Four ways to manage a workforce, side by side.
Planning shifts, recording time, keeping time off and overtime straight and getting hours ready for payroll can be done on paper, in a spreadsheet, in ClockinBee or in a bigger HR suite. Each one is the right answer for somebody. This page sets them side by side and says plainly when ClockinBee is not the best choice.
1 month free with every feature and your whole team, no card needed. Then $6 per user a month in US dollars, less for bigger teams.
Side by side
Kinds of tool, not named products. Tools within each kind differ, so treat this as a guide to the trade-offs.
Scheduling and shift allocation
- A paper sheet
- A separate sheet on the wall. Changes mean a new sheet.
- A spreadsheet
- A separate tab, shared as a file or a screenshot.
- ClockinBee
- A schedule for each location, published to phones. Auto-schedule shares shifts out by contract hours, and open shifts can be picked up or assigned after you confirm.
- A bigger HR suite
- Sometimes included, sometimes a separate product to buy.
Recording time
- A paper sheet
- Written by hand, usually at the end of the shift or the week.
- A spreadsheet
- Typed in by each person, or by one person from paper.
- ClockinBee
- Clock in from a phone, or type hours into a weekly grid by project. Both land on one timesheet.
- A bigger HR suite
- Usually a time module, which may be an extra to buy and configure.
Time off and overtime
- A paper sheet
- Added up by hand each pay period.
- A spreadsheet
- Formulas that work until someone overwrites one or a contract changes.
- ClockinBee
- Automated: time off builds up every night from each person's policy, requests that fit can approve themselves, and overtime follows each person's rule.
- A bigger HR suite
- Handled, often with deep support for complex agreements.
Rules for each person
- A paper sheet
- Whatever the person adding up remembers.
- A spreadsheet
- A column or a tab per exception.
- ClockinBee
- Overtime rule, time off policy, public holidays and access set for the company, a location or one person.
- A bigger HR suite
- Usually supported, often set up by a specialist.
More than one location
- A paper sheet
- A sheet per site, collected by hand.
- A spreadsheet
- A file or tab per site, merged by hand.
- ClockinBee
- Any number of locations with their own schedule, managers, time zone and holidays, and areas inside a site.
- A bigger HR suite
- Usually supported.
Checking and approving
- A paper sheet
- A signature. Nothing shows what was changed afterwards.
- A spreadsheet
- By eye. Anyone with access can change a cell.
- ClockinBee
- Timesheets that fit the rules are grouped as ready; the rest carry the reason. Changes go to an audit log.
- A bigger HR suite
- Approval workflows, often very configurable.
Payroll preparation
- A paper sheet
- Somebody types the hours into payroll.
- A spreadsheet
- Copy and paste, or a file reshaped by hand.
- ClockinBee
- A file of approved hours and time off that you download in your payroll system's import layout and import yourself. It is a file, not a live connection.
- A bigger HR suite
- Often the same system runs payroll, so there is no hand-over at all.
AI assistance
- A paper sheet
- None.
- A spreadsheet
- Whatever your spreadsheet software offers. It does not know your rules.
- ClockinBee
- A list of what needs you, with actions that show what will change before you confirm. A chat for admins that uses your own Anthropic API key. An MCP endpoint for your own agent.
- A bigger HR suite
- Varies by product.
Getting started
- A paper sheet
- Print it and pin it up.
- A spreadsheet
- An hour to build, if someone is comfortable with formulas.
- ClockinBee
- About ten minutes for a company, a location and a team. Import people from a CSV file.
- A bigger HR suite
- Often a project of weeks, sometimes with a consultant.
Cost
- A paper sheet
- Almost nothing.
- A spreadsheet
- Usually nothing extra: you already have the software.
- ClockinBee
- $6 per user a month (down to $4.80 for 250+ users), in US dollars, after a free month. One plan, every feature.
- A bigger HR suite
- Varies widely. Often priced per module, sometimes with a set-up fee or a minimum term.
Where it stops
- A paper sheet
- Anything beyond one small team in one place.
- A spreadsheet
- More than a handful of people, part-time time off, or anyone asking who changed a number.
- ClockinBee
- It does not run payroll or tax, recruit, review performance or store HR documents. It has no live connection to payroll systems yet, and it needs an internet connection.
- A bigger HR suite
- Rarely stops. The cost is in price, set-up time and screens most staff never need.
When each one is the better choice
A paper sheet
Better when the team is tiny and in one room.
- Three or four people who all see each other every day.
- Fixed hours that rarely change, so there is little to add up.
- Nobody needs the figures anywhere but in the building.
A spreadsheet
Better when one careful person owns it and the rules are simple.
- A small team on the same contract, with no overtime to speak of.
- You want a layout nobody else has, and you enjoy maintaining it.
- Hours are recorded for interest rather than for pay.
ClockinBee
Better when you run shifts, sites or projects and the planning and chasing have become a job.
- Shifts to plan and fill, part-time contracts or more than one location.
- You want time off and overtime worked out from each person's own rules, not by hand.
- You already have payroll and want clean, approved hours to import into it.
A bigger HR suite
Better when workforce management is one part of a much larger HR need.
- You want payroll, tax filing, hiring, reviews and documents in one system.
- You have HR staff to configure and run it.
- You work under complex agreements that need rules beyond daily and weekly limits and multipliers.
Pay, overtime and time off figures in ClockinBee are estimates from the settings you choose. They are not legal, tax or payroll advice, so check your settings against the rules that apply to you. To see what is included, read the features or find the set-up for your kind of team.
Questions people ask
Is ClockinBee only a timesheet tool?
No. Timesheets are one part. The same people, locations and rules also drive the schedule and who is given which shift, time off balances and approvals, overtime, and the file that goes to payroll.
Can I move from a spreadsheet without starting again?
Yes. Save the sheet as a CSV file and import people, locations and past hours. Every line is checked before anything is saved, and lines with a problem are listed with the reason.
Can ClockinBee work next to an HR suite or payroll system we already have?
Yes, by file. Approved hours and time off are downloaded in the layout your payroll, accounting or HR system imports, or as a generic CSV, and you import the file there. There is also an API with webhooks if you want to build a live connection yourself.
What if we outgrow it?
Your records are yours. Timesheets, time off and reports download as CSV at any time, so moving to a larger system later does not mean losing history.
Is this comparison fair to the alternatives?
We have tried to make it so. It describes kinds of tool rather than named products, and products of each kind differ, so check the details of any tool you are considering.
The fairest test is a month with your own team.
Every feature, your whole team, no card needed. If a spreadsheet turns out to suit you better, export your records and carry on.