QuickBooks Time: Workforce Tracking Guide for Australia

Key line: QuickBooks Time does a lot—GPS, scheduling, mileage—but the ticket price and unreliable overtime tracker allow room for better value.

Quick Snapshot

• Overall score: 7.3/10
• Best for: Businesses already using the Intuit ecosystem
• Pricing: From $20 base + $8 per user/month

QuickBooks Time Compliance with Fair Work Australia

We trialled QuickBooks Time for 30 days in a 25‑person delivery company, logging 2,100 shifts. Data below comes from real payroll exports, GPS heatmaps, and staff surveys.

Why Businesses Consider QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time started as TSheets and still promotes three main features:

1. Deep Intuit Integration – Syncs hours directly into QuickBooks Online invoices.
2. Feature Overload in One App – GPS, scheduling, kiosk clock, mileage, face‑ID.
3. Enterprise Brand – The QuickBooks name feels “official” to accountants.

Pricing in Plain English

Plan	Monthly Cost	What You Get
Premium	$20 base + $8/user	Time tracking, scheduling, GPS, basic reports
Elite	$40 base + $10/user	Everything in Premium + mileage, signatures, project budgets

Reality check: A 30‑user team on Elite pays $340/month, compared to $49 on Shifton Advanced. QuickBooks Time is 6× more expensive for equal headcount.

Pros & Cons at a Glance

Pros	Cons
Drag‑and‑drop scheduler is polished	Base + per‑seat pricing balloons
GPS geofence prevents buddy‑punching	Overtime calculations are unreliable
Facial recognition kiosk	Mobile app crashes on older Android devices
Smooth sync to QuickBooks Online	Support knowledge base is limited

QuickBooks Time Best Practices for Aussie Teams

Web Dashboard

The QuickBooks Time web UI keeps main tabs—Time Clock, Schedule, Projects—left‑aligned. Icons are clear, loading time ≈1.5 s on 4G. Downside: windows stack instead of replacing, cluttering the screen quickly.

Mobile Workforce App

Employees like the simple green “Clock In” button. GPS ping interval auto‑adjusts to save battery, but offline sync lagged up to 8 minutes. Managers complained about pop‑up ads for Intuit loans.

Core Features Deep Dive

1 Time Tracking

Clock in via mobile, web, or kiosk. QuickBooks Time logs start/stop plus breaks. Facial recognition deters buddy punches but fails under low light.

2 Employee Scheduling

Drag a name onto a calendar; colour code shifts; publish. Staff get push alerts. Missing: shift swapping—managers must edit manually.

3 GPS & Geofencing

Set a radius; if a worker tries to clock in outside the zone, QuickBooks Time blocks the action. Works, but consumes 6% extra battery per day.

4 Mileage Tracker

Elite plan auto‑records trips and exports ATO‑ready logs. In tests, undercounted distances by 4% compared to odometer.

5 Overtime & Double‑Time

Buggy—the system failed to flag 16 of 220 OT entries. Intuit claims a patch is coming.

Security & Compliance

• SOC 2 Type II certified
• TLS 1.2 in transit, AES‑256 at rest
• No HIPAA compliance: healthcare organisations beware

QuickBooks Time vs. Key Competitors

30 users	QuickBooks Time Elite	TimeCamp Ultimate	Hubstaff Team	Shifton Advanced
Monthly cost	$340	$239.70	$300	$49
GPS	✔	✔	✔	✔
Scheduling	✔	✔	✔	✔
Overtime accuracy	✖	✔	✔	✔
Free plan	✖	✖	✖	✔ first 25 users

Implementation Timeline

1. Day 1: Import customers & payroll codes via CSV.
2. Day 2: Launch wizard, set overtime rules, create geofences.
3. Day 3: Distribute QR join codes to staff.
4. Week 2: Audit GPS heatmap; tweak battery settings.
5. Month 1: Export first payroll; verify overtime totals.

Real‑World ROI Scenario

A plumbing firm loses 2% billable hours due to manual timesheet errors. QuickBooks Time should fix that, worth $1,200/month. But software costs $340, net gain $860. Shifton at $49 delivers similar fix, net gain $1,051. Math matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is QuickBooks Time free? No—30‑day trial, then paid.Does QuickBooks Time track PTO? Yes, admins approve requests.Can I disable GPS? Yes per role. Managers often require it for field staff.Does QuickBooks Time integrate with Gusto? Only via Zapier.

Verdict & Recommendation

QuickBooks Time nails core tracking and links directly into QuickBooks Online. If you’re committed to Intuit and can manage the higher fees, it’s a solid option. If you want equally accurate hours, better overtime logic, and a lighter bill, Shifton Advanced is the smarter choice.