Switching from Buddy Punch, ClockShark, or QuickBooks Time to Clox

If you're paying $80+/mo for Buddy Punch or ClockShark and looking at Clox at half the price, the question is: how painful is the switch? Answer: about a week, if you do it right.

Most contractors I talk to who are considering Clox are already on something: Buddy Punch, ClockShark, QuickBooks Time, When I Work. The math says switching saves them $30–$80 a month and gets them a simpler product. The blocker is migration anxiety: what about my historical data, what about my crew's habits, what if it breaks payroll?

Here's the practical playbook. Total elapsed time: ~7 days. Total downtime: zero.

Before you switch: pull your historical data

You won't import historical hours INTO Clox. There's no point, and it'd create accounting confusion. But you should export everything from your current system for your records. Workers' comp audits and DOL inquiries can ask for records up to 3–7 years back.

Buddy Punch

1. Sign in as admin
2. Reports → Reports → run a "Time Card Report" for the full date range (e.g., Jan 1 → today)
3. Export to CSV. Repeat for any other report you rely on (Job Cost, etc.)
4. Save the CSV files in a dated folder on your computer or cloud drive

ClockShark

1. Sign in as admin
2. Reports → Timesheet → set date range to "all time"
3. Export to Excel or CSV
4. Repeat for Job Reports if you used them
5. Save the files

QuickBooks Time

1. Sign in to QB Time
2. Reports → Payroll Report or Project Report
3. Set date range, export to CSV or Excel
4. Save

What actually moves over (and what doesn't)

Migration anxiety mostly comes from not knowing what carries forward. The honest answer: you rebuild your configuration in Clox by hand (it takes minutes), and you keep your historical data as archived exports. Nothing gets imported into Clox. That's by design, and it's faster and cleaner than a fragile data import.

Day 1–2: Set up Clox

1. Sign up at app.getclox.com (60 seconds)
2. Name your company, same name as in your old system
3. Settings → Shift behavior: configure your overtime rules (daily threshold, weekly threshold, double-time if applicable, lunch deduction)
4. Settings → Notifications: set what you want emailed (missed clock-outs, weekly summary, etc.)
5. Worksites → add each active job site with a geo-fence radius (start at 100–150m)
6. Projects → add active jobs (anything you're currently working on)

Day 3: Invite the office (test internally first)

Don't roll out to the field on day 3. Invite yourself + office manager + maybe one foreman who's tech-friendly. Have each of you clock in for a fake shift, switch projects, clock out. Make sure the workflow feels right.

Common adjustments on day 3:

• Geo-fence radius too tight (punches getting flagged falsely) → widen it
• Project list missing entries → add them
• Forgot to disable "require project tag" if you'd prefer optional → fix

Day 4: Invite the field (Monday morning ideal)

Send invitations to the whole crew. If you've already been doing 5-minute pilot demos with the foreman, the crew has heard about it. Send the link, walk through it once at the morning huddle (5 minutes), let them try it.

Days 4–7: Run both systems in parallel

Important: have the crew punch into BOTH the old system and Clox for one full week. Sounds annoying, and it is. But it's the safety net that lets you switch with zero risk.

End of week (Friday or Sunday, whichever your pay period ends):

1. Run your normal payroll workflow from the OLD system (this is the official source of truth for this week)
2. Export from Clox too
3. Compare totals per employee. They should match to within 5–10 minutes
4. If they match: you're confident Clox is accurate. Next week you'll cut over.
5. If they don't: investigate the differences before cutting over

Day 8: Cut over to Clox

• Stop logging time in the old system
• Cancel the old subscription (or downgrade to the cheapest tier and let it lapse; most providers don't refund pro-rata)
• Update your payroll workflow to export from Clox instead
• Save the Clox PDF for the first "production" week, just in case

What you'll save

Real-world monthly savings for a 10-employee crew:

• Buddy Punch Pro: $79/mo → Clox $71/mo = $8/mo saved ($96/yr)
• ClockShark Standard: $100/mo → Clox $71/mo = $29/mo saved ($348/yr)
• QuickBooks Time Premium: $100/mo → Clox $71/mo = $29/mo saved ($348/yr)

Plus you get features that were paywalled before (geofencing, kiosk mode, scheduling) included on the single Clox plan.

Things that might trip you up

• Payroll provider sync. If you were using a native QB Time → QB Online sync, switching to Clox means CSV import instead. Two clicks; not native. If that's a deal-breaker, stay where you are.
• Mobile app. The Clox app is coming soon to the App Store. Today your crew can sign in from any phone, so nobody is blocked while the store listing goes live.
• Foreman approval workflow. Some apps have a layered foreman → admin approval chain. Clox has a flatter manager/employee model. If your business needs a 3-tier approval flow, talk to support before signing up.