> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.paypunch.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is PayPunch?

> PayPunch is a multi-tenant time tracking SaaS that lets bookkeepers collect payroll hours across many client companies and export them to QuickBooks.

**PayPunch is time tracking built for the way bookkeepers actually work.** Instead of one
company tracking its own staff, a bookkeeping firm uses PayPunch to collect hours across
*all* of the client companies it does payroll for — each kept cleanly separated — and turn
those hours into a QuickBooks-ready export.

## The problem it solves

Bookkeepers spend hours every pay period chasing timesheets from clients, deciphering
handwritten hours, and re-typing them into QuickBooks. Mistakes creep in, payroll runs late,
and nobody enjoys it.

PayPunch removes the re-keying. Employees clock their own hours, owners approve them, and the
bookkeeper exports a finished file.

<Tip>
  **IIF is the PayPunch payoff.** Approved hours export straight to a QuickBooks
  Desktop `.IIF` file — no manual re-keying. This is what saves bookkeepers
  30–40% of payroll processing time. See the [IIF Export walkthrough](/admin/iif-export).
</Tip>

## Who PayPunch is for

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Bookkeeping firms" icon="building-columns">
    The tenant. Manages every client company, employee, and payroll run from one admin
    console.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Client companies" icon="briefcase">
    The bookkeeper's customers. Owners and managers review and approve their own team's hours.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Employees" icon="user-clock">
    Field workers and staff who clock in and out and view their own time.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What makes it different

* **Multi-tenant by design.** One bookkeeper org holds many client companies; data is isolated
  per tenant so a client only ever sees its own people.
* **IIF export is the flagship.** Approved time becomes a QuickBooks Desktop `.IIF` file in one
  step — the feature that saves 30–40% of payroll processing time.
* **PIN-based clock-in.** Employees don't need accounts or passwords to log hours — a short PIN
  on a shared time clock is enough.
* **A real approval workflow.** Hours move through clear states (submitted → reviewed → approved
  → exported) with a full audit trail.

## What it is *not*

PayPunch collects and exports **time**. It is not a full payroll processor — it doesn't cut
checks or file taxes. It hands clean, approved hours to QuickBooks, where your existing payroll
process takes over.

## Next step

See [how PayPunch works](/get-started/how-paypunch-works) to understand the hierarchy and the
path that hours take from a clock-in to a payroll export.