What timesheet software does, the recordkeeping rules behind it, the features that matter for hourly and field teams, questions to ask vendors and a step-by-step way to compare options.
At its simplest, timesheet software replaces paper time cards and spreadsheets with a digital record of when each employee started and stopped work. Most systems go further: they total hours by day and week, flag overtime, separate time by job or client, send timesheets to a manager for approval and produce a file payroll can import. Some are pure timesheet tools where employees type in hours after the fact; others are time clocks where employees clock in and out in real time and the timesheet builds itself. Knowing which model fits your team is the first decision, because it shapes everything else.
To total hours with breaks and overtime, use our time card calculator.
| Approach | How it works | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Manual timesheet entry | Employees enter start and end times or total hours, usually daily or weekly | Salaried staff tracking projects, small office teams, contractors billing clients |
| Real-time clock-in | Employees clock in and out on a phone, tablet kiosk or terminal; hours are calculated automatically | Hourly shift workers, field crews, multi-site teams |
| Hybrid | Real-time clock-ins with the ability to add or correct entries under approval | Most mixed workforces |
If you employ hourly, non-exempt workers, real-time capture is usually more accurate than end-of-week entry, because people rarely remember exact times days later. See our guide to choosing a time clock for a deeper look at capture methods.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must keep accurate records of hours worked each day and each workweek for non-exempt employees, along with pay information. The Department of Labor’s recordkeeping regulations (29 CFR Part 516) generally require payroll records to be kept for at least three years and records on which wage computations are based, such as time cards, for two years. Many states add their own rules, including longer retention periods or specific meal and rest break records. Your timesheet software should make it easy to keep and retrieve these records, but the obligation stays with you as the employer.
The most common complaint about any timesheet system is late or missing entries. Set a clear weekly deadline, send automatic reminders the day before, and make approval part of each manager’s routine rather than a Friday scramble. Our timesheet reminders guide covers sample messages and schedules. When employees clock in and out in real time, most of this chasing disappears, because the record is built as they work.
A 40-person home services company collects paper timesheets every Friday. Office staff spend most of Monday deciphering handwriting and calling technicians about missing days. The company trials two apps with real-time clock-in and job coding. After a month, payroll prep drops from a full day to about two hours, and job costing finally reflects actual hours on each customer site. The deciding factor is not a feature list but how cleanly each app’s export loads into their payroll provider.
EZTime is built for hourly and field teams. Employees clock in from the mobile app, web, a shared kiosk or NFC tags, with GPS stamps and geofencing where you turn them on. Managers get labor rule alerts and break alerts, fix mistakes through timecard corrections with an audit trail, tag hours with job and client tracking and export reports to PDF and Excel. EZTime does not process payroll itself; you send approved hours to your payroll provider. Plans start from $2 per employee per month; see pricing.
Software that records employee hours, totals them, routes them for approval and exports them to payroll.
Federal rules generally require time cards for two years and payroll records for three years. Some states require longer. Check official DOL and state guidance.
Usually, because it reduces rounding errors, illegible entries and manual totals, and keeps an audit trail of changes.
Yes, but edits should be documented with a reason and, ideally, acknowledged by the employee.
Federal law does not require hour records for most exempt employees, but many employers track time for projects, leave or billing.
Some do, but many, including EZTime, export approved hours to a separate payroll provider.
With jobs and clients tagged in EZTime, you can compare what you quoted with the hours the work really took.