Planning resources
Best Time-Tracking Tools for Festival Staff
Eight time-tracking platforms compared for organisers, temporary staff and production teams handling shifts, projects, locations, approvals and event-weekend exceptions.
What this comparison covers
Festival work combines advance planning with intense public-event periods. A coordinator may work remotely for weeks, while temporary staff clock at a venue for fixed shifts and suppliers bill by project or call. One time system must either support those differences or clearly define which workforce belongs in which workflow.
We compared mobile and kiosk entry, project structure, schedules, approvals, corrections, location options and export quality. The shortlist favours tools that let workers review their own records and supervisors resolve exceptions before hours reach payroll, invoicing or grant reporting.
A useful pilot should include an organiser, venue worker, temporary employee and contractor. Test a missed clock-out, split shift, changed location, approved overtime and reopened timesheet. Reconcile the final export with the published roster and payment process rather than trusting the dashboard total.
Decide which dimensions are actually required: event, workstream, location, role, rate and billable status may be enough. Excessive task lists slow entry during busy periods and create inconsistent data. The system should capture the smallest record that supports payroll, budgets and capacity decisions.
Separate the scheduled call from the approved worked time. A roster describes what was planned; the timesheet records what happened. Late opening, early release, missed breaks and reassigned work can create legitimate differences. Supervisors need a consistent way to document those exceptions, and finance needs an export that preserves both the corrected value and enough history to understand why it changed.
Eight tools at a glance
| # | Tool | Best for | What it captures | Primary output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monitask | Project time and distributed organiser work | Project timers and optional activity context | Timesheets, project reports and workload patterns |
| 2 | Clockify | Mixed teams and flexible entry methods | Timer, timesheet, kiosk, calendar and mobile entry | Project, attendance, cost and approval reports |
| 3 | Toggl Track | Fast timers and easy organiser adoption | Web, desktop, mobile and automatic tracking | Timesheets, project, workload and profitability reports |
| 4 | Hubstaff | Distributed and location-based event teams | Time, projects, activity and optional location | Timesheets, schedules, budgets and payment reports |
| 5 | Deputy | Shift scheduling, attendance and labour rules | Availability, schedules, time clocks, leave and breaks | Rosters, timesheets, labour forecasts and payroll data |
| 6 | TimeCamp | Automatic capture, approvals and cost visibility | Timer, manual entry and optional automatic tracking | Timesheets, approvals, budgets and attendance reports |
| 7 | Harvest | Budgeted and client-funded event projects | Timers, manual time and expenses | Budgets, invoices, project and profitability reports |
| 8 | TrackingTime | Team timesheets, attendance and clean exports | Task timers, timesheets and attendance records | Team reports plus PDF and spreadsheet exports |
Use the table to choose a pilot list. Confirm current plan limits, integrations, data location and contract terms directly with every vendor before purchase.
How we evaluated the shortlist
Capture flexibility
Mobile, browser, kiosk and correction workflows should cover office, venue and field work.
Event context
Projects, shifts and locations must explain the hours without an unmanageable category list.
Approval integrity
Supervisors need edit history, locked periods and a documented reopening process.
Export quality
Payroll and budget data should reconcile without repeated manual spreadsheet repair.
Detailed reviews
1. Monitask
Monitask combines project time with team reporting and optional work context for organisers and remote contributors.
Why it made the list. Teams can separate sponsorship, vendors, marketing, production and administration, then compare effort across event cycles. Optional screenshots or application data belong only in appropriate computer-based roles and require a transparent policy; physical festival work relies primarily on timer records.
Strengths
- Clear project and team reports
- Useful for remote festival preparation
- Optional context for targeted review
Trade-offs
- Advanced shift swaps need a scheduling companion
- Activity capture needs privacy controls
Choose Monitask when project effort and distributed organiser work need a consistent record.
2. Clockify
Clockify supports several capture methods, making it adaptable to offices, volunteer desks, vendor areas and venue operations.
Why it made the list. A festival can start with project timers, then add kiosk entry, approvals, rates or attendance features. The breadth is valuable when groups work differently, but administrators must define one method for each role and prevent duplicate recording.
Strengths
- Multiple entry methods for mixed environments
- Broad reporting and approval options
- Suitable for pilots that may scale
Trade-offs
- Configuration breadth requires an owner
- Kiosk and location workflows need event-site testing
Choose Clockify when a single organisation needs flexible capture across several kinds of festival work.
3. Toggl Track
Toggl Track emphasises low-friction entry and clear project reporting for people moving between many event tasks.
Why it made the list. Simple timers reduce the chance that organisers reconstruct time at the end of a long day. Tags and projects can separate event workstreams, while workload reports help planning. It is less focused on venue shift scheduling than a dedicated workforce platform.
Strengths
- Simple interface encourages consistent entry
- Useful project and workload reporting
- Broad app and integration coverage
Trade-offs
- Shift scheduling is not the primary focus
- Payroll rules need careful pilot testing
Choose Toggl Track when voluntary adoption and project insight matter more than a complete shift operation.
4. Hubstaff
Hubstaff extends time tracking into scheduling, budgets and workforce operations for distributed or field-based teams.
Why it made the list. Managers can connect venue calls with labour budgets and payment workflows while staff use mobile tools away from the office. Location and screenshot features should be enabled only when necessary, proportionate and communicated to every affected worker.
Strengths
- Time, schedules and budgets in one system
- Mobile support for distributed work
- Can feed contractor and payroll processes
Trade-offs
- More complexity than a simple timer
- Location and activity data raise privacy requirements
Choose Hubstaff when event hours must connect with field locations, schedules and payment operations.
5. Deputy
Deputy combines schedules, clocks, leave and labour controls for event teams with complex shift coverage.
Why it made the list. Managers can build around availability and demand, publish changes, monitor overtime and prepare approved payroll records. It is particularly relevant when venue staffing and public-session coverage matter more than project timers.
Strengths
- Strong scheduling and time-clock workflow
- Labour cost and rule visibility
- Useful multi-location operations
Trade-offs
- Requires accurate role and labour-rule setup
- May be excessive for a small occasional team
Choose Deputy when reliable shift coverage and payroll-ready attendance are the core requirements.
6. TimeCamp
TimeCamp offers multiple capture methods plus approvals, budget controls and attendance-oriented reporting.
Why it made the list. Automatic options can recover missing office-based organiser time, while manual and mobile records cover event calls. Edit history and approvals are helpful when records feed payroll, invoices or grant reports and cannot change silently after review.
Strengths
- Flexible manual and automatic capture
- Approval and edit-history controls
- Budget, billing and attendance output
Trade-offs
- Automatic capture is less relevant to venue-floor roles
- Project taxonomy must stay simple
Choose TimeCamp when approved records, multiple capture methods and cost reporting must coexist.
7. Harvest
Harvest connects time and expenses with project budgets and invoicing for agencies, suppliers and contracted event work.
Why it made the list. Project leaders can see budget consumption before final settlement, and suppliers can turn approved effort into invoices. It is less focused on temporary-staff attendance, so it works best when the main question is project cost and margin.
Strengths
- Strong time-to-budget and invoicing workflow
- Clear reports for professional services
- Expenses recorded alongside time
Trade-offs
- Not a complete workforce scheduler
- Complex overtime rules may require payroll controls elsewhere
Choose Harvest when recorded event effort must become an invoice or project-margin report.
8. TrackingTime
TrackingTime combines task-based time, attendance and export-oriented reporting in a straightforward workflow.
Why it made the list. Spreadsheet-friendly output is useful when payroll or festival administration still performs final reconciliation outside the tracker. A controlled upstream record reduces manual collection while keeping modelling and audit checks in existing systems.
Strengths
- Clear team timesheet workflow
- Useful PDF and spreadsheet exports
- Task and project context
Trade-offs
- Complex payroll rules need a real pilot
- Downstream templates depend on stable export columns
Choose TrackingTime when dependable exports and straightforward team timesheets are the priority.
Implementation guide
1. Define who uses which capture
Assign mobile, kiosk, browser or manual entry by role so the same shift is not recorded twice.
2. Test event exceptions
Run missed clocks, split shifts, changed locations, overtime, supervisor corrections and reopened approvals.
3. Reconcile one payment cycle
Compare approved exports with the published roster, contracts and actual payment process.
4. Publish correction rules
Explain closing dates, edit permissions and the escalation route for disputed hours.
Buyer and rollout checklist
- Write the operational purpose and the decision each data field supports.
- Assign owners for permissions, naming, retention and integrations.
- Pilot one complete event workflow with real temporary participants.
- Test mobile access, exceptions, approvals and exports.
- Publish one official channel for changes and disputed records.
- Review adoption, duplicates and unnecessary collection after launch.
Frequently asked questions
Should festival staff use a kiosk or mobile app?
A kiosk works at a controlled entrance; mobile entry is more flexible across zones. Test queues, connectivity and location controls.
Can time data measure contribution?
No. It shows effort and allocation, not the quality or value of a person’s event work.
How detailed should projects be?
Use only the dimensions required by payroll, budgets or decisions. Excess categories produce unreliable data during busy shifts.
What happens after approval?
Lock the period, retain an edit history and require documented authorisation before changing payment-bound records.
Final recommendation
Monitask offers the best balance for project effort and distributed festival preparation. Clockify suits mixed capture methods, Deputy leads for shift operations, and Harvest fits budgeted supplier work. Select only after a live pilot produces an approved export that matches the roster and payment process. Document who owns corrections, when periods close and how late changes are authorised so the records remain dependable after the event.