Honest Review:

BusyBusy

By Asim Qureshi, CEO Jibble

June 6th 2023

As a CEO of a time tracking software company I need to know what my competitors are up to. That means I’m often researching about and/or playing around with their products, you know, it’s part of the job. Here, I share my findings of that research, giving credit to those competitors where credit is due and being honest about which products I believe you really need to avoid. And so, there you have it, this review, and in it, I try to be honest, fair, and insightful…

This review covers:

• Overview
• What Users Like
• What Users Don’t Like
• Pricing Plans
• Standout Features
• Positive User Highlights
• Negative User Highlights
• Ratings from Other Reviews

Overview

So, let me tell you, BusyBusy is a time tracking and project management platform that has some serious perks. Its quite a popular choice for construction companies and general contractors who want to manage their projects and employees like a boss.

What I love about BusyBusy is how it offers all sorts of features like clock in/clock out, scheduling, location-based reminders, timecard signatures, and even custom overtime calculations. And it also has a handy mobile app that allows users to track time in different locations. The software’s integration with QuickBooks is quite impressive and its real-time updates on employee hours, equipment usage, and job costs are a total game-changer. The platform also includes profitability features such as budgets, cost codes, and progress tracking.

But I have a bone to pick with some of BusyBusy’s functionalities. For starters, the software’s offline mode is not reliable at all. And if you’re someone who likes to close the app right after clocking in and out, you’ve got to be careful – it can cause major syncing issues. Plus, the software’s limited reporting features are quite a bummer. Oh, and did I mention the geo-tracking feature that tracks employees 24/7, even outside of work hours? I guess you could say it’s a bit like having a helicopter parent, but for your job.

What Users Like

• Geofencing and GPS clock-in feature
• Great customer service
• Easy to change punch times and customize cost codes
• PTO and overtime calculations
• Liability and compliance features

Pricing Plans

BusyBusy offers three pricing plans: Free, Pro, and Premium packages. All packages can be availed for two months for free upon annual payment.

Free: Includes GPS time-tracking, job costing, equipment tracking, and unlimited users.

Pro: For US$11.99/user/month, includes a 30-day free trial period, with features such as GPS breadcrumbing, supervisor tools, safety reports, photos, notes, and scheduling.

Premium: A la carte, users can pick one or all features and pay for only what they need. Features include daily project reports, documents, progress tracking, and BusyPayroll service.

Standout Features of BusyBusy

1. Time Tracking 

With BusyBusy, users can track time in three ways: clock in/clock out, supervisor tools, and scheduling. Photos and notes can be attached to time entries for better documentation and accountability. The software has a “who’s working” feature that allows employers to view the movement of employees and equipment in real-time. Additionally, the software has GPS breadcrumbing, enabling employers to verify that employees are clocking in and out where they should be. Employers can also set up a geofence, restricting employees to only clock in once they are on the job site, along with location-based reminders, GPS location equipment, and digital timecard signatures.

Moreover, the software has a feature called “time accuracy sign off”, which allows employees to verify that their daily time is correct, and “employee breaks”, which enables users to document break time, location, and duration. The software also has an offline mode, allowing users to track time without cellular service, and automatically uploads data to the cloud when a connection is available. It provides custom overtime calculations and time off requests with a payroll tool that allows users to easily and quickly process payroll without missing time entry conflicts or errors.

2. Progress Tracking

BusyBusy offers a progress-tracking feature that allows construction companies to track their progress on various projects. This feature enables customizable measurements of materials, employee progress submissions, and in-depth progress reports. The customizable sizes allow companies to track materials in square feet, cubic yards, metric tons, or by the sheet, making material tracking easy and accurate.

Progress submissions can be quickly viewed and monitored, ensuring that all goals are met promptly and accurately. The ability to view crew progress allows companies to see which days are more effective, which crews are more efficient, and which type of work different crews excel at. The in-depth progress reports provide a detailed view of productivity, efficiency, and optimized operations, allowing companies to ensure that their projects run as smoothly as possible.

3. Employee Scheduling

BusyBusy offers a scheduling feature that allows employees to access their schedules from their phones, see important project information, clock in with pre-selected job costing, clock out, take breaks, or switch job costing right from within their schedule. The schedule notifications feature ensures that employees are informed of any changes to their plans, keeping everyone on the same page. The schedule creation feature allows companies to create a schedule for one employee for a single day or multiple employees for multiple days. It shows which employees are available to be scheduled, preventing double-booking or scheduling employees on days they have off. This functionality also includes assigning cost codes, attaching special daily instructions, and color-coding entries to keep things organized.

4. BusyPayroll and Integrations

BusyPayroll includes a payroll scanner that checks for any possible payroll issues in 1-2 seconds. It scans for issues that may cause payroll errors, such as time entry conflicts, time off requests, open time entries, or missing timecard signatures. BusyBusy’s employee matching feature allows companies to review Gusto and BusyBusy employee matches, make any changes, and decide if they want to sync with Gusto. After submitting payroll, BusyBusy instantly syncs with Gusto and starts processing payroll, providing a summary that allows companies to review the results and make any necessary changes.

BusyBusy also offers integration with various accounting and payroll software, including Zapier.

Selected Positive User Feedback: 

• “It is a great tool to keep up with time spent on each project. Actual working time, driving time, break time, etc. is easy to separate from a day’s work.” – Gary J. (Source G2)
• “It takes much burden off our foremen and frees them up for more important work. Plus, their customer service is outstanding!” – Melinda (Source Software Advice)
• “BusyBusy provided me with great assistance in fulfilling my tasks. It is easy to use as well. The product dashboard is created very well for those who are not tech savvy like myself.” Anonymous (Source GetApp)
• “I love that I can clock in and out from anywhere, and it helps me keep better track of my order and what is used on the job with descriptions and photos.” – Deshon B. (Source GetApp)
• “Being able to clock in and out as well as helping the people who are working under me to keep up with their clock in/out and switching jobs in case they forget.” – Brad W. (Source G2)
• “I like the field budgeting options that can use both times tracked (hours) or labor burden (dollars) to track the progress of each project“ – Matt (Source Software Advice)
• “The geofencing is a good feature. I like the GPS clock in locations and the ability to have descriptions of what the guys were doing.” – Aron F. (Source GetApp)
• “We can track hours by project, cost code, or by the employee. They post pictures and descriptions so we can see what they have worked on. Great tool for job costing!” – Rachel G. (Source G2)
• “Love that the app calculates how long someone spent at each job site within their 8-hour day especially when they work at more than one location in any given day.” – Anonymous (Source Software Advice)
• “Easy to switch between tasks. Excellent customer service, whenever we had a question, they were there to help with whatever we needed.” – Anonymous (Source Software Advice)
• “I like that changing the punch times is easy and can be done on my phone through the app.“ – Felipe G. (Source G2)
• “I also like that we can customize and require cost codes.” – Anonymous (Source Software Advice)
• “I love the report dashboard, which allows me to see everything about the labor in my company in one glance.” – Steven S. (Source G2)
• “Don’t have to go into the office to clock in or out; I can do it on my way home or on my way to work” – Dean S. (Source G2)
• “Easy time tracking Calculates over time Keeps track of Paid Time Off Reports easy to follow Easy to make corrections“ – Ellen (Source Software Advice)

Selected Negative User Feedback:

• “BusyBusy is very connection-dependent, meaning that it does not work well without WIFI, and it seems that tracking is not possible when there is no internet connection as claimed.” – Anonymous (Source GetApp)
• “The phone app does not sync well with the computer program, so a lot of missed punches with lunches and time in & out.” – Felipe G. (Source G2)
• “Some of the menus could be a little more user-friendly“ – Matt (Source Software Advice)
• “Syncing issue. There is no way to tell if your employee is logged in from an app or on their computer at work. When they make mistakes, I have to fix them daily.” – Jessica D. (Source GetApp)
• “The app sometimes takes a while to load reports which can end up taking a lot of time, and the online version doesn’t allow line breaks without creating separate note fields before making the report.“ – Brad W. (Source G2)
• “I hate how when I clock out, it still keeps me clocking in sometimes, and I don’t realize until the next day. Geofencing feature tracks 24/7.“ – Jake A. (Source GetApp)
• “Lack of searchability of details in the project. I can’t search for a project # as that field is not searchable as of May 2018.” – Anonymous (Source Software Advice)
• “Does not work well with Firefox. Using the phone app with firefox caused wonky time discrepancies.” – Anonymous (Source Software Advice)
• “You can only sign your pay period on Sunday, not at the end of your work week. It also can take a very long time to log in, which can be a bummer because I can’t start my day.” – Anonymous (Source Software Advice)
• “Limited reporting features. Their canned reports often provide either too little data or too much data“ – Melinda (Source Software Advice)
• “I had turned on geo reporting, but I turned it off due to privacy concerns. BusyBusy was tracking my guys 24/7. Their location was recorded on the weekends, at night, etc., and it was invasive.” – Steven S. (Source G2)
• “Report has limited functions. Employees wish it didn’t take up so much battery. Offline mode had syncing issues.“ – Ellen (Source Software Advice)
• “That it is on my phone, and it drains my battery faster“ – Dean S. (Source G2)
• “I do find there to be some bugs with the app– especially with android users.” – Anonymous (Source Software Advice)
• “When employees clock out and close the app immediately, it will sometimes fail to sync. I had assumed that they forgot to clock out, but we found they were closing the app immediately.” – Anonymous (Source Capterra)

Ratings from Other Reviews

(As of 04/07/2023)

• Software Advice: 4.51/5
• G2: 4.7/5
• Capterra: 4.5/5
• GetApp: 4.5/5
• App Store: 4.2/5 (in the US)
• Play Store: 4.1/5 (in the US)

Final Thoughts

First off, I think BusyBusy is a great solution for construction companies and contractors who want to streamline their project management and employee tracking. It’s equipped with a robust time-tracking system that includes clock-in/clock-out, scheduling, and location-based reminders, making it easy for everyone to stay on track. And with a mobile app, businesses can easily track time even when they’re on the go. Plus, it integrates with popular accounting software like QuickBooks, which is super convenient for managing finances.

One of the most impressive features of BusyBusy is its real-time tracking capabilities. I love how businesses can keep track of employee hours, equipment usage, and job costs, giving an accurate snapshot of a project’s progress at any given time. The profitability features like budgets, cost codes, and progress tracking are also top-notch, making it easy to stay on top of the bottom line.

Here’s the kicker though – the offline mode can sometimes have syncing issues that cause problems when there’s no internet or weak connectivity. Also, if you close the app immediately after clocking in and out, it can lead to syncing issues and inaccuracies.

What I don’t like about the software is that it has limited reporting features. And the geo-tracking feature that tracks employees 24/7, even outside of work hours, raises some privacy concerns.

Keeping all of this in mind, I feel BusyBusy is a good solution for office workers and construction workers alike given its wide variety of advanced features, but for teams that work in areas with low connectivity, this internet-dependent software can raise quite an issue.