Hubstaff Tutorial: How to Track Employee Time and Productivity Step by Step

Managing employee work hours manually can lead to inaccurate timesheets, payroll mistakes, and difficulty tracking project progress. As businesses grow, spreadsheets and handwritten attendance records often become inefficient.

Hubstaff simplifies workforce management by providing tools for time tracking, employee scheduling, productivity monitoring, project management, payroll automation, and reporting.

Whether you manage a remote team, office employees, freelancers, or field workers, learning how to use Hubstaff correctly can improve productivity and save administrative time.

This tutorial walks you through the complete process of setting up and using Hubstaff effectively.

Step 1: Create Your Hubstaff Account

Visit the Hubstaff website and create an account using your business email address.

After signing up, you’ll be asked to create your organization or workspace where you’ll manage employees, projects, and reports.

Choose a clear organization name, especially if you manage multiple companies or departments.

Step 2: Set Up Your Organization

Before inviting employees, configure your workspace.

Review settings such as:

• Organization name

• Time zone

• Work schedule

• Currency for payroll

• Permissions

• Notification preferences

Setting these correctly helps ensure accurate time tracking and reporting.

Step 3: Invite Team Members

Next, add employees, contractors, or freelancers to your organization.

Each team member receives an invitation to join your workspace.

Assign appropriate roles, such as:

• Owner

• Administrator

• Manager

• Member

Providing the correct level of access helps protect sensitive information while allowing employees to perform their tasks.

Step 4: Create Projects

Projects help organize work and measure productivity.

For example, a marketing agency might create projects like:

• Website Development

• SEO Campaign

• Social Media Marketing

• Graphic Design

• Client Support

Employees can then track their work against the appropriate project.

This helps managers understand how time is being spent across different clients or departments.

Step 5: Assign Team Members to Projects

After creating projects, assign employees to the relevant ones.

For example:

• Designers → Graphic Design

• Developers → Website Development

• Marketing Team → SEO Campaign

• Customer Support → Client Support

Proper project assignment improves reporting accuracy.

Step 6: Install the Hubstaff App

Hubstaff offers desktop and mobile applications for tracking time.

Employees should install the appropriate app for their device.

Depending on the platform and organization settings, the app allows users to:

• Start and stop timers

• Track work hours

• Switch between projects

• Record activity

Using the official app helps ensure accurate time tracking.

Step 7: Start Tracking Time

When beginning work, employees simply select the correct project and start the timer.

While the timer runs, Hubstaff records work time for that specific project.

When work is complete or the employee changes tasks, they can stop the timer or switch to another project.

This process creates accurate digital timesheets without manual calculations.

Step 8: Review Timesheets

Managers can review employee timesheets from the Hubstaff dashboard.

Typical information includes:

• Daily hours

• Weekly hours

• Project hours

• Breaks

• Attendance

• Total tracked time

Regularly reviewing timesheets helps identify missing entries and ensures payroll accuracy.

Step 9: Monitor Productivity

Hubstaff provides productivity insights that help managers understand how work is progressing.

Depending on your organization’s settings, you may be able to review:

• Activity levels

• Time spent on projects

• Productivity reports

• Work patterns

These reports should be used to support productivity improvements rather than micromanage employees.

Transparent communication about monitoring practices helps build trust.

Step 10: Use Employee Scheduling

Hubstaff includes scheduling tools for assigning shifts and managing workloads.

Managers can:

• Create work schedules

• Assign shifts

• Track attendance

• Plan future work

Scheduling helps reduce conflicts and ensures appropriate staffing levels.

Step 11: Enable GPS Tracking (If Needed)

Businesses with field employees can use Hubstaff’s GPS tracking features.

This is useful for industries such as:

• Construction

• Delivery services

• Cleaning services

• Home healthcare

• Field maintenance

Use GPS tracking only when it is necessary for business operations and communicate clearly with employees about how location data is collected and used.

Step 12: Generate Productivity Reports

Hubstaff automatically generates reports based on tracked time.

Managers can analyze:

• Employee hours

• Project progress

• Team productivity

• Budget usage

• Payroll summaries

These reports help identify trends and improve resource planning.

Step 13: Set Project Budgets

For client-based work, create budgets for each project.

You can monitor:

• Estimated hours

• Actual hours

• Labor costs

• Budget utilization

Reviewing budgets regularly helps prevent cost overruns and supports better project planning.

Step 14: Configure Payroll

Hubstaff can assist with payroll workflows by using approved tracked hours.

Before processing payroll:

• Review employee timesheets

• Verify overtime

• Confirm approved work hours

• Check payment rates

Always review payroll information before finalizing payments to ensure accuracy.

Step 15: Explore Integrations

Hubstaff integrates with many business applications, including project management, accounting, communication, and productivity tools.

Integrations can reduce manual data entry and keep your workflow connected.

Before enabling integrations, confirm they match your team’s existing processes.

Step 16: Review Reports Regularly

Time tracking becomes more valuable when reports are reviewed consistently.

Managers should check:

• Team productivity

• Project costs

• Attendance

• Billable hours

• Workload distribution

These insights can help improve planning and resource allocation.

Best Practices for Using Hubstaff

To get the most value from Hubstaff:

• Explain time-tracking policies to employees.

• Assign projects correctly.

• Encourage employees to start and stop timers accurately.

• Review timesheets before payroll.

• Monitor reports regularly.

• Use scheduling tools to balance workloads.

• Respect employee privacy and comply with applicable laws and company policies.

• Use productivity data to improve workflows rather than focus solely on monitoring.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Forgetting to assign employees to projects

• Tracking time under the wrong project

• Skipping timesheet reviews

• Ignoring productivity reports

• Processing payroll without verifying hours

• Using monitoring features without clear communication

• Failing to organize projects properly

Avoiding these mistakes will help your organization use Hubstaff more effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I start tracking time in Hubstaff?

Open the Hubstaff app, choose the correct project, and start the timer. Stop or switch the timer when your task changes or your workday ends.

Can Hubstaff create timesheets automatically?

Yes. Hubstaff records tracked work hours and organizes them into digital timesheets that managers can review.

Can I manage remote employees with Hubstaff?

Yes. Hubstaff is widely used by businesses to manage remote, hybrid, and distributed teams through time tracking, scheduling, reporting, and workforce management tools.

Does Hubstaff support payroll?

Yes. Hubstaff includes payroll-related features that use approved tracked hours to simplify payroll workflows.

Can Hubstaff track field employees?

Yes. Hubstaff offers GPS tracking capabilities for organizations managing employees who work outside the office, depending on the selected plan and configuration.

Is Hubstaff suitable for freelancers?

Yes. Freelancers can use Hubstaff to track billable hours, organize projects, and generate accurate work records for clients.

Conclusion

Hubstaff provides a straightforward way to manage employee time tracking, project management, scheduling, reporting, and payroll from a single platform.

By setting up your organization correctly, creating projects, inviting team members, tracking work hours, reviewing reports, and verifying payroll information, you can build an efficient workflow that supports both managers and employees.

The key to successful implementation is consistency. Encourage employees to track time accurately, review reports regularly, and use productivity insights to improve processes rather than simply monitor activity.

When used transparently and responsibly, Hubstaff can help businesses save time, improve project visibility, and make better workforce management decisions.