Five ways to record when staff arrive and leave. Each has a different cost, a different accuracy level, and a different exposure to fraud.
Paper time cards and sheets
Cost: free. Accuracy: poor. Fraud risk: high. Audit: fails.
Employees fill in their own start and end times from memory. Errors accumulate fast. A 10-person cafe running paper sheets will see 2-3 time disputes per month on average. A Labor Department audit requires digital or signed records - a stack of handwritten sheets rarely satisfies that requirement. Best for sole traders or operations with 2-3 people who work the same fixed hours every week.
PIN terminals
Cost: €150-400 per device. Accuracy: good. Fraud risk: moderate. Audit: passes.
Staff clock in at a fixed terminal using a personal PIN. The weakness is shared PINs - one employee can clock in for another. Installing the terminal at a narrow entry point reduces that risk. Best for fixed-location retail or hospitality where a wall-mounted device makes operational sense.
QR code check-in
Cost: near-zero (software only). Accuracy: good with GPS validation. Fraud risk: low with GPS. Audit: passes.
Staff scan a location-specific QR code on their phone. Pair it with GPS radius validation - the system accepts the clock-in only if the phone sits within 50 meters of the site - and buddy punching becomes impractical. Print a new QR code weekly to block screenshot cheating. Best for cafes, small retail, and offices.
Biometric: fingerprint or facial recognition
Cost: €200-600 per device plus ongoing maintenance. Accuracy: excellent. Fraud risk: none. Audit: excellent.
No one can clock in for someone else. The fingerprint or face is the credential. A critical GDPR note: biometric data is "special category" personal data under Article 9. Employers must run a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) before deploying biometric systems and obtain explicit written consent from each employee. Best for manufacturing, high-security environments, or operations with a history of payroll disputes.
GPS mobile app
Cost: near-zero (app subscription). Accuracy: 5-50 meters. Fraud risk: low. Audit: passes.
The employee's phone records their location at clock-in. No hardware to install. It works for staff spread across multiple sites or working from client locations. The accuracy range (5-50 meters) means it cannot reliably distinguish between "inside the building" and "outside the front door" - set the geofence radius to account for that margin. Best for field workers, delivery teams, and cleaning crews.
Decision table
| System | Hardware cost | Buddy punch risk | GDPR sensitivity | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper | €0 | High | Low | 1-3 person operations |
| PIN terminal | €150-400 | Moderate | Low | Fixed retail or hospitality |
| QR code | €0 | Low (with GPS) | Low | Cafes, offices, small retail |
| Biometric | €200-600 | None | High (DPIA required) | Manufacturing, high-security |
| GPS mobile | €0 | Low | Low-moderate | Field teams, multi-site |
Rezano supports QR code check-in with GPS radius validation and GPS mobile clock-in - both from one platform, no hardware required to get started.