Businesses looking or a time tracking tool for their invoicing processes have two types of solutions to choose from. One option is an advanced project management (PM) suite such as Mavenlink, Write, or Zoho Projects. The other option is a pure play tool like Hubstaff and TSheets (free for one user), our Editors' Choice for time tracking software. Both tools are primarily designed for time entry and reporting. While they lack the collaboration, file storage, and forecasting features you'll find on PM-focused software, they are highly devoted to ensuring that shifts are worked, hours are logged, and that the workload is being done.
Pricing and Plans
TSheets starts with a free plan geared toward one user. This plan is ideal for freelancers who need to track time while working on projects. TSheets also has a plan for up to 99 users that costs $4 per user per month, with a $16 base fee per month plus $4 per user per month. Companies with more than 100 users will pay an $80 base fee as well as $4 per user per month. For an extra $1 per user per month you'll get access to a lightweight scheduling tool that gives administrators the power to assign shifts and delegate tasks from within the console. The base fee, which
If you're more interested in those hulky PM solutions, you'll need to pony up a bit more cash. Mavenlink's cheapest plan that includes time tracking costs $39 per user per month. Zoho's cheapest time tracking plan is $25 per month for an unlimited number of users (which is a pretty solid deal if you need all the extra PM features). Wrike's cheapest time tracking plan costs $24.80 per user per month.
Features and User Interface
TSheets features a gorgeous left-rail navigation user interface (UI). The system is broken down into four categories: track, report, manage, and set up. Within these are always-visible subcategories, such as time entries, jobs, schedule, etc. No matter what page you're on, all of your tabs are visible and accessible, which is a better setup than Hubstaff's, which requires a desktop app for recording screenshots and keystrokes. TSheets won't provide the same level of creepy oversight, but it's a much more manageable and customizable tool. Rather than make you jump back and forth from page to page or from desktop app to web app, widgets pop out into small windows when you click on certain tabs. This is a nice feature that gives you the freedom to look at multiple pages at once. For example: I can look at who's working while also looking at project reporting. However, it can get a bit unwieldy for new users, especially if you don't close pop-out widgets you're done using.
The "Who's working" widget shows you which individuals are on the clock, which groups are working, and a map of where people are signed in around the world. This is filterable so that you only choose who you want to see. You can also click into the box to manually check employees into work.
The map feature uses GPS from the mobile app to track location and movement while on the clock. You'll get within 20 meters of accuracy based on data fed from the phone every 10 minutes. Laptop and desktop tracking is done based on IP address (and therefore not as accurate). You'll be able to see what device and what operating system your workers are using. You can automatically clock employees off if their GPS drops off.
Permissions fall under four levels: Administrator, Payroll Manager, Custom, and Employee. Under Employee, which is the most common one, you have nine permission levels, including mobile time entry, manage timesheets for all employees, manage jobs, and manage other user accounts. You can add custom rules for every employee, including things like Overtime, PTO Codes, Mobile Options, or you can make restrictions, such as turning off mobile apps for certain workers. The same is true for any level, including Payroll Manager, who is primarily in the system to approve and reject timesheets and payments.
The system lets you add IP addresses in order to limit the locations where people work. For example: If you want to guarantee that people only work in the office, you can restrict all other IP addresses. If you want to allow someone to work from home, you can grant them their home IP address, provided it's static.
Clock-in is done via a floating window stopwatch. This is a nice feature because it lets you see your timer running but you're able to work elsewhere within the system. The "Take a break" button lets you pause the clock for a certain period of time without entirely clocking out. Employers can set up what these breaks are and they can automate it so that the user is notified that their break is about to end. Users can also enter time via a manual time card. The time card automatically adjusts when new entries are added or when new clock-ins are registered via the stopwatch.
The tool features a wide variety of excellent pre-canned reporting based on employee hourly breakdown, pay, GPS location, and basically anything else for which the system gives you a data field. What's amazing about TSheets, and what I'll discuss in more detail in the next section, is the ability to track advanced data and then turn that advanced data into "customized" reports.
A Notch Above
Most tracking solutions base their solutions almost entirely on time. There are 24 hours in a day, multiplied by seven days, multiplied by approximately four weeks, multiplied by 12 months. Take all of the data collected within these parameters and push it into invoices, reports, payments, workload projections, etc. This is the logic that drives other time tracking systems. What TSheets does extraordinarily well is acknowledging that work can be done and measured outside of the usual hour, day, week, month, year calculus.
The tool offers advanced tracking for quantities, which, if you're a truck driver or an artisan, might actually be more beneficial than tracking the hours you've worked. With TSheets, you can create six fully customizable fields then use them as prompts for every clock-out. If you run a construction company, you can have the prompt ask, "Was there an incident? Yes. No." If workers don't respond, they won't be able to clock out. You can ask truckers how many miles they drove. These fields will then be pulled into reports to provide you with a richer view of how work is being done, how productive teams are, and any other relevant workplace data you might need to create a complete picture of a workday or shift. You won't find this level of advanced tracking on Mavenlink, Zoho Projects, or Wrike. Just remember that those tools offer PM features that are miles more advanced than the PM features you'll find on
Employers can also use this feature to require a photo on clock-in and clock-out. Perhaps you're interested in whether someone cleaned their workstation or if products were moved from one place to the other. This gives admins and managers added oversight (without the draconian spyware you'll find on tools such as TSheets). If you really need to monitor employees on the minute-by-minute level, then the tool features an open API, which will let you build tracking via a third-party app.
Finally, TSheets lets workers use phone calls to clock in. This is an add-on feature that's $1.50 per month per user. It's ideal for low-wage workers who might not have a smartphone or a computer handy but need to clock into work. They dial a toll-free number, say their names, check in, and hang up. If you'd like added security for this feature, then you can also have voice calls converted to text for $0.05 per transcript.
The Bottom Line
TSheets is the best pure play time tracking solution on the market. Although it lacks the PM elements you'll find on solutions such as Mavenlink, Wrike, and Zoho Projects, it's got enough workforce projection and time management functionality to get you through basic shift management and project staffing. TSheets also doesn't offer the spyware functionality that you'll find on a tool such as
If what you need is the ability to measure time, production, and other billable criteria in an easy to use
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source : TSheets Review & Rating | PCMag.com
