One shift, from the clocking in to the payslip

The best way to understand clocking in software is to follow a single day through it. This is a normal Tuesday for someone who starts on site and finishes at a customer’s.

Every step is automatic apart from one, and that one only happens when something is out of the ordinary.

What the employee does
What Syncro Connect does

  1. 07:58

    Clocks in

    Sam taps a card on the terminal by the staff entrance. The clocking reaches Syncro Connect straight away, with the device and time recorded.

  2. 12:30

    Breaks

    An unpaid 30 minute break is deducted by your rules, whether Sam clocks it or not, so nobody has to remember.

  3. 16:44

    Clocks out on the app

    Sam was sent to a customer site after lunch, so clocks out on the phone. The GPS position is saved with that one clocking.

  4. 16:45

    Rules applied

    Rounding, overtime after 8 hours and the late and early grace you set turn the clockings into paid hours. The 14 minutes of overtime is shown as overtime.

  5. Next day

    Manager checks exceptions

    Anything unusual, such as a missed clocking or a late start, waits in the Clocking Hub. Normal days need no attention at all.

  6. Pay day

    Hours exported

    Approved hours export as a file ready for Sage, Pegasus or QuickBooks. Nothing is typed in twice.

Three ways to clock in, one set of records

Most businesses use more than one. A terminal on the factory door and the app for drivers and engineers is the most common mix, and every clocking lands in the same place whichever way it was made. If you are still deciding between methods, our guide to choosing a clocking in system walks through the options.

A terminal on the wall

Fingerprint, face or card readers at the entrance, for sites where staff do not carry phones or you want everyone to pass one fixed point. They arrive configured and our own engineers can fit them. See clocking in machines

The mobile app

Staff clock in and out on their own phone, with the GPS position saved at the moment of clocking only. It also clocks without signal and sends the record when the phone reconnects. About the Syncro Connect app

A browser

Office staff clock from their computer with no extra hardware at all. Useful alongside a terminal for the people who are never near it.

Biometric clocking makes it much harder for one person to clock in for another, but it is special category data under UK GDPR. Card, fob, app and browser clocking avoid that entirely. Our biometric versus RFID comparison sets out the trade-off.

Why the hours have to be right at source

Payroll can only be as accurate as the hours that go into it. When those hours are remembered, rounded by hand or typed in twice, mistakes reach people’s pay.

1 in 4

UK employees say they have been paid incorrectly, according to research for the Global Payroll Association reported by HR Magazine.

£5.8m

in minimum wage arrears identified by HMRC for 25,200 workers in 2024 to 2025, in the government’s enforcement report. Unpaid working time is a common cause.

Clocking is where Syncro Connect starts

Once everyone is clocking in, the same records can run the rest of the working day. Add what you need, when you need it, and the same records grow into full workforce management. Prices exclude VAT.

Leave Connect

Holiday and absence in the same records, with live balances and Bradford Factor reporting.

Included

Syncro Flexi

Running flexi balances against expected hours, with core hours, limits and automatic settlement.

Included

Syncro Kiosk

Self service on a shared tablet for staff who do not use a phone at work.

With the app, £3 in total

Fire Connect

A live list of who is on site for marshals at the assembly point, drawn from who is clocked in.

£395 a year

Visitor Connect

Visitor sign in and out at reception, on the same on site list as your staff.

£495 a year

Access Connect

Door access using the same cards and fobs staff clock in with.

£395 a year plus hardware

Clocking in software compared with timesheets and basic apps

If you have a handful of staff on fixed hours who all start together, paper may be enough, and we will tell you so. Once shifts, overtime or more than one site come in, this is where the difference shows.

  Syncro Connect Paper or spreadsheet timesheets Basic clocking apps
How time is recorded Terminal, app or browser, at the moment it happens Written down or typed into a spreadsheet later App only
Breaks, rounding and overtime Worked out by your rules Worked out by hand Usually basic or none
Missed clockings Flagged for a manager the next day Found on pay day, if at all Varies
Clocking for someone else Much harder with biometrics or GPS Nothing to stop it Some checks
Getting hours into payroll Export file for Sage, Pegasus or QuickBooks Typed in again Often a spreadsheet
Records of hours worked Kept, with every change logged Paper that is easy to lose Varies
Holiday, flexi and fire roll call On the same records Separate systems Usually separate
Cost From £2 per employee per month excl. VAT No licence fee, but hours of admin every pay period Varies

Up and running in days rather than weeks

You can start a free trial and make your first clocking in minutes. For a full rollout, this is what happens.

Reports are yours to build from the start, and our help centre covers every screen.

  1. Bring your staff acrossStaff can be imported from a spreadsheet, so nobody types the whole workforce in by hand.
  2. Your rules, handledRotating and split shifts, night rates, rounding, break deductions and overtime thresholds. If your rules are why the spreadsheet broke, tell us what they are.
  3. Terminals arrive readyAny clocking machines come configured, and our own engineers can fit and test them on site. App and browser clocking need nothing installed.
  4. Training, then a phone numberManagers and staff are shown how it works, and afterwards you call the same Leeds team, not a ticket queue overseas.

What it costs

£2

per employee per month for Syncro Connect, including clocking, absence and flexi.

£3

per employee per month with the Syncro Connect app and Syncro Kiosk for self service.

From £395

one off for a clocking terminal, if you want one. Plenty of customers never buy hardware.

All prices exclude VAT. No setup fees. Billed annually, with monthly billing also available. Fifty staff on the software alone comes to £100 a month.

Used across UK industries

More than 800 UK organisations use Computime. Schools and trusts have their own system, Edu Connect.

Clocking in, in action

See the three ways staff clock in

Twenty seconds on how staff clock in with Syncro Connect, and what managers see once they have.

  • Clock in on a face or fingerprint terminal
  • Clock in from the web software on any computer
  • Clock in on their own phone with the Syncro Connect app
  • See who is in, and how they clocked in, on one live list
Three waysto clock in

Clocking in software questions, answered

If yours is not here, call the Leeds team on 0113 350 9043.

What is clocking in software?
Clocking in software records the time each employee starts and finishes work, from a terminal, a phone or a browser, and turns those clockings into hours for payroll. It applies your rules for breaks, rounding and overtime, flags missed or unusual clockings for a manager, and keeps a record of hours worked. Syncro Connect does this from £2 per employee per month excluding VAT.
How can I clock staff in and out and get attendance reports without typing anything in?
Use clocking in software that takes clockings directly from a terminal or an app and works out the hours itself. With Syncro Connect, staff clock on a terminal, the mobile app or a browser, shifts and rules are applied automatically, and attendance, lateness and overtime reports come from the same records. Approved hours then export as a file ready for Sage, Pegasus or QuickBooks.
Is clocking in software worth it for a small business?
Usually yes, and it is easy to check. At £2 per employee per month excluding VAT, a 20 person business pays £40 a month. If collating timesheets takes someone two hours a week, it has paid for itself before you count a single payroll correction. It is less clear cut for a very small team on fixed hours who all start together, and in that case we will say so. Our guide to clocking systems for small businesses goes through it.
Is clocking in software legal in the UK?
Yes. UK working time rules expect employers to keep adequate records of hours worked, and clocking in software is one way to do that. Clocking data is personal data under UK GDPR, so tell staff what is recorded and why. Biometric clocking is special category data and needs a lawful basis and usually a data protection impact assessment. Our UK GDPR guide for employers and the ICO’s guidance cover what you need.
Can someone clock in from home and pretend they are on site?
Not without it showing. When staff clock on the mobile app, the GPS position is saved with that clocking, so a manager can see where it was made. GPS is recorded at the moment of clocking only, not tracked through the day. If you need certainty that people are physically at the door, a terminal on site is the better option.
Will staff object to clocking in?
Some will if it is introduced badly. The worry is usually being watched rather than clocking itself, so be clear about what is recorded: when someone starts and finishes, not what they do in between. Staff gain something too, because overtime is recorded accurately rather than remembered. Telling people before you roll it out, rather than after, makes the difference.
Do we need clocking terminals, or is the app enough?
The app is enough for many businesses, especially field and office teams. Terminals make sense where staff do not carry phones at work, where you want one fixed point everyone passes, or where you need to know the person clocking is the person working. Plenty of sites use both, feeding the same records.
Does the app work without a signal?
Yes. The Syncro Connect app can record a clocking without signal and sends it when the phone reconnects, so a basement or a remote site does not lose the shift. Syncro Kiosk, the shared tablet for self service, does need an internet connection.
How do hours get into payroll?
Once a manager approves them, Syncro Connect exports hours as a file ready for Sage, Pegasus or QuickBooks, so nothing is typed in again. It is an export, not a live link to your payroll software. If you use a payroll package we have not listed, tell us which and we will show you what the export looks like before you commit.
What happens if someone forgets to clock in or out?
It is flagged as an exception in the Clocking Hub rather than silently losing the shift. A manager corrects the time, and the change is logged with who made it and when. That is the real advantage over paper: a missed clocking is visible the next day rather than discovered on pay day. We cover more of these in 5 common problems solved by modern clocking systems.
Where is our data stored?
In the UK. Syncro Connect is cloud software with data held in the UK, and access is limited to the people you set up, with changes logged. You remain the data controller for your staff records, so your own privacy notice still needs to cover clocking.
Can we try it before committing?
Yes. The free trial needs no card and gives you the software, the mobile app and absence management. If your shift rules are complicated, a demo is often more useful, because we can show the system handling your situation rather than a generic example.

See your first clocking today

Start a free trial with no card, or book a demo and we will set it up around your shifts while you watch.

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