A No-Nonsense Review of Buddy Punch
Is Buddy Punch the best app for your construction business? This in-depth review explores everything you need to make an informed choice!
In your search for the best time tracking software to streamline your construction business operations, you may have come across a few Buddy Punch reviews discussing its features, pros, and cons. Buddy Punch is one of the leading employee time clock software solutions on the market, designed to simplify time tracking, scheduling, and payroll management for businesses, regardless of where your team members are working from.
However, determining whether Buddy Punch is the right fit for your specific construction company needs can be a complex decision. There are many factors to consider, from the software’s functionality and ease of use to its pricing and integration capabilities. That’s why we’ve conducted an in-depth analysis to help you evaluate Buddy Punch thoroughly and make an informed choice.
In this comprehensive Buddy Punch review, we’ll dive deep into the software’s key features, explore its strengths and limitations, compare it to alternative options, and provide you with a clear, unbiased assessment to assist you in selecting the best time tracking solution for your construction business.
By the end of this article, you’ll have a thorough understanding of Buddy Punch’s capabilities and whether it aligns with your unique requirements, empowering you to make a confident decision that will streamline your operations and boost your overall efficiency.
Check out our Buddy Punch review below to see if it’s the best app for your construction business.
Starts at $4.99 per month + $19 base fee
Easy and fast account registration
Flexible punch-in options
Smooth and stable web version
Limited features on mobile app
Some issues with punching out
Mobile glitches
What Is Buddy Punch?
Buddy Punch is cloud-based online time tracking and employee scheduling software that helps business owners track their employees’ working hours. The app’s user-friendly interface lets employees punch in and out effortlessly while managers can monitor attendance records and generate detailed reports for payroll processing.
Buddy Punch Overview
Buddy Punch offers seamless time tracking, scheduling, and attendance management, catering to the specific needs of modern workplaces.
The core features of Buddy Punch are:
- Time tracking and attendance
- Scheduling and shift management
- Payroll management
- Location tracking
- Reporting and analytics
Sign-Up and Onboarding
Buddy Punch offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. You can create your account with your Apple or Google account or by entering your name and email address and assigning a password.
Buddy Punch will ask you if you want to create a new organization for your business or join an account made by your employer. After that, you will fill out the online form with your company name, time zone, and the number of your employees.
The next step is setting up pay periods.
Choose a pay period frequency from the dropdown menu (weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly) and then set the pay period start date. Once set, you should see the pay schedule on the right side of the screen.
Now, it’s time to select how you want your employees to punch in and on which devices. Your options are by username and password, 4-digit PIN, or QR code on desktop/laptop, mobile, or tablet. You can also pick more than one option.
If you’re unsure what punch-in method and device will work best for your company, just click ‘I’m not sure yet’ and change your selection anytime.
Next, add your employees’ names and email addresses. You can tick the box to assign their email username and send an employee welcome email. You can also tick Skip if you prefer to do this step later.
You also have the option to let Buddy Punch do this step for you. A chat box with instructions to send or email the completed Employee Upload template will pop up. Buddy Punch will automatically email your employees’ login credentials.
Now, it’s time to select the Buddy Punch features you want to use. It offers the following features:
- Punch Time Clock
- Scheduling
- Time Off
- Job Codes/Project Tracking
- GPS on Punches
- GPS Tracking During Shifts
- Alerts and Notifications
- Limit when/where an employee can punch
- Pay Employees with Buddy Punch Payroll
- Time Card Approvals
- Manual Timesheet Entry
- Single Sign On (SSO) & API
You can select more than one feature and change them anytime.
Before you head to the dashboard, you can watch some quick tutorial videos on its core features. You will also see a welcome message from Buddy Punch (which you can reply to) about what you can do as an Administrator.
We like the quick and straightforward 5-step sign-up process. Buddy Punch’s proactive approach of sending employee credentials after you accomplish the Employee Upload template is also a nice touch.
Track your crew’s time more accurately—even in offline mode.
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The Web App Experience
The web app dashboard looks pretty straightforward. It’s easy to follow and navigate, with the main time tracking data right in the center and other features easily discoverable and selectable from the menu tabs.
The Mobile App Experience
We noticed some minor lagging issues when scrolling or switching to new tabs. But on the whole, Buddy Punch’s menu dashboard has a clean, organized, and minimalist look. The dashboard itself only displays today’s schedule and which employees are in and out.
The mobile app also allows you to view and approve time cards and time offs and create your team’s schedules.
Buddy Punch Key Features
Flexible Clock-In and Clock-Out Options
We like that the app offers several options for logging in. Employees can use their Google or Apple credentials, Face ID, QR code, PIN, or facial recognition.
Administrators just need to enable the settings for a specific login method. For QR code login, you must send the employees their unique and individual QR code login, which they can save on their devices.
Whatever log-in method your team uses, they should log in to their account at the start of their shift and log out when their shift is over. Then, they can submit their time report to their managers for approval.
Facial Recognition
Buddy Punch’s standout feature is facial recognition for clock-ins, which makes it harder to bypass access controls. This feature is designed to help eliminate buddy punching, a type of time fraud. Employees can simply scan their faces to punch in or out from the web or mobile app.
Using the Face ID feature on their iPhone or iPad Pro, employees can securely sign into Buddy Punch. This helps you ensure employees are the ones actually clocking in and out, not their best buddies.
This feature eliminates the need for passwords or codes which can be easily forgotten. The same goes for biometric methods such as fingerprint scans, which doesn’t always work for employees whose hands are often dirty or wet like those in fieldwork, construction, or kitchen services.
Scheduling
Buddy Punch’s drag-and-drop functionality lets you create a staff schedule in minutes. You can do it on the web or the mobile app.
Once you’re done, you can send notifications to your employees about their upcoming shifts via the mobile app. If you need to make schedule adjustments, you can do so with just a few clicks.
Payroll
Managing your payroll is easier when it’s fully integrated with your time tracker. Buddy Punch offers automatic payroll tax filings and payments, saving time and reducing errors when doing complex deposits or calculations.
You can review your employees’ work hours and time off from the payroll dashboard. Simply sync employee time and then submit it with a quick import.
Integrating Other Business Apps With Buddy Punch
You can connect Buddy Punch with the following accounting programs:
- Zapier
- QuickBooks
- ADP
- Gusto
- Paychex
- Paylocity
- PayPlus Software Inc.
- SurePayroll
- Workday
The app is designed to integrate seamlessly with popular payroll vendors. It can be configured to work with 1,000 apps and websites via Zapier.
Buddy Punch Might be a Good Fit for You If…
- You’re looking for a modern workforce management tool with comprehensive features.
- You want to streamline your time and attendance processes.
- You want comprehensive features like geofencing, facial recognition, overtime, and PTO tracking.
You Might Not Want to Use Buddy Punch If…
- Your employees are not tech-savvy.
- You need to have an offline mode available.
- You want more customization on geofencing settings.
Buddy Punch Cost/Pricing
Buddy Punch offers four plans: Standard, Pro, Premium, and Enterprise. The Standard Plan is the most affordable, starting at $4.99 (billed monthly) per user per month. It offers essential time tracking features only.
Meanwhile, the Pro Plan costs $5.99 per user per month and offers time tracking and scheduling features. The Premium Plan has all the Pro features plus real-time GPS and costs $7.99 per user per month.
All the Buddy Bunch pricing plans mentioned offer a free 14-day trial and have a base fee of $19 per month.
Standard Tier | Premium Tier | |
Base Cost | $19 per month | $19 per month |
User Cost | $4.99 per month (billed monthly) | $7.99 per month (billed monthly) |
Offers? | N/A | N/A |
Free Trial? | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial |
Buddy Punch Reviews
Buddy Punch reviews from users are generally positive. The app earned a 4.9 score on the App Store and a 4.8 score on Capterra. Check out some Buddy Punch reviews below.
This iOS user rated Buddy Punch four stars because of its ease of use and convenience. However, the iPad version can still be improved.
Kshalz finds it easy, nice, and convenient:
Easy peasy ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Easy, nice to use, and convenient. Just need to make the app able to be horizontal (at least) on the iPad version because we use it at my shop, and the iPads sit in locked horizontal placement!
Amanda, director of finance and HR for an education management company, gave Buddy Punch five stars.
Amanda’s employees love using Buddy Punch:
Easy to use for staff! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We needed a new solution for timekeeping, and Buddy Punch came through! Onboarding and integration were so easy. Once I figured out all the setting options, it’s really easy to customize to exactly what you need. Employees love using it because it’s so straightforward to use.
As a commercial administrator for a construction company, Danielle says Buddy Punch is easy to use and gets the job done. But she shares the reason for her three-star rating.
Danielle likes the ease of use:
Easy to use and gets the job done ⭐⭐⭐
Using Buddy Punch has been very easy to use and does 90% of what we were looking for. Would be nice to have a feature that can email you the timesheets weekly on a certain day in a nice format and not in an Excel spreadsheet where you have to make sure to autofit the columns to see all the info.
Our Score (and Why We Chose It)
We registered for the free trial account on the web and mobile app to test Buddy Punch’s core features and functionalities. The sign-up process was a breeze, and getting the essential settings ready was fast and easy.
However, with its many helpful features, there are also areas where it’s lacking or needs improvement. Here’s how we rated it.
Top Alternatives to Buddy Punch
Every business has unique needs, so you must choose one to simplify the process while boosting employee productivity and workflow efficiency. You can always explore these Buddy Punch alternatives if you think there is better software for your business.
Here are some top alternatives based on Buddy punch reviews:
Free 14-day trial with no credit card required
14-day free trial with no credit card required
7-day free Pro trial with no credit card required
Free 14-day All-in-One plan trial
14-day free Pro trial with no credit card required
Final Thoughts
Now that you’ve reached the end of our Buddy Punch review, you have a better idea of its key features, strengths, and limitations. It’s a solid time tracking tool with various scheduling and payroll features at a reasonable cost. Buddy punch reviews abound online, and we hope ours has helped you assess this construction software solution.
But if you’re looking for something truly built for construction and property maintenance companies, check out Workyard. This user-friendly workforce management software has been battle-tested by thousands of contractors and workers in the field.
Workyard’s precise GPS time clock logs in your employees as soon as they arrive at a site. It also captures exact mileage automatically.
With easy-to-use and helpful features like team maps, time dashboards, job scheduling, and job costing, it’s easier to manage teams on the field. Try it for free 14 days!
Buddy Punch is a comprehensive online time clock solution streamlining employee time tracking and attendance management. It offers features like precise time tracking down to the minute, synchronization with payroll software, facial recognition for accurate clock-ins, geofencing for location-based tracking, and department codes for task-specific time management.
The software was created by a company that experienced buddy punching issues in their own business. The software aims to simplify payroll and scheduling while also preventing buddy punching through features like IP address locking and biometric authentication. In summary, Buddy Punch is a time tracking and attendance management solution designed to eliminate the problem of buddy punching in the workplace.
Buddy Punch is a cloud-based employee time tracking and attendance management software solution.
The software aims to simplify workforce management by providing user-friendly interfaces, flexible scheduling tools, and automated payroll integration.
Buddy Punch caters to small to medium-sized businesses and offers various pricing plans with features such as employee scheduling, shift management, time off tracking, and more.
The key features and functionality include:
Time Tracking:
- Employees can clock in and out using a variety of methods – web browser, mobile app, or time clock device
- Buddy Punch tracks employee hours worked, including overtime
- Managers can monitor employee attendance and location in real-time
Attendance Management:
- Employees can request time off through the system, which managers can approve
- Buddy Punch automatically calculates accrued paid time off
- Managers can set up rules for rounding time entries and approving timesheets
Remote Work Oversight:
- Buddy Punch offers GPS location tracking to monitor where remote employees are clocking in
- Administrators can set approved IP addresses or use facial recognition to control who is clocking in
- The system tracks changes to time entries and provides audit trails
Payroll Integration:
- Buddy Punch integrates with popular payroll providers like QuickBooks, Paychex, and ADP
- This allows for seamless syncing of employee hours and time off into the payroll system
Overall, Buddy Punch aims to simplify workforce management by providing a centralized platform to track attendance, monitor remote workers, and streamline payroll processes. The software is designed to be user-friendly for both employees and administrators.
Buddy Punch offers several ways to track employee activity and time spent on projects:
- Time tracking: Employee clock-in can be done using the web-based interface, mobile app (available for Android and iOS), or time clock hardware. This records their start and end times with precision down to the minute.
- Project and task tracking: Employees can track the time spent on specific projects, tasks, or jobs using department or job codes assigned to them. This allows managers to monitor time allocation and analyze project progress.
- Location tracking: Buddy Punch offers location tracking for businesses with multiple offices or job sites. Employees select their location when punching in, and the time spent at each location is recorded on their timecards and in reports.
- Real-time tracking: Buddy Punch provides a real-time activity tracker showing every employee’s clock-in and clock-out activity within a set period. This allows managers to view every time entry in their team’s work logs.
- Reporting: The software generates comprehensive reports that break down data by person, task, or project. This helps managers better understand the work being completed and ensures projects stay on budget and on schedule.
Buddy Punch offers various pricing plans to suit different business needs. Depending on the plan chosen, the costs range from $3.49 to $9.49 per user per month.
All plans include a 14-day free trial. There are no startup, cancellation, support, or additional fees beyond the monthly/annual subscription costs.The pricing is based on a per-user model, with a base fee in addition to the per-user rate.
Businesses can choose to pay monthly or annually, with the annual option providing a slight discount.
Overall, Buddy Punch’s pricing appears to be transparent, with the different plan options and features clearly outlined on their website. The ability to start with a free trial is also a nice option for evaluating the software before committing to a paid plan.
