Premium feature · GPS auto-approval
Timesheets and geolocation, 85–90% auto-approved.
Managers spend hours approving timesheets for employees sitting two metres away. Synthro's geolocation clock-in checks browser GPS, matches it against your office location, and auto-approves in-office staff instantly — before the manager even opens their inbox. Zero fraud, zero admin overhead.
Clock-ins auto-approved
In-office staff, instantly
Manager time for in-office staff
Never enters the queue
GPS processed and discarded
Never written to a database
The problem
The timesheet drain no one talks about.
Managers approve every single entry
John clocked in at 8:02, Sarah at 8:47 — both at their desks in the same building. The manager still opens the system, reviews each entry and clicks approve. For 20 staff that is 100+ approvals a week, none requiring a moment of thought.
Timesheet fraud is invisible
Without location verification, an employee can clock in from home, their car or anywhere else and the system cannot tell. Timesheet fraud is more common than most businesses realise — and impossible to prove after the fact.
Multi-site businesses have zero visibility
With a warehouse in Johannesburg, an office in Cape Town and a depot in Durban, how do you know which site each employee is actually at? Synthro geo-tags every clock-in automatically with the matched office name.
Exceptions get lost in the backlog
When managers approve 90 routine entries before reaching the two that need attention — the overnight shift, the 11am clock-in that should have been 8am — those exceptions get rubber-stamped by habit.
No setup means no adoption
Most geolocation systems need apps, GPS configuration or device registration. One extra step and 30% of staff never set it up. Synthro uses the browser you already have — one permission prompt, remembered forever. 100% adoption.
POPIA risk from storing location data
Saving employee GPS coordinates to a database is a POPIA risk — if it is breached or accessed, your business is exposed. Synthro processes GPS in memory only: coordinates exist for under 200ms and are never written to any column.
How it works
GPS check to auto-approved, in under a second.
Register your office locations
HR enters the office name and street address; Synthro geocodes it to GPS coordinates automatically. Set the radius (default 300m), save, and never touch it again.
Allow GPS in the browser
The first time an employee clocks in, the browser shows its native "allow location access?" prompt. They click allow — and the browser remembers forever. Nothing to install, nothing to configure.
GPS check happens automatically
On clock-in, Synthro checks distance from your registered office. If they are within range, it is confirmed as at the office. The coordinates are discarded in under 200ms — only the result is saved.
Auto-approved before the manager sees it
The moment Synthro confirms the employee is at the office, the clock-in is approved. It never enters the review queue. If they forget to clock out, the system auto-sets the end of their day.
Managers see only what needs attention
Outside-office, denied, or unchecked entries go to the queue as normal. Managers now review only the 10–15% that genuinely needs judgement — field workers, client visits, late arrivals.
Clock-in demo
Thabo Mokoena · Tuesday, 25 Feb 2026
Clocking in from Cape Town HQ — 1 Adderley Street
Approved in under 1 second
From clock-in tap to approval — no manager involved.
POPIA compliant
GPS processed in memory only. Never written to any database column.
Multi-office support
Unlimited locations. Employees matched to the right site automatically.
Zero employee setup
Browser prompts once for GPS. Remembered forever — no app, no config.
POPIA compliant by design
GPS is processed. Never stored.
The moment the distance check completes, the coordinates are discarded. No column holds latitude or longitude. If your database is ever audited or breached, employee location history does not exist — because it was never written.
What is stored vs what is not
What is included
Clock-in, geo-verification, auto-approval, reporting — complete.
Geolocation clock-in
- Browser GPS check on every clock-in — no app install required
- Accurate to 100m range, verified across multiple devices in real-world testing
- Default 300m radius — calibrated from live GPS testing (±64m variance)
- Unlimited office locations — employees matched to the correct office automatically
- Admin enters a street address → Synthro geocodes via OpenCage (one-time)
Auto-approval engine
- Clock-ins confirmed at the office are approved the moment they are submitted
- Office clock-ins are never queued for manager review
- Auto-fills 17:00 SAST clock-out for auto-approved entries (BCEA compliant)
- 85–90% approval rate in live testing across office-based staff
- Manager queue shrinks to exceptions only — field work, late arrivals, denied location
Manager reporting
- Location status badge on every timesheet entry (in-office / outside / denied)
- Filter the timesheet view by location status
- Excel export includes a Location column for payroll and audit
- Summary stats: % auto-approved, % manual, % denied by period
- Multi-office report shows which employees clock in at which sites
POPIA & security
- Zero GPS coordinate storage — no database column holds lat/lng
- Coordinates processed in-memory only (under 200ms lifetime)
- Browser consent popup satisfies POPIA employee consent requirements
- Grace handling: no offices configured → falls back to normal approval
- Row-level security: employees see own timesheets, managers see their team only
ROI in real numbers
What does 85% auto-approval actually save you?
These savings do not include the harder-to-quantify benefit: managers who are not drowning in routine approvals have more focus for the exceptions that actually need their judgement.
Start auto-approving office clock-ins today.
We set it up with you.
Enter your office address, employees clock in, and 85–90% are auto-approved instantly. No apps to install, no per-employee configuration. Premium plan.