From tracking accurate billable time to making timely payments and maintaining up-to-date contracts and balance sheets, you’ve got your hands full. It becomes even more challenging when working in a remote environment and using spreadsheets and manual entry systems.
These manual processes are slow and repetitive, which can lead to errors and inefficiencies and can get in the way of other crucial parts of your role, like engaging employees and managing continuous professional development (CPD).
You ideally want to track employee workload and leave, identify opportunities for your team’s training and development, and foster a positive, growth-oriented work environment.
To help you, we’ve compiled a list of the best timesheet software alongside the key questions you should ask when evaluating each solution.
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| Never miss a billable hour again! Effortlessly track employee workload, empower your team with self-service, and streamline HR management processes |
With so many options, finding the HR software that most closely aligns with your unique needs is hard work. Here are the most important factors to consider and what we’ve based our recommendations on:
Here are our six recommendations for the best time-tracking software. You’ll find an overview of each, explaining how it fits our evaluation criteria with key features and pricing.
HRLocker’s timesheet dashboard lets your employees save and track their work hours.
HRLocker is ideal for core accounting HR responsibilities and offers functionality for accurate leave management, an integrated human resources information system (HRIS) for a central cloud-based database, and the flexibility to create and manage training for CPD.
HRLocker is a three-time winner of the ‘All-Star HR Software Company of the Year’ and is an honourable mention in the All Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF). This national body accredits outstanding companies.
While HRLocker is a versatile software solution suitable for businesses of all sizes, it’s important to note that the pricing can vary based on the features and functionality you require.
HRLocker’s Payroll Export lets you easily calculate overtime and hourly paid employees. Plus, this feature works with all payroll software.
And if you learn better with video, here’s an overview of how you can generate Payroll Exports with HRLocker:
You can choose the HR Essentials plan at €4 or £3.50, or $5, or the HR Professional plans at €6 or £5.50, or $7 per employee per month – ideal for teams with up to 15 employees. And if you’re a team of 250+ employees, you’ll receive a custom quote.
| Never miss a billable hour again! Effortlessly track employee workload, empower your team with self-service, and streamline HR management processes. |
Time Analytics generates employee time-tracking reports. Source
Founded in 2019, Time Analytics is a paid tool that helps simplify processes for billable and non-billable hours calculations, time-tracking, and employee productivity. You can easily track employee hours and analyse projects and client performance.
Time Analytics offers a simple user interface with a dashboard that enables you to gain insights into KPIs and identify gaps between planned and actual performance.
Time Analytics doesn’t have a built-in payroll management system, lacks dedicated tools for tracking and managing project-related expenses, and doesn’t integrate with third-party applications.
Time Analytics doesn’t offer a free plan, but both paid plans come with a 14-day free trial. The Starter plan starts at $4.99 per user per month with Unlimited users, clients, and projects. If you want advanced functionalities like revenue and profit reporting, the Optimum plan starts at $6.99 per user per month.
Clockify lets you create and track budget estimates for your projects. Source
Launched in 2017, Clockify is a free time-tracking and monitoring app specifically designed for small CPA firms or enterprises with a huge budget. It’s ideal for hybrid workforces and managers who want to easily monitor employee productivity and approve time off.
Like HRLocker, Clockify also enables GPS tracking, allowing you to monitor location during clocked hours.
Some users have expressed concerns about the user interface, describing it as clunky or unintuitive, making it challenging to navigate or customise to their needs.
The Basic plan starts at $3.99/month per user for administration features, while the Standard plan for timesheet and billing features starts at $5.49/month per user. If you want advanced features for scheduling and forecasting, you can opt for the Pro plan at $7.99 or the Enterprise plan at $ 11.99/month per user for security features.
Toggl lets you generate summary timesheet reports. Source
Toggl is a simple time tracker and timesheet software ideal for small businesses, freelancers, and micro businesses on a tight budget. The platform has a desktop app with a browser plug-in and mobile apps.
At the most basic level, Toggl is just a time-tracking software and lacks advanced features like expense tracking and employee monitoring functionalities.
Toggl has a free basic plan that supports up to 5 users. Its paid plans range from $10 to $20 with project forecast and analysis and time-tracking audits. Enterprises can request a custom quote for a more comprehensive solution.
Hubstaff is available as a desktop app and supports mobile apps for iOS and Android. Source
Like HRLocker, Hubstaff is a time-tracking and employee monitoring solution with GPS tracking ideal for large enterprises. What makes this tool different is its screen-capturing feature. You can set an automatic timer to capture screenshots of your employee’s actions.
The system then checks the percentage of time an employee has been working, which acts as a productivity score. You can also see team members on a map and see their previously taken routes. Hubstaff is available as a desktop app, browser and mobile device.
Hubstaff only allows you to add previously worked hours, so it can’t be used as a shift planner.
Hubstaff offers three pricing plans based on the features you need. Hubstaff's Starter Plan offers basic time-tracking and reporting features for $7/month per user, while the Grow Plan offers additional time management features ranging between for $9/month per user. If you also need GPS location monitoring, the Team Plan costs $12/ month per user, while the more comprehensive Enterprise Plan comes in at $25 per user per month.
Paymo gives you a complete overview of your projects. Source
While Paymo is primarily a project management tool, it offers time-tracking, invoicing, and billing functionality. So, it’s not as robust as an all-in-one HR solution, but it’s ideal for small businesses that want low-cost software. That said, there’s an Enterprise plan for larger teams and more complex work.
While Paymo has some scheduling tools, they don’t automatically rebalance the workload of your team members if someone is unexpectedly unavailable to work.
Paymo’s free plan lets you add up to 5 clients. But if you’re a freelancer or a small team, you can opt for the Starter or Small Business plans, which start at $5.90 and $10.90/month per user for the first 3 months, rising to $9.90 and $15.90/month per user. If you’re a large team that needs dedicated online remote assistance, you can opt for the Enterprise plan, which starts at $16.90/month per user for the first 3 months; after this, you'll pay $23.90/month per user.
To help you find the right timesheet solution for your business, be sure to ask these key questions:
The right time-tracking software will help you ensure employee productivity, manage time efficiently and get accurate insights into your team’s performance.
All the solutions we’ve listed offer different functionalities and cater to businesses of different sizes and requirements. But if you want a high ROI solution that scales with your operations, HRLocker has a track record of helping growing businesses meet their HR needs with a user-friendly platform, award-winning customer care, and a range of practical solutions that accountants love.
It offers powerful features like GPS tracking and custom reporting and integrates with popular apps and tools. Plus, HRLocker offers compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations, so you can rest assured that your data is safe.
| Never miss a billable hour again! Effortlessly track employee workload, empower your team with self-service, and streamline HR management processes. |
The primary function of timesheet software for accountants is to track employee hours, generate reports, and bill customers accurately. It also helps with invoicing, expense tracking and provides insights into team performance.
An all-in-one HR software solution, like HRLocker, provides simple, automated solutions for your timesheet processes. As well as gaining insights into team performance, tools that automate manual tasks like calculating and allocating time off in lieu (TOIL) let you focus on more exciting HR responsibilities, like employee engagement and improving productivity.