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.
