Prevent offsite punches with geofence time tracking

Use Buddy Punch to quickly set up geofences for all of your job sites and prevent employees from clocking in or out when they’re not on location.

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How geofence time tracking works in Buddy Punch

Create geofences for all of your work sites

Enter an address or latitude and longitude coordinates. Then, specify the diameter of the geofence between 50 and 1,500 meters. Create as many geofences as you need at no additional cost.

Attach job codes to geofences to easily track time by project

If you need to track time by project, you can attach job codes to geofences. This will automatically assign the hours an employee worked in a specific geofence to the selected project.

Assign geofences to employees to specify who should be where

If your employees work at all of your job sites, make all of your geofences available to all of your employees. Otherwise, you can assign geofences only to the employees who should log hours at specific locations.

Decide if geofencing should be required or optional

Make geofencing required for everyone, required only for specific employees that you suspect are committing time theft, or optional. Optional is great for rural areas with limited cell phone service.

Block off-site punches to prevent time theft

With geofencing required, employees can only clock in/out if they’re in the geofence. If they’re not, they’ll get an error message showing their current location and the geofence’s location.

Review offsite punching attempts to track effectiveness

View reports showing which employees tried to clock in or out when they were outside of the geofence to identify employees who may have been trying to steal time and determine how effective your geofences are in preventing time theft.

See what our customers have to say!

Time tracking made easy

“Buddy Punch makes employee time tracking very easy. Employees just need to be within a geofence (if one is set up) to punch in/punch out. They don’t have to jump through endless steps for something that should be straightforward.”

Bryan P.

Easy to set up and use

“I used more expensive systems at previous employers, but Buddy Punch has been more than sufficient for our business. It is easy to run reports, track PTO and locations, and use the geofence.”

Connie M.

So easy to use

“Employees can punch in wherever they are assigned. We can use a geofence if an employee is not punching in at the yard. We can see where they are when they punch in. It has prevented stealing time.”

Glenda A.

Why choose Buddy Punch for geofence time tracking?

Minimal data usage

Less than 10 KB of data is used when employees clock in/out with geofencing.

User-friendly interface

Our intuitive design makes it easy for everyone to use the geofencing feature.

Reliable and accurate

Depend on precise location tracking to manage your workforce more effectively.

Compare Buddy Punch to other popular geofence time tracking apps

Logo	Platform	Geofence Capabilities	Capterra Rating	Pricing	Plan Limitations
	Buddy Punch	– Prevent employees from clocking in/out – Remind employees to clock in/out – Identify offsite punching attempts	4.8/5	$5.99/user/month	None
	QuickBooks Time	– Remind employees to clock in/out – Automatically clock employees in/out	4.7/5	$10/user/month	None
	Hubstaff	– Remind employees to clock in/out – Automatically clock employees in/out	4.6/5	$14/seat/month	None
	Timeero	– Prevent employees from clocking in/out – Remind employees to clock in/out – Automatically clock employees in/out	4.4/5	$8/user/month	None
	Connecteam	– Identify offsite punches	4.7/5	$49/month	Limited to 10 geofences

Buddy Punch goes beyond geofencing

Time tracking

Track employee hours, automatically calculate regular and overtime pay, and send time data to your payroll provider.

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Scheduling

Create work schedules in minutes with our drag-and-drop builder, then automatically send schedules to employees.

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PTO tracking

Set PTO accrual rules, review PTO requests, and automatically add paid time off hours to timesheets.

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Payroll integrations

Instantly transfer your time data to payroll providers like QuickBooks, ADP, Gusto, Paychex, SurePayroll, and many more.

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Built-in payroll

Save time, reduce errors, and run payroll in a few simple steps. We’ll handle the calculations, paychecks, and tax filings.

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Mobile apps

Buddy Punch can be used on any device with an internet connection. Apps are also available for iOS, Android, and ChromeOS.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Geofence time tracking uses GPS technology to create a virtual perimeter around a job site, kind of like an invisible fence. Geofences interact with cell phones and other devices with built-in GPS tracking to determine when someone is within or outside of the perimeter.

Geofence time tracking apps let you track when employees enter a geofence, how long they’re in it, and when they exit it. This can help you prevent off-site punching, automate time tracking, remind employees to clock in and out, and identify when employees leave a job site while clocked in.

Geofence time tracking is useful for any business where employees work across multiple locations. It lets business owners keep a pulse on what’s happening at worksites where they can’t be physically present.

This is particularly helpful in industries like construction, field services, transportation, and home healthcare. Employers can set up geofences for all of the locations where their employees work to take advantage of the many benefits of the technology.

Geofence time tracking offers three major benefits:

Prevent time theft: Geofences can prevent employees from clocking in/out when they’re not on site, alert you when an employee clocks in/out while off-site, or notify you if an employee leaves a job site while they’re clocked in.
Reduce payroll errors: Geofences can remind employees to clock in/out when entering or exiting a geofence, helping reduce missed punches.
Create more accurate invoices: Many geofence time tracking apps allow you to assign job/project codes to geofences, which automatically assign the time employees spend in those geofences to the appropriate project/job.

All of this leads to improved accuracy in time tracking, payroll, invoicing, and record-keeping.

Essential features to look in a geofence time tracking app include:

The ability for employees to clock in and out from the field: This is generally done via a mobile app.
GPS location tracking: The time tracking app you choose needs to have a GPS tracking feature it can use to identify employees’ locations.
Automatic timesheets: Look for apps that automatically compile all clock in and out data into timesheets for you and calculate the total hours worked by employee and project. This will save you an incredible amount of time when it comes to running payroll.
Payroll reports/integrations: Another way to save a lot of time is to choose an app that either provides downloadable reports you can use to get your time data to your payroll provider or, better yet, integrates with your payroll provider directly.
Attach job/project codes to geofences: This helps you keep better track of time spent on jobs/projects by automatically assigning all time spent in a geofence to the correct project. This eliminates the need for employees to select the correct project manually.
API: If you have a lot of job sites to create geofences for, finding a tool that has an API (or other means of letting you create geofences in bulk) will save you a lot of time.
Real-time location monitoring: For employees who do a lot of traveling for work, real-time location monitoring can help you keep track of where they are at all times and access reports showing exactly where they traveled over the course of a day.
Override mode: If employees have poor internet or phone service, it may not be possible for the app to determine their locations. If your employees often work in rural areas, make sure there’s a way to clock in/out when GPS data is unavailable.

Finally, you’ll want to make sure that the app you choose is user-friendly for even your least tech-savvy employees. If the app you choose is confusing or hard to use, you’ll struggle to get your employees to use it properly to track their time.

Buddy Punch’s geofencing feature lets you create geofences around all of the locations where employees work. You have complete control over the size of the boundary. Limit it for small locations by making the radius 50 meters in diameter, or expand it for large sites to as much as 1,500 meters.

With geofences set up, employees can only clock in and out within those boundaries. Buddy Punch uses GPS tracking on your employees’ mobile phones to identify where they’re located, and if they’re outside of the geofence, they’re prevented from punching in or out.

With Buddy Punch, you don’t have to worry about your employees complaining about the app draining their data or the battery life of their phones. For geofencing, less than 10 KB of data is used on average for clocking in and out. And since the app only needs to be active at clock in/out, there isn’t any battery drain associated with it.

Yes, U.S. business owners have the right to monitor their employees’ locations as long as they comply with federal and state-specific regulations. Generally speaking, businesses can track employees’ locations during their working hours and when using company-owned (not personal) vehicles. Additionally, some states require employers to notify employees that their locations are being tracked. Check with an employment attorney to learn more about the specific regulations in the states your business operates in.

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