Time tracking · Kangaroo Clock glossary

Time tracking is the practice of recording how much time workers spend on work, by shift, by project, or by task. It produces data used for payroll, billing, project estimation, grant reporting, and operational analysis.

Time tracking is the broad category that covers any structured recording of worker time. Different segments of the market emphasize different shapes:

Shift-based: track when someone arrived and left. Common in hourly-wage contexts (restaurants, retail, healthcare). Output: hours per worker per pay period.
Project-based: track time against client projects with rates. Common in freelance and agency work. Output: billable hours per client.
Activity-based: track time against specific tasks within projects. Common in professional services and software development. Output: time spent per task for estimation refinement.
Engagement-based: track hours volunteers, members, or unpaid contributors give. Output: total hours, distinct people, hours by program. Common in nonprofits.

Most products in the time-tracking category specialize in one shape and try to flex into adjacent ones. The choice of tool depends mostly on which shape your team's actual workflow takes, products built for shift-based work are usually a bad fit for freelance billing and vice versa.