Who's here, and for how long, from one scan.

QR code attendance vs time tracking

Attendance is who showed up; time tracking is how long they stayed. Plenty of QR code attendance systems only do the first, a check-in list, and leave the hours to someone with a spreadsheet. A badge scan in and a scan out gives you both.

TrackBadges doesn't do shift scheduling, so it won't automatically flag someone as late against a schedule. You see each arrival time and compare it with when the shift starts.

Badges vs a QR code posted at the door

A posted QR code identifies a place; a badge identifies a person. That difference decides how easy the system is to cheat.

With a posted code, each person scans the code on the wall with their own phone. But a code on a wall can be photographed and texted to a friend, then scanned from a car or a couch. Systems built that way add GPS checks or selfies to compensate, and every person still needs a smartphone and an app.

With badges, the code is on the person and the scanner stays with you: a supervisor's phone, or a tablet at the entrance. A photo of a badge still has to be held up to your scanner, at your door, in front of whoever is there.

Who QR attendance works for

• Hourly staff. Shift workers at a plant, warehouse or shop, checked in at the door.
• Volunteers. Check volunteers in and out, then export the hours for reports. See volunteers.
• Event crews. Setup, bar and teardown crews checked in at the load-in gate. See events.
• Seasonal teams. Camps and farms where new people start every week and many don't carry smartphones.

Badges print eight to a letter page with each person's name and PIN, and a lost one can be reissued in a click. For a one-off day where you just need names on paper, the free employee sign-in sheet works too.

What each check-in records

Every scan records the person, the time, the scanner that read it and that scanner's location, plus a GPS stamp if you turn it on. A paper sign-in sheet records a name and whatever time the person chose to write next to it.

Corrections are edits with a full history, and rounding never changes the raw punch, so an attendance record you export in June still shows what actually happened in March. That matters when a volunteer coordinator needs hours for a grant report, or when a payroll question comes up months later.

Roll call from the attendance list

Because the system knows who's checked in, a headcount takes one tap. Roll call lists everyone on the clock with a checklist: tap each person as they're accounted for, and the count shows how many are left. It's built for evacuations (see emergency roll call), and it works just as well for a headcount before an event crew's bus leaves.

Set up QR code attendance

1. 1Add your people. Paste in a list of names; you can do it before you sign up.
2. 2Print the badges. Plain paper for a trial, card stock and a holder for daily use.
3. 3Pair a scanner at each entrance. A supervisor's phone or a tablet by the door, each assigned to a location.
4. 4Scan in and out. Once on arrival, once on the way out. The board, timesheets and CSV export fill in from the scans.

The same scans protect you against the oldest attendance problem: one person signing in for another. Read how to stop buddy punching for the full picture.

When QR badges aren't the right fit

QR badges suit people who come back: staff, regular volunteers, recurring crews. For a one-time conference with hundreds of attendees who check in once and never need hours, a ticketing check-in tool fits better. And if you need automatic late alerts against a shift schedule, you'll want a scheduling tool alongside it.