What is time and attendance?
Time and attendance is the recording of when employees work: clocking in and out, shifts, breaks, overtime and absences such as holiday and sickness. Time and attendance software collects these records, checks them against schedules and working-time rules, routes them for approval and sends the approved hours to payroll so hourly pay, overtime and allowances are calculated correctly.
Also calledtime trackingT&Aworkforce time managementclocking
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- Records
- Hours, shifts, overtime, absence
- Feeds
- Payroll
- Used most by
- Hourly and shift-based workforces
How time and attendance works
Employees record time on a terminal, phone app or browser, sometimes with location checks. The system compares actual hours with the planned schedule, flags late starts, missed breaks and overtime, and applies rules such as premium rates for nights or weekends. Managers approve the timesheet, and approved hours and absences flow to payroll for the pay period. Many countries require employers to keep records of working time, which makes reliable data a compliance matter as well as a payroll one. For finance, time data drives labour cost by location or project and is the basis for accruing wages earned but not yet paid. Ordio and Personio combine scheduling or attendance with payroll, and Rippling includes time tracking on its payroll platform.
Common questions
Why connect time and attendance to payroll?+
So approved hours, overtime and absences reach payroll without re-keying, which removes a common source of pay errors for hourly and shift staff.
Is time recording a legal requirement?+
In many countries employers must keep records of working time, for example to show compliance with maximum working hours and minimum wage rules. Requirements differ by country.
How does time data help finance?+
It gives actual labour cost by location, team or project and supports accruals for hours worked but not yet paid at period end.
Time and attendance software
Part of Accountio’s accounting technology coverage · Glossary
