If you’re a general contractor who self-performs—or a sub juggling crews across multiple sites—you know the drill: stacks of handwritten timecards, hours of deciphering chicken scratch, and chasing down foremen to correct missing hours. By the time it all makes it into payroll, the deadline’s already breathing down your neck.
Sound familiar?
This is a costly bottleneck.
Manual time tracking eats into profitability. It delays payroll, muddies job costing, and opens the door to compliance issues—especially if you’re working with union labor or on certified payroll jobs. And the worst part? Most of it is preventable.
So why are so many contractors still relying on outdated methods?
Let’s be honest: many construction teams are stuck using what’s "familiar," even if it costs them thousands in inefficiencies. The real issue isn’t resistance to change—it’s that most so-called "construction timesheet apps" out there aren’t built for construction. They don’t speak the language of job codes, crew-based time, or multi-state wage rules.
But there’s a better way.
In this article, we’ll break down the biggest time tracking challenges contractors face—and show you how the right construction timesheet app (one actually designed for GCs and subs) can transform the way your team works in the field and in the back office.
Ready to stop playing catch-up with payroll? Let’s dive in.
Let’s cut to the chase, time tracking in construction is about managing labor cost, ensuring compliance, and keeping your projects profitable. But if you're still relying on spreadsheets, paper timecards, or a generic mobile app not built for the field… you're likely feeling the pain in more ways than one.
Here are the real-world issues contractors like you are dealing with every week:
Your crews are spread across multiple job sites. Some clock in from their trucks. Others forget entirely. And by the time those timecards hit the office? You’re left guessing whether the hours are even accurate.
“How do you collect time data from crews across multiple jobs?”
“Have incorrect timecards ever led to overpayment or compliance issues?”
—Real discovery questions from payroll admins and project managers
This extends beyond an administrative concern—it's a significant business risk.
If you’re working government contracts or handling union labor, every missed field on a timecard can become a massive liability. Manually calculating fringe benefits or classifying wages by region? That’s a nightmare waiting to happen.
And don’t even get started on reconciling overtime, shift differentials, or per diem pay across jobs in different cities or counties.
Paper timecards invite buddy punching. Rounding up start times? Common. Illegible writing? Constant. Even small inaccuracies add up—stealing productivity and throwing off your job costing metrics.
“How critical is accurate time data for your job cost reports?”
“Have you had to reprocess payroll due to bad timecards?”
—Questions that keep controllers and CFOs up at night
Payroll admins are burning hours just trying to keep up:
Chasing down foremen for missing cards
Manually entering time into ERP systems
Double-checking cost code accuracy
Reconciling hours across projects
This isn't scalable. And it drains your top talent.
Your team doesn’t have time to mess with clunky apps or desktop-only tools. They need something mobile-friendly, intuitive, and fast—so they can log hours, assign job codes, and submit reports without jumping through hoops.
And when they’re out of cell service? Offline mode better be baked in.
These pain points aren’t just frustrating—they’re expensive. Every delay, error, or oversight chips away at your margin.
In the next section, we’ll break down what to look for in a real construction timesheet app—and how the right solution can erase these issues before they even start.
Here’s the thing: not all timesheet apps are created equal. A generic time tracking tool might work for an office team or a small service business—but throw it into a commercial job site, and it falls apart fast.
If you’re a GC or subcontractor managing crews across multiple locations, your needs are unique. You don’t just need time tracking—you need a timesheet app built for the way construction actually works.
Here’s what to look for:
Your crew doesn’t work at a desk, and your timesheet app shouldn’t expect them to. Look for a mobile-first interface that’s:
Simple to use with dirty hands and bright sunlight
Fast for foremen to clock in crews in batches
Built for both iOS and Android devices
Offline-capable for remote sites without service
Pro Tip: hh2’s mobile time entry works even when you’re out of cell range. No signal? No problem—data syncs when you’re back online.
You need your time data to flow directly into payroll, job costing, and compliance systems without double entry or formatting nightmares.
Look for a timesheet solution that:
Integrates with your ERP (like Sage 100, Sage 300, Viewpoint Vista, Foundation, etc.)
Supports two-way sync for employees, jobs, cost codes, and time
Updates in real-time to avoid bottlenecks between field and office
hh2 connects directly to top ERPs, giving payroll and accounting teams clean, coded data with zero rework.
The app should do more than just track time—it should support the way you pay your people:
Certified payroll and prevailing wage rules
Union rules and shift differentials
Automatic overtime calculations
Multi-state wage and tax logic
hh2 Remote Payroll is purpose-built to support certified jobs, union workforces, and complex wage classifications—without needing a spreadsheet wizard in payroll to piece it all together.
Foremen should be able to log hours for the whole crew in minutes—not toggle through dozens of individual timecards. And office teams should be able to approve and push time through with one click.
Look for:
Crew time entry
Supervisor approval workflows
Custom rules for validation (missed punches, cost code checks, etc.)
Faster approvals mean faster payroll and more accurate job cost reports.
A construction timesheet app should give both field leaders and office admins real-time visibility into:
Hours worked per project
Labor cost-to-date vs budget
Overtime trends
Missing or unapproved time
With hh2, you don’t just capture time—you turn it into insights.
Up next, we’ll show you how hh2’s Remote Payroll delivers all this—and more—as the best-in-class timesheet app for construction.
There are plenty of apps out there claiming to help you track time. But very few are built from the ground up for the construction industry—let alone with certified payroll, union labor, and multi-job complexity in mind.
That’s where hh2 Remote Payroll stands apart.
It’s not just a timesheet app. It’s a construction-grade time tracking platform built specifically for general contractors, subcontractors, and self-perform crews who are tired of juggling spreadsheets, chasing field reports, and crossing their fingers on payroll day.
Let’s break down what makes hh2 the clear choice:
hh2 was built to connect—not compete—with your existing systems. Whether you use Sage 100, Sage 300 CRE, Viewpoint Vista, Foundation, or Trimble, hh2 plugs in with:
Two-way syncing of employees, jobs, cost codes, and timecards
Real-time data transfer to eliminate double entry
Accurate, timely job cost data without the usual delays
ERP Integration means your field and back office finally speak the same language.
Field teams can clock in, enter time, and assign cost codes from the app—on any device. Foremen can log time for entire crews in just a few taps.
Even better?
Offline mode keeps data flowing even without service
Photos, notes, and approvals can be added directly to time entries
Supervisor sign-off keeps workflows tight and accountable
Field users love it because it works the way they do. Office teams love it because they stop chasing timecards.
hh2’s Remote Payroll app doesn’t just collect hours—it does the heavy lifting behind the scenes:
Automatically handles certified payroll, prevailing wage, and union rules
Applies project-specific pay rates and job classifications
Flags missing punches, duplicate entries, or anomalies
Generates reports formatted for government submission or audit review
Spend less time worrying about compliance and more time running your projects.
With hh2, labor data becomes a powerful project management tool:
See daily summaries of hours by job, cost code, or crew
Spot overtime trends before they become a problem
Sync directly with job cost reporting to track budget-to-actuals
Real-time insights mean no more waiting until month-end to spot payroll issues.
hh2 is used by over 3,500+ construction companies, processing $16 billion+ in payroll transactions annually. It’s proven. It’s scalable. And it’s trusted by payroll admins, project managers, and CFOs alike.
Don’t just take our word for it:
“When I think back to the Stone Age of how we did payroll, I can’t imagine doing it without hh2.”
— Lorraine Searcy, ANCHOR 41 CONSTRUCTION
If you’re ready to stop fighting timecards and start winning with accurate labor data, it’s time to give hh2 Remote Payroll a closer look.
Schedule a free demo today and see how easy tracking time can really be.
By now, one thing should be clear: the old way of managing construction timesheets just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Whether it’s lost paper cards, late approvals, compliance mistakes, or just the sheer headache of entering time manually—every inefficiency chips away at your bottom line.
But the good news? You don’t have to settle for that.
One of the biggest reasons contractors choose hh2 is because it works with the systems you already use—not against them.
With deep, proven integrations into ERPs like:
Sage 100 Contractor
Sage 300 CRE
Viewpoint Vista
Trimble
Foundation
...hh2 acts as the bridge between your field operations and your back-office accounting.
No more double entry. No more formatting chaos. Just clean, real-time time data flowing into your payroll and job costing.
You manage multiple crews, job sites, and pay rates. You deal with union rules, prevailing wage, and certified payroll. You need a solution that’s as tough and flexible as your business.
That’s hh2 Remote Payroll:
Built by construction professionals
Used by thousands of contractors across North America
Backed by real support from a team that gets your world
Imagine this:
Foremen logging crew hours in seconds
Office teams processing payroll with confidence—not scrambling
Job costs staying accurate and up-to-date
Compliance handled without a second thought
This isn’t a dream. It’s what hh2 customers experience every week.
Stop letting outdated systems drag your business down.
Start tracking time the right way—with the best construction timesheet app in the industry.
Book a live demo now and see how hh2 Remote Payroll can streamline your workflow, cut costs, and keep your projects on track.