Clock in, pay out.

An online time clock, also known as a punch clock app or time tracker, is a modern, digital way for employees to clock in and out of their shifts. The time clock then connects with your online timesheet or time tracking software to calculate hours and create payroll reports and wages for each team member.

Yes, time clock apps like Homebase prevent buddy punching by assigning unique PIN codes to your employees (that no one else should be allowed to use) to clock themselves in.

Our time clock tool also alerts you when an employee is late signing into their shift and takes photos of the worker when they clock in, so you can rest assured the right individual is logging the time. And our time clock tool is free, by the way.

For your reference, buddy punching is when an employee asks their coworkers to clock them in for them before they’ve arrived to work. This is done to either avoid getting reprimanded for being late or losing wages, but it results in increased labor costs for employers (as much as hundreds of dollars every week). Basic time punch clocks are very vulnerable to buddy punching practices.

A digital time clock, or a self-calculating machine, is similar to a basic time clock, except the data is added up — you guessed it, digitally — to make it easier to run payroll. However, employees can still get away with buddy punching since it’s not a real-time clock app.

An online employee time clock is a tool that helps businesses track their employees’ working hours electronically. Small business owners looking for time clock solutions for their hourly employees can use the Homebase app to easily track attendance and hours worked.

With Homebase, you can turn almost any device with an internet connection (like a browser, tablet, or phone) into a sophisticated employee time clock. No more expensive hardware or paper time cards. All you have to do is set up the software, track employees’ time with ease, and watch the data sync seamlessly into the cloud.

A biometric time clock doesn’t use traditional pin codes or timecard apps and instead utilizes each employee’s unique measurements and body geometry to identify who exactly is clocking in. To learn more about if a biometric time clock is right for your business, check out our article that lays out the pros and cons.

A time punch clock is a device that allows employees to clock in and out of every shift they work. Business owners then track the total hours worked for each pay period.

Check out our article explaining time punch clocks to learn more.

A time clock app like Homebase prevents time theft by:

You can start keeping track of your employees’ hours using Homebases’s free online time clock app. First, download the online time clock for employees and sign into the Homebase app with the owner or manager’s email address and password. Then team members can clock in and out with the time clock using their personalized pin.

Plus, if you ever have questions, you can contact our customer support team, and they’ll happily help you.

Since Homebase offers a time clock free of charge that’s in the cloud, an employer can track employee data, including time and attendance, in real time. This means you can see the total hours worked by an employee from wherever you are on whatever device you’re using. It will even work offline should your internet go down — the Homebase app will track data at all times.

To learn more about time and attendance, check out this article on employee attendance tracking with Homebase.

We may be biased, but we truly believe Homebase is one of the best time clock apps for small businesses out there. Here are just a few of the biggest reasons why:

Homebase keeps track of employee meal and rest breaks required by law, and helps you stay on top of if they are paid, unpaid, missed, or waived. Learn more about Homebase break management by checking out our article explaining how it works.

Business owners, managers, and HR personnel can easily track employee paid time off (PTO) with Homebase’s free online scheduling software. With this tool, employees can easily request time off, change their availability, and find out whether their vacation days have been approved or not. Employers also get more control over PTO requests with blackout dates, request limits, and advance notice.

GPS mobile time clocks allow remote employees who work at different job sites to clock in and out of each shift via a mobile device at the location they are working.

Learn more about Homebase’s GPS mobile time clock here.