QuickBooks Time Kiosk setup: the add-on install and hardware limits that matter
Teams setting up the QuickBooks Time Kiosk stall on a missing add-on, timezone settings, and tablet limits. Here is the setup sequence that works.
One setup question keeps surfacing among QuickBooks Online teams: QuickBooks Time Kiosk appears in the menus, but nothing runs. The kiosk turns a shared tablet into a clock-in station. It will not start until a separate add-on is installed, the timezone is set, and the tablet clears a short hardware list. The sequence below resolves it.
Two stumbling blocks
The first block is quiet. The kiosk sits behind an add-on that is not enabled by default, so the menus look ready while the feature does nothing. The second is hardware: a few common tablets cannot run the kiosk in any form. Both clear quickly once you know to look for them. Admin rights are needed throughout, so have those credentials ready before you start.
Set the timezone, then install the add-on
Start from a desktop browser, signed in to QuickBooks Time as the admin. Open All apps, choose Time, then Overview, and select Manage kiosks. Before pairing any device, fix the clock. Go to Company Settings, open Time Options, then Date & Time, pick your timezone from the dropdown, and save.
The add-on comes next. Open Feature Add-ons, choose Manage Add-ons, search for Time Clock Kiosk, and install it. Until that add-on is active, no tablet will pair and no kiosk will launch. This is the most missed step in the whole setup.
Does your tablet make the cut?
The kiosk wants a 1024 by 768 screen in landscape mode, plus Wi-Fi or a cellular connection. Data use is light. The working figure is about 60KB per clock-in and clock-out for a ten person company.
Older and budget hardware is where compatibility narrows. The Samsung SM-T377A is not recommended if you use photo capture. The Samsung Galaxy SM-T113 runs only the browser version of the kiosk. So do Android devices on OS version 4.4.4. RCA tablets are incompatible with every version.
Mounting counts too. Choose an enclosure that is heavy-duty and durable, with cable management and access to power. Adjustable screen angles are best; a fixed mount should tilt to 45 degrees. Place the station about three feet high on a flat, stable surface so standing and wheelchair users can both reach it.
Pairing the tablet
From Manage kiosks, select Add Device, then Other device. Write down the four digit authorization code and the company identifier shown beside it. On the tablet, install the QuickBooks Time Kiosk app from Google Play or the App Store. Open the app, enter the company identifier, select Next, then enter the code and authorize. Back on the desktop, select Done. That code is what ties this one tablet to your company, so keep it until pairing finishes.
A regular computer can serve as a kiosk as well. Select Add Device, choose Use this computer, name the station, set preferences, and save. Tablets restricted to the browser version skip the app and run the kiosk in the browser instead.
Preferences worth setting
Select the kiosk name to open its preferences, and reopen them any time the same way. Rename the station if needed, and restrict which team members may clock in or out on it. Photo capture on clock-in and clock-out is a simple toggle.
Pick a device language; it becomes the default for that kiosk. Each team member can still choose a preferred language during a session, and that choice holds until the session times out.
Location recording is a separate switch. On first launch with this setting on, the app asks permission to use the device location. If that permission gets switched off by accident, turn it back on in the tablet’s own location settings.
Two display options round out the list. Hiding the team member list makes staff type their names manually. Hiding the working status removes the colored dot beside each profile picture; green means clocked in.
The custom field ceiling
One limit sits above the kiosk itself. Anything beyond three custom fields requires QuickBooks Online Advanced. Teams that want more than three data points per punch should check their plan before building the workflow around it.
The order that works
The pattern is consistent. Install the add-on, set the timezone, pair the device with the code, then tune the preferences. Follow that order and a dead menu becomes a working kiosk in one sitting.