5 Best Time Clock Payroll Software (2024)

5 Best Time Clock Payroll Software (In-Depth Look)

When looking for the best time clock payroll software, you want software that:

  • Keeps accurate time tracking records. This includes everything from tracking when your team clocks in and out, and also tracking any paid time off (PTO) that’s been taken in a pay period. Plus, you want software that makes it easy to edit time cards when necessary (like when an employee forgets to clock back in from lunch).
  • Keeps employees accountable. This means making sure the right person is clocking in for their shift at the right time. The right time clock solution can do this with geofencing parameters, biometric kiosks, and other similar features.
  • Pays your team accurately and on time. You want software that makes it easy to review your payroll before you submit it, and gives you the opportunity to make changes as necessary. 

Finally, you want to make sure your team can get paid via direct deposit and that they can look up their pay stubs without having to reach out to you. This saves both you and your employees a lot of headache and follow-up. 

And you want one intuitive, user-friendly software that does all of this, so you’re not jumping back and forth between multiple systems or screens to track time and submit payroll.

In this post, we look at 5 different time clock payroll software solutions, including Buddy Punch, our own tool. Buddy Punch is an online time clock, scheduling system, PTO tracker, and payroll software. To learn more about Buddy Punch, you can sign up for a free 14-day trial or schedule a one-on-one demo. You can also keep reading the article below for more detail.

Best Time Clock Payroll Software

  1. Buddy Punch
  2. When I Work
  3. Hubstaff
  4. Connecteam
  5. QuickBooks Time

Note: Sign up for a free trial of Buddy Punch to streamline your payroll processes and eliminate time-consuming manual work from the equation.

1. Buddy Punch

Buddy Punch is both an online time clock and all-in-one payroll software. You can use it as a mobile app, or use it on a desktop computer (both on Windows and Mac devices).

Here’s an overview of how it works.

Your employees can clock in and clock out through the Buddy Punch mobile app, which works on computers, tablets, and smartphones (both iPhone or Android operating systems).  Below we discuss how you can set up employee accountability features, such as ensuring the right person is clocking in for their shift and that they’re not clocking in too early.

Employee home screen.

Plus, your team’s PTO is also tracked by Buddy Punch. That way, if someone takes a paid vacation, they get paid for it as they should, and you don’t need to reconcile a different PTO tracking software with your payroll software.

Reports: PTO Summary

Your team logs into Buddy Punch directly with our employee self-service portal, where they can fill out their payment information. This means adding their bank info so they can get paid via direct deposit. (Your team can also print checks by getting them sent to their email via Buddy Punch.)

Through Buddy Punch, your team members can access their pay stubs and tax filing information/tax forms like W-2 forms. Plus, they can see their updated PTO balance and submit new PTO requests. This is great, as they don’t need to reach out to their manager or HR department anytime they need to see this info.

When it’s time to run payroll,  you can quickly review your team’s time-tracking records and payroll data and makes changes if necessary. For example, maybe someone clocked in for their shift but forgot to clock out. Maybe someone took a paid sick day but forgot to enter it into Buddy Punch.

Edit Payroll Summary

You can add additional earnings to your payroll, such as bonuses, commissions, reimbursement, and tips. Buddy Punch will also factor in any set wage garnishments.

Add additional earnings such as bonuses and commissions to an employee’s timecard

When payroll is accurate, you can submit it. Buddy Punch handles all local, state, and federal payroll taxes. Buddy Punch also makes sure everyone gets their paychecks on time and is paid accurately.

You can also set automatic payroll, so you just review payroll as needed, but it’ll always automatically submit on time.

That’s a very high-level overview of how our payroll solution works. We know changing your payroll process is a big step. If you want to see more specifically how Buddy Punch can be your all-in-one payroll provider, schedule a free one-on-one demo.

Next, we cover:

  • How our web-based time clock system works
  • What customers are saying about Buddy Punch

But first, a quick note: If you already have a payroll processing system, and simply want a time clock system that works with your payroll provider – or you want to wait before completely switching your payroll process – you can use Buddy Punch as a time clock only, while still improving your overall payroll process.

Don’t like the idea of you and your employees going through onboarding for a different one? Don’t worry, you simply integrate your Buddy Punch account with your full-service payroll provider. We have ready-to-go payroll integrations with leading payroll systems, including Gusto, ADP, Workday, QuickBooks, SurePayroll, and Paychex, to name a few. (Click here for the complete list.) Enjoy reducing the risk of data-entry errors when you do payroll.

Buddy Punch Payroll Integrations

Your payroll reports are also available on demand, and you export them as an Excel or PDF file. 

Payroll excel spreadsheet.

Features to Help You Save Time on Payroll

Buddy Punch can streamline your payroll process in many other ways. 

We’ll cover some of them below.

Time Off Tracking

Request time-off option.

Buddy Punch offers a number of different time off tracking features.

Your employees, for example, can request paid or unpaid time off via the Buddy Punch mobile app (iOS and Android), as you can see above.

As an employer or administrator, you then receive the time off requests and can approve or reject them.

'Pending approval' notice.

Additionally, we provide an in-app time off summary that shows each employee’s balance, future time off, and more.

View PTO with future time off accounted for.

Accruals

Customize time off accrual rules.

Are time off accrual rules applicable to your business? If so, read about how this feature works in this help doc article or view this video.  

Advanced Attendance Software Features that Increase Employee Accountability

Beyond simplifying your payroll process, Buddy Punch offers a variety of features to prevent time theft and boost profitability:

  • Photos on Punch: Employees take a photo of themselves using their computer or phone each time they punch in or out. Administrators can then verify the validity of the punches.
  • Geofencing: Limit punches to a specific job site radius (e.g., 500 feet within 123 Armacost Avenue.) Fully customizable. Any punches not on-site will be denied.
  • And more!

Buddy Punch Offers a Plethora of Other Features

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Buddy Punch offers many other features, including but not limited to:

Click here for a comprehensive feature list.

Buddy Punch’s Online Reviews

As of this writing date, Buddy Punch has 4.8 out of 5 stars and over 850 reviews on Capterra (a widely-used software review site).

Below are just a few reviews that highlight how Buddy Punch can streamline your payroll processes and the customer support we offer small business owners. (Click here for the full list of reviews.)

“After using paper time cards for over a year, spending many frustrating hours a week reviewing, verifying, inputting, and analyzing employee punches, and then finding a place to keep the paper cards for our records, we were fed up. We looked for an affordable and easy-to-implement solution. We used the Buddy Punch trial, and within a week, we knew this was the solution we were looking for … 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.”

Click here to read the full review.

“In running payroll, since employees will punch in, being able to track their time as well as PTO in one place saves me time on my end. I simply run a report at the pay period end to access a summary for each employee. I still have to enter totals, but will no longer have to search spreadsheets each time for notes regarding time off. The reports are very helpful and can be downloaded in multiple formats.”

Click here to read the full review

“The integration with QuickBooks has streamlined our payroll, which has been a huge plus. Most importantly to me as the administrator who’s been responsible for the complete setup and training of all staff – the Buddy Punch customer service team has been absolutely outstanding!”

Click here to read the full review.

“My staff loves that the software works seamlessly and I love the easy payroll reporting process. BEST of all, when I have a question, Buddy Punch really LISTENS and always walks me through the answer or offers to help themselves.”

Click here to read the full review.

“This was so user-friendly and easy to navigate. It’s very affordable and breaks the individual’s hours down to a report that I could merge with our payroll provider.”

Click here to read the full review.

“I like how easy it is to use and the time it has saved us each week on payroll. The employees like seeing their time live each day as well.”

Click here to read the full review.

“No more adding times, calculating, and then punching them in redundantly. Buddy Punch has taken the work out of payroll and timekeeping.”

Click here to read the full review.

“Love the PTO portion and that you have the opportunity to export information for payroll as well.”

Click here to read the full review.

Try Buddy Punch for Free

Sign up for a free trial of Buddy Punch to see how it would make a great time clock payroll software for your team. You can also watch our pre-recorded demo video above or book a live one-on-one demo call.

2. When I Work

When I Work offers a variety of features and functionality, including but not limited to:

It’s a great payroll and time clock software. At the time of writing, When I Work has 4.5 out of 5 stars and over 1030 reviews on Capterra.

“Great platform for time tracking and exporting timesheets every week to send to payroll.”

Click here to read the full review.

3. Hubstaff

Hubstaff offers a variety of features and functionality, including but not limited to:

It’s one of the best time clock payroll software. At the time of writing, Hubstaff has 4.6 out of 5 stars and over 1400 reviews on Capterra.

“With some of our entry-level employees, we wanted to make sure they were staying on track and have a way to export their time entries to our payroll software Gusto. This accomplishes all of that.”

Click here to read the full review.

4. Connecteam

Connecteam offers a variety of features and functionality, including but not limited to:

It’s a great time clock and payroll software. At the time of writing, Connecteam has 4.8 out of 5 stars and over 290 reviews on Capterra.

“It has a wide variety of features that have allowed us to move payroll and HR to a virtual platform.”

Click here to read the full review.

5. QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time offers a variety of features and functionality, including but not limited to:

It’s a great employee time clock app. At the time of writing, QuickBooks has 4.8 out of 5 stars and over 6400 reviews on Capterra.

“This has been a great program that our business has used to track hours worked for payroll. We have multiple offices across several counties and it’s nice to have a central place where all of the hours are entered and available for HR to do payroll.”

Click here to read the full review.

Runner-up apps include OnTheClock and TimeCamp.

Try Buddy Punch for Free

Sign up for a free trial if you feel that Buddy Punch might be the right fit for your business. You can also view a pre-recorded demo video or book a live one-on-one demo call.

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