Time and Attendance Software

Time and attendance software is business tool to help track employee hours, measure how long employees spend on a job, and store data about the payments sent to employees for the work they’ve done and logged in the time and attendance system.   

Time and attendance systems work by providing modern, digital tools for tracking when employees clock in and out for their shifts. Time & Attendance software typically provide mobile apps so that remote employees, contractors, or gig workers can log hours accurately through the easy-to-use systems and tools. Time and attendance software offer different types of clocking options and are often integrated with payroll software or HR software suites to centralize all the time & attendance data along with payroll processing, benefits, time off requests, and more.  

Time and attendance means tracking and monitoring employee hours worked, shift start and end times, breaks, missed shifts in a software system where all these details can be analyzed or integrated with other systems like Payroll software or Accounting software. 

The common features of Time & Attendance software include:

• Digital Time Clocks
• Biometric Options for Clocking In and Out
• Alerts for Late Clock-Ins or Missed Shifts
• Mobile Apps
• Calendar Integration
• Reporting & Analytics
• Payroll And/Or HR software Integrations
• Overtime Tracking and Calculations
• Scheduling and Shift Exchanges
• Project Hour Tracking
• Leave Management
• Self-Service Tools

The purpose of an attendance monitoring system to to accurately track when employees are working and how many hours they’ve worked each shift. Attendance tracking systems have tools for tracking clock-in and clock-out times, breaks, time off requests, and project or job hours worked. Accurately tracking hours and employee payments streamlines processes and gives companies insight into all of their labor costs and how employees are performing against agreed upon hours or contracts. 

The benefits of time and attendance software include:

• Enhanced cost savings through elimination of manual processes and minimized mistakes in tracking employee hours.
• Increased productivity and efficiency in your teams.
• Streamlined system with automations and tools to help make time tracking seamless.
• Improved morale and employee satisfaction.
• Enhanced scalability options as you grow your business.
• Improved and simplified compliance with labor regulations.
• Reduced labor costs.
• Reduced absences and tardiness.

Those who use time and attendance software within an organization can include:

• HR
• Employees
• Managers
• Team Leaders
• Executives
• Hourly Employees
• Companies with Billable Hours
• Freelancer, Contractors, and Gig Workers

The challenges with Time & Attendance include:

• Manual errors
• Inaccurate tracking of hours worked
• Failed integrations with other business systems like Payroll and HR 
• Noncompliance with wage and hours laws

You should look for the below features and functions in a time and attendance system:

• Employee Time Tracking
• Tracking of Overtime Hours
• Scheduling (creating and managing employee schedules)
• Attendance Tracking (clocking in and out, logging time)
• Vacation and Time off Requests and Tracking
• Dashboards
• Employee Communication Portal
• Employee Self-Service
• Remote System Access
• GPS Tracking
• Document Management
• Reporting and Analytics
• Integrations 

The basic time & attendance software costs anywhere from $2 to $12 per employee each month. Time & Attendance software costs tend to vary quite a bit depending on the features and integrations included in various systems, which can all impact the pricing. 

You can determine how to buy the best time and attendance software for your business by using the following checklist.

• Focus on business needs and growth goals driving the decision to get a new or upgraded time and attendance system.
• Plan for integrations, implementation costs, IT involvement, and any downtime that may impact ongoing employee time tracking, hours, and scheduling.
• Make a plan to support user adoption through training.
• Understand the time tracking and clocking processes you’re looking to streamline and automate.
• Don’t skip the product demos offered by time and attendance software vendors to show features and functionality.
• Understand reporting and analytics needs for monitoring time tracking in your business.

The top time and attendance software trends are:

• Increased adoption of cloud-based time and attendance software.
• More integrations with Payroll and HR software suites.
• Increased use of biometrics and GPS time tracking to authenticate employees and validate hours worked.