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PunchClock
From a USD 15,000 quote to my own payroll system
A 50+ staff café was quoted USD 15,000 for a time-clock system. I built one on Google Sheets and Apps Script instead — payroll admin from ~40 hours a month to ~2. It has since grown into a Malaysian HR & payroll prototype.
40h → 2h
Monthly payroll admin, 2023 system
~97%
Payroll accuracy, 2023 system
50+
Staff it ran for, every day
The current prototype
2023: the problem
- →Staff missed clock entries; the physical clock was slow enough that people worked around it
- →Payroll was rebuilt by hand every month — about 40 hours of admin
- →A developer quoted USD 15,000 for a replacement. I had no engineering background
What I built
- →Real-time punch in and out on Google Sheets + Apps Script
- →Role-based access, so staff see their own records and managers see the floor
- →Automated reports, with payroll logic encoded as policy instead of spreadsheet formulas
Today: the prototype
- →Face-recognition kiosk for clock-in, clock-out and breaks
- →Payroll runs with overtime, lateness and claims, plus EPF / SOCSO / EIS / PCB estimates
- →PDF payslips, staff onboarding and company branding
- →AI rostering and HR document drafting on Gemini
Still unfinished
- —Prototype data lives in the browser for now; there is no shared backend yet
- —Statutory figures are estimates, not certified filings
- —AI rosters aren't yet checked against employment-law hour limits
Stack — 2023: Google Sheets, Apps Script. Prototype: React 19, Vite, Tailwind, in-browser face recognition, Gemini.
The gap between a USD 15,000 quote and a weekend with a language model is the thesis I've built on since.