Managing employee timesheets can be time consuming for small businesses, particularly when dealing with multiple shift patterns or casual workers. Time and attendance software is a great way to streamline the entire process, from clocking hours to calculating payroll, allowing HR professionals to ensure accuracy. However, there are many different solutions on the market, and comparing them can be challenging.
In this article, we’re sharing our honest opinions about five of the best time and attendance software solutions, helping you to better understand how they stack up, and which applications they’re best for. This will help you to make a decision about which solution meets the needs of your business, so you can better support your employees and improve the efficiency of your HR processes.
What is time and attendance software?
Time and attendance software is a tool that helps managers and HR professionals to keep track of employee hours, absences and holidays in a centralised system. Many options also offer employee self-serve options, making it quicker and easier for them to manage their timesheets and holiday requests. Key functionality of time and attendance software includes managing clocking in and out, timesheet submission, absence tracking, and employee scheduling. More sophisticated tools also offer detailed reporting and integration with existing HR systems.
Time and attendance software is a great time-saving tool, as it minimises the need to chase employees for the hours that they’ve worked, streamlining the payroll process for companies employing shift and casual workers. It also ensures that any holiday that has been booked is clearly visible to HR, management and employees, making scheduling easier.
1. Factorial - best overall system
Factorial is a cloud-based HR solution designed for small and medium businesses. It offers an intuitive interface and convenient automation tools to digitise and streamline a variety of manual HR processes, including time and attendance functions. Factorial’s employee time tracking mobile app makes it easy to monitor attendance on the go, while the ability to create custom groups with different permissions and time tracking policies supports a wide range of working styles.
We’ve ranked Factorial as the best time and attendance software overall because of its easy-to-use interface and comprehensive integration capabilities. This allows it to be used alongside other essential HR tools, helping to improve data accuracy and efficiency throughout all HR functions.
2. BambooHR - best for automation
BambooHR is a subscription-based HR platform for small and medium businesses, with a variety of add-ons available directly from BambooHR or through marketplace partners to customise the system The add-on for payroll, time tracking and benefits administration offers powerful automation to save time on manual processes, as well as automated reminders to eliminate the need for manual chasing.
We’ve ranked BambooHR as the best time and attendance software for automation because it allows you to design a variety of workflows and approval systems to meet the needs of your business. This helps to remove points of friction from time and attendance processes, ensuring more accurate time tracking without any additional administrative burden.
3. Blip (BrightHR) - best for clocking in & out
Blip is a time tracking app from BrightHR that offers two effortless ways for employees to clock in and out using their mobile phone. Employers can create virtual boundaries that use GPS tracking to automatically clock employees in or out when they enter or leave an area, or they can print and display a unique QR code that workers scan with their smartphone. This is combined with time tracking software, offering a highly accurate, real-time solution to logging hours.
We’ve ranked Blip as the best time and attendance software for clocking in and out due to its intelligent QR code and geolocation features. This makes the app ideal for businesses whose employees often work offsite, as it removes the need for additional equipment for clocking in and out.
4. Rippling - best for ease of use
Rippling is a cloud-based HR solution with built-in time and attendance functions. It offers simple clocking in and out using a mobile app, and automated syncing of approved hours with payroll for fast and efficient processing. Rippling is supported by 500+ integrations with commonly used systems and software to streamline HR processes, while its quick four-week implementation process will have businesses up and running in no time.
We’ve ranked Rippling as the best time and attendance software for ease of use because its intuitive interface can be picked up quickly by users of all skill levels. It also offers a mobile app, offering convenient self-serve options for employees.
5. Homebase - best for small businesses
Homebase is a messaging and HR platform built for small businesses, offering a wide variety of essential functions to support hiring, payroll, scheduling and more. One of the bestselling points of Homebase is that it offers lots of free tools to minimise costs while maximising productivity, but still offers integrations with other popular systems to streamline tasks within the wider HR process.
We’ve ranked Homebase as the best time and attendance software for small businesses because it’s easy to set up and navigate. The free plan is suitable for businesses with a single location, operating employees on an hourly basis, offering plenty of functionality without expensive overheads.
Choosing the right time and attendance software
When choosing the best time and attendance software for your needs, it’s important to consider the unique requirements of your business. Here are some questions to ask to make sure the system offers the support you need:
- How many employees can it support?
- Can it work with multiple sites and locations?
- Is it scalable?
- What clocking methods are available?
- Can it integrate with existing systems?
- Does it fit within the budget?
- What reporting and compliance functionality does it offer?
It’s also helpful to make a list of the essential features you need not just now, but also in the future, allowing the system to grow with your business. Some of the key features of time and attendance software include:
- Clocking in and out
- Timesheet management
- Employee scheduling
- Absence management
- Payroll integration
- Compliance support
- Mobile app
- Reporting
If you’re not sure which system to choose, it’s well worth taking advantage of any free trials or guided demonstrations, as these can give you a better idea of how the software works in practice. Check out PeopleHR’s tree trial to see how it can support your business with powerful time and attendance functionality.
