Honest Review:

Beebole

• Affordable price
• Robust customization options
• Detailed reports
• Smooth integration with other software
• Responsive support team

All features of Beebole are available at one flat rate. They wittily call it “Everything but the kitchen sink”, which is a refreshing take to the usual multi-tier pricing structure that curates the number of features according to the price of the subscription plan.

For €6.99/user/month, Beebole allows users to track unlimited clients, projects, subprojects, and tasks with an easy-to-use time clock, approve and lock timesheets track and differentiate between billable and non-billable hours, track budgets and costs assign flexible user roles, set automated reminders, get insights with limitless customizable reports, and track overtime and PTO. They also give users live one-on-one support for the times when they need assistance with any aspect of the software.

Aside from that, users also get the Beebole mobile app that’s compatible with any device, which allows them to track time with a one-tap timer, and submit timesheets from anywhere. It also works offline and continues to track time even without an internet connection. Data is synced automatically once a stable connection is reestablished.

Beebole also has integrations with various productivity tools, and their free API allows for even more possibilities. Security is ensured with SSO and data encryption. They also support 11 languages for inclusivity. 

Beebole does not have a free plan, but they do offer a 30-day free trial without requiring a credit card. They offer a 10% discount if users pay for one whole year, and for NGOs and schools as well. 

1. Beebole Project Time Tracking and Time Clock

Time tracking is an essential part of keeping teams productive and businesses profitable. That’s why it’s important to choose a system that simplifies it for everyone and minimizes the time and effort spent on the process. 

Beebole allows users to track time across clients, projects, subprojects, and tasks using straightforward time clocks or manual entry using a daily, weekly, or monthly format. This allows users to get an accurate picture of their time usage down to the last minute, or to record time spent on work post-fact with ease.

Users can start tracking time by navigating to the Beebole timesheet module and selecting the format and the particular date to log time. After that, they can compartmentalize the entry by entity, which means the client, project, subproject, and task by which the entry should be classified. Entities are added as rows near the top left of the page, and for each entity row, users can select a particular item to track time against, which complicates the process significantly, but results in highly compartmentalized and very organized time records. 

Live timers are easily operated by just clicking the play button to start and the stop button to end, but can only be used for the daily format on the current date. However, all formats support manual entry, and users can add time manually post-fact by indicating the duration spent on work or entering start and end times. Users can also add comments to their time entries to communicate highlights or concerns to their managers upon creating the time entry, or afterwards by hovering over the desired entry and clicking on the post-it icon that appears. Time entries can also be copied by hovering over it, clicking copy, and then clicking the day on which to duplicate the entry.

Aside from worked hours, users can also record breaks, time off, and absences on the Beebole timesheet module. Once accomplished, timesheets can be submitted by clicking the submit for approval button at the top of the module. In case of a mistake, users can undo the action within a few seconds, after which they can no longer be edited unless rejected by a manager. Approved hours will be displayed with a check mark, while rejected entries will show a circle-backslash (“⍉”).

On the management end, timesheets can be reviewed, approved, and rejected using the Beebole approval module. This is also where they can lock and unlock hours, send reminders for timesheet submission, mark hours as billable or non-billable, update billing, and submit timesheets on behalf of team members. 

Beebole’s time clock is available on both desktop and mobile, making it easy for users to clock in and out of work shifts. Adding time manually can be similarly done on any device, so they can do it anytime and anywhere. This multi-device functionality allows employers to easily keep track of attendance and ensure that their team is working efficiently.

However, time tracking at Beebole comes with its downsides as well. First and most obvious is the complexity of the process which involves a lot of steps. It’s quite unintuitive to jump through so many hoops just to clock in, and I think an update of the timesheet module interface is in order to make it more streamlined. 

Second, there’s no way of knowing if the right person is clocking in and working at the right place because Beebole does not offer accountability safeguards such as facial recognition, GPS tracking, and geofencing. This is quite concerning for me, as it leaves businesses vulnerable to various time theft shenanigans that could cost them a lot of money and stifle progress.

Aside from that, the mobile version of Beebole is not quite as powerful nor as easy to use as the desktop version, which severely limits its usability. All of these are pointing to the conclusion that Beebole isn’t really designed for use in all industries, and only works best for desk jobs. 

2. Time Off Tracking and Absence Management 

Absences are a crucial aspect of operations that should be managed well to keep businesses healthy. On one hand, they give employees ample time to take care of concerns outside work so they can function at 100% when they return, but poorly managed absences can put a significant dent in productivity. That’s why time tracking systems must also cover time off and absence management.

Beebole centralizes time off tracking and absence management using dedicated features that are fully integrated with time tracking. This allows businesses to create PTO policies and unlimited absence quotas for individuals, teams, or the entire organization, and record how they are used both in the timesheet and time off modules. This means that any absence recorded in one module will automatically appear in the other. 

With the Beebole time off module, management can create absence types such as the pre-configured leave, PTO, and sickness types. Unlimited types can be added to cover more reasons for absences, such as maternity, bereavement, and volunteering. Each absence type can be configured to be tracked in full days, half days, or even hours, and management can define quotas for each absence type for a specific period, such as the number of sick days that an individual employee can use per year. To accommodate dynamically changing business needs, any absence type can be easily modified, deactivated, and deleted. 

Users can request time off on the time off module by either selecting a date at the top of the page or clicking a date tile on the calendar section, indicating an absence type from the drop-down menu, and selecting whether it’s for a full day or half day depending on how the chosen absence type is configured. For selecting multiple consecutive dates, users can do it on the calendar section by clicking and dragging through the desired dates and following the same procedure. The requested absence will then show up as a draft under the existing time off section of the Beebole time off module. Once reviewed and verified, users can hover over the draft and click the send for approval button that appears, or click delete to remove it from the list.

Alternatively, users can also use the Beebole timesheet module to request time off by following the same procedure as logging time entries but adding the absence entity as a row instead of projects, tasks, or clients. They can then select the absence type from the drop-down menu and then enter the duration. This means that users can only track absences by hours using this method. The requested time off on the timesheet module will then appear in the existing time off section of the time off module similar to the first option.

Now, once requests are submitted, managers will receive an email notification, and they can then approve or reject them using the approval module in a similar manner to the timesheets. Once a manager takes action on a request, the requesting employee will then receive an email notification indicating whether their request has been approved or rejected. The status of the request in the existing time off list will also change to indicate the manager’s decision as well.

Aside from individual review and approval, managers can also opt to examine, approve, and reject time off requests in bulk to save time. They can also lock time requests for their team, get an overview of their existing time off, and review balances whenever necessary. 

It’s great that Beebole has a suite of absence and time off tracking features as it helps save time and effort on requests and approval. It eliminates the need for tedious back-and-forth and chasing after signatures. However, I think the module could be streamlined a bit more so there aren’t any extra steps that may result in confusion. For example, it would be better if requests were automatically submitted for managers’ approval once leave dates and types have been chosen, instead of having them go to the existing time off list and only then being able to submit them. Requesting time off through the timesheet module can be complicated as well, owing to the unintuitive manner of adding entities as rows and numerous drop-down menus, that could be redesigned to be sleeker and more user-friendly.

3. Detailed and Dynamic Timesheet Reports 

Reports are essential to charting the path of any organization. They give business owners insight into the reality of their operations based on actual data tracked by the system, thus allowing them to create decisions backed by real numbers. 

Beebole allows users to create unlimited reports using the reports module or the chart and table module to see tracked data for any of the 45 data types that are tracked or recognized by the system, such as absences, activity, billing, budget, costs, dates, daily rates, persons, profits, projects, subprojects, and tasks, to name a few. Access to certain types and levels of view is limited by user roles and permissions. Admins can see everything across the entire account, managers can see data regarding specific teams and projects, and individual team members without permission to see other data can view only their own data. 

To create a report using the reports module, users need to click the change this report button on the module interface and modify the details of the template, such as giving it a name and choosing the type of data to display from the first drop-down menu. They can also add new columns by selecting the blank entry on the rightmost side of the section, remove columns by dragging down an entry, and reorder columns by clicking, dragging, and dropping the entries sideways. They can then choose the data to be displayed in any column drop-down by choosing from the options in the drop-down menu of any column entry. After that, additional filters can be applied to make the report even more focused, and the status of the recorded time used in the report can be indicated as draft, submitted, approved, rejected, or locked. The currency for the report can also be changed from the default by choosing from the options in the currency for amounts drop-down menu. Once all relevant and required fields have been added and modified according to the user’s needs, they can then click the run report button at the top of the page and access the report they’ve just created.

Using the chart and table module follows a similar procedure, but instead of just presenting data in a grid form, it allows users to create various types of charts and tables that are easier on the eyes and facilitate a better understanding of the numbers. Users can drill down on the numbers by adding steps or more specific filters for data. Aside from that, reports generated from both modules can also be filtered even further by using the groups and custom fields option.

Once reports, tables, and charts are generated according to user specifications, they can be exported for sharing or further processing as PDF, XLSX, or CSV files, and even through Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. Aside from these options, hours recorded in Beebole can also be exported to QuickBooks for Windows as a Timer IIF file. In addition to that, exported reports can be configured to display data in custom formats and with company logos using the export settings module and a bit of HTML knowledge.

However, for all of its customizability, Beebole does not have a dedicated overtime tracking module. To get insights on overtime, users have to go a very roundabout way by setting a number of hours per day and per week with the timesheet settings module and adding overtime per day and overtime per week columns to any report. 

Now, the customizability of Beebole reports is one of its greatest strengths, but the way with which to go about it I can only describe as torturous. There are much better ways to customize reports than with the bewildering array of drop-down menus that Bebeole currently offers, which aside from being unintuitive, also feels terribly dated. Plus, they’re only available on the desktop version, which severely limits what users can do with the mobile app.

4. Beebole Integrations

Aside from the previously discussed importing and integration capabilities with QuickBooks for Windows, Beebole also integrates other accounting, invoicing, and HR, solutions. It also integrates with various third-party tools to expand its usability and functionalities. Users can connect their Beebole accounts with Google Workplace, Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft 365 for various cloud-based computing, collaboration, and productivity needs and services. 

For heightened security, users can also integrate Beebole with SSO solutions such as Okta and OneLogin. 

To enhance Google spreadsheets and for the ability to retrieve real-time data from their Beebole accounts, users can get the Google Sheets add-on. It allows greater customizability in reports with pivot tables and charts and more complex calculations. It can also be used to send updated reports through automated emails to specific stakeholders. 

The Excel add-in for Beebole also allows users to enhance their spreadsheet experience by allowing users to build custom tables and retrieve real-time data from their Beebole accounts. 

(As of December 2023)

• Software Advice: 4.5/5
• GetApp: 4.6/5
• G2: 4.5/5
• Capterra: 4.6/5

Beebole is a great tool for tracking time and progress for projects accurately and for addressing a lot of other pain points in the modern workplace. It is highly customizable and allows users to tailor the solution according to their unique needs. But although it is available for both desktop and mobile, the desktop version is far superior in functionality and usability than the mobile apps which in my opinion are underdeveloped and lack essential features. This means it’s not ideal to use for work on the go. 

But despite that, the time tracker is quite accurate and reliable and does a great job at capturing every minute of working hours with a variety of clock-in methods. The way Beebole compartmentalizes time entries is also commendable because it lessens the time managers usually spend on categorizing time entries and tidying them up for payroll. However, the way time entries are categorized upon clock-in from the employee’s end is quite cumbersome and unintuitive. The process should be drastically simplified so that it wouldn’t be as hard or as confusing to successfully execute. Another point of contention for me is the requirement for timesheet submission. Unlike other solutions that automatically calculate and submit timesheets for manager approval, Beebole takes a less intuitive route.

Now, the data gathered by the time tracker, classified into more than 40 types, are used as variables for the highly customizable reports that allow users to get insights on just about anything – time usage, budgets, profitability, and much more. They offer great flexibility with the ability to add and remove columns, specify filters, build KPI dashboards, and assign reports to specific users or groups for more focused insights that are extremely helpful in making important business decisions. 

Beebole’s time tracking functionality allows users to accurately capture the hours they spend on clients, projects, and tasks using manual entry or timers on both desktop and mobile apps. It also tracks breaks and helps keep businesses on top of billable and non-billable hours. Plus, employers can set automated tracking reminders for teams so they don’t forget to submit timesheets on time. 

The data gathered by the time tracker are translated into timesheets that employees can review, edit, and submit for manager approval. They’re also used to build unlimited and highly customizable reports to gain insights on time usage, budgets, profitability, and much more. But what I really love about it is that Beebole allows businesses to build KPI dashboards and assign reports to specific users or groups for more focused insight that they can use to make important decisions. However, the way to go about it has quite a steep learning curve, what with all the complicated options and dated interface of the reporting module. 

This complex operation extends beyond the timesheet and reporting modules and into almost every other aspect of Beebole. Even the time off module is not exempted from this, although its centralization of requests, reviews, and approval is quite commendable.

But with so much packed into one low-priced plan — everything but the kitchen sink — I find it really hard to dislike Beebole. The care with which the makers conceptualized their product shines through in the features that they offer and the pain points that they seek to address, although they could have made things easier to navigate and operate. They could also do with a major redesign so that it could feel fresher and more up-to-date.

To sum it all up, I think Beebole is a good choice for businesses in need of an affordable, highly customizable, accurate, and reliable desktop-based time tracking and project management solution. However, if mobile functionality and easy navigability are non-negotiables, there are a lot more options out there to explore.