Buddy Punch vs. Tsheets
Business owners are in constant need of help with tracking employee time throughout the workday. The days of using manual methods and hoping employees with clock in accurately have long passed, due to the rise of time theft and other tracking issues. This is why savvy business owners have turned to using real-time workforce management software for time tracking, payment, and invoicing of their team members.
Whether you’re a small business or an enterprise, it’s worth looking into getting one of these tools to help you manage employee hours. But then the question becomes: how do you choose a time & project management tool that’s perfect for your business?
Choosing the Right Time Tracking Software
One of the easiest ways to make yourself more likely to find a solid time management tool is to look at popular options. Our very own Buddy Punch is up there in popularity, but there are also other names such as Clockshark, Zapier, Asana, and Tsheets to consider. In fact, we’re going to look at Tsheets in particular in this blog post as a case study of how you can choose between two different software options based on features, price, and other factors.
Note: TSheets used to be the company’s name, but they have since rebranded to QuickBooks Time.
Buddy Punch vs. TSheets Features
While we obviously feel a little biased towards our own Buddy Punch, it’s important to recognize that Buddy Punch has a popularity on the market from thousands of users. In our opinion, this is thanks to our focus on an intuitive design to maximize ease of use for all users, managers and team members included.
We start building this tool in order to streamline team management (we were working with 20 employees at 3 different locations) after trying many options on the market and being disappointed by all of them. There was a mix of reasons these tools didn’t win us over: some of them lacked user-friendly designs, others didn’t have key features that we desired for remote tracking of team members, or occasionally the tools just didn’t seem to justify the price (and had too many Capterra reviews that pointed out as much).
So, rather than settling, we set off to build our own tool, and Buddy Punch was born. Fast forward to today, where it’s managed to become one of the most popular time tracking options. Now let’s talk how it’s features compare with those included in TSheets (which is planning to rebrand to QuickBooks Time).
Here are some of the most popular features for time tracking software, to see how the two stack up.
Facial Recognition
Buddy Punch’s Facial Recognition option has grown to become one of its most popular features. This option allows you to cut down on time theft by using webcam photos on employee punch ins to verify that an employee is who they say they are. This option can take screenshots on Desktops, smartphones, or tablets. TSheets did not use to have this feature, but since the rebrand to QuickBooks Time they have added it into their Time Clock Kiosk.
Job Codes
Business owners can create and assign codes for individual tasks, know as Job Codes. When employees clock in or clock out, they can sign in to a specific job code to allocate how much time they spent on each task. This features provides transparency to your job costs, which can be extremely useful for optimizing workflow and profitability. This feature is actually available in both Buddy Punch and TSheets, with them offering multi-level job codes, online punch time cards, etc.
Locations and GPS
GPS Location features exploded in popularity after the pandemic, for obvious reasons. GPS and location functionalities (such as GPS Tracking or Geofencing) work to manage remote workers easily. GPS Tracking shows you where team members are when they clock in and throughout the day, so you can ensure they are where they’re supposed to be even if you’re not present at a job site. Meanwhile, Geofencing allows you to create a radius on an interactive map, called a Geofence, around intended remote job sites. If an employee attempts to begin logging work hours while outside one of these Geofences, your timekeeping tool will send them an error notification and prevent them. You will find this feature in both time tracking tools.
Management
Handling the management hierarchy in your workplace is now easier than ever thanks to time management & scheduling software. Buddy Punch offers a feature that lets you create managers and assign employees to each within the software. TSheets did not use to have this option, but QuickBooks Time now has a similar function as well.
Notifications
Buddy Punch and TSheets offer a notifications feature for administrators when something happens with an employee, or they need to communicate with the owner. With Buddy Punch, employees and managers can also receive notifications, which offers added time clock software functionality. QuickBooks Time recently added this feature as well.
Overtime, PTO, Sick, Vacation, Breaks
These punch clock tools let you calculate overtime options for true monitoring of billable hours, as well as Paid Time Off accrual (sick leave, vacation days, and breaks). You can also set restrictions and approvals for employee requests. Both programs offer this feature.
Reports
Both Buddy Punch and TSheets provide in-depth reports on all of the online time tracking information their systems gather, making them great reporting tools. You can export these reports as Excel CSV or Adobe PDF files.
Apps
Buddy Punch and TSheets can be used on Desktops (Windows or Mac), mobile devices (iOS iPhone or Android smartphone), and tablets. The mobile apps are very useful and available to all users and give you access even when you’re on the go, or you can access them via their websites.
IP Address Locks
Tracking the employees with the help of IP Address Locking makes everything easier. You can use Buddy Punch to assign an IP address to an employee, which restricts an employee to only being able to punch in or out from a device with the associated IP address ensuring they are punching in or out where they are supposed to be. TSheets did not use to have this option, but QuickBooks time lets you authorize locations by IP Address if you tinker with their settings.
Overtime
Daily and weekly alerts can be setup so whenever an employee works overtime a notification will be sent. This feature is available for both programs.
Integrations
Both tools integrate directly with many popular payroll processing options, such as ADP or Paychex. This direct connection with providers is a great boon at the end of pay periods, helping transfer data over with minimal chance of human error.
Affordability of Buddy Punch and TSheets
Both programs come with a base fee before charging per month. Buddy Punch’s base fee is a flat $19 per month, while QuickBooks Time has a base fee of $40 per month for their elite version, currently discounted to $20 (though just the first 3 months), and a base of $20 per month for their premium version, currently discounted to $10 as of this post’s writing (again, just for the first 3 months). The premium version’s price comes with a lack of many features, such as project tracking or Geofencing.
Both tools charge for adding on more users, but Buddy Punch is always cheaper at this level regardless of which pricing plan you use (charging at most $6.99 per user if you pay annually). Meanwhile, $8 per user is TSheets’s cheapest option, with its more comprehensive Elite plan costing $10 per user.
The pricing is average for both when compared with similar software, but Buddy Punch remains somewhat cheaper, especially when you consider the half-off discount TSheets is currently offering is only for the first 3 months. After that, it’s base fee is either slightly more than Buddy Punch or over double Buddy Punch’s, depending on which of the two plans you choose.
Let’s say you’re a business with 50 employees, and you want all the features each tool offers. Buddy Punch’s base fee of $19 + 50 x Premium Pricing $6.99 per user per month (billed annual) = $368.50. Compare that to what you’d have to pay with TSheets: Base fee of $40 + 50 x Elite pricing $10 per user per month = $540. With those numbers Buddy Punch is significantly cheaper, over 30% less expensive than TSheets/
Buddy Punch vs. Tsheets, Clockshark, Zapier, and Asana
Finding the right timesheet software is not to be taken lightly. You should make a comparison between all reputable products and see which one best fits your needs. You should base this decision on your budget, business needs, and the number of users. Products that offer more features you need, the higher it should move on your list.
Aside from Buddy Punch and Tsheets, other popular time tracking tools are Clockshark, Zapier, and Asana. These have slightly fewer features, but the pricing is similar to that of Buddy Punch and TSheets. Clockshark has a base fee of $40 and a fee of $8 per user, making it a higher price point than the other two. Asana has a free basic version that is rather limited and applies to 10 users. To enjoy even more features, you can use the Enterprise plan but will need to consult with the company for a quote.
Choose the best software to track time and manage employees in your workplace! If you ever have questions about Buddy Punch, you can contact our customer support 24/7.
Buddy Punch vs. Others
Ultimately, to find the right desktop time clock app for you and your business needs, you will want to make sure that you research the available options. Follow the link to see Buddy Punch’s comparison with other options of popular time tracking tools available in today’s market.