Keeping an electronic record of employee hours is an important part of running a successful business and the most efficient way to achieve this is with time tracking software. You probably didn’t get into business to constantly think about payroll and billing, but, federal and state laws require you to track employee hours closely. Therefore, it is worth finding a quality (but still affordable) time tracking software that reduces administration and keeps your business compliant with employment laws and regulations. 

Over the last 12+months Time Tracker has been through a major transformation adding loads of new features so we decided to start the year off by comparing our app against some of our competitors. In this comparative analysis, we have shared our findings so you can decide which timekeeping app is best for your operation.

Our Top Five Time Tracking Solutions

Time Tracker by eBillity. Our time tracking software focuses on affordable time tracking for small businesses, professional services and anyone who needs to capture time for payroll, billing and productivity. Our highlight reel includes; customizable settings like your dashboard so your most valuable reports are front and center or time tracking method so you can select the option that works best for your business. With Time Tracker you can also scale as your business grows – free payroll and accounting integrations, add-on expense tracking, job cost reporting and client invoicing, or try our Invoice Tracker app and get paid faster. 

TSheets by QuickBooks. The strongest brand on this list with the QuickBooks juggernaut behind it, acquired by Intuit in 2017 TSheets focuses on all aspects of tracking time for payroll and it’s automatic sync with QuickBooks Online. They recently released an ‘elite’ account which includes some project management features, timesheet signatures and geofencing.  They offer round the clock support and a clean and intuitive interface. 

ClockShark. ClockShark is an app built to track shifts across multiple job sites, designed for the construction and field service industry they have a heavy reliance on GPS data. ClockShark’s crown jewel is the GPSFence tracking system, which alerts both employees and management if an employee is in an unexpected zone during their shift. This ensures that payroll is complete and fair, along with providing more data about how much time was spent on site without relying on potentially inaccurate time cards. 

Boomr. Boomr’s time tracking app focuses on integration and syncing timesheets directly with Paychex, ADP, FreshBooks, QuickBooks, and more. Boomr focuses on a mobile-first experience and makes employee tracking easy and is fully integrated with Slack, great for IT and developers who are using the Slack communication app.

TimeCamp. TimeCamp has a slightly different focus than the others on our list, they lean more toward time tracking for projects and client billing. Their multiple pricing plans make it easy to scale up when necessary and their interface offers a smooth user experience. TimeCamp also offers the best discount for annual billing plans and non-profits.

Here’s how all this information looks in a comparison table:

Download the comparison table

Pricing

The most important thing to remember about pricing is that all five of these time tracking solutions offer free trials, ranging from 14-30 days, with no credit card required. While a couple of those options definitely provide more value for a lower cost, it’s important to experiment and find out which time tracking software works best for your business. Most of the apps provide annual discount pricing so if you are looking to lower your cost you should definitely consider getting the most out of your free trial so you can save when it comes time to activate your account. 

Support

Each of these listed time and attendance apps offer some degree of free support. Be sure to take a closer look to see what that means for your timezone, and the method of contact available, for example: does it include phone, live chat, email, webinars, private demos and an online help forum. You should seriously consider support when deciding on a time tracking app because we may love technology but some days technology doesn’t love us!

App Integrations

The easier it is for employees and HR to access time clock data; the more accurate payroll and reports will be. Each of these solutions feature some sort of integration, and some focus on one or more areas. Due to their acquisitions you know that Boomr integrates completely with Slack and TSheets with QuickBooks, but consider the other apps they integrate with to improve efficiency and productivity, apps like; Zapier, Amazon Alexa and Google Home or connected apps that sync data like Google Calendar and Outlook/365. You can also consider other payroll, expense and accounting apps like ADP, Gusto, Xero,  Sage and SAP Concur. You never know what is around the corner so explore all your channels to avoid a costly or time consuming product switch in the future. 

Mobile Apps

All five options feature mobile apps available for both Android and iOS. While ClockShark’s app focuses specifically on GPS tracking and ensuring schedule adherence, any of the programs can be configured to allow employees to sign in on their own devices. If a company is looking to provide smartphones to their employees, any of these time tracking solutions can be pre-loaded to get employees tracking their time quickly. 

Final Time Tracking Software Recommendations

We’re not going to do all the heavy lifting for you! We’ve given you an overview of our findings and now it’s up to you to sign up for the free trials and determine what time tracking software has the right features and benefits for your business and budget. Good luck!

Don’t go without starting a free 14-day trial of Time Tracker. You’ve already gotten this far. 

Read More: New Time Tracker’s Employee Scheduling

The post Compare the Best Time Tracking Software appeared first on eBillity.

This year, Time Tracker is providing Santa with fun new features, helping him keep everyone on schedule and making sure that everything happens right on time. If he’s late, he could be spotted–or worse, he might not get all the toys to the good little boys and girls who are eagerly awaiting their Christmas deliveries.  

Santa enjoyed his time off so much that he has decided to implement a few new standards this Christmas, and with a little help from his team he might just be able to take that beach vacation he and Mrs. Claus have been planning. Santa decides to jot down a few ideas…

1. Elf Assignment Tracking

One elf running behind can throw off the entire assembly line, whether it’s an elf down in toy creation who is struggling to get his toys built on time, or an elf in the wrapping department who has a stack of unwrapped presents awaiting their attention. Fortunately, with Time Tracker’s Scheduling, Santa can keep track of exactly what each elf needs to accomplish.

Assign specific projects to individual elves or departments. Sometimes, the elves are needed for special assignments: that last-minute toy that will absolutely make a special little boy or girl’s Christmas, for example. And other times, the entire department needs to step up and take on a task together to meet the deadline. 

Keep track of individual elf responsibilities. Sure, that elf down in doll creation has a way with glitter that just can’t be matched, but they can only take on so many assignments at once! But now thanks to Time Tracker’s scheduling feature, Santa can get a better idea of what assignments the elves already have so that he doesn’t overload one particular elf or department. After all, he needs to ensure all his elves are well rested to maintain the perfect detail that goes into his toys and we all know an overworked elf is a grumpy elf.

2. Run the Right Reports to Understand Elf Capability

Scheduling all those elves takes a lot of energy and effort–and Santa needs to make sure that he knows exactly what his elves are best at and what they’re able to accomplish. Does he need to move elves off of the wrapping line and into toy production? Are there elves who need to be given more responsibility in order to meet their full potential? Time Tracker’s reports are making it easier than ever for  Santa to keep up with assignments for all of his elves.

Santa can easily gain insights into what the elves are doing best and how they’re managing their responsibilities. Some elves are incredibly efficient time managers: they can turn out dozens of toys in a day or wrap all of a child’s stocking stuffers in an hour. Others, however, simply are not. With Time Tracker’s new customizable dashboard, Santa can easily add the important reports he needs on one centralized screen where he can see everything he needs to know in order to make important decisions. 

Track elf attendance. Most elves are delighted to start their work week. After all, they have the responsibility of creating the perfect gifts for every child on Santa’s Nice List! Sometimes, however, the elves get a little distracted feeding the reindeer and they forget to clock-in on time. 

Estimate labor costs. Thanks to time and attendance reports, Santa can better estimate his labor costs, which means he won’t get in to trouble with the Elf Labor Union–phew! He can also keep a close eye on overtime hours by receiving alerts when his elves are spending too much time in the toy shop.

When you are Santa time is everything! Time Tracker’s new customizable dashboard makes it easier for Santa to track important activities. It is easy to add, delete and move around widgets on the dashboard and even create handy shortcuts.

3. Schedule Elves for the Right Shifts

Like other workers, elves have a labor union that requires them to have reasonable working conditions–and while they might put in some overtime as they get closer to the holidays, no elf wants to end up stuck at work 24/7. Time Tracker’s scheduling feature allows Santa to:

• Create daily, weekly, and monthly schedules in minutes–a must as the holidays approach and his schedule gets tighter than ever
• Create and save templates, which makes it easier to handle those busy days immediately around Christmas, he can also use them again next year too!
• Give admin permissions to Mrs. Claus so she can help Santa manage the schedule
• Keep every elf on track with the most up to date version of the schedule being published and available online for all the elves to see
• Track hours to avoid accidentally assigning too much overtime to any one elf–including a red notification that lets Santa know when elves have been working too hard 
• Show Santa exactly how many hours the elves are working each week–which could help him decide when he needs to bring in more helpers  

Santa just loves being able to copy (and edit) the previous week’s schedule it saves him so much time! But, it is the color codes for all the different job types that are his favorite, he never has to worry about his head elf getting assigned to kitchen duty…not like last year.

4. Create the Perfect Plan for The Big Day

Delivering all those presents in a single night leaves Santa on an incredibly tight schedule. Every year, he refines his route as more children are added to the nice list, children grow up, or, worse, children stop believing in the magic of Christmas. Fortunately, Time Tracker also offers a GPS feature that makes it possible for Santa to create the perfect schedule for present delivery. The GPS tracker will help to refine Santa’s delivery schedule so that he knows exactly where he is supposed to be at any point in his route. The GPS feature can help Santa avoid missing any important deliveries and disappointing those children. 

GPS tracking also allows Mrs. Claus to always see exactly where Mr. Claus is. Mrs. Claus often waits back at the North Pole anxiously, hoping that Santa hasn’t been spotted and that he isn’t running behind schedule. Thanks to Time Tracker, she can now see exactly where he is without having to bother him or the reindeer. 

Santa has benefited immensely from adding Time Tracker to his routine this Christmas season–and your business can, too. If you want to see for yourself how Time Tracker can streamline your business, try our free trial. 

The post Time Tracker: Enhancing Santa and His Elves  appeared first on eBillity.

The first thing to consider is how much easier tracking your team will become. Using this technology means that you can do this in real-time, and the size of your team makes no difference to the efficacy of GPS, making this a must for businesses big and small.

If your team is spread out across different cities or on a more global scale, suddenly there is an ability to observe their movements and time frames remotely, and in real-time. If you’ve ever wondered if a particular employee has really been using their hours as efficiently as they can, or if you’ve wondered if there is perhaps a better route to utilize than some of the ones currently in use by your team, GPS allows for accurate data on which to base future decisions. By implementing a GPS tracking system, managers can quickly and easily locate their team from their device or desktop computer.

The way companies work has been completely reformed by using GPS tracking services. Not only can you keep track of employees–your products and assets can also be tracked with this system.

Here are some examples of how GPS tracking can improve business efficiency:

Better Planning

If you need to plan a route before your team heads out, or to revise routes for better efficiency, using GPS is the way to go.

• Team members can program an address into the system and be directed to the most time-saving routes
• Alternatively, GPS allows for better accuracy in travel times and optimal routes after a team has been out on a job, making future travel planning more cost effective
• Employees will benefit from the peace of mind of understanding the best ways to travel and how to safely get to their destination, as well as the understanding that someone knows exactly where they are should they get lost or delayed
• Managers can easily monitor routes taken by their team members and advise on faster journeys
• GPS allows drivers and managers alike to stay updated with the most recent data for diversions or potential obstacles, saving hours of travel time as well as excess fuel costs

Fast, Easy Communication

Simplify communication between all team members on a safe platform. GPS tracking apps often come with messaging features, which allow all users to easily and instantly communicate.

• Send important messages about travel diversions
• Assign clients and tasks to specific employees
• Determine which employee is closest to the next assignment, and send them to do the task
• Employees can communicate with each other, soliciting assistance if needed
• Enjoy faster response times, saving both time and money

Automate Payroll

If you really want to save time and productivity, automating your payroll is a game-changer. Make handwritten timesheets a thing of the past by switching automation, and avoid both inaccurate data and fraudulent time-keeping.

• GPS-automated systems ensure that your team is working when they are supposed to be working
• Clocking in and out is a breeze with automation, showing exactly when an employee is at work and when they are finished for the day
• Fewer instances of dispute when it comes to paychecks with an accurate time log as backup
• Make sure employees are not running personal errands or completing other non-work related tasks on company time
• Easy formats for all team members to control their own time
• Some payroll features even include automatic OT when an employee goes over their allotted hours, with a message being dispatched to let the employer and employee know
• Accurate, safe data means that productivity stays as high as possible
• Quickly and effortlessly export all worked hours for maximum efficiency

Safety and Security

Safety is of highest priority, and the most important benefit of using GPS-enabled tracking.

• Overall security is greatly enhanced for all staff when you know where every team member is during work hours
• Help can be located and sent in real-time if one of your team members needs assistance
• Avoidance of routes that may be delayed due to hazard, overcrowded, or experiencing heavy traffic is a great feature that safeguards employees and management alike  
• GPS features can re-route travelers on the team to both avoid potential risks and to aid safety

Go the extra mile and ensure that a GPS tracking system is implemented into your business. Get a competitive edge, boost safety, and generate exact time data to improve efficiency in your company.

Time Tracker’s on the clock GPS tracking makes it easy.

• See which employees are on the clock, on a break, or clocked out for the day
• Select an employee, and check their activity and locations within a specific time frame
• Instantly generate maps for location of employees, to verify route and travel information, and safeguard against time theft
• Send your nearest employees out for emergencies or to the next job, without having to call everyone and await a response
• Build and maintain trust with the whole team with safeguards in place that benefit everyone
• Lessen the potential for payroll and billing disputes by having automatically generated reports about all logged time entries

Ready to increase the efficiency and productivity of your business with GPS time tracking features? Get started today with a free, 14-day Time Tracker trial.

The post How GPS Tracking Can Improve Business Efficiency appeared first on eBillity.