PROS / This time card software offers every time-tracking feature and administrative tool we looked for in our review: automatic accrual calculations, California overtime, alerts and notifications, and a convenient scheduler.
CONS / Help and support options are limited.
VERDICT / It’s not as intuitive as other time card programs, but RealTime delivers several powerful tools for tracking employees’ time.
In our review of the best time clock software, RealTime by Sundial Time Systems makes a strong showing. It includes many robust features that several other time card solutions lack, such as the ability to track shift differentials and a shift scheduler so you can assign and track employee’s specific work hours. It also has a very clean interface that is laid out well and is easy to maneuver. Because of these features and its ease of use, we awarded RealTime the Top Ten Reviews.
Sundial Time Systems offers many different types of time-tracking software, including programs with advanced physical time clocks that include fingerprint and face print security. Sundial also offers a mobile solution.
For our review, we tested and evaluated its online time tracking system, RealTime. The specific version we tested allows up to 10 employees to clock in and out on an unlimited number of computers for a yearly subscription. (You can limit this to one computer with IP restrictions if you desire.) RealTime can be used in conjunction with the physical time clocks, also available from Sundial.
Interface Experience
In order for employees to clock in, they first must log into their employee portal. This requires the employee to have a user name, password and company number, which is assigned by Sundial. Once in the portal, your employees can then punch in by clicking the AutoPunch button. This may seem like a lot of steps for an employee to remember, particularly if you have members of your staff who are not computer savvy. RealTime earned a 79 percent on our employee ease of use score because of the extra steps required; however, once the employee is logged into the individual portal, he or she can perform many functions, including requesting time off and viewing the time card, which can be a bonus depending on the needs of your company.
The administrative portal is laid out similarly to the employee portal. The main dashboard lists the employees you have set up with your account. A small green icon shows up next to each worker that is currently clocked in. You can also be alerted if there is a time card issue that needs to be taken care of, such as if an entry needs to be modified or there’s a time-off request that needs to be approved. You can also add new employee profiles or edit existing employee information easily within the admin portal.
RealTime garnered a score of 75 percent for our administrator ease-of-use tests. There are some extra steps required in creating and exporting payroll reports, which lowered the score, but these functions are available. You can export payroll reports in CSV or XLS format, which are compatible with most payroll systems and with Excel. Additionally, you can set up your system to sync with your server, which helps ensure a more accurate payroll. RealTime provides more service and software-specific files, including QuickBooks and ADP, than other employee time-tracking programs.
Time Tracking Features
You can set up the system to track overtime, holiday pay, vacation and sick time. Overtime can include California overtime calculations if this is something your company is required to follow. RealTime can also track bereavement time separate from other types of personal time off.
You can create automatic accrual tracking for the various types of time off offered by your company. RealTime can award time off with each paycheck or on an employee’s work anniversary, depending on your company’s pay rules. This automatic feature helps ensure your employees are getting time off without the added stress on you or another member of your staff in calculating these accruals. RealTime can track accruals and hours for both hourly and salary employees.
This program can also account for shift differentials and the associated pay rates. This means you don’t have to manually calculate how much an employee should be paid for a graveyard shift as opposed to a normal shift; RealTime does this for you after you have specified the different pay rates.
Administrative Tools
You can use this time and attendance software to run detailed reports on your employees. These reports can track items like late punches or the amount of time off being taken so you can easily spot any problems.
The system also provides alerts and notifications in the administrative portal so you can see messages or time-off requests from employees when you first log in. A scheduler is available as well. If you have any government contracts, RealTime’s audit tools can help you comply with the required audit trails.
Help & Support
While RealTime provides all of the features we looked for in key categories, we found it lacking in terms of its help and support. You can contact company representatives via phone or email, and representatives are very helpful and patient, in our experience. However, if you want a quick answer to questions, live chat is not available. Additionally, you can’t try to find answers on your own, as there is no knowledgebase or FAQs page. Video tutorials are also unavailable.
Summary
RealTime is a time card tracker that is a web-based punch clock that also has the capability of integrating with physical time clocks. Its functions and tools are robust and comprehensive: it covers everything, including time tracking, shift scheduling and payroll. This time card software has the most comprehensive features and tools of any application in our review; however, its help and support options are limited, especially on its website.