4. Connecteam
  5. CrewTracks
  6. eBillity
  7. Insightful
  8. OnTheClock
  9. QuickBooks Time
  10. WhenIWork
  11. TimeCamp

1. Buddy Punch

Starting off our list of the best time clocks solutions with built-in payroll features, we have our very own Buddy Punch. Once we expanded our workforce from a small team to 20 employees at 3 different locations, we had to ditch the paper time cards and spreadsheet templates in order to automate aspects of time tracking and scheduling so we could boost profitability. And when we didn’t find a tool that could fit our specifications, we set out to build our own – and Buddy Punch was born.

But it’s not favoritism that causes us to rank our software so highly. We’re constantly working to improve our service, which is how we went from using payroll integrations with tools like ADP, Paychex, and Quickbooks Online to creating an in-house solution to let business owners run payroll reports using only Buddy Punch. This built-in payroll processing allows you to keep all employee data in one place (and automate running it through payroll to boot).

In addition to this, we adhere to three specific tenants of design when it comes to Buddy Punch’s current and future features:

  1. Accountability. We give business owners the power to handpick which features they use to track employee attendance and keep team members accountable for how they spend time on-site or off-site, whether that be through GPS tracking, Geofencing, IP Address Locking, Facial Recognition, or more.
  2. Simplicity. While providing these features, we ensure our software never becomes too complicated to make use of, for you or your team members. That’s why we created Buddy Punch with an intuitive design, one-button clock in, and even Punch Rounding and Automatic Breaks, which managers can trigger without employee output.
  3. Streamlining. Last but not least, Buddy Punch is designed to make your busness operations as smooth as possible. Consider how Buddy Punch’s built-in payroll allows you to easily review employees’ work hours and time off, sync employee time, and then send out direct deposits. Then there’s Buddy Punch’s streamlining of other aspects of team management through features such as Paid Time Off Management, PTO Accruals, and more.

With all these aspects working together, Buddy Punch becomes a powerful piece of software that allows you to capture accurate data from your employees, keep them productive while on the clock, and then run payroll so that you can pay them quickly and accurately for their time. It’s a win-win for all.

Let’s dive into some of these features to highlight how they all work together to turn Buddy Punch into an all-in-one workforce management powerhouse.

Note: If you’d like to skip the walkthrough and get a more personal feel for Buddy Punch, you can sign up for a free 14-day trial by clicking here.

GPS Tracking

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Buddy Punch’s GPS Location Tracking feature allows you to track employee time even if they’re not present at the office or your main job site during the workday. You can keep up with remote employee locations through real-time tracking to see where they punch in, group them by location, and select which of your team members this feature is enabled for. This flexible employee management feature can be whatever you need it to be.

Geofencing

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Another mobile time tracking feature is Buddy Punch’s Geofencing option, which allows you to create zones where employees are allowed to punch in (called Geofences). If a team member or freelancer attempts to track hours while outside one of these designated areas, they’ll receive an error notification. This is perfect for business owners managing multiple worksites and remote teams.

IP Address Locks

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IP Address locks are an effective way to make sure you keep employees accountable for whoever accesses business files and data. With this, you can at least exert control over where your employees clock work time. Additionally, you can see which IP Addresses connected to an employee account, which can cut down on time theft.

Facial Recognition

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If you want to ensure that time theft isn’t happening when team members log employee hours, it doesn’t get better than using biometric time clock features. Buddy Punch’s facial recognition ensures that the employee clocking in is who they say they are.

One-Button Clock In

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As part of Buddy Punch’s intuitive design, employees have an extremely easy time signing into our attendance software. This ease-of-use is reflected across all devices: Smartphones (iOS or Android), Desktop devices, or Tablets. You can use Buddy Punch in a web browser or as a downloadable app. All you need is an internet connection.

Punch Rounding

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If you have a large number of employees clocking in at the same time (as you might if you’ve set up Buddy Punch to be used as a kiosk app), the punch rounding feature will help everyone be counted as clocking in at the same time. This time management feature is an easy way to tighten up accuracy for each pay period while remaining in compliance with labor laws.  

Automatic Breaks

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Do you have forgetful employees? Want to reign in unmanaged hours when you track projects? The Automatic breaks feature allows business managers to trigger an automatic break in time tracking. This ensures that every employee has their off time properly accounted for to simplify tracking employee hours.

Built-in Payroll

Buddy Punch’s built-in payroll helps you streamline the accuracy of each employees’ total hours at the end of each pay period. This option also comes with self-setup for employees to enter their own details and access pay stubs, automated requests so employees can exert more control over hours, and automatic payroll tax filings. Complete replace your external payroll tools by using one of the best employee time tracking tools on the market. Click here to read more about Buddy Punch’s Built-In Payroll features.

Paid Time Off Management

Any high-quality online time clock will come equipped to help business owners manage PTO. Buddy Punch is no exception. You can choose from a variety of pre-made PTO types or create your own custom types. Then, you can let employees take a self-service approach to the system overall by letting them fill in their requested time off. It’s up to you if this time off gets to be auto-approved, or approved/rejected on a manual basis.

PTO Accruals

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For businesses (and HR departments) that operate using an accrual method to PTO, keeping track of mounting time off at regular intervals can be challenging. It’s a problem that gets exponentially harder with each new hire you take on – but Buddy Punch is a powerful solution to that issue. The PTO Accruals feature lets you create custom rules to track how time accrues for each individual employee on your roster.

Additionally, the PTO Summary Report will give you an in-depth breakdown of what PTO was carried over, accrued, used, or banked for the present and future. You can export this as an Excel CSV or Adobe PDF.

We Really Meant “And More”- Buddy Punch’s Offerings Don’t End There

So far, we’ve only covered around half of the features Buddy Punch has in total. Here are a few more functions we empower business owners with:

In addition to these functions, we also have a regularly updated help doc center containing articles on how to best utilize Buddy Punch. If that wasn’t enough, our responsive customer support is around to answer any questions you have via live chat, or to guide you through a one-on-one personalized demo of our software.

Buddy Punch’s Online Reviews

As of the writing date, Buddy Punch has 4.8 out of 5 stars and 838 reviews on Capterra.

Below, we’ll list just a few reviews that speak to Buddy Punch’s attributes as an employee time clock app. (Click here to explore the full list of reviews.)

“After a few hours of contemplation, I tried it and boy was I blown off by its features real-time pics, extensive data of employee activity, payroll data, etc. Even the staff of Buddy Punch are so supportive, inserting few features from a new user like me. I am so impressed! Now for the first time in my 10 years of business, computing payroll has become such a breeze. Thank you very much, Buddy Punch!”

Click here to read the full review.

“What I love most about Buddy Punch is how simple it is for employees to clock in and out, add their lunch breaks, and write notes about their shifts. I also love how easy it is for me to import it into QuickBooks and pay payroll with it! Before I used Buddy Punch I was keeping time manually with 3 employees and it drove me crazy. Now I have over a dozen employees and I do not know what I would do without this software.”

Click here to read the full review.

“Employees can punch in where ever they are assigned. We can use a geofence if employee not punching in at the yard. Can see where they are when they punch in. Has prevented “stealing time”. Perfect for our weekly payroll information. Employees clock in early am and late pm and can leave notes when no one in the office.”

Click here to read the full review.

“Buddy Punch produces concise reports which can assist with transferring employee hours to any payroll system that you may be using. If you do experience any issues or have questions, it’s very easy to place a support ticket and a response is usually given within 1-2 hours at the most. Customer Service definitely seems to be a priority which we appreciate. Once our trial period had concluded, it was a no-brainer to continue with this easy, intuitive solution.”

Click here to read the full review.

What’s the consensus? It seems most reviewers noted that Buddy Punch has excellent customer support, flexible features, and an effective method of handling payroll information.

Try Buddy Punch for Free  

If you’re ready to test Buddy Punch as a time clock solution with built-in payroll options, we recommend you try the 14-day free trial first (no credit card required). Additionally, you can view our pre-recorded demo video or book a one-on-one demo for a more interactive experience.

2. DeskTime

DeskTime positions itself as the ultimate “all-in-one” automatic time tracker. With a variety of features and ways to monitor employee data, you can make informed decisions to manage your workplace. Its features include:

At the time of this post’s writing, DeskTime has a total of 240 reviews on Capterra (see here), with an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Pricing varies depends on features required.

“So, it’s been almost two years having “Desktime” monitoring/tracking us, and we found it is very impressive and easy solution. The kind of reports and support they provides; we don’t think any contenders would be offering in this arena currently. We are just planning to offer this product with our all international clients as well. ”

Click here to read the full review.

3. Paymo

Paymo is a digital time clock. This app helps business owners by placing an emphasis on fostering teamwork and communication between employees. Some of its key features include:

At the time of this article’s writing, Paymo has a total of 419 reviews on Capterra (see here), with an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars.

“Time tracking is seamlessly integrated into our current designer workflow. This allows us to calculate the actual time spent on the job so clients understand where their money is being spent. It also allows us to identify where we need to increase project costs (9/10 times it’s with ‘customer correspondence’).”

Click here to read the full review.

4. Connecteam

Connecteam is another end-to-end solution for managing employees and their work schedules. Some of its features include:

As of this post’s writing date, Connecteam has 4.7 out of 5 stars and 153 reviews on Capterra.

“Overall the Connecteam team was very helpful. We took a lot of time before deciding to invest our time into this software to take it company wide. We had several zoom calls and emails back and forth asking questions about the features we required. Most of these features were included, in the process, or on the list to be added which we really liked.”

Click here to read the full review.

5. CrewTracks

CrewTracks is a time clock software that was made to help construction businesses manage their crews, even while they’re out on remote jobs. Some of its features include:

CrewTracks has 12 reviews and a rating of 4.8 stars on Capterra as of this post’s writing.

“As a small industrial painting contractor, we FINALLY have a way to track our field employees from our corporate office. Crewtracks allows us to monitor employee hours and performance from afar. We love the ease of use and “simplicity” of the app/desktop versions.”

Click here to read the full review.

6. eBillity

eBillity is another specialized time clock software – one that can be used for any business, but was designed to work especially well for law firms (through LawBillity). Some of its features include:

At the time of this post’s writing, eBillity has a total of 2,439 reviews on Capterra (see here), with an average of 4.3 out of 5 stars.

“It is a cloud based time tracking and billing solution that increases profitability, reduces administration. It’s easy to manage projects, employees and clients from one central location. Useful for all in one timekeeping, billing, payroll and accounting solution for firms of any size. It tracks employee time with GPS accuracy. It can be used as a standalone solution to track time, invoice clients and run payroll or it can be integrated with QuickBooks. ”

Click here to read the full review.

7. Insightful

Insightful (formerly known as Workpuls) is a data-focused time tracking solution with features such as:

At the time of this post’s writing, Insightful has a total of 60 reviews on Capterra (see here), with an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars.

“The easy set up and web based application gives instant start up and it allows a gradual use of the sophisticated functionality which is built into the software. Software insight give a real view of how users are using the software assets and has enabled us to re-evaluate software product usage and license management of expensive softwares. The software insights also helps us identify training needs after evaluating how different staff use various softwares with less effectivity.”

Click here to read the full review.

8. OnTheClock

OnTheClock offers various features and functionality, some of which include:

OnTheClock is a web-based time tracking software that can be used across any device with an internet connection (Windows, Mac, Smartphone, etc.). If you’re a small business with just 1-2 employees, you can make this your free time clock. As of this post’s writing date, OnTheClock has 4.7 out of 5 stars and 511 reviews on Capterra.

“I love the ease of clocking in using my mobile device. As someone who has always had to punch in on a computer, I know first hand that computers sometimes take their time opening and connecting to the internet for you to do anything. That’s never fun, especially when you need to clock in. This has been a great product to use instead.”

Click here to read the full review.

9. QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time (formerly known as TSheets) has a wide range of features including:

As of this post’s writing, QuickBooks Time has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars and 5,586 reviews on Capterra.

“QuickBooks Time makes my payrolls, job costing, and reports so much more accurate, efficient, and expedient. The time I save pays for the software over and over again. Not to mention, the customer service is stellar!!! Each and every time I have had to contact a representative for any reason, they have been some of the most friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable customer service reps I have ever encountered with any company or product, ever. ”

Click here to read the full review.

10. When I Work

When I Work offers various in-app features and functionality such as:

As of this post’s writing date, When I Work has 4.5 out of 5 stars and 928 reviews on Capterra.

“When I Work does exactly what we need for scheduling the varying shifts for the different level of nursing staff and the different departments that they work in. Couldn’t recommend enough.”

Click here to read the full review.

11. TimeCamp

Like Buddy Punch, TimeCamp is a Desktop & mobile time clock that helps you completely manage all time entries for your workplace. Some of its key features include:

It’s worth noting that TimeCamp offers a free plan for unlimited employees and unlimited projects, though this restricts access to some of its more powerful features.

At the time of this post’s writing, TimeCamp has a total of 554 reviews on Capterra (see here), with an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars.

“Being able to simply track time worked on different projects by different business analysts was always tricky, often analysts would be guessinmating at the end of the week. TimeCamp have solved this issue and we can now accurately track and invoice hours spent on each project.”

Click here to read the full review.

Runner up apps include Clockify and Homebase.

Choosing The Best Time Clock Payroll App For Your Business

With so many different options available, choosing the best time clock app comes down to your specific goals.

If you have software you want a time clock to integrate with, you can always look up if a time clock works with your current operations. Otherwise, you might be able to make a choice depending on your industry – such as construction workers choosing CrewTracks, or law firms choosing eBillity.

But if what you want overall is to be able to make decisions based on what your workplace adapts to – you’ll want a flexible software with plenty of options that can be easily enabled or disabled at will. In other words, you want Buddy Punch.

Try Buddy Punch for Free  

If you think Buddy Punch could be the right software for your business, sign up for a 14-day free trial. You can also book a one-on-one demo, or view a pre-recorded demo video here.


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