Let’s face it. There are a million employee time tracking apps. If you are reading this article, then you’ve already tried a few and realized they are all not quite what you were expecting. Some are too basic and not much better than a stopwatch. Others are too complex with a million features, but still somehow missing what you want it to do. Microsoft Power Apps allows to hit that happy medium; easy to use with the functionality you need. Let’s explore a few examples of a Power Apps Employee Time Tracking App.
Entering Time in a Power Apps Employee Time Tracking App
There are a few common requirements for entering time:
- The ability to log time manually.
- Using a timer to track time.
- Adding notes to time entries.
- Track the date, time and who entered the time.
But what about the other requirements that can be missed, depending what time tracking app you are using:
- Force notes to be mandatory.
- Add other fields, such as a category for the time.
- Track who the manager is of the employee.
- Prevent time overages.
- Track the geographic or GPS location of the time entry.
Chances are you have found a time tracking app that has 1-2 of these requirements but is missing something. Even if that “it” thing is not listed above, there is a great change Microsoft Power Apps can do it. You can your Power Apps Employee Time Tracking App meet all your time entering requirements including the ability arrange the fields to be exactly where you want them to be, design and brand the app to match your companies styling and finally it can be mobile friendly on Windows, Android and Apple devices.
Below are 2 examples for entering time in Power Apps on a tablet or desktop. Want to see different fields? Have a completely different design in mind? Or maybe you only care about time keeping on a phone. All of these are 100% achievable in a Power Apps time tracking app.
Managing Time in a Power Apps Employee Time Tracking App
Once a person enters their time, what happens with it? Managing time is as equally important as entering time. The requirements for “what happens next” varies wildly based on each company and tends to be where other time tracking apps really fall flat. Does the time go immediately to a manager? What can the employee edit? Does that time accrue against a time code or project?
Since Microsoft Power Apps is backed by Power Automate, there are limitless automation options. You can update data in other databases, including SQL and SharePoint. Additionally, you can send notifications immediately, daily or on whatever frequency you need. Also, you can automate approval processes around time management including management and HR approvals. Want to get even fancier; once the time is approved data can be sent directly to payroll management platforms as long as the have an open API.
In the below 2 examples, employees can be restricted to which specific fields they can edit. Everything is searchable which is of course the norm, or so we hope! Additionally, the results can be downloaded to Microsoft Excel so you can use that data in other applications, reports or presentations. Finally, all your time tracking data can be view in Power BI for real time metrics.
