Search for the best employee time tracking software and you will find long lists that all claim to be first. The honest answer is that it depends on your workforce. A tool that suits a five-person office will frustrate a labour supplier with five hundred workers on client sites, and the other way round. This guide helps you decide which kind of tool you need, and gives a checklist to score any option.
Start with who you are tracking
| Your workforce | What matters most | Look for |
|---|---|---|
| Office or professional team | Simple attendance and leave | Easy clock-in, a clean report, low cost per user |
| Field crews on a few sites | Recording hours away from a desk | Mobile entry, supervisor entry, work on weak signal |
| Labour or manpower supplier billing clients | Approved hours that become payroll and invoices | Worker IDs, project and client approval, locking, payroll and invoice links |
| Shift-based operations | Rosters, shift rules and overtime | Shift patterns, night and rest-day rules |
A checklist to score any option
Give each tool a yes, partly or no on each line. The tool with the most yes answers on the lines that matter to you is the best one for you.
- Every worker has a unique ID, and the same worker is never counted twice.
- Hours are recorded against a project, site or client.
- Overtime, night and rest-day hours are worked out by rule.
- Hours are approved by a supervisor or the client, and then lock.
- Approved hours feed payroll, including the WPS salary file, without retyping.
- Approved hours feed client invoices in the layout the client expects.
- You can import your current files and export all your data.
- It works for the way your people actually record time: phone, supervisor, supplier or import.
- The price is clear at your real headcount.
Where manpower suppliers usually get stuck
The recording itself is rarely the hard part. The cost shows up later: hours re-keyed into payroll, totals that differ between the timesheet and the invoice, and clients who will not pay until the numbers match. Tools that only track time stop before that point. If that sounds like your business, look for software that connects timesheets, WPS payroll and invoicing on one record. ManpowerSync is built for this case, and is not aimed at a small office that only needs a clock. See how it compares with Excel and a general HR system.
Try before you commit
- Run a real month of your own data through it, not the vendor’s demo.
- Ask for the exact output you need: your client’s timesheet layout and your bank’s WPS file.
- Test a correction after approval to see what the system allows and records.
To get a feel for the workflow first, use the free online time clock, and read what employee time recording software should do.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best employee time tracking software?
There is no single best one. The right choice depends on who you are tracking and what the hours are for. An office team that only needs attendance wants something light. A site workforce needs mobile or supervisor entry. A labour supplier that bills clients needs approved hours that flow into payroll and invoices.
What features should time tracking software have?
At minimum: a unique ID per worker, hours by project or site, overtime rules, approval with locking, and an export. For payroll and billing, add a link from approved hours to payroll and invoices, so nothing is typed twice.
How much does employee time tracking software cost?
Prices vary widely and are usually per user per month, per employee, or a flat fee at your headcount. Compare the total at your real number of workers, and ask what is included. Setup, imports, payroll and support are often priced separately.
Is free time tracking software good enough?
For one person, yes. For a team it usually lacks approvals, a shared record and a link to payroll, which are what cost time later. Use a free tool to try the workflow, then move to a system when errors or disputes start to cost money.
Do I need GPS or biometric tracking?
Only if your problem is verifying where or who. Many manpower suppliers find the bigger problem is not location but hours that are re-typed, unapproved or disputed by the client. Fix the record and approval flow first, then add location checks if you still need them.