Digital time tracking instead of paper timesheets.
Staff clock in and out from any device. Breaks are tracked automatically, overtime is flagged before it becomes a payroll problem, and every entry goes through manager approval before export.
Sound familiar?
- Paper timesheets get lost, altered, or forgotten
- Handwritten hours are easy to change and hard to audit. At month-end, reconciling who worked what becomes time-consuming and error-prone.
- No break tracking means compliance gaps
- You have no record of when breaks were taken or whether rest periods met legal requirements. One audit is all it takes to expose the risk you didn't know you were carrying.
- Overtime surprises you every payroll cycle
- By the time you notice the hours adding up, the cost is already locked in. Without real-time visibility, you react after the fact instead of preventing it.
Recording working time is mandatory — Terminz does it as you go
Since the Federal Labour Court ruling of September 2022, every German employer has to record its staff's working time. The method is yours to choose; the evidence is not optional. In Terminz the record is created as people clock in, with no second tool.
Recording is required, the system is your choiceBAG 1 ABR 22/21
The Federal Labour Court ruled that employers must record the start, end and duration of daily working time. Paper is still allowed, it is simply almost impossible to audit. Terminz stores every clock-in with its timestamp and approval state, so the evidence is finished before month end.
Maximum hours: eight a day, ten with compensation§ 3 ArbZG
Eight hours per working day are permitted, ten only if the six-month average comes back down to eight. Terminz checks every entry against the limits you set and flags the day that goes over before it reaches payroll.
Breaks: 30 minutes from six hours, 45 from nine§ 4 ArbZG
The rest break is prescribed by law and has to be documented. Terminz knows the threshold, points out a missing or short break, and deducts it under the rules you set per location.
Eleven hours of rest between two shifts§ 5 ArbZG
Eleven hours have to pass after the end of a shift before the next one starts. Because the roster and time tracking read the same data in Terminz, a next day scheduled too early shows up while you plan it, not afterwards in the record.
Everything your time tracking needs
GPS clock-in and clock-out
Staff clock in from the terminal app or any device. GPS coordinates and address are captured at check-in, confirming on-site presence without continuous location monitoring.
Break tracking with auto-deduction
Start and end breaks with one tap. Terminz records exact break minutes, flags missing legally required breaks, and applies the auto-deduction rules you configure per business.
Overtime flagging and daily limits
Every entry is checked against contracted hours and ArbZG daily limits. Overtime is calculated in real time and flagged in the manager approval center before payroll runs.
Manager approval workflow
Staff submit entries for review. Managers see all pending timesheets in one place and can approve, reject with a reason, or request corrections, with a full audit trail preserved.
Billable hours with hourly rates
Mark entries as billable, attach hourly rates, and let Terminz calculate billable amounts automatically. Ideal for service businesses charging by the hour.
CSV export for payroll
Export approved timesheets as structured CSV with a date-range picker. Clean per-staff hour totals, break deductions, and overtime flags, ready for your payroll system or accountant.
Hourly pay the calendar works out on its own
Nobody on an hourly rate should depend on whether someone remembered to clock in. Terminz adds up the time spent on the day's appointments. The gaps in between belong to your team — recorded, not paid. Work without an appointment gets logged by your team, and you approve it.
Lisa Weber
Tuesday, 11 August
On site 09:00 to 15:00 — the appointments are what gets paid
- With clients
- 3.50 h
- Idle, unpaid
- 2.50 h
- Extra time, cleaningApproved
- 0.75 h
- Paid time
- 4.25 h
- €76.50
Hours from the calendar
For everyone on an hourly rate, Terminz adds up the previous day's appointment time every night. Arriving ten minutes before the first appointment does not start the clock — the appointment does. Anyone who clocks in instead keeps their stamped time.
Your team logs extra time, you approve it
Cleaning, prep work, goods received, training or a team meeting gets logged by your team in their own account, with the time and the reason. The entry stays open and unpaid until you approve it.
Timesheets and staff cost
Every month you can pull a signature-ready timesheet per person as a PDF. The cost overview puts staff cost, utilisation and revenue side by side, and the DATEV export books idle time to its own wage type.
What it looks like
Frequently asked questions
Is GPS tracking always on?
No. GPS verification is opt-in and configured per business or location. When enabled, Terminz captures coordinates and address at the moment of clock-in. There is no continuous or background location monitoring.
How does the timesheet approval workflow work?
Staff submit their entries at the end of each day or week. Managers see all pending timesheets in an approval center, can review each entry, add notes, approve, or reject with a written reason. Every action is logged in a permanent audit trail.
Does Terminz help with ArbZG compliance?
Yes. Terminz enforces configurable daily and weekly hour limits and flags entries that would breach ArbZG thresholds, such as the 10-hour daily maximum or the 48-hour weekly cap. Managers are alerted before approval, not after payroll.
How are break rules handled?
You configure break requirements in Time Tracking Settings: minimum break durations, auto-deduction thresholds, and whether breaks are paid or unpaid. Terminz flags entries where required breaks are missing or too short.
What export formats are available for payroll?
Timesheets export as CSV with a configurable date range. Each row includes staff name, clock-in/out timestamps, scheduled vs. actual hours, break minutes, overtime minutes, billable amount, and approval status.
How does Terminz work out the hours from the calendar?
For staff on an hourly rate, Terminz adds up the time spent on the day's appointments. Cancellations do not count. Time between two appointments is shown separately as idle time — it is on the record but is not paid. The derived day is a proposal and only reaches payroll once it has been approved.
What happens to extra time nobody approves?
It stays open and does not count as paid time. Neither a day derived from the calendar nor a self-logged entry is approved on creation, both land in the approval centre first. Only once you approve does the entry move into the payroll export and the timesheet. If you have set an auto-approval deadline in the settings, that deadline applies afterwards, and the record keeps showing that no person signed it off.
Ready to stop guessing
Accurate time records protect your business and give your team clarity. Request a demo and see it in action.