Clocking in guide

5 common clocking in problems, and how a modern clocking system fixes them

Most time and attendance problems come back to the same five things: missed clockings, one person clocking in for another, hours written down after the event, overtime worked out by hand, and hours typed into payroll twice.

Here is what each one looks like, how a modern clocking system deals with it, and the honest limit of the fix. If you are already comparing machines, our clocking in machines page has the models and prices.

In shortRecord the time when it happens, flag anything unusual for a manager, apply your rules automatically, and export the approved hours to payroll. Each of the five problems is a break in one of those steps.

The five problems

1. Missed clockings and missing hours

   The problem. Someone forgets to clock out, or clocks in at the wrong terminal, and the week has a gap in it. On paper nobody notices until pay day, when the hours are guessed.

   The fix. Syncro Connect lists missed and unusual clockings as exceptions for a manager to sort out, usually the next day, and the Syncro Connect app can send a notification about a late or missed clocking. When a manager adds or corrects a time, the change is logged with who made it and when, so the record stays honest.

   Worth knowing: It still needs a manager to look at the exceptions. A system that flags gaps nobody reads is no better than paper.

2. One person clocking in for another

   The problem. A friend clocks in a colleague who is running late. It is less common than people think, but it is hard to spot with cards or a signing-in sheet.

   The fix. Face, palm and fingerprint terminals make it far harder, because the clocking is tied to the person standing there. Face recognition takes under a second, so it does not slow the queue at the start of a shift.

   Worth knowing: Biometric clocking is special category data under UK GDPR, so you need a lawful basis and should offer an alternative such as a card. Our biometric guide covers this.

3. Hours written down after the event

   The problem. Timesheets filled in on Friday are a best guess. Start times drift, breaks get forgotten, and a few minutes a day adds up across a team.

   The fix. A clocking records the time when it happens, at a terminal, in the app or in a browser. Staff on the road clock in on their phone, and the app records the GPS location at that moment. The app also keeps clocking without signal and sends the clockings when it reconnects.

   Worth knowing: GPS shows where the phone was when someone clocked in, not where they were all day.

4. Overtime and breaks worked out by hand

   The problem. Somebody sits with a calculator every pay period, applying rounding, unpaid breaks and overtime thresholds line by line.

   The fix. Your rules for rounding, grace periods, breaks, overtime and premiums such as nights and call outs are set once and applied to every clocking. Our guide to tracking overtime automatically explains how.

   Worth knowing: The rules have to be decided first. Software applies your policy; it cannot write it for you.

5. Typing hours into payroll

   The problem. The hours are right on the timesheet, then wrong in payroll because they were typed in again.

   The fix. Once a manager approves the week, the hours are exported in the layout your payroll package expects: Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, BrightPay, IRIS, ADP or Pegasus. Nothing is typed twice.

   Worth knowing: It is an export file you import, not a live connection, which keeps payroll in control of what goes in.

Which clocking method fixes what

The method matters less than recording the time when it happens. A terminal by the entrance suits a fixed site and makes buddy clocking far harder. The Syncro Connect app suits people who start at different places. A browser suits office staff and needs no hardware. Most businesses use a mix, all on the same clocking in software, so every clocking lands in one set of records.

Our guide to choosing a clocking in system goes through the options, and the payroll side is covered on our payroll export page.

When you do not need a clocking system

If you have a handful of people on fixed hours, all in one place and rarely working late, a simple timesheet may be enough, and we would rather tell you that. The case for a clocking system gets stronger with shifts, overtime, more than one site, or staff who start away from the office.

Frequently asked questions