Imagine it’s time for your quarterly performance review, and your boss asks how you’ve been spending your time at work. You’re not sure what to tell them. You know you’ve been productive, but if they were to open your files and look at their contents, they’d see a jumble of unrelated documents. If you have ever found yourself in a similar situation, conducting a time audit could help you avoid this awkward scenario. In this article, we’ll explore the best employee time tracking app for performing a time audit, how to do a time audit, and how tracking employee time can help you improve productivity and avoid the dreaded performance review.
Tackle’s automatic time tracking software can help you achieve your goals to increase productivity, boost morale, or avoid another awkward performance review.
23 Best Employee Time Tracking Apps for Tracking Employee Hours
1. Tackle
Tackle revolutionizes time tracking through seamless calendar integration, eliminating the need for manual logging. Our platform automatically captures and categorizes your time, providing actionable insights through intuitive dashboards and reports.
We’ve built everything you need into one seamless package:
- An intelligent tagging system that works your way
- AI-powered automation to handle the tedious stuff
- Flexible reporting tools to track what matters
- Intelligent time capture right in your browser
Trusted by Roblox, Deel, and Lightspeed Ventures teams, Tackle helps executives, team leaders, and customer-facing professionals understand and optimize their time allocation. Simply connect your Google or Outlook calendar, set up custom tags and automations, and gain valuable insights into how your team spends their time.
Whether you’re tracking strategic initiatives, measuring team efficiency, or ensuring resource optimization, Tackle transforms time monitoring from a chore into a powerful decision-making tool.
Start using our automatic time-tracking software for free with one click today!
2. Hubstaff
Hubstaff is an agency time-tracking app tailored for remote teams that features time tracking and work verification. It allows you to manage:
- Tasks
- Projects
- Budgets
- Set work hour limits
The dashboard provides insights into activity and productivity, while screenshots can be captured during time tracking based on your settings.
3. Clockify
Clockify is an agency time-tracking software designed to increase productivity for individuals and teams. It features manual and timer-based hour logging, project and task organization, and detailed timesheets.
The platform also offers reporting tools to analyze productivity and tracks billable hours for invoicing. Accessible via mobile and desktop, Clockify integrates with various third-party apps for flexible time management.
4. Toggl Track
Toggl Track is a time-tracking app designed to help users monitor how much time they spend. It offers features for starting and stopping timers using a web timer or manual entry and organizes time by projects and tasks. Detailed reports provide insights into time usage and team activities. Toggl Track integrates with various apps, supports mobile and desktop platforms, and includes reminders to ensure timely logging.
Toggl Track offers detailed reporting and insights into time usage and integrations with tools like Asana and Slack. Available on mobile and desktop, it supports team collaboration, making it an essential tool for optimizing productivity and time management.
5. Timely
Timely is a powerful, automated time-tracking software for agencies designed to optimize productivity through discreet background operations. It captures time spent on various apps and websites, generating a complete daily log of activities. An intuitive drag-and-drop interface simplifies project management and provides valuable insights into productivity.
Timely also supports invoicing and integrates with accounting software like QuickBooks. However, its advanced task management is an add-on, its high price may be prohibitive for smaller businesses, and it lacks payroll integration, making it less suitable for those seeking an all-in-one solution.
6. TimeCamp
TimeCamp is a cloud-based agency time tracking and project management software designed to enhance productivity through automated processes, accurate timesheet generation, and easy billing and invoicing. It aims to eliminate manual input and traditional documentation, ensuring accurate recording of billable hours and fair employee compensation.
It features an automated time tracker with a one-click timer and keyword-based tracking. It is designed to capture billable hours accurately while operating discreetly in the background to reduce user effort. The productivity monitoring tool lets employers see how employees spend their work hours, including details on every app, webpage, and document used.
7. Jibble
Jibble is a cloud-based time-tracking solution designed to help businesses maximize employee productivity by ensuring accurate recording of work hours. It allows employees to easily log billable hours, using technologies like facial recognition and geolocation to improve clock-ins and clock-outs. This automation reduces reliance on traditional time clocks and manual timesheets, minimizing payroll errors and saving time.
Jibble provides an easy-to-use time-tracking solution where employees can log hours via a clock-in and clock-out interface. It uses geolocation to verify clock-ins at approved locations, with GPS data displayed on timesheets. Jibble allows teams to create fixed, flexible, or weekly schedules, sending shift notifications to minimize conflicts. This scheduling integrates seamlessly with the time tracking feature, enabling clock-ins directly from assigned shifts.
8. DeskTime
Running simply behind your machine, DeskTime tracks your every single hour automatically. It helps thousands of businesses to learn how every member of your organization utilizes their time. Whether you’re a:
- Company owner
- Manager
- Employee
- Freelancer
You can get a complete overview of your workday and retain professionalism with your clients.
9. Harvest
Harvest is commonly known as one of the simplest time-tracking apps. It is a project time tracking tool. It gives you valuable insights into your project and team.
You can easily dig deeper to observe the team performance matrix and progress. Besides, automatic invoicing gives you hassle-free billing.
- Creative services
- Web developers
- Consultancies
- Marketers
10. Hours
Hours was born out of a popular iOS time-tracking app. They focus on tracking time as it happens with timers to help your team get the most accurate view of where they are spending their time. Two things that make it stand out are its excellent iOS app and beautiful UI.
11. Productive
Productive is a powerful time-tracking tool that helps individuals and teams stay organized and focused. It also offers detailed task management, time tracking, team collaboration tools, and automatic invoicing to free up your time for other things.
12. Wrike
Wrike is a popular project management software that helps agencies and teams manage deadlines and streamline workflows. It includes detailed time tracking, real-time communication, task-tracking functions, and automatic project reporting.
13. RescueTime
RescueTime is a straightforward time-tracking tool for freelancers and other professionals. It tracks time spent on tasks, generates detailed reports, and can block distracting websites to improve productivity and focus.
14. Timeneye
Timeneye is a prominent architecture time-tracking software catering to small and medium-sized teams, from solo entrepreneurs to groups of up to 100 members. With a focus on simplicity and effectiveness, Timeneye offers a range of features tailored to ensure accurate time tracking, streamlined task management, and insightful reporting.
15. Apploye
Apploye offers developers and engineers a comprehensive time tracking, scheduling, and employee monitoring solution. It helps streamline workflow and scheduling management and enhance team productivity.
16. 7pace
7pace time tracker is a cloud-based time tracking software mainly developed to:
- Help software developers and organizations manage projects
- User approval processes
- Activity tracking
- Attendance management
17. ATracker
This free time tracking app does more than just track business and marketing objectives – it lets you track your entire life with a simple iPhone app. At the end of each day, ATracker builds a report that shows how you spent your day.
ATracker is excellent for solopreneurs and freelance marketers who manage themselves or a small team and who need a time-tracking app to hold themselves accountable for daily tasks.
18. Tick
A time-tracking app that keeps you and your team within budget. Tick doesn’t think so. Tick flips time tracking on its head, whereby you allot hours to tasks before working on a project. By setting aside specific chunks of time for every task, no matter how granular, you can see where time is wasted (and saved). That marketing campaign took twice as long to plan, or that weekly meeting was an hour longer than necessary.
With Tick, you can see precisely where the time discrepancies lie between planning and execution. This is a helpful feature for teams who outsource marketing tasks to various specialists like:
- SEO tasks
- PPC tasks
- Content marketing
- Social media
- Etc
19. actiTIME
actiTIME is a comprehensive solution tailored to improve productivity and efficiency within architectural and engineering organizations. ActiTIME aims to simplify time-related workflows, project management, and team performance analysis with its features.
20. Insightful
Insightful is a robust time and activity tracking solution designed to enhance productivity and streamline time management for individuals and teams. With automated tracking features and real-time monitoring capabilities, Insightful empowers users to gain valuable insights into their work habits and optimize their workflow.
21. TrackingTime
TrackingTime emerges as a versatile solution tailored to the time-tracking and project management needs of architects and engineers. It empowers individuals and teams to maximize productivity and efficiency across various projects and platforms.
22. Monograph
Monograph is a project management software meticulously crafted by design professionals with architects in mind. Understanding the unique needs of architectural firms, Monograph offers a user-friendly interface and powerful features tailored to simplify project management tasks.
23. Deltek Ajera
Deltek Ajera is a comprehensive project management and accounting software designed for architecture and engineering firms. Developed in 2004, it combines powerful features to streamline project workflows and financial management tasks.
Related Reading
- How To Track Hours Worked
- Calendar Audit
- Time Audit For Employees
- Time Audit Examples
- Keeping Track Of Time At Work
- How to Track Time Spent on Tasks
What to Consider When Choosing a Time Tracking App for Employees
1. User-Friendly Interface is Key for Time Tracking Software
Every time you introduce new software, there’s a learning curve. You might need to migrate data, set up users and accounts, add clients, etc. That all takes time. But after the initial set up, you want software to make your life easier. An app with many bells and whistles may be great for management, but tracking time should be as intuitive and easy as possible.
The simpler it is for your team to track time, the better. Managers might want detailed reporting features or aspects. But when you’re assessing time-tracking tools, ask yourself how easy it is for your team to start and stop the timer.
Choosing the Right Time-Tracking App: Key Features to Consider
Another way to evaluate ease of use is to try their customer support resources.
- Does the app offer articles and videos that you can watch or share with your team?
- How responsive is their support team if someone has a question or issue?
- Check reviews of the app and see if other customers mentioned the quality of customer support.
Some tools have a live chat, which can provide estimated wait times. You can compare these to understand how difficult it is to contact someone.
Beyond simplicity, look for the best automation that fits your company’s needs.
- Does the app send reminders to start tracking time or to stop monitoring when someone goes idle?
- Can it automatically start monitoring based on location?
- Does it include scheduling so that you can see if shifts start late or left early?
These are all features that simplify time tracking. Look for these to ensure your new time-tracking solution will be easy to use.
2. What Features are Needed for Time Tracking Software?
Really think about what features you want before you sign up. Having one solution is a lot better than piecing apps together and resorting to spreadsheets to bring it all into one view.
- Do you just need it to track employees’ time?
- Would you also like to create project budgets and manage payroll?
Write down a list of all the features you want and prioritize them so it’s easier to weigh your options. Most businesses would benefit from a time-tracking solution that includes the following features:
Tags and Properties for Better Organization
The ability to tag and categorize calendar events adds significant flexibility to your time tracking. Tags and properties let you attach metadata to events, enabling you to track details like clients, projects, or even specific task types.
This level of customization ensures that your time-tracking system doesn’t just capture hours it provides context. By tagging work with project or client names, you can generate reports that offer deeper insights into time spent across different activities.
Intuitive Reporting with Interactive Dashboards
A good time-tracking tool doesn’t just collect data; it helps you make sense of it. Look for apps with intuitive reporting capabilities, such as interactive dashboards and visually appealing charts. These tools make it easy to summarize and analyze time data at a glance.
Presenting information lets you quickly identify trends, measure productivity, and adjust project strategies. This feature is particularly valuable for stakeholders who require regular updates without diving into raw data.
Auto-Tagging and Auto-Sync for Efficiency
Manual data entry can be a time-consuming task that leads to inaccuracies. Apps with auto-tagging and auto-sync capabilities eliminate this issue by automating the process.
The tool can automatically categorize tasks and sync timesheets with predefined rules, ensuring your data is always up-to-date and accurately logged. This automation allows teams to generate timesheets or custom reports on demand, giving them real-time insights into productivity and enabling quick adjustments to operations.
Calendar Extensions for Streamlined Tracking
For many professionals, calendars are the primary hub for organizing tasks and schedules. A time-tracking tool with a calendar extension simplifies the process by letting you document hours directly within your existing calendar interface. This approach reduces the need for additional tools or duplicate entries.
3. Integrations Are Key for Time Tracking Software Success
It’s essential that the time-tracking tool you decide on can integrate with the tools you already use. For example, a sales team will need a tool to integrate with its sales reps’ CRM software.
If you’re looking for a time tracking solution to track your customer support team’s time, you’ll want to look for one that can integrate with your help desk software. Checking for integrations before signing up can save you from the hassle of moving things over later.
Why Use An Employee Time-Tracking App
1. Better Payroll Accuracy
Time tracking software improves payroll accuracy. When employees use a time tracker to log their hours, the chances of error are vastly reduced. This helps ensure that employees get paid accurately for the hours they work.
Tracking time helps manage overtime costs and track accruals for holiday and sick time. Time tracking also helps comply with labor laws, such as minimum wage regulations. By keeping accurate records of hours worked, employers can ensure that their payroll records are up to date and compliant with all applicable laws.
2. Higher Productivity
Employees can be more productive when they know their hours are recorded accurately and efficiently. With a system in place to track time spent on tasks, employers can identify areas where productivity should be improved. This could include providing employees with better tools or resources to help them finish their work faster. It can also incentivize people to complete projects ahead of schedule.
In addition, by tracking the hours worked by their employees, companies can identify possible discrepancies between the hours worked and those expected. This can ensure that employees are paid appropriately for their work and do not overwork themselves. Accurate recording of working hours leads to higher productivity and improved employee morale.
3. Lower Labour Costs
Companies can reduce labor costs by managing employee attendance and scheduling assignments more efficiently. Employers can also reduce labor costs by reducing the hours worked beyond the agreed hours.
They can outsource specific tasks to independent contractors and use technology to automate certain processes. In addition, employers can offer flexible scheduling options and provide training and development opportunities to their employees to increase productivity and reduce labor costs.
4. Better Compliance with Labor Laws
Time and attendance software also helps employers monitor the hours worked by employees to ensure that they do not work beyond the legal limit. This helps protect employers and employees from possible violations of labor laws and comply with timekeeping obligations.
Time tracking systems can help track employee absences and tardiness, which can help meet requirements for paid leave or other benefits. Time tracking provides a detailed record of hours worked that can be used in the event of an audit or dispute over labor law compliance.
5. Easier Time Planning
With proper software, it is possible to facilitate and manage employee time tracking. This makes it much easier to create and adjust schedules.
Digital time tracking usually allows employers to set up employee profiles, track hours worked, and generate reports on labor costs. This makes it easier to plan an efficient staff schedule that meets the needs of the business.
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- Best Way To Track Employee Hours
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Why Track Time Employees Spend on Tasks
Tracking how much time employees spend on tasks can improve organizational productivity. It’s one of the top reasons businesses implement time-tracking software. Time tracking helps companies to identify areas where they can optimize productivity.
Tracking time can reveal which tasks consume the most time, so you can either eliminate them, automate them, or find ways to optimize how work gets done. Time tracking also helps identify patterns, such as when certain employees are most productive and what applications they use to get the job done. Uncovering these insights can help you boost overall organizational productivity.
Enhancing Billing Accuracy with Time Tracking Tools
Tracking time can improve billing accuracy for businesses and their employees. Accurate billing ensures businesses won’t overcharge clients or underpay employees. Both scenarios can cause financial strain and hurt business operations.
Tracking time also creates detailed records of time spent on a project, which can be referred to in the future if questions arise. For employees, time tracking alleviates the stress of manual billing. Instead of filling out tedious timesheets, tracking tools automatically generate the data needed to create accurate invoices and billing reports.
Improving Project Management
Project management can’t exist in a vacuum. For businesses to be successful, they’ll need people with strong collaboration skills, superb time management, and a great project manager to oversee everything. The best time-tracking tools make life easier for project managers and businesses by ensuring every team member can track time for projects and tasks to gauge real-time project spending and adjust project scope as needed.
Even for the most capable project manager, starting a project and expecting to complete everything as planned without understanding how other employees use their time is impossible. No project was ever successful without the proper project management tools and a project manager who knows which tasks to prioritize and who best to delegate them to.
Reducing Time Spent on Administrative Tasks
Beyond payroll, time-tracking tools help businesses reduce time spent on other administrative tasks. The ability to track time to specific tasks and even see real-time spending on a project-by-project basis allows companies to visualize how much it costs to add an employee to a project.
That said, leadership can also apply this same logic to employees’ time not working on core tasks. This work might include filling out timesheets, responding to emails and Slack messages, and staying up-to-date on security and compliance training. Employee pay rates don’t usually change based on the work you have them doing, so classifying tasks is a great way to ensure employees are appropriately utilized.
Accurate Invoicing and Expense Reports
Invoices are one of the most polarizing aspects of managing a business. Do an excellent job, and no one even notices. Make even a tiny error, and catastrophe ensues. A recent article by Versapay found that over 60% of C-level executives have overseen a lawsuit or a threat of one due to an invoice dispute. The report also found that 98% of businesses believe upper management gets burdened with invoice and payment disputes. Most of the time, tracking apps auto-generate the financials when you track time.
Increased Flexibility with Time Tracking Tools
More and more companies are shifting to remote work, and the 9-to-5 is becoming less prominent. Modern workforces are prioritizing flexibility, so it’s up to businesses to accommodate that need. Time tracking not only makes that flexibility possible; it makes it work. A time tracking tool lets employees keep track of their work and create timesheets anywhere and anytime.
Adherence to Compliance Requirements
Specific industries, such as health care, manufacturing, or government contracting companies, must adhere to compliance requirements that mandate accurate timekeeping. Time theft and fraudulent timesheets (even accidental instances) are punishable by law.
Time tracking and employee productivity tools ensure that employees stay abreast of their compliance requirements and are appropriately compensated for overtime, PTO, and more.
Smoother Payments
As fun as it is to get paid, processing payments can be a tedious task. Can you imagine having a fully remote, global team of 100 people and sending payments to them twice a month? We’re pretty sure you’d agree when we say computing for a large team’s payroll isn’t something most are looking forward to.
In case you didn’t know, time-tracking tools can automate payroll, too. You can set hourly rates for your employees to compute payments automatically. Not only does this save you potentially hundreds of hours, but it also ensures payment amounts are correct. Time-tracking apps also integrate with payment platforms like PayPal and Wise, allowing you to send direct payments to international employees.
Tackle: Revolutionize Time Tracking with AI and Calendar Integration
Tackle revolutionizes time tracking through seamless calendar integration, eliminating the need for manual logging. Our platform automatically captures and categorizes your time, providing actionable insights through intuitive dashboards and reports.
We’ve built everything you need into one seamless package:
- An intelligent tagging system that works your way
- AI-powered automation to handle the tedious stuff
- Flexible reporting tools to track what matters
- Intelligent time capture right in your browser
Trusted by Roblox, Deel, and Lightspeed Ventures teams, Tackle helps executives, team leaders, and customer-facing professionals understand and optimize their time allocation. Simply connect your Google or Outlook calendar, set up custom tags and automations, and gain valuable insights into how your team spends their time.
Whether you’re tracking strategic initiatives, measuring team efficiency, or ensuring resource optimization, Tackle transforms time monitoring from a chore into a powerful decision-making tool.
Start using our automatic time-tracking software for free with one click today!
Related Reading
- TimeCamp Alternatives
- ProofHub Alternatives
- Sling Alternatives
- Jibble Alternatives
- TSheets Alternatives
- Time Audit App
- Timeular Alternatives
- ActivTrak Alternatives
Start Using Our Automatic Time Tracking Software for Free with One-click Today
Effective time management is essential for long-term success, whether you’re a freelancer or the owner of a large corporation. The more you can optimize how your team spends their time, the better.
A time audit helps you identify areas for improvement so you can increase productivity, reduce costs, and maximize profitability.
Effective Time Management: Enhancing Productivity and Employee Satisfaction
Time management also plays a significant role in employee satisfaction. When team members understand exactly what they should be working on at any given time, they can reduce uncertainty and avoid stressful situations that arise from poor time management. By tracking time methodically, your team will improve over time. This decreases the likelihood of missing deadlines and boosts overall performance.
Time audits can also help you get organized. As you assess time spent on various projects, you may uncover opportunities to streamline processes, eliminate redundant tasks, and create better workflows.
