Time reporting
Time reporting
We build time reporting systems people actually use. Reporting from a phone, approval for the manager, and finished data for payroll and invoicing with no rework.
- Reporting in three taps
- Overtime calculated automatically
- Approved time straight to payroll
What is a time reporting system?
A time tracking system collects hours worked and makes them useful in three directions: payroll, invoicing and per project follow up. What separates it from a spreadsheet is that time is entered once and then flows onward by itself.
Registration
Staff clock in and out or report hours against project and activity, straight from a phone.
Approval
A manager approves the week before time moves on to payroll and invoicing.
Payroll data
Overtime, unsocial hours and travel time calculated by your rules and exported to payroll.
Invoice data
Billable time per customer and project, ready to invoice without manual collation.
Follow up
Hours spent against budget per project, while the project runs rather than afterwards.
Absence
Holiday and sick leave in the same flow as worked time.
Time reporting in an app: out in the field
Most people who report time do not sit at a desk. If it does not work on a phone in three taps, reports arrive late or not at all, and the whole system is worthless.
Offline when coverage fails
The report is stored locally and syncs when the phone reconnects. A common need in basements, tunnels and rural areas.
The right project without hunting
The app suggests projects based on location or what the person reported last.
Photos and notes
A picture of the work or a deviation right in the report, useful at invoicing and in disputes.
Reminders
A notification at the end of the day or week catches those who would otherwise forget.
Time reporting for employees and approval
A system that only collects hours solves half the problem. What eats time in the office is chasing reports, correcting errors and recalculating supplements by hand.
Approval flow
The manager sees a list of weeks to approve, can adjust and send back with a comment.
Rules that calculate themselves
Overtime, unsocial hours, travel time and allowances per your agreement, worked out automatically.
Permissions
Employees see their own time, managers see their department, finance sees everything.
History
Every change is logged with who and when, which you need in an audit.
Free time reporting: when is it enough?
There are plenty of free time tracking apps, and for a small team they can work for a long time. Only at a certain point do they start costing more than they save.
Free tools are enough when
- You are a handful of people
- Time only needs summing, not billing per project
- You enter payroll data manually anyway
- Nobody needs to approve formally
A custom system pays off when
- Time should become invoice data with no rework
- Contractual supplements should calculate automatically
- Reports need linking to projects or orders
- You need traceability and approval
- More than one system needs the same time data
Connecting time reporting to payroll and invoicing
The value appears when time stops being its own island. We build the integrations that let the same hour become both payroll data and an invoice without anyone typing it again.
- Payroll export to your payroll system
- Billable time straight into invoicing
- Links to projects and orders in the ERP
- Staff registers on site where the law requires them
How we build your system
ContextA time reporting system is one example of custom system development.
RelatedTime reporting usually becomes a mobile app. Read more about how we develop apps for iOS and Android.
Free intro call
We go through how you report today and what takes time.
Proposal in 48 hours
Scope, timeline and fixed price.
The app first
Registration and approval go live before the rest is built.
Integrations
Payroll, invoicing and projects are connected as we go.
Frequently asked questions about time reporting
What is a time reporting system?
A system where staff register hours against a project or activity, a manager approves, and the time then feeds both payroll and invoicing. The point is that an hour is entered once and used everywhere, rather than retyped into every system.
What is the difference between time reporting and time tracking?
In practice, nothing. Time reporting usually refers to registering hours, while time tracking is used when hours are accounted against a project, customer or payroll. The two are the same thing, and we build both sides in one flow.
Is free time tracking good enough?
For small teams that only need to sum hours, free apps often go a long way. They run out when time has to become invoice data, when contractual supplements must calculate automatically, or when several systems need the same data. At that point the manual work costs more than a custom system.
Does time reporting work on a phone?
Yes, and that is usually where it needs to work. We build the app so reporting takes seconds, works without coverage and syncs when the phone reconnects.
Can the system calculate overtime automatically?
Yes. We encode your rules for overtime, unsocial hours, travel time and allowances so they are computed at registration. This is usually where most time is saved, since manual calculation is both slow and error prone.
Can time be connected to our payroll system?
Yes. We build an export or integration to your payroll system so approved time flows on without manual entry. The same applies to invoicing and your ERP.
How are approvals and permissions handled?
Employees see their own time, managers approve their department and finance sees the whole picture. Every change is logged with who did what and when, which you need if anything is audited later.
What does a custom time reporting system cost?
A system with an app, approval flow and one integration normally starts around 150,000 SEK. More integrations and more advanced rules push the price up. You get a fixed price before the build starts.
How long does it take to get started?
Registration and approval are usually live within 6 to 10 weeks. Integrations to payroll and invoicing are built after that, so you benefit from the system before everything is finished.
Tell us how you report today
Describe how time is collected today and where it chafes, and we will get back to you within one business day.