From lost key fobs to forgotten passwords, losing data is a major stressor and often gets in the way of getting work done. What if you could store everything safe and sound remotely? With cloud time and attendance software, you can!

If incomplete timesheets force you to burn the midnight oil, it’s time to level up your time and attendance game. In this article, we’ll introduce you to our expert-curated list of cloud time and attendance tools, benefits and key features.

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Best Cloud Time and Attendance Software

Why settle for less? Check out the crème de la crème of cloud time and attendance products below, based on our analyst team’s research.

QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time is a cloud-based timekeeping solution for managing more than attendance, with project management, scheduling and auditing capabilities. Get flexibility when handling leave management with remote schedule updates, PTO requests and approvals all through the app.

Multitask like a boss with access to multiple timesheets, schedule templates and real-time productivity tracking. Foster accountability for schedules and reduce time theft with GPS tracking and geofencing.

QuickBooks Time Tracking Mobile and GPS. Source

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

• Dashboard and Reporting — 100
• Project Management — 100
• Security & Compliance — 99
• Time Tracking — 98
• Mobile Capabilities — 84

Top Benefits

• Productivity Tracking: Maintain an in-depth look at your workflow with real-time location verification, helping plan tasks. Assign jobs based on availability or location, view who’s working on what and detect unused time, ensuring high productivity.
• Project Planning: Generate project reports, see how long tasks typically take to plan for the future and track what went according to plan and what didn’t, ultimately helping predict future project expenses.
• Simplifying Auditing: Ease auditing and ensure compliance with labor laws and regulations with DCAA Assistance. Audits are stressful, but the audit log feature simplifies organizing timesheet info and making edits.
• Customizing Notifications: Limit distracting and overwhelming notifications for employees with customization options. With alerts for impending overtime, mismatched time entries or clock-in errors, your employees won’t miss a thing.

Primary Features

• Timesheets: Reduce timesheet-related oversights and unify hours worked and wages, simplifying payroll timekeeping. Edit timesheets right from the app.
• Location Verification: Receive real-time looks at where employees work via GPS location tracking (which is especially helpful for remote teams). Geofencing technology also reminds staff when to clock in or out.
• Reports: View summaries of earned pay, hours worked and project progress with detailed reports on the status of current projects, like how long tasks take and how much materials cost, simplify planning future assignments.
• Mobile App: View timesheets and employee locations even when working without an internet connection through the mobile app. Monitor time punches and clock in and out with mobile image captures, preventing time theft like buddy punching.
• Integration: Streamline core HR tasks like invoicing with BigTime or syncing schedules with Microsoft Teams.

Limitations

• Clocking in and out lags by a few seconds
• No lifetime subscription plan

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

• Auto Scheduling — Not Supported
• Conflict Notifications — Not Supported
• Recurring Shifts — Not Supported
• Clock-In Prevention — Not Supported
• Blackout Dates — Not Supported

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TimeClock Plus

TimeClock Plus is a time-tracking solution for streamlining scheduling, monitoring compliance and organizing leave management. Reduce schedule conflicts and enhance workplace communication with an internal messaging system where employees can share feedback and updates.

Remotely track hours and approve time off for a steady workflow in or out of the office. Worry less about time theft and enhance accuracy with biometric scanners on the mobile app.

Mobile time punching in TimeClock Plus.

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

• Dashboard & Reporting — 100
• Security & Compliance — 100
• Employee Scheduling — 94
• Leave & Absence Management — 90
• Employee Engagement — 83

Top Benefits

• Enhance Accessibility: Managers can monitor attendance while employees can clock in and out via app or web browser, reducing missed time entries.
• Increase Collaboration: The internal messaging system fosters communication, allowing employees to request time off, share updates and ask payroll questions more efficiently.
• Tailor Features: The platform’s customizable configuration allows tailoring benefits, scheduling and leave management to fit specific business needs and preferences.
• Streamline Compliance: Manage employee classifications, automate notifications for expiring certifications and get support with leave policies like FMLA, ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations.
• Simplify Leave Management: Submit, approve or deny time off requests with just one click. Master multi-tasking by seamlessly integrating employee scheduling, effectively managing leave time and hours in one place.

Primary Features

• Scheduling: Simplify scheduling on a unified platform that accommodates edits and employee requests.
• Security: Reduce time theft with time-tracking features like Biometric scanners, mobile image capture and geofencing.
• Mobile App: Employees can clock in and out, submit time off and view request updates all through the app available on iOS or Android devices.
• Payroll Integrations: Streamline payroll with over 300 integrations, including QuickBooks, Paychex and ADP Workforce Now and custom integrations for non-supported providers.

Limitations

• No free trial
• No automatic time capture
• No company branding

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

• Timesheet Templates — Not supported
• Lock Timesheets — Not Supported
• Break Notification — Not Supported
• Project Time Estimates — Not Supported
• Budget Forecasting — Not Supported

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When I Work

When I Work is a time and attendance solution for tracking time and reducing scheduling conflicts. Wherever your work takes you, track time through the mobile app. Save filing cabinet space and improve time off efficiency by submitting PTO or swapping shifts through the app or online platform.

The days of manually writing schedules are long gone. Modernize scheduling and even save time by generating an entire week’s schedule in minutes using essential employee data. Instantly notify teams of vital changes by email, chat or text, helping reduce schedule issues.

When I Work Schedule Preview.

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

• Employee Scheduling — 98
• Security and Compliance — 90
• Employee Engagement — 86
• Dashboards and Reporting — 80
• Leave and Absence Management — 80

Top Benefits

• Simplify Shift Trades: Boost efficiency and productivity by allowing employees to pick up and trade shifts.
• Reduce Unapproved Time: Boost accountability and get access to time and attendance data from the convenience of your mobile device. The lock function prevents employees from clocking in early, reducing unapproved overtime or discrepancies.
• Increase Business Insights: Review and monitor employee attendance data. Identify pain points while taking remedial measures promptly. Get insights about individual employees, managers and other team members.
• Enhance Collaboration: Simplify shift trades, schedule questions and attendance updates with the chat function, empowering communication in real-time.
• Enable Mobile Notifications: Never miss an important update with text alerts that can go out to the whole staff simultaneously. Also, set individual email or text notifications for missed logins or logouts.

Primary Features

• Timesheets: When I Work timesheets go beyond recording attendance, like stopping overtime before it happens with locked timesheets. Track hours worked, monitor labor costs, audit time records, approve timesheets and sort unpaid and paid break times.
• Scheduling: Create a weekly schedule in minutes using important employee data like availability and scheduled time off. Repeat the same schedule for weeks or months and promptly notify teams of any schedule changes.
• Customizable Controls: Control access to allow only certain people to view dashboards and individual schedules.
• Time Theft Prevention: Every mobile clock-in requires a selfie for employee verification, eliminating buddy punching.
• API and Integrations: To simplify workflows, connect your company’s tech stack to other systems like payroll providers like Gusto. Integrate with your current HCM solution to synchronize time records, single sign-on and reporting.

Limitations

• Slow customer support for technical issues
• Users experienced inaccurate Geofencing hours
• Gusto integration can be difficult

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

• Exception Alerts — Not Supported
• Group Time — Not Supported
• Time-off/Approval Notes — Not Supported
• Automatic Punch Out — Not Supported
• Pin Entry — Not Supported

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Buddy Punch

What if clocking in meant simply scanning a QR code? With Buddy Punch, you can! Buddy Punch is an online time and attendance solution for tracking time, productivity insights and organizing leave requests. Know your employees are where they say they are with GPS tracking. Clock in and out using usernames, passwords or assigned QR codes.

While Buddy Punch helps monitor time and attendance, it also streamlines core HR processes like calculating overtime, approving PTO and determining project costs remotely.

Buddy Punch timecard.

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

• Time Tracking — 98
• Leave & Absence Management — 90
• Dashboard & Reporting — 77
• Employee Scheduling — 76
• Mobile Capabilities — 73

Top Benefits

• Get Flexibility: Promote flexibility with features like clocking in and out via scannable QR codes or remotely using a username and password.
• Establish Accountability: View active assignments and utilize in-app GPS, verifying employees are where they say they are.
• Keep Everyone Up to Date: Send real-time notifications for issues like forgotten time punches or schedule updates, ensuring everyone is on the same page and reducing unexpected absences.
• Streamline PTO: Managers can check PTO requests and accruals, while employees can request time off or monitor current requests using the built-in calendar and approval notifications.
• Work With an Intuitive UI: Simplify correcting time entry errors, manage pending time off requests and submit updates from the easy-to-navigate platform.

Primary Features

• Time and Attendance: Save time and manual effort by automating core time and attendance duties like calculating PTO accruals.
• Time Tracking: Lock timesheets preventing unapproved overtime and instill time theft prevention features like webcams and GPS tracking.
• Scheduling: Use the drag-and-drop feature to ease the scheduling process. When shift changes occur, customize notifications for individual employees or the whole team when shift changes occur. Copy previous schedules to save time. If someone is out, make modifications on the fly.
• Reporting: View summaries on attendance, PTO balances and overtime. Print or export reports for reference, detecting potential bottlenecks or repeat schedule conflicts.
• Integrations: Streamline payroll with third-party modules like Paychex or Paylocity.

Limitations

• Scheduling capabilities cost extra
• Slow customer support
• Slow mobile interface

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

• Auto Scheduling — Not Supported
• Reports Scheduling — Not Supported
• Newsfeed — Not Supported
• Browser Extension — Not Supported
• Multi-Language — Not Supported

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Clockify

Clockify is a cloud-based time and attendance solution with tools for project management support. Your time-tracking wants and needs can vary. With that in mind, various customization options like reports, tasks and user access are available.

Whether in the office or working from home, effectively track hours and turn data into timesheets for organized payroll. Analyzing data can be intimidating, so Clockify provides user-friendly charts and graphs. Clockify also has offline capabilities, so offline changes or recordings automatically sync when the connection returns.

Time tracking in Clockify Mobile.

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

• Platform Capabilities — 100
• Dashboard & Reporting— 97
• Time Tracking — 88
• Security & Compliance — 80
• Leave and Absence Management — 79

Top Benefits

• Get Digestible Metrics: Identify trends and make data-driven decisions with user-friendly charts and graphs.
• Save on Costs: Get time-tracking features without compromising your budget. The free forever option allows unlimited users. Project cost functions also help budget accordingly.
• Organize Data: Get a bird’s eye view of all project info, track time spent on projects and plan future assignments accordingly.
• Enhance Task Management: Seamlessly logs data into timesheets via a stopwatch-style timer, letting employees clock in and out and assign time to various tasks.
• Promote Accountability: Clockify relies on staff accountability over constantly monitoring employee actions, instead nudging employees toward productivity with tools like the Pomodoro timer.

Primary Features

• Timesheets: Track task time, manage project timeframes and predefine schedules. Save time on tasks by directly adding assignments into timesheets and reusing timesheet templates.
• Pomodoro Timer: Utilize Pomodoro timers on the browser extension and prevent burnout with break reminders.
• Time Auditing: Flag any suspicious time entries, like entries missing info, for manager review.
• Integration: Increase functionality with more than 50 integration options, like Asana, Trello and Google Calendar.

Limitations

• No integration with invoicing
• No screenshot feature

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

• Compensatory Time — Not Supported
• Shift Swapping — Not Supported
• Custom Validation Rules — Not Supported
• Auto-Scheduling — Not Supported
• Milestone Tracking — Not Supported

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How We Choose Products

Our team of writers and analysts at SelectHub is committed to giving you the best recommendations based on our data. To make our list, products had to meet two criteria:

1. Closely match the topic
2. Earn a top-5 analyst score in our selection platform

Our analyst scores are based on an in-depth research process using primary and secondary sources. This includes SelectHub Analyst Briefings, direct communication with vendors, and reviewing materials such as user reviews, product brochures, specification sheets, case studies, user manuals, and technical documentation.

Our platform’s Scoring Engine processes the research and computes the analyst score. The score also factors in platform settings such as industry and company size.

Learn more about our research methodology and editorial standards

Primary Benefits

Arguably the biggest benefit of cloud time and attendance software is flexibility, ensuring spot-on time tracking no matter where your employees are.

The number of employees working from home tripled between 2019 and 2021 and work-from-home jobs continue to rise in popularity, with an Upwork Survey predicting 36.2 million Americans will work remotely by 2025. Check out the other benefits of using a cloud-hosted time and attendance solution below!

Improve User Experience

View attendance 24/7 without stepping foot in the office. Keeping every time entry securely stored on the cloud enhances accessibility, improves organization, and simplifies payroll hours calculations.

Increase Productivity

You can’t be everywhere at once, but you need to know how employees spend their working hours. Fortunately, whether your team operates in the same city, across the country or globally, you can see every task, project update and upcoming deadline everyone is working on.

Plan future assignments based on actual timelines needed to complete tasks. Monitoring productivity anytime, anywhere also fast-tracks finding bottlenecks and overcoming workflow issues.

Reduce Time Theft

Most cloud time and attendance solutions offer biometric options for clocking in and out, reducing the risk of time theft when employees track time online, in-office or through mobile apps. Automated time tracking ensures precise time entrees while simultaneously eliminating buddy punching.

Save Time

Spending hours manually checking timesheets isn’t just tedious; it takes time away from other essential tasks. Save time and streamline generating schedules, approving payroll and managing PTO requests by using software that automatically adds everything into your database.

Get our Time and Attendance Software Requirements Template

Key Features

Compliance Support

Unapproved overtime puts you at risk of breaking labor laws and regulations and can put your business at risk of owing $1,000 per violation. Cloud time and attendance tools keep track of everyone’s hours, enhancing visibility, like when someone is close to approaching overtime.

You can also view missed time and tardiness, detect recurring scheduling issues and ensure compliance with your workplace time and attendance policy.

Leave Management

Effectively manage vacation time or sick leave with remote PTO requests, eliminating outdated written requests and reducing email paper trails.

Automatically calculate employee time off balances, so managers don’t have to do it manually, saving time and hassle. Also, enhance communication around PTO with notifications when time off requests are approved or denied, keeping everyone in the loop.

Automation

Filling out timesheets manually takes up a lot of ink and effort. Luckily, cloud-hosted software automates core tasks, freeing up time while boosting accuracy.

Once data is tracked and added to the cloud, generate reports and get insight into the highs and lows of productivity.

Project Planning

It’s easy to lose track of written schedules, leading to missed time that puts your projects in quicksand. Use a cloud platform to track employee time and find bottlenecks that slow your workflow, leading to more effective project management.

Take the guesswork out of planning project timelines with productivity reports and timesheets. Also, the fact that everyone has access to a single platform helps reduce miscommunication between departments.

Get our Time and Attendance Software Requirements Template

Comparing Software

While having a wide range of choices is convenient, choosing between them still feels overwhelming. How do you know which time and attendance product is best? Much like buying a car or looking for a new house, start by considering the features you need most, like automation and accessibility.

Note your current time and attendance tracking method’s limitations and how new solutions would improve your workflow. Create a list of requirements based on key features and functionalities your business requires and keep your list nearby throughout your software search.

Consider price when comparing software, ensuring you get the benefits and features you need without breaking your budget.
Time and attendance tracking solutions generally have monthly or annual subscriptions, ranging from free software up to $50 per user per month. Installation costs also vary with a one-time installation fee or upfront cost.

Cloud-based software is typically less expensive than on-premise, with an upfront payment ranging from as low as $200 up to around $1,000.

Common factors that influence cost are:

• Customization
• Updates
• Number of users
• Installation costs
• Level of customer support
• Add-on features
• Integrations
• Geofencing and mileage tracking
• Time kiosks and biometric devices

During your vendor search, other helpful resources include online reviews, colleague recommendations and vendor demos. Most solutions provide free trials to see how the system works before fully committing.

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Next Steps

Whether you need to simplify tracking hours worked or are looking to optimize productivity completely, cloud time and attendance software has your back.

Spend less time correcting mistakes or manually entering data with automation, access information securely from anywhere in the world and stop worrying about losing timesheet data by opting for a cloud-hosted time and attendance solution.

Looking for more support? Our free comparison report is here to be the Robin to your Batman, showing how products stack up against each other.

What’s the top feature you’re looking for in cloud time and attendance software? Comment below!