What Is QuickBooks Time? QuickBooks Time Features, Pricing, and Alternatives

QuickBooks Time is a feature-rich time-tracking and workforce management software for field and mobile teams. Its main purpose is to solve data flow and coordination problems that appear when time data is spread across departments, job sites, or projects and must be shared between operations, payroll, and accounting. In large companies, manual timesheets or disconnected tools often lead to delays, data mismatches, and limited oversight of who is working where and on which tasks.

mockups of quickbooks views on desktop and mobile

If you, just like many QuickBooks users, are especially interested in the payroll and invoicing part of this time-tracking software, your best bet is to integrate QuickBooks Time with QuickBooks Online accounting software. This way, you can create a comprehensive time and accounting ecosystem for your company, where all the relevant employee activity, HR, and payroll data are stored and processed seamlessly.

QuickBooks Time aids you in managing and monitoring four key areas in your company:

Employee time tracking: With this tool, your employees can clock in or out with one click on desktop or mobile (QuickBooks Time comes with both a QuickBooks desktop app and a mobile time-tracking app) and add timesheets in an easy manner. As a result, you can keep track of your employee activity (also through GPS tracking).
Employee scheduling: QuickBooks Time makes creating shifts and assigning employees a quick and easy task. All you need to do is select the time and day, assign the shift, and share it with your employees when you’re ready. If you want to repeat the shift schedule, you can do so with just one click.
Project and budget tracking: This platform allows you to track time against clients, projects, and tasks. This way, you can easily compare budgeted hours to actual hours worked. With such insight, you can analyze your project’s profitability or use the time tracked to create invoices based on billable hours.
Payroll: QuickBooks is a comprehensive accounting software, so it enables you to choose your pay schedules and frequencies and set payroll to run automatically. Keep in mind, though, that the QuickBooks Payroll feature comes with a separate paid subscription.

Apart from those main features, QuickBooks Time offers some additional functions, such as geofencing. QuickBooks uses GPS transing, GPS points, and mileage tracking to log clocked-in employees’ locations during the workday. Lastly, QuickBooks offers extensive analytics features that allow you to understand project profitability, optimize projects, understand profits, and plan your resourcing. All you need is an internet connection.

What is QuickBooks Time and Why Do Enterprises Use It?

QuickBooks Time is a workforce time tracking and scheduling software used by many companies to manage employee hours, job assignments, and analyze and process labor data across multiple teams and locations. It especially comes in handy for companies with field staff, shift workers, or project-based operations, where location, time, and scheduling data must be shared among supervisors, payroll teams, and finance departments.

That profile makes it a good choice for large companies, even those operating on an international level.

Job scheduling is a big part of how the platform can be used in your company. QuickBooks Time enables you to create shift schedules by time and day, assign them to employees, and publish updates with just a few clicks. Managers can adjust schedules, copy previous weeks, and make changes from their mobile apps (including the QuickBooks Workforce mobile app) when staffing needs change.

On the other hand, employees receive notifications when new shifts are added or modified, thus reducing coordination issues across locations or job sites. All schedules are stored centrally, allowing teams in different departments to reference the same plan and maintain consistency as your organization grows.

Businesses using QuickBooks Time save up to 4% on gross payroll costs and reduce payroll processing time by roughly 2 hours per run.

How Does QuickBooks Time Work in Enterprise Environments?

QuickBooks Time integrates with other Intuit tools, such as QuickBooks online payroll to help you create a comprehensive, enterprise-grade system for your company. Most large companies use QuickBooks to create a shared system for collecting and distributing labor-related data across operations, payroll, and finance.

Take a look at the main areas that QuickBookc can help you with:

Area	Description
Workforce tracking	QuickBooks’ workforce app enables you to track time and access pay information in one place. Your team can clock in and clock out from any place, employees can view their pay stubs, and know who’s working where and on what. This way, you can maintain organization and effective use of your team’s resources. Some users report, though, that QuickBooks Time is feature-rich but has issues with unreliable overtime tracking.
Team and project coordination	You can use QuickBooks Time to coordinate staffing and project work across many managers and departments. Scheduling data, job assignments, and billable hours are shared within one system, which allows your managers to adjust staffing levels and quickly respond to changes in demand or employee availability. The project management module in QuickBooks Time allows users to create projects with start and end dates, addresses, and GPS coordinates.
Reporting and analytics	QuickBooks Time offers customizable reports that help you analyze activity and profitability data. As a result, you can create better project estimates, optimize your company’s time use, and improve productivity. Some users have noted that QuickBooks Time’s reporting module lacks a dashboard for real-time updates, making it less effective for decision-making. QuickBooks Time provides a robust reporting module that allows users to generate various reports for analysis.
Mobile management	With QuickBooks Time, you can manage your team’s time from anywhere. This is where QuickBooks Time mobile app comes in handy. With this tool, you can log clocked-in employees’ locations during the workday, set up notifications to remind them to clock in and out, and see who’s working when they are on the clock. In fact, QuickBooks time app comes with all the main features you will find in the desktop version of the platform.

What Types of Organizations Benefit Most from QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time is primarily for companies that want to integrate time-tracking data with employee scheduling, payroll and invoicing. That said, QuickBooks Time works best for mid-sized, large, and growing companies that manage multiple teams, job sites, or ongoing projects but do not require highly customized enterprise workforce platforms. This tool offers a good middle ground between simple time-tracking apps, such as Clockify, and advanced, enterprise-grade ERP systems.

This tool focuses on the practical aspects of managing time, especially when it comes to invoicing, payroll, and client settlements. With this tool, you can streamline payroll and optimize the use of your company’s time and resources.

QuickBooks Online will also work great for companies with a location-based workforce. This is where QuickBooks’ shift scheduling and managing field teams can really shine. You can also consider using QuickBooks Time if you’re already using other tools offered by Intuit, and you’d like to get a more comprehensive view of your company’s activity and resources.

That said, you should keep in mind that even though QuickBooks Online can work well for large companies, it’s probably not the best choice for the largest, multinational organizations. If that’s the case with your business, you’re probably better off with a more ERP-focused software.

How Much Does QuickBooks Time Cost for Enterprise Teams?

QuickBooks Time charges a base fee on both of its plans for essential services, and it comes in two pricing plans:

QuickBooks Time Premium: Time Premium is designed for organizations that need structured time tracking, employee scheduling, and payroll integration in a single system. It supports mobile and location-based time entry, job and shift scheduling, time-off management, and real-time reporting.
QuickBooks Time Elite: This pricing plan is for larger and more demanding companies. Basically, Time Elite includes everything that’s available in Time Premium and adds additional features, such as mileage tracking, tools to track project progress against plans, reporting on project estimates versus actual hours, a project activity feed, timesheet signatures for approvals, and geofencing to prompt employees to clock in when they arrive on site.

All plans include one free admin license.

So, what about service fees? Currently, the Time Premium plan has a base price of $30 per month (+$10 per user/month, which includes one admin), and the Time Elite plan has a base price of $55 per month (+$15 per user/month). With such a payment structure, you can easily scale your tool as your company grows. All you need to do is just add more users to your account! What’s also worth noting is that oftentimes, some discounts are available. For example, discounts are available for the first three months under current promotions. QuickBooks Time offers a 30-day free trial for all plans.

However, QuickBooks Time is often considered pricey compared to other time-tracking solutions.

Which Popular Business Tools Integrate with QuickBooks Time

In larger organizations, QuickBooks Time is usually integrated with accounting and payroll tools, so that all the financial and employee data flows between departments and can be utilized for calculations, project estimates, invoicing, and more. As we’ve already mentioned, QuickBooks Time is a part of a larger bookkeeping environment provided by Intuit, so you can easily set those tools up the way you need to streamline work.

Apart from financial and HR tools, QuickBooks Online can be integrated with many third-party apps that help you manage your business, manage sales, manage data, and manage your workforce. In most cases, the QuickBooks integration is very easy to implement by just enabling it in your dashboard. Take a look at some of the most popular tools that QuickBooks Online can be integrated with:

Customer management: Hiver, ServiceDeck, OnePage CRM, etc.
Employees and payroll: Jibble, ClayHR, Timeero, etc.
Accounting and finance: Stripe, Dext, Syft Analytics, etc.
CMS systems: Wix, WooCommerce, Shopify, etc.

How Do Enterprises Get Started With Time Tracking with QuickBooks Time?

The process itself is relatively easy. In most cases, you’ll need a centralized setup that encompasses your entire organization. Typically, operations, HR, or finance departments lead the process. What matters most is to adjust the tool to your company’s structure and needs. You may need to define departments, job types, and locations to configure QuickBooks Time correctly.

The next step is to integrate the time tracking app and job scheduling with payroll and approval workflows. That’s why it’s so beneficial to connect QuickBooks Time with other Intuit tools available. If you don’t know how to start or which plan will be best for you, you can schedule a free 30-minute call with a QuickBooks consultant. Based on the provided details (e.g., company size and industry), they will help you select the option that allows you to track time, manage employees, and adjust your payroll process.

Once you figure those aspects of the tool configuration out, you can start using the tool. To do so, you need to go to the QuickBooks website and select the plan you want to go with. The tool will ask you for your account details, such as email address, password, and phone number.

If you need help with the onboarding process, you can use QuickBooks’ Help Centre or contact their customer support team.

What Are the Best Alternatives to QuickBooks Time?

Depending on your actual needs and business profile, you have a broad selection of many great tools that work well in the enterprise environment. Here are some of the tools you can research:

Clockify
Toogl Track
Harvest
Hubstaff

Timeero is another popular alternative to QuickBooks Time, offering features like GPS tracking and geofencing.

Many of those tools work better for small businesses, primarily because they are easier to use. Also, some alternatives to QuickBooks Time offer automatic time tracking, which can reduce manual entry errors.

There are also tools you can use regardless of the company size. That’s what we offer here at TimeCamp. While workforce monitoring and time tracking are our core offerings, our platform comprises many other features that help you with budgeting, invoicing, attendance & PTO tracking, and more.

If you’re looking for a relatively simple tool, TimeCamp offers a free plan that works with unlimited projects and users. Our pricing plans start at just $3.99 per user/month. You can start today with a free trial.

Try best time management app!

Free time tracking & easy attendance, project profitability analysis and precise billing.

What Support and Resources Does QuickBooks Time Offer Enterprises?

QuickBooks Time’s customer support options include phone, live chat, and a community forum, but users have reported mixed experiences with support quality. Both Premium and Elite users get unlimited access to QuickBooks’ support, which includes two main elements (at no additional cost):

Help Centre: It’s an online repository of knowledge and free resources that QuickBooks provides for its users. Here, you will find FAQs and user guides to streamline your work with the platform.
QuickBooks Community: It’s an online space where you can post questions, find answers, and chat with other users about working with this tool.

if you need to talk to sales or ask a human consultant for help, you can also call QuickBooks’ helpline.

Frequently Asked Questions About QuickBooks Time

Do I need a QuickBooks Online account to use QuickBooks Time?

No. You can use QuickBooks Time as a standalone software (if you’re mostly after time-tracking data) or integrate it with QuickBooks Online and other tools in the Intuit offer.

Can I use QuickBooks Time on my mobile device?

Yes, QuickBooks comes with desktop and mobile apps for Android and iOS. There is also a QuickBooks Workforce mobile app that allows your employees to clock in and out directly from their phones (even if they are outside of cell service). The app has been described as ideal for businesses with a mobile or field workforce, such as field sales agents and delivery drivers. Keep in mind, though, that some users report that the mobile app for QuickBooks Time is user-friendly but has some glitches that can be frustrating for administrators.

What is geofencing?

The app’s geofencing feature helps ensure employees clock in only when they are within designated job sites. This feature improves accountability and helps you keep track of your employees’ locations. Additionally, QuickBooks Time uses geofencing and facial recognition to prevent time theft and enhance payroll accuracy. You also need to know that geofencing enables the software to block punches or send reminders if an employee is outside a designated job site.

Does TimeCamp integrate with QuickBooks?

Yes, our platform can be integrated with QuickBooks and many other accounting tools. If you’d like to know more, read this guide on QuickBooks integration here.

Does QuickBooks Time offer a free trial?

Yes, if you decide to go with a full pricing plan, you get a 30-day free trial (for both Time Premium and Time Elite plans).

How does QuickBooks help me stay compliant?

The software can be configured to track breaks and calculate overtime according to specific company policies or state laws. Additionally, the software helps businesses stay compliant and control labor costs by flagging potential overtime or attendance issues. Lastly, the break tracker in QuickBooks Time helps ensure employees are well-rested while complying with federal and state laws.

Is QuickBooks Time the Right Enterprise Solution for Your Organization?

QuickBooks online is potentially a good choice if you’re looking for a tool that helps you track your employees’ activity (QuickBooks Time offers mileage tracking to accurately log business miles for field employees) and streamline HR and accounting processes. This tool is especially for companies that operate in the field, have many locations, and work on multiple projects.

However, if you’re looking for a flexible, enterprise-grade tool, it may be worth exploring alternatives. For example, TimeCamp has even more extensive functionality (regarding both time tracking and employee activity monitoring), and it can be integrated with your accounting software. Plus, we offer automated time tracking, so your involvement is minimal.

So, if you want to have in-depth time tracking and productivity data that you can use to optimize processes in your company and eliminate potential inefficiencies, TimeCamp is your best bet.

We invite you to start a free trial or opt for one of the paid subscriptions (you can upgrade at any time). Start for free here:

Get to know where your time goes with TimeCamp!

Track time in projects and tasks, create reports, and bill your clients in just one tool.

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Ola Rybacka Product Marketer and Content Specialist at TimeCamp. Remote worker advocate; has been working from home for 10+ years so far. Knows TimeCamp far and wide and does her best to translate the technical jargon into reader-friendly English to help users gain better understanding of our time tracker. Feels best in writing, but is also open for creating short video explainers. Privately, passionate about any form of Japanese culture and has been learning 日本語 for 4 years so far to devour animes and mangas in their native language.

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