Attendance point system software: what to compare

Attendance point system software keeps each employee's running point total, drops points off when they age out, and tells you when someone reaches a discipline step. The part that separates the tools is not the totals. It is who has to enter the occurrences, how the roll-off is worked out, and what you have to do by hand when a notice is due.

This guide compares the kinds of tool a manufacturer or warehouse HR manager is likely to meet, with what each does and what it costs to find out. Prices below are the ones the vendors published when we looked, on 2026-10-14. Check each page again before you decide.

What should attendance point system software do?

It should do four things without you checking its math: log each occurrence once, give it points from your policy, drop it from the balance on its roll-off date, and show the discipline step the balance reaches. Everything else is a convenience.

Test any tool on these six points:

• Rolling window. Can you set the window (12 months is common, 6 is not unusual) and does each point leave on its own date, not at a calendar year end?
• Your own policy. Point values per occurrence type, and the points at which each step applies, set by you.
• Who enters occurrences. HR only, or supervisors too, and whether HR can approve what a supervisor enters before it counts.
• Notices. A write-up that lists the occurrences counted and the dates they roll off, ready to print.
• Protected leave. A way to record an absence as protected so it scores nothing, without storing medical details.
• Getting your history in. A year of occurrences from your spreadsheet should load in one go, not be re-typed.

What are the main options?

There are four. Which fits depends on your roster size and on whether you already run a bigger HR or payroll system.

A spreadsheet or template. Attendance point trackers sell on Etsy and template sites for about $46, and plenty are free. They work for a small roster. They stop working when the formulas for roll-off drift between sites, when each supervisor keeps their own copy, or when the person who built the sheet leaves. Our guide to an attendance point tracker covers the columns and the formula.

A points-only tool. Cloud Point Data does the same job on its own: rolling point expiry, thresholds that escalate automatically, and printable write-ups. Its published prices on 2026-10-14 were $10 a month for 10 employees, $35 for 50, $50 for 100, $150 for 250 and from $190 for unlimited. It is the cheapest dedicated option for a small roster.

An add-on to a payroll or HR system. Attendance Counts is an app for ADP Workforce Now. Capterra lists a starting price of $299 a month, and the ADP Marketplace listing shows a 200-employee minimum. If you already run Workforce Now, it sits next to data you already have. If you do not, it is a lot of system for one job.

Attendance modules in time and HR platforms. TeamSense and Productivity Pilot both publish a points system as part of broader attendance products. They suit employers who want a full attendance platform with texting, time tracking or both. If you only need to keep points right, you will be paying for more than the job.

Time-clock software in general is a different category: it records punches and hours. A search for "attendance tracking software" mostly returns those products, which will not necessarily roll points off or draft a write-up.

How do I try a tool before I commit?

Take your own messiest case, not the vendor's demo. Pick the employee on your roster with the most occurrences, including one that crossed a step, one that rolled off recently and one marked as protected leave. Then check:

1. Does the tool's balance match yours to the half point?
2. Does it show the date the next point rolls off?
3. Does the write-up list every occurrence that counted?
4. Can you get your history in without retyping it?

You can run that test on the free run below with your policy and your file. It uses the same engine as the product, takes an occurrence log as CSV or Excel, and keeps nothing.

Where does Point Ledger fit?

Point Ledger does one job for a plant or warehouse with up to 500 hourly employees: it keeps each employee's rolling balance, roll-off dates and next discipline step current.

• You upload your roster and a year or more of occurrences as CSV or Excel, confirm the column mapping once, and see live balances.
• Supervisors log occurrences on a private link with no login that shows only their own employees. Each one counts once HR approves it.
• Balances recompute every night, so points that should have rolled off do.
• When a balance first crosses a threshold, a notice draft appears: a PDF or print page listing the occurrences counted, their roll-off dates, the balance, the step and your own wording for that step.
• You tick a protected-leave box and the occurrence scores zero, listed separately. Only that flag is kept, never medical details.
• A weekly plain-text email to HR lists who is newly over a threshold and which points roll off in the next 14 days.

It is limited by design. It has no connection to time clocks or HR systems, so nothing is captured automatically. It holds one policy per account. It drafts notices and records the date you mark them issued, but you deliver them. It gives no legal advice.

For how a policy is put together before you load it, see how an attendance point system works, and for the notice itself, the attendance write-up template.

Frequently asked questions

Is there free attendance point system software?

There are free spreadsheets and templates, and some tools let you try them before you pay. The free run on this page works out balances and roll-off dates from your own file without an account, but it does not keep your records between visits.

Do I need software for a small roster?

Often not. Under about 50 employees with one supervisor who enters everything, a well-built spreadsheet can do. Software starts to earn its keep when several supervisors log occurrences or when you run more than one site.

Does the software decide discipline for me?

No. It shows the balance and the step your policy says that balance reaches. Whether to act, and how protected leave or a contract affects it, is HR's decision, and sometimes your attorney's.