Time tracking software

What is time tracking software?

Time tracking software is a digital tool that organisations or freelancers use to keep track of time per project, client or activity. This can easily be done through a time tracking app in which you record the number of hours worked on your mobile. This software makes the process simpler and reduces the risk of errors compared with keeping this information by hand.

Time tracking for staff

With time tracking software, every staff member can easily record hours, both on a computer and with a mobile app. This is ideal for teams that work remotely or flexibly. Managers have immediate insight into their staff's work. This in turn improves management within the organisation.

What is a good time tracking app?

Choosing a good time tracking app depends on the specific needs of your organisation. First determine which functions are essential, such as creating invoices or clocking employees in. Below you will find the most important questions to ask when choosing a good time tracking app:

Which types of hours do you want to keep track of as a company?

This could include keeping track of hours for:

• Personnel
• Projects
• Activities/tasks
• Clients
• Leave and sickness absence
• Absence
• Cost centre
• Machine

Please note: Not every time tracking system offers the option to record all of the types of hours above.

Do you want to use a time clock?

Many companies use a time clock. You can choose between a physical time clock and an online time clock.

A physical time clock is a small box that is mounted at one or more locations. Staff can then clock in with a mobile phone, key fob or bank card.

An online time clock can also be used. This way staff can clock in themselves, for example with a mobile app. With IP address restrictions, employees can only clock in at a certain location. It is also important to check whether the time tracking software can set boundary times.

Example:
According to the roster, an employee has to start at 8:00, but clocks in at 7:55. The time tracking software makes sure that time tracking starts at 8:00 and not at 7:55.

Do you also want to schedule with time tracking software?

Besides recording hours, a lot of time tracking software also offers a roster or scheduling module. If you already use a scheduling system, it is advisable to integrate these systems with each other.

Do you want to review and then approve recorded hours?

In most time tracking software it is possible to easily review and approve hours. This is often called an "approval workflow". You can set it up so that hours are reviewed and approved by certain employees. You can set this per job role or link it to a specific person.

Example:
In a hospitality business, the manager reviews all hours worked by the staff.

Do you need an integration with a payroll system?

Hours are often the input for producing a payslip. Our advice is to integrate time tracking software with a payroll system. This saves a lot of manual re-keying. The risk of errors is also much smaller. This is of course very important when producing a payslip.

Which data you can often integrate:

• Employees
• Contracts and hourly wages
• Wage and hours components (allowance hours)

Please note: Does your company use an accountancy firm or a payroll provider for its payroll administration? Then it is advisable to ask which payroll software they use. You can then take this into account when choosing time tracking software.

Integrating time tracking software with another software system can be done via an API. API stands for "Application Programming Interface" and enables two different applications to communicate with each other and give each other access to information.

Do you want employees to handle HR matters themselves?

A number of time tracking systems allow employees to handle certain HR matters themselves. This could include:

• Requesting payslips
• Requesting leave
• Viewing holiday hours
• Viewing plus and minus hours
• Contracts
• Performance review forms
• Reporting sick or recording a sick report
• Submitting expense claims
• Changing personal information

Nowadays this data is also often offered through a mobile app. Very handy for your employees. This way they always have insight into the most important personnel data.

If time tracking software offers this, it is often called "ESS" (Employee Self Service). This means that employees take over some operational tasks themselves. This takes a lot of administrative work off the HR department's hands.

With our selection guide you can easily find software that suits your business by answering a few questions.