At first glance, busybusy and QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) might seem like two peas in a pod. They both offer powerful time-tracking software with fantastic Quickbooks Desktop and Quickbooks Online integrations. They both have easy clock-in/clock-out mobile capabilities. Both companies provide GPS features with geofencing (one has more jobsite specific GPS settings that we’ll cover later.) The cost per user appears to be within a penny of each other. So If busybusy and QuickBooks Time are so similar, does it matter which one you pick?
Some deeper digging will uncover several key differences that might prove helpful in choosing one over the other. Honestly, it might not matter if you go with busybusy or QuickBooks Time; depending on your business, either one could work for you – with one huge caveat, construction, or industries similar to construction where your employees are in the field!
If you are a business owner in the construction industry doing earthwork, restoration, remodels, plumbing, electrical, fire sprinkler, and many other trades, there are huge differences between busybusy and QuickBooks Time.
The difference gets even more significant if you own or rent heavy equipment.
So let’s explore the difference between busybusy and QuickBooks Time. Hopefully, this provides you with the information needed to choose a time tracking software.
Table of Contents
busybusy vs QuickBooks Time Comparison: Similar Features
- Mobile Time Clock
- GPS Time Clock
- Photo Upload
- Alerts and Notifications
- Device Availability
- Progress Tracking
- Compatibility With Payroll
busybusy Features Specific to the Construction Industry
- Daily Project Reports
- Equipment Tracking
- Injury/Covid Reports
- Real-Time Reports
- Data Analysis Reporting
- Filtering & Data Analysis
- Desktop Widgets
- Labor Laws Built In
- California Labor Laws
- Supervisor Tools
- Universal Map
busybusy vs QuickBooks Time Comparison: What’s the Cost?
What is a Fair Billing Policy and Who Has It?
busybusy vs QuickBooks Time Comparison: Customer Service
Summary of busybusy and QuickBooks Time Comparison
Summary of busybusy and Quickbooks Time Comparison
Similar Features
When choosing the right time tracking software, it’s important to pick one with features that will streamline your company’s time tracking process. The right software will allow you to collect and compile data into powerful reports that can change your company’s future.
Mobile Time Clock
Busybusy offers an easy-to-use time clock interface app that allows employees to clock in using a mobile phone app or desktop computer. Quickbooks Time’s app design is okay, but it will not win any prizes for design and employee use satisfaction.
busybusy and QuickBooks Time can also configure an iPad or tablet to be used as a time-clock kiosk with facial recognition if that is something that is needed for your business. busybusy takes facial recognition to the next level with a custom report that flags any employees trying to clock in for someone else.
GPS Time Clock
GPS and time tracking are truly a match made in heaven. Both busybusy and QuickBooks Time have GPS time tracking capabilities with the ability to set a geofence or a perimeter around a business that automatically reminds employees to clock in and out when they reach the designated location.
The wrong GPS time tracking software can quickly drain a smartphone’s battery. If this happens, your employees are going to be angry and your time tracking data will suffer. To address this problem, busybusy designed their software to piggyback off a smartphone’s preexisting GPS location helping to optimize the battery by avoiding repetitive and unnecessary pings.
busybusy’s mobile GPS time clock has an added feature called ‘on-site verification’. Once enabled, On-site Verification uses GPS location to require employees to be inside the project radius before they can clock in. Supervisors are given the ability to “trust, but verify” that employees are on a jobsite when they sign in. busybusy’s GPS on-site verification clock-in can be enabled or disabled according to individual projects or circumstances, making it a powerful option.
Bonus: If you own equipment, busybusy not only gives you employee GPS location, but you’ll receive updated GPS equipment locations as well. See below for more info.
Photo Upload
busybusy and QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) offer a photo upload feature, but that’s where the similarities end. QuickBooks Time attaches a photo to a time entry; however, after using this feature, it’s clear that photos were more of an afterthought and not designed with any functional useability in mind.
busybusy’s photo and notes feature is extensive and was intentionally designed for construction because contractors need photos on every job site to document the work they are doing to reduce liability. In addition to photos, busybusy can also add notes to each entry, further adding to the daily documentation process.
busybusy’s photo feature automatically tags photos to projects. Stored images are searchable by project, by employee, and by date—additionally, busybusy stores the geolocation and timestamp of each photo to ensure validity for legal reasons. With the busybusy app, you can store, organize, and share photos, as well as documents and receipts. busybusy’s photos and notes can also be selected to be included in daily project reports.
Alerts & Notifications
In the GPS time tracking section, we mentioned that alerts and notifications could be given when employees arrive at the jobsite, reminding them to clock in. In addition, alerts and notifications can also appear when an employee leaves work, reminding them to clock out. Reminders can be given to take rest or meal breaks. Both QuickBooks Time and busybusy have the option to set alerts to go off either by GPS location or by time of day.
When it comes to signing time cards, busybusy automatically displays the timecard on the home screen when an employee clocks in. The employee can review his timecard and sign it immediately. QuickBooks Time will text or email an employee an alert that their timecard is ready to sign, but the employee will need to take an extra couple steps to locate the timecard file, open it, and sign it on their phone.
Device Availability
QuickBooks Time and busybusy apps are available for both iOS and Android devices. Employees can log in anywhere, turning their smartphones into a mobile time clock. busybusy and QuickBooks Time can be used on smartphones, tablets, and desktops.
Bonus: busybusy has a robust desktop dashboard with customizable features including a timesheets section, an upgraded employee section, and the ‘My Status’ view. Their desktop dashboard was specifically built for office staff and admins to improve data review and decision making.
Progress Tracking
Both QuickBooks Time and busybusy have project tracking. Whether using QuickBooks Time or busybusy, owners can track a project’s actual hours vs. estimated hours, employees currently working, and budget progress quickly and efficiently.
Compatibility with Payroll
QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) and busybusy connect seamlessly with QuickBooks, making time tracking and payroll infinitely more manageable than using old-fashioned paper time cards and a calculator.
You might be thinking, can I use a different payroll service than InTuit? Can I still use my time tracking data with my preferred payroll software?
The answer is, with busybusy, you can use any payroll or accounting product you would like. It becomes even easier if the product you choose has an export/import feature. Also, busybusy is integrated with lots of accounting, project management, and outside payroll services, including many partners. There is no fee to use them, and busybusy will help build a customized import to make your payroll process run flawlessly.
Intuit owns QuickBooks Time, so naturally, they discourage using an outside payroll company, and they will charge you additional fees to integrate to a 3rd party payroll system.
Features Specific to the Construction Industry
At the beginning of this article, we made the statement that there is a considerable difference between busybusy and QuickBooks Time if you are in the construction industry. There is no question that busybusy is better for construction businesses over QuickBooks Time. Let’s talk about the features that make this statement true.
busybusy’s construction-based Features Reflect a Construction-based Philosophy
Every feature busybusy offers have been analyzed and designed to optimize a construction business because construction is in busybusy’s DNA. busybusy was created by a construction owner who saw the need for a time tracking app designed specifically for construction business, so busybusy understands the unique time tracking challenges a construction business faces.
If you own a nail salon or a coffee shop, a standard time tracking app like QuickBooks Time will suffice and is even recommended. However, if you are in the construction industry, there is no better time tracking software than busybusy.
Daily Project Reports
busybusy’s daily report feature automatically generates an in-depth daily report with just a few taps of a finger. QuickBooks Time does not offer a daily project report. Other software companies might claim to create automatic daily reports, but in reality, they stick in the daily weather conditions and leave your supervisors to spend valuable time filling in the blanks.
busybusy’s daily reports are truly automated with the option to automatically include details regarding employees on-site, total dedicated project hours, any injury reports, weather conditions, jobsite photos, and equipment used. If supervisors wish, they can type a quick summary of the day in addition to all the data busybusy automatically includes. Your supervisors will LOVE how much time this feature saves them. Daily reports are then saved to the cloud or easily shared among management, crew members, or clients by text, email, Slack, dropbox, google drive, and more.
Equipment Tracking
QuickBooks Time does not offer equipment tracking. Construction businesses have heavy equipment, so busybusy is naturally a better fit for them.
busybusy’s equipment tracking feature goes beyond just ‘seeing’ where your equipment is located in real-time. It also provides the ability to track fuel levels easily and equipment hours, view current and past operators, assign equipment to current projects, and associate labor costs with time-on equipment. busybusy’s equipment tracking feature will increase profits by improving bidding accuracy and decrease expenses by eliminating time spent searching for equipment.
Injury & Covid-19 Reports
Construction is dangerous and carries a lot of liability for owners. busybusy’s safety questionnaire feature allows construction workers to report and record any injuries before they can sign out. This feature protects both the worker and the supervisor/owner from injury disputations. Injuries are dealt with quickly and appropriately, with no surprise claims weeks later.
Documenting injuries is essential, and most contractors do an excellent job of that already. Where busybusy shines is by capturing NON-INJURIES every day. Recording non-injuries prevents an employee from claiming an injury after a weekend of playing soccer (or even six months later when that employee no longer works for you), and they’re adamant they told their supervisor, “I hurt my back,” but you have no documentation to show otherwise. This happens all too often, but not with busybusy’s clock-out safety report.
In response to COVID-19, busybusy enhanced their safety features to require a simple self-health assessment for each employee before clocking in. This health assessment ensures that every effort is made to protect crews from potential exposures while protecting your company from liability.
Real-time Reports
busybusy starts to shine over QuickBooks Time when it comes to reporting. QuickBooks Time offers a few basic real-time reports such as an hourly employee breakdown, pay issued, and GPS location of employees. Of course, busybusy also offers these basic reports, but that’s just the beginning.
busybusy provides real-time reporting on equipment stats and location, job costing, detailed employee reports, hours worked, and current and past projects. Another invaluable busybusy feature is the ability to view over 30 real-time reports on your mobile phone. This access gives you the ability to watch your daughter’s soccer game Friday afternoon while keeping tabs on what was happening with multiple projects on job sites.
Data Analysis Reporting
What good is collecting all this time tracking data if you can’t analyze it to make better (i.e., more profitable) decisions for your business? Data analysis is another stark difference between busybusy and QuickBooks Time.
When analyzing your TSheet data, you have to build the reports yourself by exporting your data as a CSV file and opening it in Excel. Once in Excel, you’ll need to spend extra time and effort to build your data analysis reports in a spreadsheet.
busybusy compiles your data automatically and creates in-depth analysis reports for you. You can instantly view detailed budget reports of allocated money and labor hours or view a project’s real-time budget status. These reports will give you confidence and peace of mind that your business is staying on time and on budget.
When it comes to reporting, busybusy beats QuickBooks Time, hands down.
Also, if you’re looking for comprehensive cost reports that clearly show labor budgets and cost codes comparison, then busybusy is the only choice. QuickBooks Time also offers the option to compare budgeted hours to actual hours worked, but their charts are oversimplified and lack crucial information.
busybusy’s Diverse Filtering and Analysis of Data
busybusy creates in-depth reports using data from all your past and current projects, making it easy to see and understand labor and cost trends. Not only is this great for recordkeeping, but these reports will increase the accuracy and confidence of your bids.
busybusy’s data can be filtered and sorted by five main categories: project, employee, cost code, equipment, and date. From there, the data can again be filtered by any of the remaining subcategories. For example, you can view data on a specific project and then sort that project data further by employee, cost code, equipment, date, or sub-project. Or perhaps you’re interested in cost codes; you can pull up your cost codes and sort them by project, by date, etc.
The ability to filter and organize all this data is a powerful tool for construction owners to research and prepare bids for future projects.
As mentioned previously, all these reports are available on your smartphones, making them accessible anywhere outside the office.
Dynamic Desktop Widgets
busybusy’s desktop widgets is another area where they stand out from QuickBooks Time.
busybusy’s Desktop Dashboard shows up to 19 different customizable widgets. With a quick glance, owners can see a current overview of every possible aspect regarding employees, hours, projects, equipment, and personnel issues. Widgets can be customized to display a desired time frame of the past 7 days, 14 days, weekly, monthly, or by pay period.
busybusy’s Customizable Desktop Widgets
- # of employees currently clocked in
- # of employees on break
- # of employees clocked out
- Total Labor Hours
- Total Labor Costs
- Total Overtime Hours
- # of Covid Issues
- # of Injuries
- # of Inaccurate Time Issues
- # of Break Issues
- Machine Hours
- Equipment Hours
- Equipment Cost
- Photos and Notes Uploaded
- Most Active Employees
- Most Active Projects
- Most Active Cost Codes
- Most Active Equipment
Labor Laws Built In
Every state has labor laws that must be followed. These laws can be overwhelming to remember and difficult to implement. Luckily, busybusy can be configured to make this easy. Custom work break policies and overtime calculations ensure that your business is compliant and stays out of trouble.
California Businesses: busybusy is the only time tracking software company with California labor/break laws built in.
Labor law compliance is a valuable feature, especially since California has been cracking down on companies that do not follow strict labor laws and work break policies. busybusy automatically ensures that your business stays compliant by notifying your employees of required breaks, verifying breaks are taken, and making sure overtime is calculated correctly. If you’re a construction business in California, the only smart choice for time tracking software is busybusy. Read more about busybusy and California’s labor laws here.
Supervisor Tools for Crew Leads, Supervisors, & Foreman
A unique characteristic of owning a construction business is that often, the boss is not on-site with the crew; the boss is back at the office running the administration side of things, possibly many miles away. It’s the supervisor or foreman who oversees crew members and jobsite duties.
With this in mind, busybusy designed their time tracking app to allow the boss to grant selective administrative access to their jobsite supervisor/foreman. This feature gives supervisors the capability to handle on-site administrative tasks without bothering the big boss.
Supervisor tools include the ability to clock in/out individual employees or entire teams, create and modify employee schedules, and create daily reports. Supervisors will also be able to view equipment location, view job costing data based on field labor, and view the location of jobsite employees based on timestamps. The ‘supervisor tools’ feature will empower supervisors to handle jobsite issues and ease administrative burdens for owners.
Universal Map
Both QuickBooks Time and busybusy have a GPS map to show you where your employees are currently clocked in. However, since busybusy can also track equipment, their universal map gives you an overview of everything related to your business. Your employees, your current project locations, and your equipment are easily tracked across multiple job sites – all easily viewed in real-time on one universal map.
Cost Breakdown
At first glance, QuickBooks Time and busybusy appear to charge the same monthly/per-user fee.
busybusy Pro charges a flat rate of $9.99 per user/month with no monthly base fee. QuickBooks Time charges $10 per user/ month for their Elite package; however, they also charge a monthly base fee of $40 (in addition to the user fees). QuickBooks Time’s monthly base fee alone can add $480 to your time tracking bill.
In the graphic below, we worked out a cost comparison between busybusy and QuickBooks Time with a company of 25, 75, or 125 employees. Not too much of a difference except for the monthly base fee.
The real price difference comes with the savings you’ll get from busybusy’s automatic billing policy, as we’ll explain below.
A Fair Billing Policy
When considering time tracking software, a common concern is, ‘What if I have more employees in some months and fewer in others? I don’t want to overpay.’ A fair billing policy eliminates this concern by only charging you for what you use. Busybusy has an automatic Fair Billing Policy. QuickBooks Time does not.
busybusy tracks your usage and adjusts your bill accordingly. This feature is vital in the construction business because of employee turnover and seasonality.
The savings can be enormous.
Here’s an example of how much money an automatic fair billing policy can save a company.
In this example, a small construction business employs 25 crew members for 9 months of the year; however, only a handful of those employees remain working during the winter. busybusy’s Fair Billing Policy ensures that this small business is not charged for the seasonal 20 employees who aren’t working 3 months of the year. On the other hand, QuickBooks Time will automatically charge this company 12 months for all 25 employees regardless of if they’re working or not.
This small construction business saved over $1,000 simply by choosing a time tracking software company that offered an automatic fair billing policy. It doesn’t matter if your company has 25 employees or 250 employees; busybusy’s Fair Billing Policy is going to save you some significant cash.
To be fair, QuickBooks Time offers the option of moving employees from an active to inactive status, but you must call customer service each time you want to do so. This commonly results in about a two-hour phone call which feels like they’re almost intentionally avoiding you. Even more frustrating is that QuickBooks Time doesn’t even advertise this as a possibility. They don’t want you knowing about it, and if you do, they’re hoping you won’t take the time to do it. Remembering to switch your seasonal employees is a pain and spending time on the phone with customer service is a waste of time. busybusy takes care of everything automatically- if an employee does not clock in that month, you are not charged for that employee. A Fair Billing Policy is a huge perk with huge savings.
Scaled Down Packages
We talked earlier about busybusy Pro and QuickBooks Time Elite levels. Both charge $10 per user/month (with a $40 monthly base fee from QuickBooks Time). In addition to the Pro and Elite levels, both companies offer a scaled-down version with access to fewer features for a lower price.
TSheet’s cheaper option is called Premium. The Premium option costs $8 per user/month (with a $20 base fee) and gives you access to 13 of their features.
Busybusy offers an option to access 12 features for $0 per user/month (with a $0 base fee). Yes, it’s 100% free, for an unlimited number of employees, for as long as you want to use it. That’s remarkable! There’s not another time tracking software company that offers anything close to this.
Customer Service
There have been many reports that Customer Service has slipped at QuickBooks Time over the last year. This could be due to the massive number of calls QuickBooks Time deals with every day. QuickBooks Time belongs to a large company, and good customer service can be difficult to sustain once a certain threshold has been reached. Some customers report waiting on hold for up to 2 hours trying to work out issues. Before buying Quickbooks Time, I would call in pretending to be a current customer with a problem and see how long it takes you to get help. That will likely have you shopping for another solution.
When trying out their software, both busybusy and QuickBooks Time offer a free trial period. QuickBooks Time offers a 30-day free trial while busybusy offers a 14-day free trial. Additionally, busybusy gives every Pro customer a 100% money-back guarantee for 90 days after signing up. Seriously, three entire months to ensure your success!
Neither company makes you sign a contract- you can cancel anytime. However, no prorated refund will be given at QuickBooks Time. Busybusy will refund you 80% of whatever is remaining on your account after the initial 90 days.
New clients at busybusy are assigned a personal onboard specialist. These specialists will help ensure a quick and seamless transition by explaining and personalizing all the settings according to your company’s unique needs. They help with importing and setting up current projects, equipment and employees. They also help with the integration of payroll, including walking you through your first payroll process.
conclusion
So, which is better, QuickBooks Time or busybusy? Even though both companies do a great job tracking time, busybusy has the extra features and cost savings, making it the better choice. If you own a construction business, there is no question who you should choose. busybusy’s superior reporting, data analysis, fair billings policy, and excellent customer service, in addition to their other powerful features, makes it the clear winner over QuickBooks Time.
Here’s a summary regarding the relative pros and cons of each.
Reasons to use busybusy over QuickBooks time (Formerly TSheets)
- Simple design. It’s hard to get construction guys to use an app, so pick one that’s easy to use. Voted #1 in ease of use and reliability, busybusy exceeds employer’s expectations
- busybusy was designed and created specifically for the construction industry
- Fair Billings Policy will automatically adjust your bill according to employee usage.
- A 90-day money-back guarantee allows you to try out their software within your company without any risk.
- Comprehensive analysis and reports will save you money and help grow your business.
- Creating Daily Project Reports will increase communication and efficiency between crews and management.
- Injury/Covid reports generated at clock-in and out will help protect your company from liability.
- Equipment Tracking helps to protect and utilize equipment most efficiently.
- Jobsite photo and notes with an easy-to-use search bar
- Universal map
- Automatically comply with labor laws.
- Assigned a Personal Onboard Specialist(s) from the beginning that keeps you on track with a quick, successful rollout and understands your business
- Better liability management
You can schedule a demo with busybusy here
Reasons to Use Quickbooks time over busybusy
- If you own a small coffee shop, nail salon, or another non-construction-based business and are looking for a solid time tracking software.
- If you don’t need comprehensive labor and job cost reports for future bidding of projects
- If you don’t have seasonal employees
- If you will never need to recall photos
- If you don’t own work trucks or heavy equipment
- If you don’t worry about liability
