Employee time tracking

Easily track time spent on projects for yourself, remote employees, and outsourced teams

As your business grows, it can get more difficult to accurately track time. You need to know what your employees are doing and what projects are being worked on. This is especially true for businesses with remote employees, outsourced teams, or workers that are on the computer all day.

Simple employee time tracking and project management

Track and analyze time spent on each project, client, or task

Accurately track time down to the second to bill clients and pay employees correctly

No extra cost to set up payroll in the preferred payment program – all currencies are supported

Use on computers, tablets, and mobiles to track time online and off

Comes with the option to manually edit time – and more

One dashboard to rule them all

Easy time tracking for businesses. Ready, set, go!

Imagine how much more efficient your business would be if you could easily track your and your employees’ time at work.

Time Doctor makes time tracking for businesses simple. Users can create tasks and start tracking time with the click of a button. Just click on and off for each task and let us do the rest! You’ll find a productivity analysis in the Time Doctor dashboard, which both employees and managers have access to. There are even automatic alerts when your computer is idle to help keep you and your team on track.

Automate time tracking to simplify your life and focus on what really matters

Simply sign up and invite your employees to download Time Doctor. It will automatically monitor what your employees do on their computers during working hours and show how much time they spend on projects.

Employers and managers can enjoy the peace of mind knowing their employees are on schedule and on task. If you have 20+ employees, our onboarding team is available to help you get started.

Instantly improve the way you run business with Time Doctor time tracking

Improve your company’s efficiency and billing with Time Doctor. The immediate results include more accurate time tracking, billing, and payroll. In the long term, you can expect improved productivity for the whole company.

Increase productivity at work by analyzing your and your employees’ time. Time Doctor tracks the total time worked by every person on your team, providing a straightforward breakdown of time use. Customizable features in the dashboard let you control what you track and analyze.

One dashboard to rule them all

Find all your reports here, including easy-to-read summary reports of the time spent on each project, client, and task. Daily, weekly, and monthly summary reports are available to help you quickly analyze behavior patterns. Instantly change any habits that waste time or cost the company extra money.

Additionally, you can see how much time is being spent at the computer vs. away and how long breaks last. Hold yourself and your employees accountable at work – even if they’re hundreds of miles away. Time management doesn’t get any easier than this!

Easily integrate with 60+ apps.

Track time spent in them automatically

Explore Time Doctor’s key features

Employee Monitoring

Understand how your people are working with an employee-friendly tool

Payroll

Simplify your payroll process with automated timesheets

Guide

How to master employee time tracking and boost team performance

Do you know how much time your employees actually spend working each day?

If you’re managing a remote, hybrid, or even in-office team, chances are the answer isn’t crystal clear. Without a reliable employee time tracking system in place, it’s difficult to see where work hours really go and even harder to spot the issues eating into your team’s performance.

Employee time tracking is like a business dashboard. Just as financial reports help you track income and expenses, time tracking lets you see how your team spends each minute of the workday.

When that visibility is missing, several problems tend to creep in:

Productivity slips due to constant distractions and poor task focus

Labor costs rise from unnoticed payroll errors, time theft, or buddy punching

Distributed workforce management becomes harder without real-time data.

Attendance tracking becomes inconsistent, especially for flexible or shift-based teams.

Project timelines stretch without clear insight into task progress.

Employees feel disconnected, and engagement quietly drops.

Manual employee timesheets or outdated templates lead to inaccuracies that disrupt billing, payroll, and reporting.

Performance reviews lack the context needed for fair, data-informed feedback.

These issues impact daily workflows, profit margins, team morale, and long-term growth.

So, how can you gain control without micromanaging your team?

This guide explains employee time tracking, what to watch out for, and how modern tools like Time Doctor can help you improve productivity, accountability, and time management.

Employee time tracking records how, where, and when your team members spend their work hours. It helps managers and business owners understand daily workflows, improve payroll accuracy, and make better decisions using real-time productivity analytics.

Think of it as using a fitness tracker. Just like a smartwatch counts your steps and shows how your day is spent, time tracking tools reveal how your team works throughout the day. Instead of guessing where the time goes, you have visibility into actual work patterns.

In other words, it’s about knowing how work gets done across your team, whether it’s remote, hybrid, or in-office.

Most time tracking apps have useful features such as attendance tracking, task management, detailed reports, and workforce analytics. Many also integrate with payroll systems, HR platforms, and project management tools to streamline your workflow and improve team coordination.

Now that you know what employee time tracking is and why it matters, let’s look at the different ways to track time and what each method can tell you about how your team works.

There are several ways to track employee time, and each method offers different levels of detail:

Manual employee timesheets

Manual time tracking includes any method where employees record their work hours without automation. This could mean filling out paper forms, entering data into spreadsheets, or using a physical time clock system.

While these methods are still used in some in-office setups, they often come with common issues:

Time entries can be forgotten, rushed, or filled out inaccurately
Payroll errors are more likely without proper checks.
Managers have limited visibility into actual productivity.
Attendance tracking becomes inconsistent, especially across shifts or job sites.

Manual processes also make it harder to apply workforce analytics or spot trends over time.

Digital timesheets

Digital time tracking allows employees to enter work hours using online forms, mobile apps, or time tracking platforms. It’s more convenient than paper, especially for hybrid and in-office teams with set schedules.

But since it still depends on manual input, it often brings similar issues:

Employees may forget to clock in their hours or enter them late, unless helpful notifications remind them.
Time entries can be misreported or estimated inaccurately.
It doesn’t track real-time activity or screen usage.
Managers lack full visibility into daily workflows or productivity levels

While digital timesheets are easier to manage than paper ones, they still fall short regarding accuracy, accountability, and productivity insights.

Employee time tracking software

This type of time tracking runs automatically in the background. It records work hours in real time, monitors app and website usage, and can support screen monitoring when needed.

It’s designed to reduce errors and help both employees and managers stay focused on work instead of admin.

It solves common tracking challenges:

Captures accurate time data without relying on memory
Tracks productivity patterns across projects and tools
Supports attendance and activity monitoring with minimal effort
Syncs with payroll systems, HR tools, and task management platforms
Delivers real-time workforce analytics for smarter decisions

Employee time tracking software is a practical choice for businesses that need reliable data, less manual work, and better visibility into team performance.

Project-based tracking

This method allows employees to log hours based on specific tasks, projects, or clients. It’s commonly used by service teams, agencies, and freelancers who need accurate client billing and payroll records.

Project-based tracking offers more than just time logs:

Helps manage billable hours with better accuracy
Improve visibility into task progress and deadlines
Supports resource planning and smarter project budgeting across remote, hybrid, and in-office teams.
Makes client invoicing easier with clear work hour reports
Connects with productivity analytics to spot project delays or overwork

This approach works well for distributed workforce setups and teams juggling multiple priorities. It gives managers the insights they need to plan ahead, balance workloads, and deliver work on time.

Whether you're managing a small business or a large distributed workforce, time tracking helps you understand who is working on what, when they’re working, and how long each task takes. Most importantly, it helps your team stay focused, organized, and aligned with business goals.

Time is one of your most valuable business resources. When it's not tracked properly, you risk losing more than minutes. Your team’s focus, project timelines, and labor costs can all be affected, often without warning.

Employee time tracking provides a clearer view of how work hours are actually spent across remote, hybrid, and in-office teams. Without that insight, it becomes difficult to understand performance patterns, monitor workloads, or plan ahead with confidence.

Here’s why many businesses rely on time tracking:

Untracked time leads to unnoticed productivity loss

Unproductive work hours often go unnoticed because there’s no system to show where time is being spent or which tasks are taking too long.

Payroll errors increase without accurate records

Payroll errors and time theft become more common when accurate time records aren’t available, especially within a distributed workforce.

Projects run off track without time data

Project delays and budget overruns are harder to catch early when task timelines aren’t tracked.

Admin work piles up with manual processes

Manual admin work increases when managers have to chase down missing timecards or fix attendance logs.

Performance reviews lack context

Employee monitoring lacks context when performance feedback is based on assumptions instead of actual time data.

Limited tracking reduces visibility

Unproductive work hours often go unnoticed because there’s no system to show where time is being spent or which tasks are taking too long.

Flexibility suffers without structure

Flexible work arrangements create confusion when there’s no standard way to measure attendance and output.

These challenges may start small but can eventually affect overall team performance, workplace culture, and profitability.

Employee time tracking gives your team the clarity to work better. It’s not just about tracking employee hours. It helps managers and employees make smarter, faster daily decisions when used correctly.

Here’s how it works in practice:

Helps employees structure their day

When employees track their time, they gain insight into how their day is spent. This makes it easier to plan focused work blocks, reduce multitasking, and stay on track with deadlines. This is especially useful across remote or hybrid setups.

Gives managers real-time visibility into workload

Time tracking tools with automatic time capture and screen monitoring show managers which projects are moving and which are falling behind. As a result, they can step in sooner, reassign tasks, and keep team collaboration on point.

Highlights task priorities

With accurate data on how long tasks take, employees and managers can shift priorities based on effort and impact. This is helpful in a distributed workforce where goals, tools, or time zones may differ.

Supports better use of breaks and downtime

When employees can see their own work patterns, they’re more likely to use time wisely during breaks and prevent burnout.

In addition, managers can use attendance and activity data to spot when someone is overworked or underutilized.

It creates space for deep work

Knowing that time is being tracked encourages teams to set aside distraction-free time for high-focus tasks. This improves concentration without relying on micromanagement, even in busy or noisy work environments.

Improves one-on-one check-ins

With productivity analytics in hand, managers can lead more valuable check-ins. Instead of guessing, they can focus on performance trends, support needs, and smarter planning. Employee time tracking does not rely on assumptions. Instead, it turns daily activity into clear, valuable insights that help your entire team work more effectively.

Tracking employee time effectively starts with choosing a method that fits your team’s actual workflow. Whether your setup is remote, hybrid, or on-site, the goal is to make it easy to track time without slowing anyone down.

Here’s how to do it right:

Start with your team’s workflow

Take a close look at how your team works.

Do they follow fixed shifts or flexible hours?
Are they task-focused or client-billed?

Understanding this helps you choose a time tracking system that fits how your team already operates.

Use automated tracking for consistent data

Relying on memory or manual input creates gaps. Automated time tracking solves this by running in the background and capturing time as work happens. This leads to more accurate records and gives your team one less thing to worry about.

Add screen monitoring thoughtfully

Screen monitoring helps managers understand how work is getting done without hovering. When used with transparency and purpose, it builds accountability and supports performance reviews based on actual activity, not assumptions.

Track by project or task for more insight

Logging time against specific projects, tasks, or clients improves time reporting and gives you more valuable data.

This supports better client billing, smoother payroll, and stronger resource planning. It also helps teams stay aligned, especially in distributed workforce setups.

Choose tools with the right integrations

The most effective employee time tracking tools don’t work alone. Look for options that connect with your payroll, HR, project management, and attendance systems. Integrations reduce manual work and help keep everything in sync.

Make time for reviews as part of the routine

Data collection is only helpful if you review it. Set time each week or month to look at productivity analytics, track task durations, and adjust plans based on what’s working. This keeps your team improving without adding pressure.

Employee time tracking becomes more powerful when it fits your systems, supports your people, and helps you lead with better data. With the proper setup, you can make smarter decisions and help your team stay focused, productive, and aligned.

These challenges may start small but can eventually affect overall team performance, workplace culture, and profitability.

Time tracking only works when your team understands how it works, why it’s being used, and how it benefits them. Without buy-in, even the best time tracking software won’t deliver the insights or improvements you seek.

Here are a few practical ways to get it right:

Be transparent from the start

Let your team know why time tracking is introduced and how the data will be used. Whether you're improving attendance tracking, optimizing workflows, or gathering productivity analytics, people respond better when they feel included and informed.

Set clear and consistent policies

Create clear guidelines on tracking time, handling approvals, and how employee monitoring will work.

This is especially important for hybrid, remote, and in-office teams working on different schedules or systems.

Use tools that support your team, not slow them down

Choose employee time tracking software that’s simple, reliable, and built for real work. Look for features like automatic tracking, project-based logging, screen monitoring (if needed), and integrations with payroll and HR tools. These reduce friction and keep your workflow smooth.

Focus on building trust, not control

Time tracking should feel supportive, not restrictive. Avoid micromanagement by letting the data do the work. Use it to spot patterns, balance workloads, and guide team check-ins based on actual insights.

When time tracking is built on clear policies and open communication, it earns your team’s trust. With the right approach, it becomes a daily habit. But what happens when your team isn’t all in the same place?

That’s where employee time tracking plays an even bigger role in helping remote and hybrid teams stay connected and on track.

Managing a team that isn’t always in the same location comes with challenges, especially when people work across time zones, shifts, or flexible schedules.

Time tracking helps bridge those gaps by creating structure, clarity, and consistency.

Here’s how it supports remote and hybrid team management:

Keeps everyone aligned, no matter the location

With employee time tracking software, you don’t need to rely on daily check-ins to know who’s working and when. Managers can see work patterns across time zones, helping teams stay connected and coordinated without needing to be online at the same time.

Supports asynchronous collaboration

Remote and hybrid teams often work on different schedules. Time tracking shows when tasks are completed and how long they take, making it easier to plan handovers, track progress, and schedule time off without disrupting project momentum.

Tracks attendance and availability fairly

It’s easy to lose track of availability across flexible or part-time schedules. Time tracking tools that include attendance features help managers keep track of who’s active and when, making scheduling and planning more accurate.

Brings structure without micromanagement

For distributed workforce setups, time tracking creates a shared framework. Everyone understands how time is measured, how tasks are tracked, and what expectations look like. That consistency builds trust and reduces friction, even without in-person oversight.

Time tracking can be a powerful tool, but it’s easy to get it wrong. Without the right approach, what should help boost productivity can create confusion or even damage trust.

Here’s what to watch out for:

Turning time tracking into surveillance

When time tracking crosses the line into employee monitoring without clear boundaries, it starts to feel intrusive. Overusing screen monitoring or tracking idle time without context can quickly erode morale, especially in remote or hybrid teams.

Picking overly complex tools

Sometimes, tracking software looks great on paper but overwhelms teams with too many steps or unnecessary features. If the system is difficult to use or doesn’t fit into your daily workflow, your team will avoid or resent it.

Lack of clear communication and guidelines

Managers sometimes roll out time tracking without explaining why it's being introduced or how the data will be used. This creates confusion and resistance. Without clear policies around attendance, privacy, and task tracking, employees may not see the value in using it.

Focusing too much on hours instead of outcomes

Time data is valuable, but it’s not everything. Managers who only measure logged hours miss out on bigger insights like task progress, workload balance, and productivity analytics. This narrow focus can lead to poor planning and missed growth opportunities.

Ignoring the team’s work style

Time tracking looks different for every team. What works for an in-office team with fixed hours might not work for a distributed workforce with flexible schedules. Using a one-size-fits-all approach often leads to frustration and low engagement.

Recognizing these common missteps is the first step in building a system that is accurate, user-friendly, and trusted by everyone.

Finding the right employee time tracking software depends on your team’s size, setup, and daily workflow. The best tools simplify your work and offer transparent pricing, whether your team is remote, hybrid, or in-office.

Here’s a step-by-step approach to help you choose with confidence:

Define what you need to track

Start by identifying your top priorities. Are you looking to track billable hours, monitor task progress, manage payroll, or gather productivity analytics? Knowing your goals will help you filter out tools that don’t meet your requirements.

Compare the features that matter

Not all tools are built the same. Look for software that includes:

Automated time tracking to reduce manual input
Project and task tracking to support accurate billing and client reporting
Screen monitoring for visibility into activity without constant check-ins
Attendance and shift tracking for flexible teams
Custom reporting and productivity analytics to support smarter planning
Payroll integrations to speed up your admin process
Compatibility with tools you already use, like HR platforms or project management systems such as Asana and Trello.

These features help manage distributed workforce setups where timekeeping, visibility, and structure can be harder to maintain.

Check compliance and privacy fit

Make sure the software supports local labor laws, privacy requirements, and your internal policies. This step is critical for teams that include freelancers or flexible workers and for maintaining trust and legal coverage.

Try before you commit

Always test the tool with a trial. This helps you see how well it fits your workflow as a desktop app and across mobile. Pay attention to ease of use, feature flexibility, and the dashboard's intuitiveness for both managers and employees.

Time Doctor does not offer a free plan; however, we provide a 14-day free trial with full access to all premium features, allowing you to explore the software's capabilities before committing to a paid subscription.

It’s built to support both small teams and growing businesses, especially those working in remote, hybrid, or flexible environments.

When time tracking fits naturally into your workflow, it becomes easier to manage work, make informed decisions, and confidently support your team.

Time tracking continues to evolve, making it easier for businesses to work smarter and stay compliant. As tools improve, you can expect features like:

AI-powered insights that highlight trends and support better planning

Automated compliance tracking to stay on top of labor laws and overtime rules

Stronger integrations with payroll, HR, and productivity platforms

These updates mean less manual work, more precise data, and better support for your team. The future of time tracking isn’t about control. It’s about giving teams the structure and flexibility they need to do their best work.

Is now the right time to start using time tracking?

Ask yourself:

Do you want to improve productivity across your team?
Are minor payroll errors costing you more time and money than they should?
Is time theft quietly affecting your labor costs?
Do you lack clear visibility into how work gets done, especially with remote or hybrid setups?

If any of that sounds familiar, then now is the right time to take action.

With the right employee time tracking software, you can structure your workflow, support your team more effectively, and lead with better insights.

Time Doctor helps you do just that. It combines time tracking, productivity analytics, screen monitoring, task and project tracking, payroll and HR integrations, and support for remote, hybrid, and in-office teams. All in one simple platform.

Lead smarter, build a stronger team, and prevent micromanagement with Time Doctor.

Employee time tracking

Easily track time spent on projects for yourself, remote employees, and outsourced teams

Simple employee time tracking and project management

One dashboard to rule them all

Easy time tracking for businesses. Ready, set, go!

Automate time tracking to simplify your life and focus on what really matters

Instantly improve the way you run business with Time Doctor time tracking

One dashboard to rule them all

Easily integrate with 60+ apps.

Explore Time Doctor’s key features

Employee Monitoring

Payroll

How to master employee time tracking and boost team performance

When that visibility is missing, several problems tend to creep in:

What is employee time tracking and how does it work?

4 effective ways to track employee time (and what each method reveals)

Why should employers use employee time tracking software?

How can an employee time tracking tool improve productivity?

6 proven methods to manage employee time tracking for any team

Best practices for employee time tracking

Managing remote and hybrid teams with time tracking

What are the common mistakes managers make with time tracking?

How can employers choose the best employee time tracking software?

The future of employee time tracking

Is now the right time to start using time tracking?

Ready to transform your workplace?

FAQs

How much does Time Doctor cost?

How long does it take to get started with Time Doctor?

Is Time Doctor secure and compliant with privacy regulations?

Does Time Doctor offer clock-on/clock-off and field tracking?

How will using Time Doctor go over with my team?

What if my team comes back to the office?

Can employees turn off time tracking during breaks or non-work time?

What industries benefit most from employee time tracking?

How does time tracking work with freelancers or contractors?

Can employee time tracking software work offline?

What are some common employee concerns about time tracking?

How long should employee time tracking data be stored?

Is time tracking legal in all countries?

Can employees view their own tracked data?

Does time tracking support shift work or rotating schedules?

What happens if someone forgets to track their time?

Can managers see everything employees do on their computers?

Can employee time tracking data be used in performance evaluations?

Can employees pause tracking during non-work activities?

Will time tracking affect device performance?

What does the onboarding process look like for employers?

Take productivity out of the black box