PicaPonto: What It Is, How It Works and How to Start8 minutos de leitura

PicaPonto is a Portuguese cloud time-clocking software, designed for Portuguese SMEs that need to comply with Article 202 of the Portuguese Labour Code without installing physical hardware. It runs on web and mobile app (iOS and Android), has offline mode, sectoral IRCT presets, and integrates directly with the main Portuguese payroll systems — Primavera, PHC, Sage 200, and Eticadata. This guide explains what the platform is, how it works in practice, and how to start using it with the 15-day free trial.

This article is aimed at business owners, HR managers, and SME directors in Portugal who have heard about PicaPonto and want to understand, before deciding, whether the platform covers their use case — number of workers, sector, integration with their gestoria, and legal requirements.

What PicaPonto is

PicaPonto is a cloud time-and-attendance solution developed in Portugal by Inforlider, a Portuguese software company active since 1988. The platform was built specifically for the Portuguese market, with knowledge of Labour Code obligations (Lei 7/2009), sectoral IRCTs (hospitality, retail, construction, healthcare, cleaning, security, logistics), and the specifics of Portuguese payroll.

Unlike generic international solutions, PicaPonto isn’t an accessory module of a foreign HR suite — it’s a product focused on attendance clocking for the Portuguese legal, fiscal, and operational context.

Who it’s for

Primary target is Portuguese SMEs with 5 to 100 workers — hospitality, retail, services, construction, cleaning, healthcare, logistics, and light industry — who want to comply with mandatory recording without investing in hardware or complicating their gestoria’s job.

Core features

How it works in practice

The daily flow is simple and designed not to interrupt work:

1. Worker opens the app on phone (or browser on PC) and taps “In” or “Out”. The clocking is recorded with date, time, and — if configured — location.
2. Supervisor sees in the dashboard who’s in, who’s missing, who’s late, who’s on vacation. Approves requests (vacation, justified absences, shift swaps) with one click.
3. HR / gestoria, at month-end, exports the already-formatted file for the payroll software (Primavera, PHC, Sage 200, Eticadata) and processes salaries without manual transcription.
4. Director accesses the history — immutable record — in case of an ACT inspection, ensuring Article 202 compliance.

Legal compliance

PicaPonto was designed around Portuguese obligations:

• Article 202 of the Labour Code — mandatory time recording; PicaPonto generates the record with all required fields (worker ID, date, start and end times of each period) and keeps it 5 years as the ACT requires.
• Article 199-A — Right to disconnect — the platform allows configuring availability windows and doesn’t send notifications outside them.
• GDPR / CNPD — personal data processing aligned with Lei 58/2019, with data protection officer, right of access, and portability guaranteed.
• Sectoral IRCTs — ready presets for the main sectoral CCTs, with automatic calculation of premiums, compensatory rest, and overtime.

Portuguese payroll integrations

Native integration with the main Portuguese ERPs and payroll systems is one of the relevant technical points:

For companies without in-house payroll software that work with a gestoria, the generated file can go straight to the accounting office with no transcription.

Hardware: when it’s needed and when it’s not

In most cases, PicaPonto doesn’t require hardware — clocking is done via web and mobile app. But some sectors benefit from a physical terminal:

• Factories / industry where workers don’t have a company smartphone
• Construction on sites with large teams and a single entry point
• Hospitality / restaurants with high turnover and very short shifts
• Warehouses / logistics with centralised entry

For these cases, PicaPonto offers an optional biometric terminal with RFID card as an addon, keeping the same cloud backend and the same payroll integration.

Pricing and free trial

PicaPonto has two main plans:

• Basic plan — from €0.75/worker/month (confirm current value at picaponto.pt); includes all essential features, payroll integration, and mobile app
• Premium plan — adds hours bank, advanced supervisor features, configurable right to disconnect, and custom reports

A 15-day free trial is available with no credit card and no commitment. For comparative pricing analysis, see the pricing comparison.

Typical setup

For a Portuguese SME with around 20 workers, setup typically runs in 2 to 4 weeks:

1. Week 1 — account creation, import of worker list (Excel file), sectoral IRCT configuration, and standard schedules setup
2. Week 2 — pilot test with a small team (3-5 people), rule adjustments
3. Weeks 3-4 — roll-out to all workers, short training (30-60 minutes), payroll integration configuration

No hardware to install, no local server, no additional Windows licences. The platform runs in the cloud and workers just need to download the app or open the web link.

Support and follow-up

Support is provided by a Portuguese team, in Portuguese, in national business hours. Channels are email, phone, and in-platform chat. For questions on IRCT configuration, sectoral premium calculation, or payroll integration, the follow-up is direct — there’s no international escalation or automated English responses.

PicaPonto vs alternatives

For context, these are the typical alternatives in the Portuguese market and their strengths:

• CucoCloud, PontoSimples — Portuguese vendors, broader feature set, typically higher prices (see pricing comparison)
• Factorial, Sesame, Bizneo — international HR suites where clocking is one module; useful for companies already using the full suite
• IDONIC, Innux — hardware-mandatory solutions (biometric terminal); make sense for factories and multi-location
• Excel / paper — still widely used, but doesn’t meet the immutable record required by the ACT and has high error risk

For a detailed app choice analysis, see the best clocking app guide and the systems hub.

Official sources

• Portuguese Labour Code (Lei 7/2009), Article 202 mandatory record — Diário da República
• Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho — act.gov.pt
• PicaPonto official site — picaponto.pt

Conclusion

PicaPonto is a Portuguese cloud time-clocking software, designed for Portuguese SMEs that want to comply with Article 202 of the Labour Code without buying hardware and without complicating payroll. With plans from €0.75/worker/month, a 15-day free trial with no card, native integration with Primavera, PHC, Sage 200, and Eticadata, and Portuguese-language support from a national team, it covers the typical use case of 5 to 100 workers in hospitality, retail, construction, services, and light industry. To start, just create an account at picaponto.pt and configure the sectoral IRCT — initial setup runs in 2 to 4 weeks.

This article does not constitute legal or commercial advice. Confirm current pricing, features, and conditions directly at picaponto.pt.

Related reading

• Article 202 of the Portuguese Labour Code
• Best App for Time Clocking
• PicaPonto vs Factorial vs Sesame
• ACT Labour Inspections