A time clock is the device or app where employees punch in and out. A time and attendance system includes the clock but also calculates hours, applies overtime, break and rounding rules, manages time off and schedules, flags missed punches and exports approved hours to payroll. If someone in your business still adds up punches by hand or in a spreadsheet, you have a time clock, not a time and attendance system.
| Time clock | Time and attendance system | |
|---|---|---|
| Records start and end times | Yes | Yes |
| Calculates daily and weekly hours | Sometimes, basic | Yes, by workweek and pay period |
| Applies overtime and state rules | No | Yes, with alerts before payroll |
| Break and meal tracking | Punches only | Rules, alerts and reports |
| Missed punches | Found at payroll time | Flagged daily for correction with notes |
| Schedules and time off | No | Yes, compared with actual hours |
| Multiple locations and methods | Usually one device per site | App, kiosk, NFC and more in one account |
| Payroll | Manual entry | Export or integration |
| Audit trail | Limited | Who changed what and when |
A punch clock or simple app is cheap and easy to understand. For a single location with a handful of employees on fixed shifts, it can be enough, as long as someone carefully totals hours each week, applies overtime correctly and keeps the records for the periods the FLSA requires.
Café with 8 employees. A tablet kiosk is the clock. With a time and attendance system behind it, the owner sees who is in, gets a warning when someone approaches 40 hours and exports the week to payroll in one click.
Cleaning company with 12 client sites. NFC tags at each site are the clock. The system ties every punch to a client, compares it with the schedule and shows which visits were missed.
Construction firm. Crews clock in on a GPS app at changing job sites. The system applies overtime by workweek and splits hours by project.
Choose a full time and attendance system if any of these apply:
EZTime combines both: the clock (app, kiosk, NFC, SMS) and the system that approves and exports hours. See time and attendance software.
No. Time and attendance software produces approved hours; payroll software calculates pay, taxes and deposits. They work best when connected by an export or integration.
Sometimes. Many businesses replace old clocks with a tablet kiosk or phones, which removes hardware maintenance. Check whether your hardware can connect to the system you choose.
Cloud systems usually cost a few dollars per employee per month. EZTime starts at $2 per employee per month with a $20 monthly minimum.
Most do. EZTime includes absence management in every plan, and higher plans add employee requests and more rules.
Quick answers to the questions employers ask most.
Requirements and a buying checklist.
Per-employee pricing and hidden fees.
An organized process for hourly payroll.
The legal and financial risks of missing records.
This page is general information for U.S. employers and isn’t legal advice.