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What applies at this size, and what does not
The duty to record working time exists regardless of the size of the business. It follows from section 3(2) no. 1 ArbSchG, as the Federal Labour Court ruled on 13/09/2022 (1 ABR 22/21). There is no formal requirement today: handwritten is permitted.
Read in detail
The ministerial draft amending the Working Hours Act of 18/06/2026 would prescribe the electronic form but provides staggered transition periods for it and a permanent exemption for micro-businesses with up to ten employees. That is a draft and not applicable law; anyone advertising a "duty from 2027" today is selling a plan as a statute.
Regardless of that, section 17 MiLoG applies to mini-jobs and to the industries from section 2a SchwarzArbG: the start, the end and the duration within seven calendar days of the work, kept for two years. That duty knows no size threshold.
What a small business really needs
The list is shorter than the providers' pages suggest. Four points carry it, everything else is extra.
- Recording where the work happens: an app on the phone, web recording at the computer, or a terminal at the door where not everyone has a work phone.
- Corrections that leave a trace. Anyone changing something afterwards has to remain identifiable, and that is exactly what a spreadsheet does not deliver.
- Leave and illness in the same place, otherwise the hours account becomes unusable at the month-end close.
- An evaluation the tax adviser understands, as Excel or CSV.
The cost question with small numbers
Per-head prices are almost always cheaper at this size than packages and base fees: a base fee of 19.50 or 29.95 euros a month is spread over few heads and therefore weighs particularly heavily. A provider with a minimum purchase from five or ten people is effectively out of the question for a business with six employees.
| Provider | Entry price | Price public | Compliance checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| askDANTE | a free plan, otherwise from 4.50 euros/user | yes | yes |
| clockin | from 3.59 euros/user on a 24-month term | yes | yes |
| Clockodo | from 4 euros/user, without a personnel file | yes | yes |
| Crewmeister | from 1.50 euros/user, modules extra | yes | yes |
| Timebutler | from 29.95 euros a month | yes | yes |
| TimeTac | from a 19.50 euro monthly base fee | no | yes |
| timr | from 8 euros/user, from 20 people on request | yes | yes |
| MetronHR | from 5 €/user, no minimum number | yes | yes |
As of 15/09/2026, source as above. Base fees and minimum purchases are in the price column, because at this size they are what tips the balance.
askDANTE
- Entry price
- a free plan, otherwise from 4.50 euros/user
- Price public
- yes
- Compliance checked
- yes
clockin
- Entry price
- from 3.59 euros/user on a 24-month term
- Price public
- yes
- Compliance checked
- yes
Clockodo
- Entry price
- from 4 euros/user, without a personnel file
- Price public
- yes
- Compliance checked
- yes
Crewmeister
- Entry price
- from 1.50 euros/user, modules extra
- Price public
- yes
- Compliance checked
- yes
Timebutler
- Entry price
- from 29.95 euros a month
- Price public
- yes
- Compliance checked
- yes
TimeTac
- Entry price
- from a 19.50 euro monthly base fee
- Price public
- no
- Compliance checked
- yes
timr
- Entry price
- from 8 euros/user, from 20 people on request
- Price public
- yes
- Compliance checked
- yes
MetronHR
- Entry price
- from 5 €/user, no minimum number
- Price public
- yes
- Compliance checked
- yes
As of 15/09/2026, source as above. Base fees and minimum purchases are in the price column, because at this size they are what tips the balance.
When Excel is still enough and when it is not
A spreadsheet satisfies the record-keeping duty formally as long as the start, the end and the breaks are in it. Its problem is not the form but what happens afterwards: it can be changed without anyone seeing it, and in a dispute over overtime it therefore proves nothing.
Read in detail
In practice the tipping point lies where collecting and typing up costs several hours a month, or where for the first time somebody needs an evaluation that is not already in the spreadsheet.
Information about competitors comes from their publicly available pages and can change. This is not legal advice; for a specific case in your business it is better to ask someone with a licence to practise.