Choosing a system

Choosing a time tracking system without going down a blind alley

A time tracking system is more than a clock-in button: it holds target hours, calculates balances, checks against the Working Hours Act, manages roles and delivers the report for payroll. The choice usually turns on three questions, not on the feature list.

  • One price per person, no module surcharges
  • No minimum term, cancellable monthly
  • Data export as Excel and CSV, at any time

Last checked on4. September 2026

The three questions it turns on

Feature lists are long and differ less than they look. What actually stops a business buying, or annoys it six months later, is almost always the same three points.

  • How do the people without a computer in front of them clock in? Without an answer to that, part of the business stays outside.
  • What happens at the month end, and who does it? If the answer is "somebody types it up", the main problem is unsolved.
  • What does it really cost? The price per person is rarely the whole price.

Eight criteria, judged by the same definition

These eight points can be checked against any offer before a demo happens. Six of them are in the comparison overview for 23 providers; two are commercial and sit in the contract.

What to check an offer against

  • Ways of recording

    What you ask
    app, browser and terminal, or only one of them?
    Why it counts
    decides whether everybody can take part

  • Personal device

    What you ask
    does anybody have to use their private phone?
    Why it counts
    the most common objection from the staff

  • Checking under the ArbZG

    What you ask
    does the system warn as you enter, or only afterwards?
    Why it counts
    found afterwards, the breach has already happened

  • Month end

    What you ask
    what exactly does payroll receive, and in what format?
    Why it counts
    this is where the time saving comes from, or does not

  • Locking the period

    What you ask
    can a closed month be locked?
    Why it counts
    otherwise figures move after the handover

  • Server location

    What you ask
    in Germany, and who operates the servers?
    Why it counts
    two different questions, often only one answered

  • Price components

    What you ask
    base fee, modules, setup, support, minimum quantity?
    Why it counts
    2 € per person quickly becomes 8 €

  • Getting out

    What you ask
    term, notice period, data export?
    Why it counts
    decides how expensive a mistake becomes

The documented assessment per provider is in the comparison overview, with source and retrieval date. As of 4 September 2026, 23 providers compared.

What a system costs

List prices in the German market sit roughly between 2 € and 13 € per person a month. The range says little while the components are missing: base fees per site, surcharges for rotas or absences, one-off setup fees, minimum purchases of ten or twenty licences.

MetronHR costs 5 € per person a month on the Team plan and 10 € on the Professional plan, with no setup fee and no minimum term. The number of licences can be adjusted up and down every month, which makes the difference for seasonal businesses.

Monthly price at MetronHR, with no extra costs

  • 5

    Team, 5 € per person
    25 €
    Professional, 10 € per person
    50 €

  • 10

    Team, 5 € per person
    50 €
    Professional, 10 € per person
    100 €

  • 20

    Team, 5 € per person
    100 €
    Professional, 10 € per person
    200 €

  • 50

    Team, 5 € per person
    250 €
    Professional, 10 € per person
    500 €

As of 4 September 2026, prices exclusive of VAT. Shift and duty planning belong to the Professional plan, time tracking and absences to the Team plan.

The rollout, in four steps

For a business with ten people that is an afternoon, with no training and no consulting day. Anyone planning to use a terminal should add the delivery time for the cards.

  • Create the people, with a start date and weekly hours.
  • Assign a working time model: fixed hours, flexitime, part time or shifts.
  • Choose a way of recording per person; mixing is allowed.
  • Set the go-live date, usually the first of a month. Before it, everything stays as it was.

Frequent questions

What we are asked most often about Choosing a system.

Recording (clocking or typing in), target hours from a working time model, a time account with a balance, corrections with approval, the check against the Working Hours Act, roles and permissions, and a report for payroll. If one of those parts is missing, manual work is left over.

MetronHR runs as a cloud service on servers in Germany, in data centres in Nuremberg and Falkenstein. There is no on-premises installation. Anyone who absolutely needs one is in the wrong place with MetronHR, and we say so before the trial rather than after it.

For ten people, an afternoon: create the people, assign a working time model, choose a way of recording. There is no compulsory training and no paid setup day. With a terminal it takes as long as the cards take.

Through the file, and that is the route every accountancy practice knows: a monthly overview per person as Excel or CSV, with target, actual, balance, premium hours and holiday and sick days. The values are calculated already, and the practice takes them into its payroll program. A separate login for the practice is deliberately not provided, because it raises questions about roles and data processing that outweigh the benefit.

The export as Excel and CSV is available throughout, not only at the end. There is no minimum term, and cancellation is monthly. Leaving therefore costs nothing but the time for the export.

Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.

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Related

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