As a CEO of a time tracking software company I need to know what my competitors are up to. That means I’m often researching about and/or playing around with their products, like ClockOn… you know, it’s part of the job. Here, I share my findings of that research, giving credit to those competitors where credit is due and being honest about which products I believe you really need to avoid. And so, there you have it, this ClockOn review, and in it, I try to be honest, fair, and insightful…
This Review Covers:
- Overview
- What Do Users Like About ClockOn?
- What Don’t Users Like About ClockOn?
- What Pricing Plans Does ClockOn Offer?
- What are the Standout Features of ClockOn?
- Positive User Highlights
- Negative User Highlights
- What are ClockOn’s Ratings from Other Review Sites?
- What’s My Final Verdict on ClockOn?
Overview
ClockOn is a payroll software for Australian businesses with both cloud and desktop versions. The company mainly caters to small and medium-sized companies, with a focus on affordability. I find it very fascinating that the product can be bought as individual and competitively-priced modules, allowing users to pick only what they need or what fits their budget, allowing them a great deal of customizability. And not only is it customizable with a wide range of packages to choose from, but it is also ATO compliant.
ClockOn’s features facilitate rostering for businesses that need to manage employee shifts and payments. It also has time and attendance monitoring with detailed reporting that can be tailored to specific business needs. Furthermore, its payroll services allow businesses to easily process payments, file taxes and manage employee information. Other features include bookkeeping services, payroll services, single touch payroll, employee self-service, biometric finger scanner, attendance kiosk, the ClockOn GO app, and various third-party integrations. For businesses with broader needs, ClockOn offers additional services such as outsourced payroll processing, desktop software, automated timesheets, and more.
While there are a ton of truly helpful features, the software is far from perfect. And to make this ClockOn review truly honest, we must also talk about its downsides.
We found quite a few issues with ClockOn’s rostering, mobile app, and desktop version. On occasion, information saved in roster templates cannot be recalled. Another major problem is setting up the desktop version. It requires support to set up, and even after that, it can be quite difficult to navigate. Lastly, the mobile app, especially the iOS version, crashes frequently. While it seems as if the company tried to incorporate a lot of great features in its software, the implementation was half-baked.
But before we make any conclusions about the software, it’s only fair that we should explore what else it has to offer. So, without further ado, let’s dive right into this ClockOn review!
What Do Users Like About ClockOn?
- Great support team
- Economical
- Seamless Xero integration
- Biometric fingerprint scanning
- Salary and timesheet automation
- ATO compliance and STP reporting
What Don’t Users Like About ClockOn?
- App usability issues
- Software is hard to learn without support
- “Help” section is useless
- Fully compatible with Windows only
- User-end visibility on STP reports isn’t great
- Roster templates exist but don’t always work
What Pricing Plans Does ClockOn Offer?
ClockOn pricing plans are cleverly designed to cater to all sorts of users. There are three plans, one free and two paid, that can be billed monthly or annually. Add-on modules expand the usability of the plans at an additional cost.
Starter: This package is free for up to 20 employees and has basic features such as employee onboarding, auto-scheduling, STP, and detailed reporting.
Standard: At $2.10 per employee when billed annually or $2.50 when billed monthly, users all of the features of the Starter plan, plus budgeting and cost control, customizable templates, employee web portal and mobile app, timesheet approval, and 140+ reports.
Outsourced: A more hands-off solution than the previous plans, the Outsourced plan comes at $6.50 per payslip. It features a devoted payroll team who will help handle all payroll needs, with an option to add bookkeeping services at an additional cost.
Add-Ons
Rostering: For $1.05 per user per month, rostering needs such as roster budgeting, customizable roster templates, employee web portal, and roster publishing can be done in a breeze using a drag-and-drop interface.
Attendance Kiosk: This tablet attendance solution costs $1.05 per user per month, and helps keep track of staff attendance and hours. Employees can clock in using a PIN code enhanced by photo capture, providing a layer of security and accountability with a visual record of who punched in when.
Software Setup Service: Costing a $100-flat rate (versus the usual $20 per employee), this add-on includes an initial consultation between the client and ClockOn support reps, employee data entry, a guided product walk-through, and a pre-pay check.
Software Training: For teams needing extra help with using the software, this add-on is an online course that costs $100 per hour, and can be customized to suit specific business needs. Recommended number of training hours will depend on business size.
Phone Support: For businesses that need continuous support on the line outside of the default email support this add-on costs $16 per user per month, with a minimum term of 6 months.
Biometric Finger Scanner: With this add-on, users can record their hours and breaks using Suprema Biometric Terminals. However, this package cannot be integrated with the online software plans listed above, and can only be used with the ClockOn desktop software or the Outsourced Payroll service. Pricing for this add-on can be obtained from ClockOn representatives.
What are the Standout Features of ClockOn?
1. Flare Integration
ClockOn has recently partnered with Flare to streamline onboarding and benefits for its employees. This integration allows employees to self-onboard by entering relevant details such as bank and tax information. Users can set relevant super funds as well as custom payments for employees. It also gives employees the cool option of availing benefits available through Flare such as savings on supermarkets, petrol stations, and more.
2. Desktop Version
ClockOn has a detailed, customizable desktop version that allows managers and owners to manage all of their payroll-related issues in one place. There are additional features available to this version, such as fingerprint scanning.
What sucks is that this version is only useful for Windows users, and thus a large market of other OS users, especially iOS users, is not being catered to. The desktop version is also a little difficult to set up, and even after the software has been set up, navigation may still be a bit difficult. While there are extensive help articles available, they are quite lengthy and can be confusing for the average user.
3. Employee Web Portal
ClockOn’s employee portal is handy and allows easy clocking in and out, access to rosters and payslips, and viewing and updating personal information at any time. Employees can add in their breaks, check their rosters, edit timesheets, request leaves, and view the portal on their tablet, mobile, or desktop. What’s great is that the web portal is available on all ClockOn subscription plans and can be customized to have geofencing as an add-on.
4. Automated Timesheets
ClockOn’s automated timesheet feature uses a rule setting engine to help users automate normal, overtime, and penalty work hours, leave accrual, super percentages, etc. The set rules can be duplicated for multiple employees. Overall, this is a useful feature that makes payroll processing even more efficient.
Positive User Highlights
- “ClockOn makes payday quick and simple and when I have needed help me set up something new the support team have responded quickly and have always come back to me with a solution to my problem.” Mara (Source Capterra)
- “If I have an issue it is a small enough company where I get to talk to a real person who actually cares and is really helpful. It’s an easy package to use.” Sue (Source Software Advice)
- “I just subscribed to ClockOn for our small business (2 employees) STP payroll submission to ATO. It is free, not too difficult to use and did the job! What a breeze after a year of coping with Free Accounting Software that is not free anymore.” Mattieb (Source Product Review)
- “It is a one stop solution to ALL payroll matters – from setting and costing rosters, to capturing actual times worked by who, and then easily sorting the payroll calculations and required reporting. All in one place – simple.” Leanne (Source Software Advice)
- “I love how everything is automated and the payroll report options.” Bradley (Source Software Advice)
- “All initial setup of payroll database entry was done by Clockon personnel which eliminated the hassle of setting up myself. Clockon is overall fairly easy to use as long as there isn’t much variation to regular employee payments.” Clara (Source Software Advice)
- “The company was so obliging in teaching me. It was extremely easy to understand the product. I have used it for two years now & I am very happy with the customer support extended to me. I will definitely recommend the product to anyone.” Rowena (Source Software Advice)
- “Very helpful when it came to transferring data from my old system, and creating data files for Clock on. Very helpful for any followup tweaking of those staff profiles.” Gregg (Source Capterra)
- “The software works well. It is simple to use and was very simple to configure. I had setup another payroll system recently (not for myself) and Clock On is much more user-friendly.” Gordon (Source Capterra)
- “Easy to use. Support was good. Can see all the important info on one screen.” Naresh (Source Capterra)
Negative User Highlights
- “The software is quite extensive and to learn the software competently would require a lengthy period of time.” Clara C. (Source GetApp)
- “We have had a lot of issues with the ClockOn Go app. Our employees are constantly complaining about the app not registering breaks and freezing.” Caterina A. (Source GetApp)
- “Not self explanatory or easy to back date. I had to pay someone to do this work.” Lisbeth H. (Source GetApp)
- “Some of the self help instructions are very complicated to follow. I had to end up contacting support.” Diane D. (Source GetApp)
- “The customer service was garbage considering I paid for data entry and a first time run through training. Each day I tried to contact I had to wait for an email response 24 hrs later. I nor my business have time for waiting for support. We decided to run Clock on at a loss expense and moved on..” Tania & Lee S. (Source GetApp)
- “Sometimes when a feature hasn’t been used for a while I forget how to do it. Help section isn’t always useful. Staff on phone are better” Jane G. (Source GetApp)
- “Still learning all the shortcuts, perhaps a cheat sheet would be handy.” Jessica A. (Source GetApp)
- “The loading time is sometimes long. As cloud base data it takes ages to load timesheets and clockon people.” George (Source Capterra)
- “Implementation is hit and miss – they are eager to sell you features that don’t work eg. templates to reuse so you don’t have to re-create rosters from scratch all the time. Unfortunately the information saved in the templates cannot be recalled or reused.” Paul (Source Capterra)
- “The roster making is sometimes a bit tricky.” Lynette (Source Capterra)
- “It would be good if it worked on other operating systems apart from Windows. A cloud service would be best.” Greg (Source Capterra)
What are ClockOn’s Ratings from Other Review Sites?
(As of January 2024)
- Capterra: 4.1/5
- GetApp: 4.1/5
- App Store: 1/5
- Software Advice: 4/5
- ITQlick: 4.3/5
What’s My Final Verdict on ClockOn?
ClockOn is definitely a powerful software that is useful for small to medium-sized businesses as it is budget-friendly and customizable. For example, one can opt for the desktop version, outsourced payroll processing, etc. I found the desktop version and individual module pricing to be ClockOn’s biggest selling points.
Whichever package a business gets, all of its employees can easily access information such as payslips, rosters, and timesheets from the Employee Web Portal. ClockOn’s support team is on point and guides users through any issues they may have.
However, there are major pain points that are not being addressed by ClockOn. For instance, the mobile app is poor and frequently crashes. This is especially true for the iOS version. Similarly, the company’s desktop version is only viable for Windows, leaving Mac users dissatisfied.
Another issue is customer reliance on support. ClockOn’s help articles are complex and confusing, and the software is hard to set up. This means that most users inevitably end up paying $95 to get it up and running. Other issues include roster templates that don’t always work and no visibility of STP reports at the user’s end.
All things considered, ClockOn is still good value for money. Users can relax knowing their ATO requirements are being met with STP processing. ClockOn’s major selling points such as good customer support, reasonable pricing, and automation options are exactly what make it attractive to businesses, and with a little more focus on existing user pain points, it can be quite impressive.
