Boost Productivity With Software for Employee Time Tracking

Construction businesses that implement time tracking systems reap extensive benefits surrounding payroll, compliance, efficiency, productivity, and project management. But these advantages only come from software that provides complete visibility through detailed tracking with seamless integrations. When managed properly, the time tracking process delivers some of the most powerful workforce insights a construction firm can hope to achieve. Use those insights to constantly evaluate and refine company processes. With the right time tracking foundation, construction businesses can make strategic progress toward meeting growth and profitability goals year after year.

The Significance of Software for Employee Time Tracking

For construction companies, tracking employee time serves multiple important purposes. First, automated time tracking software limits payroll errors and fraud. By having an accurate, real-time record of employee hours, managers can ensure payroll reflects actual worked time rather than manually entered estimates that may be incorrect. This improves compliance and prevents wasted spend on inaccurate payroll.

Second, time tracking provides data to help managers understand how employees allocate their time. With analytics and reports, you can pinpoint areas of wasted time versus productive time spent on revenue-generating tasks. This allows you to optimize schedules and processes to limit inefficiencies.

Finally, detailed time logs allow businesses to accurately bill clients for work completed. Construction projects are often billed on an hourly basis, so diligent time tracking is crucial for getting paid fully for services provided.

How can time tracker software improve billable hours?

For construction firms, every billable hour matters. Employee time tracking software enables companies to accurately bill clients for every hour worked. Employees can log hours in real time directly in the software rather than relying on memory and manual notes. The software allows workers to clock in and out of specific tasks, projects, clients, and cost codes as they progress through the day. This creates detailed time logs at the task level to support precise billing based on time investments.

Employees can track clock-ins and clock-outs through a user-friendly app on their mobile devices. Employee time tracking apps provide managers with complete records of all fieldwork and office time for comprehensive billing purposes. The software can be used to instantly generate timesheets and reports using the time log data. This removes administrative burden while improving accuracy compared to manual billing processes. Construction firms can feel confident billing clients fully and accurately for all employee hours with the right time tracking software in place.

How can real-time tracking enhance time management?

Time tracking software offers real-time insight into how employees spend their days. This provides powerful benefits for enhancing time management. Managers can observe and regularly review patterns in employee time use data and identify areas of waste that can be optimized. Software reminders and notifications help keep projects on track by alerting for upcoming tasks, breaks, meetings, or milestones.

Additionally, the software can be configured to enforce mandatory break times, preventing employees from skipping required rest periods.

What are the specific time tracking options available?

Construction companies can choose from a range of time tracking software options and features, including:

Mobile apps: Allow employees to track time from mobile devices on the go.
Project time tracking: Log hours on a per-project basis with cost codes assigned to each client or job.
Location tracking: Using GPS, track employee locations during work or travel to verify attendance.
Offline use: For job sites without connectivity, time is logged locally then synced when back online.
Expense tracking: Manage allocated and out-of-pocket costs to gauge spending.
Productivity metrics: Data analytics highlight productivity rates, trends, and opportunities to improve.
Automated reminders: Send reminders for clocking in/out, taking breaks, or completing tasks.
Photo ID capture: Prompt employees to take photographs when they clock in to prevent buddy punching.

How Automated Time Tracking Increases Efficiency

Time tracking software removes the need for manual processes to calculate employee hours, generate timesheets, approve timesheets, and transfer data to payroll. Streamlined automation of these tasks provides multiple efficiency and accuracy benefits.

How does time tracking software automatically calculate time spent on tasks?

Employee time tracking software automatically performs time calculations that previously required extensive manual work when tracking hours on paper. The software tracks clock-in and clock-out timestamps for each task and project worked on by employees. It applies billable rates to calculate costs based on assigned rates for specific employees and projects. Hour totals are summed across all tasks and days or weeks logged.

Any missing clock-out events are identified by the software and prompts are sent to add the missing times. Before timesheet submission, inaccuracies are flagged for review and correction. By handling these time calculations digitally, time tracking software significantly improves accuracy compared to manual figures. It also greatly accelerates the data collection, timesheet generation, and payroll process.

How does automated payroll integration streamline processes?

Time tracking software allows for seamless data transfer to payroll systems. This automation provides benefits such as:

Eliminating manual re-entry of hours into payroll. Data flows directly from time tracking to payroll without retyping.
Limiting payroll errors that result from manual data entry and re-entry across systems. Automation reduces mistakes.
Accelerating payroll processing so employee time to payment is minimized. There is no lag from manual data collection and submission.
Enabling easy review and edits to time logs so corrections reflect in payroll. Both systems stay fully in sync.
Supporting better payroll compliance. Automated hourly totals validate pay rates and overtime aligned with labor laws.
Reducing payroll fraud. Only actual hours logged can be moved to payroll rather than estimates that may be inflated.

For most construction businesses, payroll is a significant cost. Optimizing the efficiency and accuracy of payroll processes results in major savings and better financial stewardship.

How can automated timesheets improve work hours documentation?

Manual timekeeping processes involving paper timecards and Excel spreadsheets pose numerous challenges that can undermine the accuracy of documented work hours. Employees struggle to accurately recall hours worked when reconstructing timesheets by memory at week’s end. Completed paper timesheets too often end up lost on a manager’s desk, resulting in late payroll. Without digital tools, managers lack insight into which employees have outstanding missing timesheets. Approved timesheets can be modified after the fact, calling data integrity into question.

Time tracking software with automated timesheet generation addresses these common pain points to ensure accurate and seamless time documentation. Hours are captured in real-time as work is completed, eliminating reliance on memory. Once employees submit completed hours, timesheets instantly populate for manager approval with no manual data re-entry or duplication of effort.

Streamlined digital approval workflows route timesheets to the right reviewers with automated reminders, preventing timesheets from getting lost in the shuffle. Managers can view submission status and track missing timesheets centrally to proactively correct issues. Outlier time logs can be automatically flagged for review to catch any inaccuracies before approval. Approved timesheets can also be locked to maintain data integrity.

With these digital assurances in place, automated timesheet generation through time tracking software delivers highly accurate documentation of employee work hours and consistent, on-time payroll. The automation overcomes the shortcomings of manual processes.

How Time Tracking Aids in Effective Project Management

Beyond tracking individual employee time, construction companies can leverage time tracking software capabilities to better manage projects from planning through completion. The data provides powerful visibility to keep projects on budget and schedule.

How does GPS tracking ensure accurate tracking of workers in the field?

For workers at changing job sites, GPS integration with time tracking allows construction firms to:

Verify attendance: Clock ins/outs can be tied dynamically to job site arrival/departure using geofencing.
Confirm travel between sites: GPS breadcrumbs track movement to, from, and between locations to allocate travel time accurately.
Avoid buddy punching: The system requires photo ID check-ins from each unique employee when on site.
Ensure worker safety with location visibility: GPS tracking means you can locate any team member if needed.
Review location history for any disputes: Location data provides proof of actual hours worked on site.

For managers overseeing mobile construction crews across projects, GPS time tracking delivers indispensable visibility. It results in greater operational efficiency.

How can time tracking software simplify schedule management?

Ineffective scheduling frequently causes projects to be delayed and go over budget. Time tracking software provides schedule optimization features that can help keep projects on track.

By analyzing historical time data from the team, the software allows managers to forecast schedule feasibility based on metrics to avoid setting overly aggressive construction timelines that are unlikely to be achieved. Comparing the initial time estimates to the actual times logged allows the team to evaluate schedule efficiency and adjust estimates for greater accuracy going forward. Any schedule conflicts from team members being double booked can be identified and resolved before causing significant delays.

How can project planning benefit from time tracking?

Robust time tracking data is invaluable for construction firms looking to accurately plan and budget upcoming projects. By reviewing historical time logs, managers can reference the hours invested in similar past projects to create more realistic project estimates and budgets.

Granular data on employee productivity rates helps optimize the planned team by identifying your most efficient workers for specific project types. Detailed time data determines each employee’s true hourly costs and optimal bill rates by project type and client. Analyzing past time allocation across clients prevents overcommitting to some clients by balancing upcoming workloads appropriately. Seasonal trends in time demands can be accounted for by examining spikes in hours logged during higher activity periods.

With benchmarks rooted in actual historical capability, project timelines can be set according to realistic goals rather than being overly aggressive and difficult to achieve. Comparing past projects that went over budget helps identify weak spots in the estimating process to improve going forward.

With these kinds of data-driven insights enabled by time tracking, construction firms can significantly improve project planning, budgeting, resourcing, and timeline setting. More accurate plans fuel greater project profitability and competitive bids. The time invested in comprehensive time tracking pays dividends during project planning when those insights can be leveraged.

ExakTime Software Solutions for Employee Time Tracking

For construction firms looking to implement an automated time tracking system, ExakTime offers a robust software solution. ExakTime’s products are designed specifically to meet the needs of construction companies that rely heavily on precise timekeeping.

A core strength of ExakTime is supporting accurate on-site work logging for field employees. The software includes GPS and geofencing functions to validate attendance and track hours at changing job sites. ExakTime’s employee time tracking app enables real-time capture of work hours across multiple projects, tasks, and cost codes. Employees can track time whether they’re working in the office or remotely in the field via a mobile device. The detailed time data supports precise customer billing and cost analysis.

Integrations with payroll systems like Acumatica, QuickBooks and Foundation allow ExakTime to transfer hour totals seamlessly. This automation eliminates manual processes and reduces payroll errors. Managers also gain access to reporting on time use, productivity rates, and project timelines.

For construction firms looking to maximize the return on investment from employee time tracking software, ExakTime provides specialized time clock solutions tailored to the needs of your industry. These solutions help improve payroll accuracy, billing, compliance, productivity, and project management.