800+

UK businesses use Computime

35+

years, since 1989

Already use Realtime?

This is where to find what you need.

  • Employee or management portal: your company has its own address, so ask your manager or system administrator
  • Help guides: the Computime help centre
  • Support: call the Leeds team on 0113 350 9043

What is Computime Realtime?

Realtime is installed workforce management software from Computime Systems (UK) Ltd in Leeds. It records staff hours from clocking terminals and a phone app, applies your shift, overtime and pay rules, manages absence, HR records and rotas, and passes approved hours to payroll. It runs as a dedicated application on your own server or on Computime’s UK hosting, rather than in a web browser.

The name is a product name, not a description. Realtime sits alongside Syncro Connect, Computime’s cloud system, and both are written and supported by the same team.

Is Realtime right for you?

Realtime earns its place where one of these is true. If none of them is, Syncro Connect will be quicker to set up and cheaper to run, and we would rather you had the right system.

You need rotas today

Rotas are live in Realtime now. They are coming to Syncro Connect later in 2026.

You cost labour against jobs

Job costing records hours against jobs and cost codes, clocked at a terminal, in the Realtime app or in a browser, and sets them against the hours you planned. It gives you hours to take into your own costing.

Your hours are complicated

Banked hours, annualised hours, term-time contracts and pay rules that a previous system could not cope with.

You want a direct Sage Payroll link

Approved hours pass straight into Sage Payroll rather than through an export file. It is an optional module at £395 a year excl. VAT.

You want the software on your own server

Self-hosting keeps the application and database on your infrastructure, and it keeps running on your network if the internet drops.

You already run it

Many customers have been on Realtime for ten years or more. It is still developed and supported, and we will tell you if moving would make sense.

What Realtime covers

Everything runs from the same employee records, so a new starter is set up once and appears in clocking, absence, HR, rotas and the fire roll call.

Time and attendance

  • Shift patterns, rounding, breaks and overtime rules
  • Lateness and missed clockings flagged
  • Who is in, across every site
  • Rotas, banked and annualised hours

Absence

  • Holiday requests and manager approval
  • Team planner and live entitlement balances
  • Bradford Factor scores and absence trends
  • Return to work forms against each record

HR and documents

  • Employee records, contracts and right to work documents
  • Appraisals and disciplinary records
  • Documents stored and shared with staff
  • See HR software

Site safety and access

  • Fire roll call with the Computime Muster App, which marks people safe offline
  • Visitor sign in, badges and who is on site
  • Access control from the same records
  • Management and employee web portals

How Realtime compares with Syncro Connect

Both cover time and attendance, absence, HR, flexitime, access control and site safety. The differences are in how they are delivered and in a handful of features. The full comparison goes into more detail.

Feature Realtime Syncro Connect
Delivery Installed application, on your own server or our UK hosting Cloud, in a browser and the app
Time, attendance and absence Yes Yes
HR and documents Yes Yes, with HR Connect
Return to work forms Yes Yes, in Leave Connect
Flexitime Yes Yes, with Syncro Flexi
Rotas Yes Coming later in 2026
Job costing Yes, actual hours against planned hours per job No
Payroll Exports for seven payroll packages, plus direct Sage Payroll integration as an optional module Exports for seven payroll packages
Phone app Clocking in with GPS Clocking with GPS, plus holidays, balances and timesheets
Fire roll call Computime Muster App Fire Connect
Access control Yes Yes, with Access Connect
Price Quoted to your operation From £2 per employee per month excl. VAT

Payroll and clocking hardware

Realtime’s payroll export is set up and tested for Sage, Pegasus, QuickBooks, BrightPay, Xero, IRIS and ADP, each in the layout that package expects. The export is included.

If you run Sage Payroll and would rather not handle a file at all, the Sage Payroll integration passes approved hours straight in. It is an optional module at £395 a year excl. VAT, flat rather than per employee. See payroll software for how the two fit together.

Clocking terminals

  • Facial recognition and palm terminals from £395 excl. VAT
  • Fingerprint terminals from £495 excl. VAT
  • RFID card and fob readers
  • Supplied configured, and the same terminals work with Syncro Connect

All clocking hardware

What getting pay wrong costs

Pay is only as accurate as the hours behind it. HMRC’s minimum wage enforcement for 2024 to 2025 shows what happens when it is not.

£5.8m

in pay arrears identified for workers

25,000+

workers found to be owed money

£4.2m

in penalties issued to employers

Source: GOV.UK, National Minimum Wage enforcement and compliance report 2024 to 2025

Realtime keeps hours, absence and staff records in one place, so the figures that reach payroll are the ones that were recorded, not the ones that were typed up later.

What Realtime customers say

We are really pleased with our Computime solution. Introducing this system means that payroll is now processed accurately and efficiently, helping to boost morale both for our head office staff and our field teams. Real time data means we know where our employees are, allowing us to operate more efficiently.

James Dunlop, Financial Manager, Landworth Electrics

We are very pleased with the smooth implementation. Computime worked very hard to make sure installation was completed within the time frame and with minimum disruption. The in-depth training allowed us to focus on production and keeping our employees safe at work while ensuring efficiency.

Clare Barker, HR Manager, Wholebake Limited

I was tasked with sourcing a computerised time and attendance solution to replace our manual clocking system. The Computime website contained all the information I needed, making the decision straightforward. The software proved easy to use and the helpdesk was very helpful and friendly. Computime have exceeded all of our expectations and objectives. I would definitely recommend them.

Purchasing Manager, BSK Laminating

Software you can still get changed in ten years

Installed software is a longer commitment than a cloud subscription, so the question is not just whether it fits today. Realtime is our own code, written and supported by our own team in Leeds, so when your rules change we change the system rather than raise a ticket with a vendor.

It has no minimum or maximum headcount. Data is held in the UK and backed up daily, with access logged and restricted to named users. Our data security page explains how.

Realtime FAQs

What people ask us about Realtime. If yours is not here, call the Leeds team on 0113 350 9043.

What is Computime Realtime?
Realtime is installed workforce management software from Computime Systems (UK) Ltd, a Leeds company trading since 1989. It records hours from clocking terminals and a phone app, applies shift, overtime and pay rules, manages absence, HR records and rotas, and passes approved hours to payroll. It runs on your own server or on Computime’s UK hosting. It is the installed counterpart to Syncro Connect, Computime’s cloud system.
Should we choose Realtime or Syncro Connect?
Syncro Connect for most businesses: it is cloud based, quicker to set up and priced per employee. Realtime if you need rotas today, job costing, banked or annualised hours, a direct Sage Payroll link, or the software on your own server. Both cover time and attendance, absence, HR, flexitime, access control and site safety. Tell us how you work and we will say which fits.
What does installed application software mean?
Realtime runs as a dedicated application rather than in a web browser, and the software and database sit somewhere you choose: your own server or Computime’s UK hosting. If it is on your own server, it keeps working on your network when the internet connection drops.
Should we host Realtime ourselves or let Computime host it?
Self-hosting suits businesses with their own IT team and a preference for keeping data on their own infrastructure. Hosting with us suits everyone else, and means we handle the server, the backups and the updates. Either way the data is held in the UK and backed up daily. Tell us your situation and we will tell you honestly which makes more sense.
What does Realtime cost?
Realtime is quoted to your operation rather than sold at a fixed per-employee price, because the cost depends on your headcount, the modules you need and how it is hosted. The Sage Payroll integration is an optional module at £395 a year excl. VAT. Clocking terminals are a one-off cost, from £395 excl. VAT for facial recognition and palm, and from £495 for fingerprint.
How long does implementation take?
Longer than a cloud signup, and worth the difference. Our Leeds team helps you set up your staff, shift patterns, rounding rules and pay rates, configures the modules you are using, and trains your team before you go live. Terminals arrive configured. How long it takes depends on the size of your operation and how complex your rules are, which we will tell you at the quote stage rather than afterwards.
Can Realtime handle complex shift patterns, banked hours and annualised hours?
Yes, and this is where it earns its place over simpler systems. Rotating shifts, split shifts, night rates, annualised hours, banked hours, flexitime, term-time working and multi-site rules are all normal for us. If your rules are the reason a previous system did not work, tell us what they are and we will show Realtime handling them at the demo.
Does Realtime do rotas?
Yes. Rotas are live in Realtime now, planned against the same staff and shift patterns that drive clocking and absence. Rotas are coming to Syncro Connect later in 2026.
How does job costing work in Realtime?
Staff clock onto a job at a terminal, in the Realtime phone app or in a web browser, and Realtime records the hours spent on each job and cost code against the hours you planned. Realtime does not hold labour rates, so it gives you hours to take into your own costing rather than a cost in pounds. See job costing.
Does Realtime integrate with Sage Payroll?
Yes, directly, through the Sage Payroll integration, an optional module at £395 a year excl. VAT. Approved hours pass into Sage Payroll rather than being exported and imported. Without it, Realtime’s included export is set up for Sage, Pegasus, QuickBooks, BrightPay, Xero, IRIS and ADP.
Does Realtime help us comply with the Working Time Regulations?
It gives you the records, which is most of the work, but it does not do the calculation for you. Realtime records every clocking and reports total hours worked over any period you set. It does not calculate the 48 hour weekly average over the 17 week reference period or check rest breaks automatically, so that check is still yours. The gov.uk guidance on maximum weekly working hours sets out the rules.
Is there a Realtime phone app?
Yes. The Realtime app lets staff clock in and out on their phone, with GPS location recorded at the moment of clocking. Fire marshals use the Computime Muster App for the roll call, which can mark people safe without signal. For holiday requests, balances and timesheets on the phone, the Syncro Connect app goes further.
Does Realtime suit factory, warehouse and field workforces?
Yes. Factories and warehouses suit it well: shift patterns, biometric terminals at the entrance, job costing on the shop floor and a fire roll call drawn from the same clockings. Field teams can clock in with GPS on their phone. If most of your people work away from a base, Syncro Connect’s app is usually the better fit.
How is our data stored and backed up?
Data is held in the UK and backed up daily, whether Realtime is hosted by us or on your own server. Access is logged and restricted to named users. You remain the data controller for your staff data under UK GDPR. Our data security page covers retention and access in full.
What happens to our data if we stop using Realtime?
It is your data and you can take it with you. If you self-host, the database is already on your infrastructure. If we host it, we provide an export and then delete it. Worth asking any supplier before you buy, not after.
Can we move from Realtime to Syncro Connect, or the other way?
Yes. They are different architectures, so it is a migration rather than a switch, but it is a conversation with the same company rather than starting again with a new supplier, and the clocking terminals work with both. If you are not sure which system fits, say so before you buy and we will help you decide.
Who supports Realtime once it is live?
Our own team in Leeds, the same people who built the software and configured your system. There is no overseas call centre and no first line script. If your shift rules change in three years, the people who set them up are still here to change them.

Computime Realtime

Find out whether Realtime fits

Book a demo and bring your hardest shift rule. If Syncro Connect would do the job for less, we will say so.

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