Ditch Paper Timecards: Why GCs Are Turning to Construction Timesheet Apps

The Paper Problem That’s Costing You

If you’re still collecting handwritten timecards from the jobsite, manually keying in hours, and chasing down foremen to clarify smudged notes, it is not only frustrating. It is a significant financial burden.

The inefficiencies of this outdated process lead to delays in payroll processing, introduce errors in time tracking, and elevate compliance risks, which can result in costly penalties. These issues are particularly pronounced for general contractors who are managing the complexities of prevailing wage projects, coordinating union labor, and overseeing crews spread across multiple states.

The cumulative effect of these challenges can severely impact project timelines and budgets, making it imperative to seek more efficient solutions.

And let’s be honest: in today’s fast-paced, cost-conscious construction environment, paper just can’t keep up.

That’s why more and more general contractors are saying goodbye to paper timecards and making the switch to construction timesheet apps. Not just for convenience—but to save real time, reduce risk, and gain full visibility across projects and payroll.

Why Paper Timecards Don’t Cut It Anymore

Errors, Delays, and Lost Hours

You’ve probably experienced it firsthand: timecards turned in late, illegible handwriting, missed job codes, or worse—flat-out time theft. Paper-based systems are notorious for introducing human error and guesswork into your payroll process.

Multiply that by multiple crews, jobsites, and cost codes, and you’re looking at a mountain of manual data entry that’s not just inefficient—it’s risky.

And let’s not forget the delay. By the time timecards get turned in, entered, and processed, you’ve already lost visibility into the field. That makes job costing reactive, not proactive.

Compliance Nightmares with Certified Payroll

If you’re working on Davis-Bacon or prevailing wage jobs, paper timecards can be a compliance landmine. Missed classifications, inaccurate hours, and late reporting can result in penalties, rejected submissions, or even disqualification from future bids.

Certified payroll reporting demands an exceptional level of precision, accuracy, and attention to detail, which are critical to ensuring compliance with stringent regulatory requirements.

Unfortunately, paper timecards, with their inherent limitations, were never designed to handle the intricate complexities involved in this process.

These traditional methods often lead to errors in data entry, misclassification of labor, and delays in reporting, all of which can result in significant compliance risks and potential financial penalties.

The manual nature of paper timecards makes it challenging to maintain the high standards of accuracy and timeliness required for certified payroll reporting, thereby underscoring the need for more advanced, digital solutions that can seamlessly manage these complexities with ease and reliability.

Disconnected Field & Office Communication

You want real-time insight into labor hours, job progress, and cost codes—but when your data is locked on crumpled paper in someone’s truck, that’s impossible.

You want real-time insight into labor hours, job progress, and cost codes. Having real-time access to critical data is essential for maintaining efficiency and accuracy.

However, when this vital information is trapped on crumpled paper forms stashed away in a truck, achieving such transparency becomes an insurmountable challenge. The reliance on paper-based systems inherently creates information silos, where field teams are disconnected from the payroll department's needs.

This disconnection means that payroll cannot accurately validate the hours worked against the specific job requirements, leading to potential discrepancies and errors. Furthermore, project managers (PMs) are left in the dark regarding labor costs, unable to make informed decisions or adjustments in a timely manner.

By the time the data is finally processed and analyzed, it is often too late to address any issues, resulting in inefficiencies and potential financial setbacks. This underscores the critical need for a more integrated, digital approach that ensures seamless communication and data flow between the field and the office, enabling proactive management and decision-making.

Paper creates silos. Field teams can’t see what payroll needs. Payroll can’t validate hours against the job. And your PMs are left flying blind on labor costs until it’s too late to fix.

How Construction Timesheet Apps Are Transforming the Jobsite

Technology shouldn’t feel like extra work. When done right, it gets out of the way and helps your team focus on building—not paperwork. That’s exactly what a well-designed construction timesheet app does. It bridges the gap between field and office, streamlines time capture, and keeps your entire crew (and back office) on the same page.

Here’s how modern GCs are putting it to work:

Real-Time Mobile Entry from Anywhere

Forget chasing down timecards on Friday afternoon. With mobile time tracking apps built for construction, your crews can clock in, allocate hours by job and cost code, and even submit per diem or equipment time—right from their phone or tablet.

No internet? No problem. hh2’s Time Entry app works offline and syncs automatically when back online, so remote jobsites never hold up payroll.

And for the foreman? One app. Multiple crew members. All hours tracked in real time.

Time Sync with Payroll and Job Costing Systems

Capturing hours is just the start. The real power comes when your time data automatically flows into your ERP or accounting system—whether that’s Sage 300, Vista, or Foundation.

With hh2, there’s no re-keying. No double entry. Just a two-way sync that ensures timecards, cost codes, and job allocations are updated across your systems—instantly.

That means faster payroll processing, better job costing accuracy, and less room for costly mistakes.

Labor Tracking with Cost Code Accuracy

Every hour worked affects your bottom line. But if your field teams aren’t assigning labor to the correct job and phase, your numbers are off before they hit the ledger.

Timesheet apps let your team allocate hours by cost code, phase, or task in the moment—not days later from memory. That gives your project managers real-time insights into labor burn, helps prevent overruns, and gives you cleaner reports for billing, forecasting, and compliance.

Pain Points Solved for Key Roles in Your Business

Paper timecards aren’t just a nuisance—they’re a bottleneck across your entire operation. Whether you're in payroll, out in the field, or managing budgets in the back office, manual systems drag everyone down.

Here’s how switching to a digital timesheet app streamlines workflows for the people who matter most in your organization:

For the Payroll Admin: Fewer Headaches, Faster Payroll

Payroll teams are often the unsung heroes—working behind the scenes to process dozens (or hundreds) of timecards under tight deadlines. With paper, that means:

• Manual entry from handwritten notes

• Chasing down missing or late submissions

• Reconciling errors that delay payroll runs

How timesheet apps help:

• Eliminate double entry with automatic data sync to your ERP

• Get time submitted on schedule with mobile-friendly entry and approvals

• Catch issues early with built-in rules for overtime, breaks, and compliance

“Before hh2, I was manually entering every field crew’s time from paper sheets. Now it’s in my system the same day they work. It’s a game-changer.”

For the Project Manager: Real-Time Labor Visibility

PMs live and die by the job budget. But with paper timecards, you’re always a week behind on labor costs—and guessing on job progress.

How timesheet apps help:

• See who worked, where, and how long—by cost code—in real time

• Track actual vs. budgeted hours without waiting for the back office

• Approve or reject time from your phone, no matter where the project takes you

Bonus: With accurate time data flowing in daily, you can adjust resources before a small delay becomes a blown schedule.

For the CFO or Controller: Better Job Costing & Financial Control

Every dollar in payroll affects profitability. But without clean, timely data from the field, your finance team is always playing catch-up.

How timesheet apps help:

• Improve job cost accuracy by tying hours to the right codes on the front end

• Reduce compliance risk with automated certified payroll reporting tools

• Unlock better forecasting and labor cost insights with real-time reporting

hh2 integrates seamlessly with systems like Sage 300, so your financials reflect reality—not guesswork.

What to Look for in a Construction Timesheet App

Not all timesheet apps are created equal—especially when you’re running complex commercial projects with union labor, certified payroll requirements, and crews across multiple sites.

Here’s what to look for when evaluating a construction-ready solution:

Seamless Integration with Your ERP

If your timesheet app doesn’t talk to your accounting system, you’re just creating a new silo.

Look for solutions that offer real-time, two-way integration with construction ERPs like:

• Sage 100/300

• Viewpoint Vista

• Spectrum

• Foundation

That ensures time data flows directly into payroll, job costing, and certified payroll workflows—no double entry, no delay.

hh2’s Time Entry syncs automatically with your ERP, keeping job cost and payroll data accurate and audit-ready.

Works Offline—Because Not Every Jobsite Has Wi-Fi

Let’s be real—some jobsites are a digital dead zone. Your time tracking solution needs to function with or without a connection.

The right app should:

• Let crews clock in/out and enter time offline

• Auto-sync when the device reconnects

• Prevent lost data due to poor connectivity

With hh2, your field teams can stay productive, no matter how remote the site.

Built-In Compliance: Certified Payroll, Davis-Bacon & Union Rules

If you’re juggling prevailing wage, union scale, or government-funded projects, you need a solution that does more than track hours.

Look for:

• Support for multiple pay rates, classifications, and fringe benefits

• Automated Davis-Bacon and certified payroll report generation

• Union-specific payroll features

This is where paper—and most generic time apps—fall flat.

Easy to Use for Crews in the Field

Adoption lives or dies in the field. Your crews won’t use an app that’s clunky, confusing, or full of steps.

Choose a platform designed for construction workers:

• Simple interface with crew-based time entry

• Touch-friendly design for tablets and smartphones

• Minimal training required

Foremen should spend more time managing the site—not troubleshooting tech.

Secure, Scalable, and Supported

Your time data is sensitive. Choose a platform with:

• Cloud-based architecture for anywhere access

• Enterprise-grade data encryption and user permissions

• Proven uptime and U.S.-based support

hh2 is trusted by over 3,200 construction companies and handles more than $16B in payroll transactions annually.

Why General Contractors Choose hh2

You’ve seen the problems with paper timecards. You know what to look for in a digital solution. Now, here’s why so many General Contractors are choosing hh2 as their trusted time tracking platform.

Seamless ERP Integration You Can Count On

hh2 doesn’t just “connect” to your ERP—it deeply integrates.

With real-time, two-way sync, hh2 Time Entry pushes and pulls data across systems like:

• Sage 100 & Sage 300 CRE

• Trimble Viewpoint Vista & Spectrum

• Foundation

That means no more double entry, fewer payroll errors, and better job cost accuracy—right out of the box.

"The guys in the field can use their mobile app or the website. We no longer had to go out to the job site to view a report or go to a filing cabinet.”
— Steve Haynes, FAHS Construction Group

Built for the Field, Not the Desktop

hh2 is a mobile-first platform, designed with foremen and field crews in mind.

• Intuitive interface with crew-based entry

• Works offline, syncs automatically

• Easy for new hires and seasoned hands alike

Your teams won’t need a tech manual. Just a few taps, and they’re tracking hours the right way.

Compliance Without the Complexity

Certified payroll, Davis-Bacon, union rates—hh2 has you covered.

With hh2 Remote Payroll and Time Entry, you can:

• Automatically generate certified payroll reports

• Manage multiple wage rates and job classifications

• Ensure prevailing wage compliance with confidence

You’re not just saving time—you’re avoiding costly fines and project risks.

Trusted by the Construction Industry

• Used by 3,200+ construction companies

• Facilitating over $16 billion in annual payroll transactions

• Proven, cloud-based infrastructure built on Microsoft Azure

Whether you’re self-performing concrete, steel, or electrical, hh2 has the scalability and reliability to keep your teams (and numbers) moving.

Part of a Bigger Construction Ecosystem

hh2 isn’t just a timesheet app. It’s part of a full suite of construction back-office solutions, including:

• Remote Payroll

• Document Flow
  
  
• Field Reporting 

Together, these tools help your team cut waste, boost productivity, and build a connected, compliant construction business.

Ready to Ditch Paper for Good?

You’ve got too much riding on your projects to waste time chasing down paper timecards, fixing payroll mistakes, or stressing over compliance deadlines.

Whether you’re managing union crews across multiple states or just trying to get payroll out faster every week, hh2 Time Entry gives you the tools to work smarter—not harder.

✅ Real-time field data
✅ Seamless ERP integration
✅ Certified payroll reporting
✅ Mobile-first design that crews actually use

No more waiting for timecards. No more guessing at labor costs. No more manual entry nightmares.

Let’s Make It Easy to Switch

It’s time to upgrade from paper to a proven platform that’s built for the field—and trusted in the back office.

👉 Schedule a personalized demo
👉 Explore Remote Payroll solutions
👉 See all integrations

Final Thought

If you're a GC who self-performs, you already know that labor is one of your biggest costs—and biggest opportunities to improve.

Don’t let paper timecards keep holding you back.

Go digital. Go mobile. Go with hh2.