Digital punch clock
Keep the punch. Lose the cards.
A punch clock app is a digital replacement for the card-punching time clock on the wall. With TrackBadges, each employee punches in and out by having a printed QR badge scanned by any phone or tablet, and the app adds up the hours, applies overtime and exports the week for payroll. No time cards, no ink ribbons, no adding by hand.
- Your crew needs
- A printed badge. No app, account or phone.
- The scanner
- Any iPhone, Android phone or tablet, in its browser.
- Hardware to buy
- None. Print badges on paper or card stock.
- Setup
- About a minute, before you even sign up.
- Price
- Free for 3 people. Then $9/mo + $1.50 per person.
- Payroll
- Overtime applied. CSV for Excel, Sheets or payroll.
What a punch clock app replaces
A punch clock app keeps the habit, punch in and punch out, and drops the cards, the ribbon and the adding up. Here's what changes:
| Card punch clock | TrackBadges | |
|---|---|---|
| Punching in | Card into the slot | Badge to the camera |
| Supplies | Time cards and ink ribbons | Paper or card stock for badges |
| Lost card | Write the hours in by hand | Reissue the badge, use the PIN meanwhile |
| Weekly totals | Added up by hand | Automatic |
| Overtime | Worked out by hand | Daily and weekly thresholds applied |
| Buddy punching | Anyone can punch any card | Stopped when a supervisor scans |
| Where you can punch | Where the clock hangs | Any paired phone or tablet, at any site |
| Corrections | Pen on the card | Edits with a full history |
| Records | A box of old cards | CSV export, kept online |
Same habit: punch in, punch out
Nobody needs retraining. Where the card rack used to hang, put a tablet, or have the supervisor scan people in with their phone. Employees hold up their badge in the morning and see their name with "Clocked in"; they do it again at the end of the shift and see "Clocked out". A lunch break works the same way: punch out, punch back in.
The difference is what happens next. Each punch lands on the live who's-working board and the week's timesheet the moment it's made, stamped with the time, the scanner and its location. Nobody collects cards on Friday.
The math you stop doing
Card clocks print times. Someone still has to turn them into hours. Take one day:
- In at 7:00, out for lunch at 11:30: 4.5 hours.
- Back at 12:00, out at 3:00: 3 hours.
- Total: 7.5 hours, an 8-hour shift with a 30-minute lunch.
Now do that for every card, every day. Convert the odd minutes to decimals (7:03 to 3:47 is 8.73 hours), add up the week, and spot who passed 40. TrackBadges does all of it, with a daily overtime threshold (such as California's 8 hours) and a weekly one (40 hours) applied to every timesheet.
Rounding works the way many punch clocks do, to 5, 10 or 15 minutes, which 29 CFR 785.48(b) allows when it averages out so employees are paid for all the time they work. TrackBadges never changes the raw punches, so you can always see what was rounded. California doesn't allow rounding meal-period punches (Donohue v. AMN Services, 2021). For the details, read time clock rounding rules; to convert by hand, use minutes to decimal.
Moving from cards to badges
Switching takes about one pay period:
- Add your people. Copy the names off the card rack and paste them in.
- Print badges. Eight to a letter page, credit-card size, each with the person's name and PIN.
- Set up the scanner. Pair a tablet where the clock hangs, or the supervisor's phone, by opening the setup link.
- Run both for a week. Punch cards and scan badges, then compare the totals.
- Retire the clock. Keep the old cards: under 29 CFR 516, time cards must be kept at least two years and payroll records three.
Tell the crew the day before: same routine, new card. Hand out the badges at the clock, show the first person how to hold one up to the camera, and the rest of the line will copy them. If someone shows up without their badge, the supervisor types their PIN instead.
If you're still deciding whether to leave paper behind at all, paper timesheets vs time clock apps lays out the trade-offs.
What it costs compared with a wall unit
A wall punch clock is a box per entrance, plus cards and ribbons for as long as you use it, and it can't follow a crew to a job site. A phone or tablet you already own costs nothing extra, so the software is the only cost. Free for up to 3 people. Pro is $9 a month for your first 3 people, plus $1.50 a month for each person after that ($19.50 for 10, $42 for 25). There's no hardware or setup fee. See what a time clock costs for the full comparison.
When to keep the wall clock
If the door where people punch in has no reliable internet, keep a standalone clock: a TrackBadges scanner needs a connection while it scans. And if most of your people work alone at scattered sites, neither a wall clock nor a badge scanner suits them; a GPS app on their own phones fits better.
Frequently asked questions
What is a punch clock app?
A punch clock app records when employees start and stop work, like a card time clock, but on a phone or tablet. With TrackBadges, employees punch in and out by having their QR badge scanned, and the app totals the hours and applies overtime automatically.
Can I replace my punch card time clock with a phone?
Yes. Pair a phone or tablet as a scanner with a one-time setup link, print a QR badge for each employee, and scan the badges where people used to punch their cards. There's no app to install and nothing to mount.
Do I still need time cards?
No. Every punch is stored with its time, scanner and location, and timesheets export to CSV for payroll. Keep your old paper cards for at least two years, as 29 CFR 516 requires for time cards.
How does a punch clock app handle lunch breaks?
Punch out when lunch starts and back in when it ends, just like with cards. TrackBadges treats a break as a scan out and a scan in, and counts only the time on the clock. In California, meal-period punches can't be rounded.
Is rounding punch clock times legal?
Under federal law, yes, if it's neutral: 29 CFR 785.48(b) allows rounding to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth or quarter hour when it averages out so employees are paid for all the time they work. California doesn't allow rounding meal-period punches. This isn't legal advice; check your state.
Keep reading
- Badge time clockA badge time clock with no reader to buy: print QR ID badges for your crew and scan them with any phone or tablet. Nothing to mount. Free for 3 people.
- Kiosk time clockTurn an iPad or Android tablet into a time clock kiosk that scans employee QR badges in the browser. No app to install, no PINs to share. Free for 3 people.
- Paper timesheets vs appsPaper timesheets look free but cost hours of retyping, rounded-up times and lost sheets. Compare the yearly cost with a time clock app and switch in a week.
- Time clock costWhat a time clock costs in 2026: punch card, badge and biometric hardware, per-user app pricing, hidden costs, and year-one totals for 10- and 25-person crews.
- Time clock rounding rulesRounding punches is legal federally if it's neutral over time (29 CFR 785.48(b)). See the 7-minute rule chart, 5, 6 and 10-minute rounding, and California.
- Minutes to decimal converterConvert minutes to decimal hours for payroll (and back), with a full chart from 1 to 60 minutes. 15 minutes = 0.25, 30 = 0.50, 45 = 0.75.
Clock your crew in with one phone.
Print a QR badge for everyone and scan them in and out with any phone or tablet. Free for up to 3 people — try it with your real crew before you sign up.