5 Best Time Tracking and Payroll Software (In-Depth Look)

In this post, we’ll start by sharing:

• A brief overview of how Buddy Punch (our time tracking and payroll software) works.

• Various features to help you increase employee accountability—such as Geofencing, IP Address Locking, and more.

• Various features to help you save time on payroll—such as on-demand reports, payroll provider integrations, time off tracking, and more.

Then, we’ll list four other time tracking and payroll software options, so you can make a better-informed decision.

Best Time Tracking & Payroll Software

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

1. Buddy Punch

Brief Overview of How Time Tracking and Payroll Software Works

Before we dive in-depth into the various features of Buddy Punch, here’s a very high-level overview of how it works:

1. Employees punch in and out through their phone, tablet, or computer:

2. Their regular hours (along with other information that’s needed for payroll) are automatically calculated and available to export via Excel:  

Features to Help You Increase Accountability

The problem:

What if an employee’s time card showed 42 hours worked, when in reality they only worked for 40 hours that week?

The business owner would have to overpay for those extra two hours, and at a hypothetical $15 per hour rate, that would be $30.

If you were to multiply $30 by 52 weeks, that would be $1,560 of wasted money each year.

And that’s just one employee. What if the problem was widespread across your entire business?

The solution:

Save money and get peace of mind by implementing one of Buddy Punch’s various accountability features:

Geofencing

With Geofencing, you:

• Enter the work address (i.e., 123 Main Street).
• Set a radius around that address (i.e., 500 ft.).

The result?

Given the above example, employees will only be able to punch in within 500 feet of the workplace.

IP Address Locking

The IP Address Locking feature is most often used by companies with in-office employees. You can restrict punches to a certain Wi-Fi network or device (such as a computer).

Photos on Punch

As the name implies, with this feature:

• Employees take a picture of themselves before they can punch in or out.
• You can then view each employee’s picture via our dashboard and verify that buddy punching didn’t occur.

Note: Besides the aforementioned features, we also offer Facial Recognition Punching, GPS Tracking, and more! Sign up for a trial or book a demo to learn about the full capabilities of Buddy Punch.

Features to Speed Up the Payroll Process

The problem:

Running payroll using pen and paper or spreadsheets is both labor intensive and error prone.

The solution:

Save time and improve accuracy by using one of Buddy Punch’s various payroll features:

Payroll Reports on Demand

As we mentioned earlier, your employees’ regular hours (along with other information that’s needed for payroll, such as time off, overtime, etc.) are automatically calculated and available to export via Excel.

Payroll Provider Integrations

What if you could transfer each employee’s hours, time off, and overtime information to your payroll provider and do so in just a few clicks?

Our timesheet and payroll software makes that possible!

As one user stated in their Capterra review: “The thing about Buddy Punch that I love most is the ability to sync/integrate employee’s times with accounting software. This feature has made it incredibly easy to manage payroll, and ensure your employees are properly tracked.”

Note: For more information on our payroll provider integrations, visit this page.

Time Off Tracking

Buddy Punch offers various features and functionality related to time off tracking, some of which include:

• Reports that show you (and your employees) the amount of paid and unpaid time off remaining.
• The ability to request time off within the app and have it sent to a manager or business owner for approval.
• And so on! Click here to learn about our other time off tracking features.

Accruals

Buddy Punch makes it extremely easy to handle accruals. If you’re interested in learning more about this, we created a useful video and several help doc articles.  

Buddy Punch Offers Many Other Features

To fully explore Buddy Punch’s capabilities, see our features page. We go over:  

• Scheduling
• Overtime Calculations
• Multiple Punch and Login Options
• Time Card Approvals
• Adding, Editing, or Deleting Punches
• Job Codes / Project Tracking
• And much more!

What Do Customers Have to Say About Our Time TrackingPayroll Software?

Below, we share just a few of Buddy Punch’s reviews from Capterra (a popular software review site) where we’ve received 4.8 out of 5 stars, based on 644 reviews.

Click here to see all of our Buddy Punch reviews on Capterra.

Try It for Yourself

Watch our pre-recorded Buddy Punch demo video above, book your own 1-on-1 demo, or click here to sign up for a free trial.

2. Connecteam

Connecteam’s features include but are not limited to:

• Employee Time Clock
• Employee Communication
• Employee Training
• Checklists and Forms
• Employee Task Management
• And more! Click here to visit Connecteam’s site and explore all their features.

At the time of writing, their time tracking and payroll software has 127 reviews and 4.8 out of 5 stars on Capterra.  

Click here to see all of Connecteam’s Capterra reviews.

3. When I Work

When I Work’s features include but are not limited to:

• Employee Time Clock
• Team Messaging
• Employee Scheduling
• Timesheets
• And more! Click here to visit Connecteam’s site and explore all their features.

At the time of writing, they have 884 reviews and 4.5 out of 5 stars on Capterra.

Click here to see all of When I Work’s Capterra reviews.

4. eBillity

eBillity’s features include but are not limited to:

• Employee Time and Attendance Tracking.
• Employee Time Approval.
• GPS Time Tracking.
• Time Clock.
• Employee Scheduling.
• And more! Click here to visit eBillity’s site and explore all their features.

At the time of writing, eBillity has 2,410 reviews and 4.3 out of 5 stars on Capterra.

Click here to see all of eBillity’s Capterra reviews.

5. QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time’s features include but are not limited to:

• Time Tracking
• Staff Scheduling and Messaging
• Payroll and Human Resources Integrations
• Time Card Reports
• And more! Click here to visit QuickBooks Time’s site and explore all their features.

At the time of writing, their timesheet and payroll software has 5,510 reviews and 4.7 out of 5 stars on Capterra.

Click here to see all of QuickBooks Time’s Capterra reviews.

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