5 Best Timesheet Software with GPS (In-Depth Look)

ByEric Czerwonka Last UpdatedMay 19, 2023

5 Best Timesheet Software with GPS (In-Depth Look)

When you’re tracking your team’s hours worked, there’s always a concern with inaccurate record keeping – whether that means your employees are not clocking in and out accurately or that they’re being dishonest and saying they’re at work when they’re not.

If you don’t have accurate timesheets, you will be dealing with inaccurate payroll, which can be expensive and frustrating.

Timesheet software with GPS helps you accurately track your team’s time worked by limiting punch in and out behavior by a specific GPS location. This way, you know your team is always at the right location when they say they’re working. This is perfect for multi-site teams, traveling team members, remote workers, and more.

Here are some more benefits of using timesheet software with GPS, as highlighted by actual reviews of our GPS timesheet software, Buddy Punch.

“The use of the mobile app allows employees to clock in at multiple locations but can also show GPS coordinates if you’re questioning an employee’s whereabouts at the time the punch was entered.”
Click here to read the full review.

“I like the ability to track where employees are because prior to this app we had an employee who was being dishonest about where they were and it cost us money.”
Click here to read the full review.

“Having the ability to require GPS location for login when employees begin and end off-site has made labor tracking more accurate and dependable, as we no longer have to rely on the site manager to send email updates about employee punches.”
Click here to read the full review.

“We have over 20 jobs going at one time, all the guys can easily punch in and out on their phone, if they are in the field they use GPS and we know where they are, at the supply store, on the job-site, etc.”
Click here to read the full review.

In this article, we’ll start by discussing how Buddy Punch — our GPS timesheet app — works. Then, we’ll list four other timesheet software with GPS, so you can make a well-informed decision.

Best Timesheet Software & Apps with GPS

Buddy Punch
Hubstaff
Connecteam
eBillity
OnTheClock

1. Buddy Punch

Best Payroll Timesheet Software to Replace Templates

IIn this section, we’ll focus on Buddy Punch’s GPS location tracking and Geofencing features. But just to provide some high-level context:

Buddy Punch is a user-friendly web-based time clock and payroll software. Your team can use the Buddy Punch app (available on desktop browsers, smartphones, and tablets) to clock in and out for work.
Buddy Punch’s advanced clock in and out features ensure employee accountability. Our GPS tracking and geofencing features, and other features we discuss below, help keep your records accurate and your team honest, preventing things like clocking in too early, getting unapproved overtime, or buddy punching (when someone clocks in for someone else).
Buddy Punch streamlines payroll and PTO tracking. You can use these accurate records to run payroll directly from Buddy Punch or integrate Buddy Punch with your current payroll provider (like ADP or Gusto). You can also track your team’s PTO, ensuring they get paid accurately for any paid time off.

To learn more, you can sign up for a free 14-day trial, schedule a one-on-one call, or keep reading for a more in-depth review of our GPS tracking and other timesheet management tools.

GPS Tracking

If you choose to activate GPS Tracking, each time an employee punches in or out, their GPS coordinates will be recorded:

Buddy Punch's Time Card Map Feature

You can easily view each employee’s GPS coordinates within the Buddy Punch dashboard and verify they punched in from the correct location.

While you can choose to activate GPS Tracking for all employees, that does not have to be the case. You can mark it as “Optional” or “Off” for different staff members, depending on the needs of your business:

Buddy Punch's GPS on Punches Feature

Click here to learn more about setting up GPS Tracking.

Geofencing

Buddy Punch's Geofencing Feature

Geofencing limits employee punches to a location of your choice.

How does it work?

Simply input an address (e.g., 345 Main Street) and a desired punch radius (e.g., 500 feet).

Per the above example, this would restrict employee punches to within 500 feet of 345 Main Street.

If someone tried to punch in or out outside of your specific geofence location (e.g., from their home or a far away parking lot), they would receive an error message:

"You are not within the assigned Geofence"

What’s the difference between Geofencing and GPS Tracking?

Geofencing is a punch limiter, meaning employees cannot successfully punch in or out when they’re outside of your designated Geofence area. Again, if they tried to punch in or out from a different location, they would receive an error message stating, “You are not within the assigned Geofence,” and instructed to try again within the correct location.

In contrast, GPS Tracking is not a punch limiter. While it records each employee’s GPS coordinates (and lets you view them), it does not restrict employees from punching in or out outside of a specified Geofence.

Buddy Punch Offers Many Other Features

While this article only focuses on Buddy Punch’s GPS Tracking and Geofencing features, our software has many other capabilities. Click here to see the full list of features.

For example, we offer accountability-related features, such as:

IP Address Locking: If you need another way to restrict where Buddy Punch can be used, we offer IP address locks. This is great for office locations. Your employees will only be able to use Buddy Punch at specified IP addresses. If your employees attempt to log in from an unauthorized IP address, they will not be allowed.

Photos on Punch: This is a facial recognition biometric time tracking measure. You can use it to ensure the right person is punching in for their shift. Employees take a photo of themselves on each punch in and punch out. You can then review those photos to ensure they’re the ones actually doing the punching.

We also offer payroll-related features, such as:

Buddy Punch Payroll: Buddy Punch is full-fledged payroll processing software. You can pay your team using your accurately tracked time records. You can choose between 2-day or 4-day processing. You can pay your team by direct deposit or check.

On-Demand Payroll Reports: Buddy Punch automatically calculates each employee’s regular time, time off, overtime hours, and more. We offer a wide variety of reports that include this information (and additional information that’s needed for payroll). The reports can be exported to Excel for ease of use.

Payroll Provider Integrations: Buddy Punch lets you easily transfer employee hours to your preferred payroll provider. You can set up an integration with QuickBooks, SurePayroll, Paychex, Workday, Paylocity, Paycor, and many others.

Time Off Tracking: Buddy Punch offers many different time off tracking features and functionality. For example, employees can request paid and unpaid time off within the app. Buddy Punch also automatically calculates time off balance for each employee, and more.

Click here to explore our full list of Employee Time Tracking features.

Online Reviews

As of this writing, Buddy Punch has 830 reviews and 4.8 out of 5 stars on Capterra.

Here are just a few reviews that reference Buddy Punch’s GPS and Geofencing features:

“The fact that it locates where and when the employee signs in/out is great for our management team from not only a time card perspective but also in determining where they are. We work in construction and have multiple sites in which our employees work. This tool provides me one location to see when they arrived and exactly where they are. Great benefit.” Click here to read the full review.”
Click here to read the full review.

“Provides accountability for our employees with the location settings such as GPS/Geofence. Provides a variety of reports that are helpful. Provides our employees with mobility—we can send them to any job site, and they have the ability to punch in/out.”
Click here to read the full review.

“Love that it keeps GPS to see WHERE each employee clocked in or out when they do so. Love the PTO portion and that you have the opportunity to export information for Payroll as well… we used to use an excel spreadsheet that was very difficult to read and change the hours. Now technicians can clock in and out as many times a day as they need and if they need to change the time in or out it has to be approved by a manager!”
Click here to read the full review.

“Our team loves being able to clock in with their phones and those of us not in the office love being able to see their login picture and GPS location… we tested out several online timecard systems and have been extremely happy with Buddy Punch!”
Click here to read the full review.

“We started using Buddy Punch because we have employees who start their work day from their house. Buddy Punch makes it easy to track their time and having the GPS locator allows us to know where they are at.”
Click here to read the full review.

Click here for the full list of Buddy Punch reviews on Capterra.

Start a Free Trial of Buddy Punch and/or Request a 1-on-1 Demo

Click here to sign up for a free trial and/or request a personalized 1-on-1 demo.

2. Hubstaff

Hubstaff offers a plethora of features and functionality, some of which include:

It’s a solid GPS timesheet app. As of this writing, it has 1395 reviews and 4.6 out of 5 stars on Capterra.

“You can track their hours, schedule meetings, monitor productivity through URL and activity checks, and even track GPS when they’re on the road. It’s an excellent way to make sure everyone’s getting the work done to the best of their ability.”
Click here to read the full review.

3. Connecteam

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

It’s a solid timesheet app with GPS. As of this writing, it has 273 reviews and 4.8 out of 5 stars on Capterra.

“The GPS tracking feature is very useful for the dispatchers that monitor employee clock-ins. Customer service is nearly perfect.”
Click here to read the full review.

4. eBillity

eBillity offers a plethora of features and functionality, some of which include:

It’s one of the best GPS timesheet apps. As of this writing, it has 2884 reviews and 4.3 out of 5 stars on Capterra.

“The best feature is the GPS tracking that helps us ensure employees are on the job when they clock in and out.”
Click here to read the full review.

5. OnTheClock

OnTheClock offers a plethora of features and functionality, some of which include:

It’s a great timesheet software with GPS. As of this writing, it has 534 reviews and 4.7 out of 5 stars on Capterra.

“The app also has GPS tracking, which shows us exactly where the employee is when they clock in and out. This ensures that they are being truthful about punches.”
Click here to read the full review.

Start a Free Trial of Buddy Punch and/or Request a 1-on-1 Demo

Click here to sign up for a free trial and/or request a personalized 1-on-1 demo.

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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.