Time tracking
Hours worked, written down while they happen
In a lot of restaurants the timesheet is filled in from memory on the last day of the month. Everyone knows it is a little wrong. Nobody minds until there is an argument about overtime, a payslip that does not add up, or an inspector asking to see last March.
Why the paper sheet keeps failing
The last table finally leaves. The bartender is already halfway home and forgot to write down when she finished. On Monday she says half past eleven. The sheet says ten.
- Hours are written down days later, so they are guesses, and both sides know it.
- Forgotten clock-outs turn into a negotiation instead of a fact.
- Breaks are either never recorded or always recorded as exactly thirty minutes.
- Somebody types the whole month into the payroll spreadsheet again, by hand.
What a good record looks like
Three things per person and day: when they started, when they finished, and the breaks in between. Recorded at the moment it happens, by the person who is working, in a way that takes them two seconds. Anything that needs a login and a menu at 7 a.m. will not get used.
Corrections are normal. People forget. What matters is that a correction is visible as a correction: who changed what, when and why. A clean-looking sheet with no history is worth less than an honest one with three fixes in it.
Is it actually required?
In the EU, increasingly yes. In 2019 the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that employers must have a system that records the actual daily working time of each worker (case C-55/18). Countries are turning that into national law at different speeds, and hospitality is usually first in line for inspections because of cash work and part-time jobs.
A schedule is the plan, not the record. Both are useful, but only one of them proves anything. Staff schedulingWhere IBMK fits in
IBMK records time the way service actually runs: fast, at the door, and even when the Wi-Fi is down.
- An iPad at the entranceEveryone has a 4–6 digit PIN. Clock in, start a break, clock out. No accounts to log into on a shared device.
- Or the staff phoneFor people who start somewhere else. You can switch on a location check per restaurant, so a clock-in from home does not count.
- Works offlinePunches are kept on the device and sent as soon as the connection is back, with the time they really happened.
- Corrections with a historyA forgotten clock-out is fixed by a manager, and the change is kept with who made it and when.
What it does not do: no fingerprint or face hardware, and it is not payroll. It exports clean hours for whoever does your payroll.
Questions we hear a lot
Can staff clock in on their own phone?
Yes, if you allow it. Many restaurants use a shared iPad at the door for most people and the phone for those who start elsewhere, with a location check switched on.
What happens when someone forgets to clock out?
The shift stays open and a manager sees it. They set the real end time, and the record shows that it was corrected and by whom.
Do we still need a schedule if we record time?
Yes. The schedule says who should come; the time record says who did. Comparing the two is how you spot no-shows and unplanned overtime.
Want to see it with your own team?
Write to us. A person answers, usually the same day, and we set up your locations and roles together.