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The 6 Best Employee Time Clock Apps for Your Business

profile picture of Shana Cesaire, freelance writer for Jobber Academy
Shana Cesaire
Jul 16, 2024 6 min read
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You should aim for accuracy in all aspects of your business – especially employee time. The time your employees spend on a job affects your revenue, payroll, and bottom line. That’s why it’s important to have the best employee time clock app in your pocket.

This article explores the top time tracking apps available on the market today to help you find the perfect tool. Plus, learn the benefits of a time tracking app for your business and what features to look out for.

How we chose the best employee time clock apps

We wanted to make sure to choose the best employee time clock apps that bring value to a variety of businesses in several industries. This means ensuring that these apps have quality features that can adapt to your business unique needs.

We checked out several app websites to gather initial information on what the top time and job tracking apps on the market have to offer. We also watched app tutorials to witness the tools in action and read customer reviews for insights from real users.

The result is this curated list with the best of the best – apps that are perfect for strengthening your timekeeping process and boosting your employee productivity.

Jobber: best app for field service teams

Tracked time logs and a time entry pop-up window in Jobber

Jobber is the best employee time clock app for field service businesses.

Jobber’s time tracking feature provides an accurate way of tracking your team’s time while they are out in the field. Team members can record their hours worked in the field both manually and automatically. Once the timer stops, Jobber updates the time on the job and that employee’s timesheet.

What makes Jobber the perfect field service mobile app is its automatic location timer. Your team’s timers automatically start and stop when entering and leaving a client’s property. No more worrying about clocking in and out. All your team needs to do is focus on getting the job done.

I first used Jobber as a payroll tool to track all of my guys’ hours using the app on their phones.

Our shop can have anywhere from 5-6 guys working on 10-15 different jobs. Keeping track of labor on each job would be a nightmare if I wasn’t using Jobber.

Greg Pilotti Greg Pilotti Furniture Makers

Here are other ways that Jobber’s time tracking feature help your business:

  • Get detailed job sheet reports pre-built in Jobber to get a clear picture of labor costs
  • Automatically calculate profitability for each job based on your costs, including labor
  • Prevent timesheet errors by starting and stopping timers from the office in case your field team forget
  • Sync all approved ours to QuickBooks Online for streamlined payroll

Check out Jobber’s website for pricing plans.

Clockify: best app for remote workers

image of Clockify timer app

Next on our list of the best employee time clock apps is Clockify.

Clockify is a great choice for businesses with remote workers looking to keep track of their employee’s time. 

With Clockify, your employees can favorite their entries to quickly track time on their most common activities or categorize timers by project, task, tag, or status.

Key Clockify features include:

  • A one-clicker timer to start or resume activity
  • Break mode to track time between tasks
  • Pomodoro technique mode to work in short time intervals followed by breaks to improve productivity.

Clockify is one of the best free employee time clock app options, but to unleash the full benefits of the software, it’s worth upgrading to one of the affordable paid versions of the app. Check out their website for pricing.

QuickBooks Time: best app for QuickBooks users

image of Quickbooks Time Kiosk App

From the world’s favorite small business accounting software comes a companion time tracking app – QuickBooks Time.

Use QuickBooks Time to track and manage employee time for accurate invoices and simplified payroll. The app’s top feature is geofencing tracking, which reminds employees to clock in or out when entering or leaving the job site. Plus, you’ll get alerted when employee hours start going into overtime to keep you from going over budget.

Other QuickBooks Time features include:

  • QuickBooks Time Kiosk – a digital punch clock for on-site employees
  • GPS time tracking to manage your mobile team
  • Live-time monitoring of employees currently on the top

That said, QuickBooks users don’t necessarily need to use QuickBooks Time for an all-in-one solution. You can sync QuickBooks Online with other powerful time tracking tools for additional features and a seamless experience.

Visit QuickBooks website for pricing plans.

Time Doctor: best app for time analytics

image of Time Doctor app

Our next contender for best employee time clock app is Time Doctor.

Time Doctor is the best app for detail-oriented managers who want a full breakdown of what their employees are working on and for how long.

Better yet, use the app’s analytics capabilities to pull your employees time data and gain insights on productivity.

Other key Time Doctor features include:

  • Automated time tracking to increase timesheet accuracy 
  • Offline tracking for employees to account for all time worked
  • Real-time visibility into online and offline work-related activity 

Check out Time Doctor’s website for pricing.

TimeCamp: best app to track productivity 

image of TimeCamp app

TimeCamp helps you track your team’s overall productivity by showing how much time they spend on a specific task, job, or even different apps and websites. 

TimeCamp automatically scans the domain names of apps used and groups them to predefined categories. This helps you track productivity and provides insights on what apps your teams use the most.

  • Eliminate punch cards with attendance reporting
  • Easily sync tracked time to invoices
  • Pull your time data into easy-to-read reports

If you’re looking for the best free employee time clock app, TimeCamp has a free option with basic time tracking features. Check out their website for their other pricing plans.

Toggl Track: best free employee time clock app

image of Toggl Track app

Last on our list of time tracking apps is Toggl Track.

Toggl Track is the best free employee time clock app as it comes with features that you could typically only access through paid plan, such as:

  • Idle time detection
  • Detailed time reports
  • Team access level management 

If you’re looking for additional features, Toggl Track has several paid plans. Check out their website for pricing.

Why your business needs a time tracking app

Using a time tracking app helps streamline operations, improve productivity, and ensure accurate record-keeping. 

Here are some reasons to add the best time clock app to your toolkit:

  • Motivation: Encourage employees to be more mindful of their work habits and time management.
  • Eliminate manual errors: Automated time tracking reduces the risk of human error from manual time entry.
  • Improve project management: Monitor time spent on different projects to ensure they stay on schedule and within budget.
  • Optimize resource allocation: Allocate resources more effectively based on time data.
  • Precise billing: Ensure accurate billing for clients based on actual hours worked.

What to look for in the best employee time clock app

Your business is unique, and so are time tracking apps. Finding the app that meets your business’s needs can be tricky, but the process is easier if you know what to look for.

For example, if you’re dealing with a field team always on the go, you might want to look for the best employee time clock app for iPad users or a mobile app. 

On the other hand, if you have remote office employees, you might prioritize apps that track time on websites or other apps.

Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing the best employee time clock app:

  • Overtime frequency: Does nature or your business often require employee overtime? Some apps provide overtime alerts to keep you on budget.
  • GPS tracking: This is a must for field service businesses to verify locations.
  • Project tracking: If your business is project based, it’s worth using an app that tracks time spent on specific tasks or projects.
  • User-friendly interface: The app you choose should be intuitive and easy to navigate for both employees and managers.
  • Integrations: Your employee time tracker will be one of several apps you use to simplify your workflows, so it’s important to choose an app that syncs well with others.

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