Attendance only, or the door as well: the choice that sets the budget
Start with the job, because most of the bill will depend on it. If all you need is a record of who came in and when, one machine at the entrance does it: staff punch in with a finger, a face or a card, and the software turns each scan into working time. The door stays as it is.
If the same scan should also unlock the door, the machine becomes one part of an access control system. The door then needs an electric lock, a controller that decides when to release it, a button or a reader on the inside, and a power supply with a backup battery. Each door you add repeats most of those lines, so the cost per door, not the price of the machine, is what moves the budget as the project grows.
Many businesses use both: attendance machines where staff come in, and controlled doors only where they matter, such as the server room, the stock room or the main entrance at night. Choosing door by door puts the budget where the risk is.
- One machine per entrance, more where a shift arrives at once
- Power and a network point where it hangs
- Software that turns scans into working time
- Suits offices that need records, not locked doors
- A reader on every controlled door
- A lock, a controller, an exit and backup power per door
- Cable from every door to its controller
- Suits sites where who gets in matters as much as when
What goes into the price of an attendance machine
Biometric machine prices vary first with how the machine identifies people. Card readers usually cost the least, fingerprint machines a little more and face recognition terminals the most, with machines that read all three at the top. Since cards pass easily between employees, most businesses use a fingerprint or a face for attendance and keep cards for visitors. Our guide to card, fingerprint and face readers compares them by the door each one suits.
Capacity comes next. Each machine is rated for how many people it can enrol and how many records it keeps before they move to the software. Where a whole shift arrives at once, one machine means a queue, so the number of machines follows the busiest minutes of the day as much as the headcount. A machine that sends its records over the network or Wi-Fi costs a little more than one emptied with a USB stick, and a battery inside, or a small UPS, keeps it working through a power cut.
Many machines come with basic software at no extra charge, which suits one site with simple shifts; larger platforms cost more, as the software section below explains. Setup is work in its own right: enrolling every employee's finger or face, entering the shift rules, and exporting working time in the format your payroll accepts.
Access control price per door: the lines each door adds
Every controlled door needs a lock that suits it. A frameless glass door usually takes a magnetic lock on brackets made for glass, or an electric bolt in the frame above it. A wooden or metal door in a frame can take an electric strike, which replaces the plate the latch closes into. Double doors, aluminium frames and fire-rated doors each need their own fittings, so a quote should name the lock for each door.
Behind the lock sits the controller, which holds the permissions: who may open each door, and when. A reader with a controller built in can run one door on its own, while several doors usually share controllers that serve two or four doors each, run from one screen. People leave by an exit button or, if you want to know when they left, through a second reader; leave that reader off a door meant to record attendance, and the system knows when staff arrived but not when they left. A door contact, which reports a door forced or left open, is another small line worth asking for.
Each door also needs a power supply with a backup battery that keeps it working through a power cut. Doors on an escape route have to release when the fire alarm goes off, which takes a link to the fire alarm panel and a break-glass release beside the door. That link costs little at the design stage and a lot once the ceilings are closed, so ask for it in the first quote.
- 01Choose the readerFinger, face or card on the entry side, rated for heat and dust if it sits outdoors.
- 02Match the lock to the doorGlass, wood or metal, single or double, each with its own fittings.
- 03Add the controllerIt holds the permissions, for one door or for several.
- 04Plan the way outAn exit button or a second reader, a door contact and a break-glass release.
- 05Bring power and cableA supply with a backup battery, the fire alarm link, and cable back to the controller.
How attendance software is sold: with the machine, bought once or by subscription
Software is where two quotes for the same machines most often part ways. The basic software that comes with many machines runs on one computer and suits a single site. Larger platforms are bought once, usually priced by the number of doors or employees, and run on a server of your own. Cloud platforms are sold as a subscription, commonly per employee per month, and need no server.
Software on your own computer has no monthly bill, though larger platforms may charge for yearly support, and the backups and updates are yours to look after. A cloud subscription bills every month, but it lets HR see every branch from a browser. Before comparing prices, check that the software can handle your real shifts: a cheaper package that cannot will be paid for in manual corrections every month end.
Then comes the link to payroll. At its simplest it is a monthly file your payroll system imports. A live link to an HR system or an ERP such as Odoo takes more work to set up, but it ends the monthly export, and someone has to look after it whenever either system changes.
Installation: the costs your building decides
The building decides how long each door takes. During a fit-out, the cable goes in before the ceiling closes. In a finished office every run has to be hidden, and glass partitions leave no wall to hide it in, so it goes through the ceiling or the floor and the installation takes longer.
Outdoor entrances cost the most. A reader on a site gate or at a labour accommodation entrance must be rated for dust, water and summer heat, with its cable in conduit. A turnstile, which lets one person through per scan, needs a level floor, power and often concrete work. A tripod turnstile costs the least, while flap barriers for lobbies and full-height turnstiles for outdoor sites both cost more. A vehicle barrier adds its own reader and often a detection loop set into the road.
Several branches add lines of their own: a network connection at each site, and a central server or a cloud platform to join them. Enrolment is repeated at every site, at times that fit its shifts, and that time belongs in the setup price.
What the system costs to run, year after year
Once the doors work, the spending gets smaller and more regular rather than stopping. Cards and key fobs are lost and replaced, and every new employee needs one. A cloud subscription renews and grows with the headcount. The backup batteries behind the doors wear out every few years, and the locks and exit buttons on busy doors wear like any hardware.
Then there is upkeep: firmware updates, cleaning fingerprint sensors and face cameras on dusty sites, and removing people from the system as soon as they leave. Maintenance contracts vary in price with the number of doors and machines they cover and how often a technician comes.
Plan for growth too. A machine with room for more staff, and a controller with spare door inputs, cost a little more today and save replacing them when the business grows.
The questions that show what a quote is missing
Before asking anyone for a quotation, write down the facts that drive the price: how many staff, entrances and doors; which doors must lock and which only record attendance; what each door is made of and which sit on an escape route; how many sites; and which payroll or HR system the attendance data must reach. Every company should price that same list after walking the doors itself.
Then compare the answers. Which machine goes at each entrance, and how many people does it hold? Which lock goes on each door, and does the price include the exit, the door contact, the backup power and the fire alarm link? Does the software come with the machines, is it bought once or paid by subscription, and what will it cost in the second year? Who enrols the staff, and in what format does attendance reach payroll? How long does the warranty on the machines and the installation last, and how is maintenance priced?
Our own quotes follow those steps: we survey the doors and count the staff first, and the project gets one fixed price before a single lock goes on.