Break with one tap
Take a break with one tap. Done.
Time tracking · Timesheets
Tap start.
The app does the rest.
Phone in the pocket, stopwatch running. Hours become the invoice — tax-office-safe, DATEV-ready. Included in every plan. Also in Starter from 29 €/month.
Mobile-first for the job site
Tax-office-safe from day one
DATEV export one click
Breaks with one tap
Live
10:42
Working time · ArbZG
07:38since 7:00
Current job
Müller · bathroom reno
Hauptstr. 47 · Berlin
00:42:13
Break
Stop job
Three pillars
Stopwatch instead of timesheets.
Tap instead of write.
Three things that save every Friday night — when the timesheet would otherwise still be waiting to be written.
01
WHAT
One stopwatch. Per job.
Timer per job, runs even with the phone in the pocket. To the second. No paper.
02
WHY
Hours become money.
What you work flows into the invoice. Planned hours vs. actual hours — at a glance.
03
HOW
Tap instead of write.
Tap start, done. Type a note instead of scribbling with a pencil. End of day = end of timesheet.
What's inside
Six things that
make timesheets obsolete.
Mobile-first built. For hands that were just in the mortar.
Linked to jobs
Select a job, timer starts. Switch to the next site? One tap. Hours land in the right place.
Tax-office-safe archive
Every entry with timestamp, immutably archived. If the tax office asks: here's the list.
DATEV export
One click, all hours in DATEV format. Payroll bookkeeping without copy-paste.
Holidays recognised
May Day, Good Friday, Ascension Day — the app knows them. Nobody tracks on a holiday by mistake.
Included in every plan
Starter, Professional, Business — time tracking included everywhere. Also in Starter from 29 €/month. No “upgrade required” notice.
What the law requires
Since 13 September 2022
tracking is mandatory.
The Federal Labour Court (BAG) ruled in case 1 ABR 22/21 that all employers in Germany are obliged to record their employees' working time objectively, reliably and accessibly. This implements the EU Court's "time-clock ruling" (C-55/18, 14 May 2019) into German law — immediately applicable since the ruling.
§ 16 ArbZG
Working-time records
Start, end and duration of every employee's daily working time must be recorded. With the BAG ruling this now applies to all working time, not just overtime.
Retention: at least 2 years.
§ 17 MiLoG
Minimum-wage law
In construction it also applies: daily recording of start, end and duration of working time per employee, no later than 7 days after work was performed.
Submission duty: Must be presented immediately during customs checks.
§ 4 ArbZG
Break rules
For 6–9 hours of working time at least 30 minutes break, for over 9 hours at least 45 minutes. Breaks must be set in advance.
No break: the time counts entirely as working time.
Note: This overview does not replace legal advice. For legally sound implementation in your business, talk to your tax adviser or a labour-law specialist.
Sources: BAG ruling 1 ABR 22/21 of 13.09.2022 · ECJ C-55/18 of 14.05.2019 · §§ 4, 5, 16 ArbZG · § 17 MiLoG.
What a workday looks like
Two timers.
A few taps.
In Meistify two timers run in parallel: the working-time timer documents your legally relevant workday (for ArbZG and MiLoG). The job timer assigns every hour to the right customer. You toggle both in seconds — and see immediately that everything is documented.
Working time · ArbZG
Job timer · customer assignment
Break · § 4 ArbZG
- 7:00
Workday start — you head out
You tap "Start workday" in the app. The working-time timer starts.
▶ Working time runningTravel to the first site is recorded.
- 7:25
Arrived at Müller site
You tap "Start job" and pick Müller. The job timer starts.
▶ Job "Müller · bathroom reno"Hours land directly on the job.
- 12:30
Lunch break — 30 minutes
Tap "Break" . Job timer pauses, break counter runs.
⏸ Break runningMandatory after 6 hours of work (§ 4 ArbZG).
- 14:00
Müller done — stop job
Tap "Stop job" . Hours are assigned to the job.
■ Müller: 6:05 h recordedIncl. 30 min break deducted.
- 14:30
On site at Schmidt
Start job timer for Schmidt. Working-time timer keeps running regardless.
▶ Job "Schmidt · repair"30 min travel recorded separately.
- 17:00
Schmidt done — stop job
Stop Schmidt job timer. Drive home begins.
■ Schmidt: 2:30 h recorded
- 17:30
Home — end of workday
Tap "End workday" . Day is fully documented.
■ Working time: 10:30 h · Break: 30 minEntry is tax-office ready and ArbZG-compliant.
Total working time
10:30 h
7:00 – 17:30, less 30 min break
Booked on jobs
8:35 h
Müller 6:05 h · Schmidt 2:30 h
Travel & switching
1:25 h
Documented separately
Who is liable when nothing is documented?
Three risks
you
don't have to take.
Untracked working time has, since 2022, stopped being just an accounting topic. It's a liability topic.
The following overview shows where the biggest risks lie — and which paragraphs apply. As always: when in doubt, talk to a tax adviser or lawyer.
- 01
Fines during customs checks
In construction the Financial Control of Undeclared Work (FKS) checks regularly on site. Anyone unable to present MiLoG-compliant records risks a fine of up to €30,000 per violation.
Legal basis: § 21 (1) No. 7 MiLoG · § 17 MiLoG.
- 02
Burden of proof in pay disputes
If an employee sues for overtime and you have no objective record, they're given the benefit of the doubt. Documented hours are your shield — without them, you carry the litigation risk.
Legal basis: BAG ruling 1 ABR 22/21 · § 138 ZPO.
- 03
Disputes with customers
When hours on the invoice are contested ("You weren't there that long") you need objective proof. A simultaneously recorded, tamper-proof time list is far more convincing than a handwritten list compiled afterwards.
In practice: in court, documentation counts, not memory.
Questions
What tradespeople
ask about time tracking.
Yes. With the BAG ruling 1 ABR 22/21 of 13 September 2022 all employers in Germany are obligated to record working time objectively and tamper-proof — regardless of business size or industry. A specific implementation law is in preparation, but the obligation itself already applies.
Yes. Start, end and duration of daily working time are recorded per employee — the mandatory information required by § 17 MiLoG for construction. During a customs check (FKS) you can export the records directly from Meistify and submit them. The 7-day deadline after work performance is automatically met because recording happens in real time.
If the break isn't recorded, the time counts as continuous working time per § 4 ArbZG — which has consequences in payroll. As employer you can correct retroactively if a break did happen but wasn't entered — the audit trail documents the correction.
At least the 2 years required by § 16 (3) ArbZG. In practice we keep your records as long as your contract with us runs — and provide them to you as a full export on cancellation. Servers are in Frankfurt am Main, all GDPR-compliant.
Yes, both. You tap start, the timer keeps running offline — timestamp and employee ID are stored locally, the requirement of „objective“ recording remains met. Phone in the pocket, app in the background: iOS and Android let time-tracking apps keep running, built exactly for this. As soon as signal is back, everything syncs automatically.
Yes, but visibly. Corrections are logged with timestamp and original value — the original entry is not overwritten. The office sees all versions, the audit trail stays tax-office-safe. That's exactly the tamper-proof requirement the BAG ruling demands.
Via the standard DATEV payroll export. One click generates the file, the accountant imports it. Compatible with DATEV LODAS and LuG. Payroll bookkeeping without copy-paste.
What goes together
Time tracking works with
the whole tool.
Get started
Done with the
timesheet.
Try time tracking — 14 days free. No credit card. Hit the stopwatch, hours count themselves.
From 29 €/month (billed annually) · Time tracking included in Starter · Hosting in Frankfurt