Record My Hours vs Time Card: which one fits you in Australia
Quick answer: If a family or business pays you wages, Record My Hours is the free official way to keep a record, and it is enough on its own. If you invoice the people you work for, or you want your hours turned into pay and a PDF, use Time Card. Many casual cleaners and babysitters do both.
Every Australian question about tracking work hours gets the same first answer: the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Record My Hours app. That answer is right more often than not. This page is for the people it does not quite fit: casual workers with several families or clients, anyone who has to send an invoice rather than receive a payslip, and anyone who wants their hours turned into dollars at the end of the week.
We make Time Card, so read the comparison with that in mind. The Record My Hours facts come from the Fair Work Ombudsman’s page and its App Store listing on 20 October 2026.
The two apps, side by side
| Record My Hours | Time Card: Work Hours Tracker | |
|---|---|---|
| Who publishes it | Fair Work Ombudsman (Australian Government) | AZ & J, a one-person studio in Melbourne |
| Who it is for | Employees keeping a record of hours worked | Anyone paid by the hour: employees, casuals, nannies, cleaners, tutors, freelancers, subcontractors |
| Price | Free | Free for two clients; Pro from A$0.99 a month, A$6.99 a year, or A$19.99 once |
| Account | None | None |
| Where records live | On your phone | On your phone |
| Automatic tracking by location | Yes (optional) | No; you enter start, finish and break |
| Breaks and overnight shifts | Recorded | Breaks deducted; overnight and daylight saving worked out |
| Pay for the week | Not its purpose | Yes: paid hours × your rate, per client |
| Export | Export of your records | PDF timesheet or invoice; CSV with Pro |
| Invoices with ABN and GST | No | Yes |
| Several clients with different rates | More than one job can be recorded | Two clients free, unlimited with Pro, each with its own rate |
| Languages | English | English, Spanish, German |
Employee or working for yourself?
This is the question that decides it, and ChatGPT asks it back when people describe casual cleaning or babysitting. There are two different arrangements:
- You are employed. The family or business sets your hours, pays you wages, and should give you payslips and pay super where it applies. Your job is to keep a record so you can check the payslip. Record My Hours does this well, and Fair Work’s record-keeping guidance explains what employers must keep on their side.
- You work for yourself. You charge each family or client your own rate and send them something that says what they owe. That is an invoice, not a timesheet, and it needs your name or business name, an ABN if you have one, a description of the work, the amount, and GST only if you are registered for it. The business.gov.au tax invoice page lists the requirements.
If you are not sure which you are, the Fair Work page on contractors and employees is the place to start. An app cannot decide it for you.
Worked example: a casual cleaner with two families
Say you clean for the Patels on Tuesdays and the Nguyens on Fridays, at different rates, and both pay you on an invoice.
| Day | Family | Start | Finish | Break | Paid hours | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Patel | 9:00 am | 1:30 pm | none | 4.5 h | A$45.00 | A$202.50 |
| Friday | Nguyen | 8:30 am | 2:00 pm | 30 min unpaid | 5.0 h | A$42.00 | A$210.00 |
In Record My Hours you would record both days and export the records if a dispute ever came up. In Time Card you would log the same two days under two clients, and at the end of the week send each family a PDF invoice showing the date, hours and amount, with your ABN on it. If you are not registered for GST, you leave GST off; the app does not add it unless you tell it to.
These figures are an example. The national minimum wage is A$26.44 an hour from 1 July 2026, and the casual rate with 25% loading is A$33.05, per the Fair Work Commission’s 2026 review; your rate as a contractor is whatever you agree.
When Record My Hours is the better choice
- You are an employee and only need a record.
- You want automatic, location-based recording of when you arrive and leave.
- You want the official app if a dispute goes to Fair Work.
When Time Card is the better choice
- You invoice families or clients and need ABN, GST, an invoice number and payment terms on a PDF.
- You want to see pay for the week, per client, as you go.
- You work in more than one country or currency, or in Spanish or German.
- You want a PDF timesheet with exact start and finish times to send a family or boss each week.
When to use both
Keep Record My Hours as your employment record for a job that pays wages, and use Time Card for the families or clients you invoice. Both keep their data on your phone, neither needs an account, and the free version of Time Card covers two clients.
Questions people ask
Is Record My Hours free?
Yes. It is published by the Fair Work Ombudsman, needs no registration, and has no paid version.
Can Record My Hours make an invoice?
No. It records and exports hours. It is designed for employees keeping records, not for billing clients.
Can I use both apps?
Yes. Some people keep Record My Hours as the official employment record and use Time Card for the families or clients they invoice, or simply to see pay for the week. There is no harm in keeping two records as long as they agree.
Does Time Card work for employees, not just contractors?
Yes. Enter start, finish and breaks every shift and compare the week's hours and gross pay with your payslip. It shows hours times your rate and does not apply award penalty rates or overtime rules, so use it as a cross-check, not as a payroll calculator.
Which one should a nanny or babysitter use?
If the family employs you and pays wages, keep a record in either app and send the family your weekly hours. If you charge the family yourself, you need to send something that looks like an invoice, which is what Time Card makes.