The Ultimate Guide to Construction Time Tracking Software

Every minute wasted on manual time tracking chips away at your profit margin. Inaccurate records, buddy punching, and payroll errors add up — costing construction companies up to 8% of their total payroll expenses each year. In an industry where every dollar matters, poor time tracking is a major financial risk. 

Accurate time tracking is important, not only because it ensures your employees are properly compensated for their work, but it also enables departments across your construction company to plan for labor needs, better manage project timelines, and create more accurate estimates for future projects. All of these factors are essential for ensuring long-term profitability in a competitive industry, which is why more contractors are turning to construction time tracking software.

In this guide, you’ll learn exactly what construction time tracking software is, explore its key features, and learn how it can benefit your company. We’ll also compare the true costs of manual versus digital time tracking and show you what to consider when selecting a time tracking solution for your business. 

What Is Construction Time Tracking Software?

Construction time tracking software allows all your workers, regardless of location, to easily and accurately record their hours. Also called time and attendance software or digital time clocks, this construction software is typically cloud-based, allowing your crew to punch in and out from a web browser or mobile application. 

Construction time tracking software differs from generic time tracking tools because it’s designed with specific industry needs in mind, such as calculating overtime and cost coding jobs. It also completely eliminates the need for paper time sheets and manual entry of time data, instead collecting data as it’s entered and automatically syncing it with your accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Tracking time digitally helps increase its accuracy, resulting in fewer payroll errors. 

For example, with construction time tracking software like hh2 Remote Payroll, a site supervisor can approve timesheets in real time from their phone, eliminating the need for field workers to hand in paper timecards or for payroll teams to chase missing hours. This automation ensures every minute is tracked accurately, reducing payroll errors and preventing costly compliance mistakes.  

Construction Time Tracking Software: Key Features To Look For

While there are numerous construction timekeeping software options available, they’re not all created equal. Features like integration, mobile accessibility, and location-based fencing are essential for ensuring accuracy and speeding up your payroll process. When considering your options, below are the top features you will want to look for:

• Mobile Time Tracking: 

Your workforce is mobile, so your time tracking solutions should be, too. Cloud-based software allows your construction crews and other staff to clock in and out from a web browser or mobile app while on the job site or working remotely. Mobile solutions eliminate the need for paper timesheets, enabling workers to quickly and accurately track time, code jobs, and send data for approval.

• Geofencing and GPS Tracking: 

Eliminate time theft and buddy punching by ensuring workers can only clock in when they’re physically at the job site. With hh2’s GPS-powered time tracking, site supervisors can gain real-time visibility into workforce attendance, improving accountability and payroll accuracy.

• Automated Payroll Integration: 

Another must-have feature in construction timekeeping software is integration. This feature automatically syncs data from construction time clocks to your payroll and accounting software. Seamless integration eliminates the need to manually enter timesheet data into your systems, which saves your accounting and payroll team time and reduces human data entry errors, leading to improved payroll accuracy. It also increases the connectivity between your field and back office.

• Overtime and Compliance Management: 

Time tracking for construction is more complicated due to strict overtime regulations and labor laws like the Davis-Bacon Act, making compliance features a must-have. Customizable overtime calculators allow your company to easily create and manage its own overtime rules, which automatically apply overtime based on hours worked. Plus, the software’s reporting features make it easy to ensure compliance with prevailing wage laws and submit certified payroll on time for companies working on public works projects.

• Job Costing and Project Code Allocation: 

Construction time and attendance software lets you define your own custom job codes to better track and manage project expenses. When employees clock in or out, they simply select the appropriate cost code for their work; then, the data automatically syncs with your job costing or project management system. Accurate, real-time labor cost tracking with construction reporting software enables your managers to monitor project expenses as they happen so you can quickly make adjustments when needed to ensure you stay on budget.

• Offline Mode: 

Construction sites don’t always have internet access and can be out of reach of cell signals, making offline capabilities a must. Software with offline mode ensures you never lose data by capturing time and attendance in low-network areas and automatically syncing it with your systems once workers are back in range. This feature ensures accurate accounting of all labor costs.

• Cloud-Based Accessibility: 

Cloud-based construction time tracking software gives your entire company access to the data they need immediately. Project managers no longer need to be on-site to find out what’s happening each day, and job costing and financial teams won’t wait days to weeks for critical data to roll in since cloud-based software offers real-time access to data from anywhere.

How Digital Time Tracking Benefits Your Construction Company

By implementing construction time tracking software, your construction company can gain tangible benefits like increased productivity and faster payroll processing. More accurate and accessible time and payroll data allows your company to:

Eliminate Payroll Errors

Approximately 37% of payroll errors occur from manual data entry. By eliminating paper time sheets and manual work, you can virtually eliminate errors from your payroll process. Digital time tracking software ensures you won’t have to deal with mistakes like transposing numbers, duplicate data, misreading handwriting, or omitting information. Additionally, automated timekeeping and wage calculators also help reduce discrepancies and prevent overpayment. 

Reduce Payroll Processing Time

Construction payroll software can cut your administrative workload and payroll processing time by up to 70% by eliminating manual processes. Along with tracking time more efficiently, the software automatically integrates timesheet data into your accounting system, cutting out the need to manually transfer data yourself. It can also automatically route payroll data through customized workflows so the data gets into the right hands in the right order for your approval process. This step cuts down on delays and bottlenecks, which further speeds up processing time. 

Ensure Compliance and Reduce Risk

Navigating complex compliance requirements becomes easier with construction timekeeping software. It allows you to automate many compliance processes, such as applying the correct pay rates based on overtime rules, union wages, or prevailing wage rates. The software can handle varying payroll, tax, and labor regulations for different states and federally funded projects. It reduces the risk of misclassifying workers, late or missing tax payments, miscalculating wages or overtime pay, incomplete payroll records, or missing certified payroll deadlines.

And since payroll data is stored in one centralized location, it’s easy for your company to monitor compliance issues in real time and immediately address problems. You can also use timekeeping data to create audit trails of your payroll records, protecting your company against penalties if compliance issues do arise. 

Boost Job Site Productivity

Construction time tracking apps simplify how on-site time is tracked and managed, giving site supervisors and crew managers real-time visibility into the work being performed. It allows them to immediately address any productivity issues and better allocate resources for more efficient scheduling. 

Clear and accurate time records also minimize disputes about hours worked or overtime pay. Plus, features like geofencing and photo capture prevent time theft and help keep crews more accountable, ensuring they show up on time, stay focused, and don’t take unauthorized breaks. All of this leads to better job site productivity, which can benefit project profitability and your bottom line. 

Improve Financial Reporting and Forecasting

Accurate time tracking and payroll data are essential for financial management, future project estimates, and other construction decision-making. With construction time tracking software, your company can get real-time information on labor costs, project timelines, and other job-related expenses. 

Increased transparency between your field and back office allows you to more precisely allocate costs to specific construction projects for job costing and budgeting purposes. With it, you can track progress and look for trends that might affect your profitability and timeline, such as overtime or reduced productivity. 

You can also use your current and historical data to improve the accuracy of future project estimates, ensuring greater profitability by understanding true costs and expenses.  And since job site data seamlessly integrates with other financial systems, you can easily create accurate, up-to-date financial reports and make informed decisions. 

Manual vs. Digital Time Tracking: Understanding Costs, Benefits, and ROI

Upgrading from manual, paper-based time tracking to cloud-based time tracking software does require an initial investment. However, this investment can save you time and reduce operational costs in the long term. To understand the return on investment (ROI) of time tracking software, you first need to understand the costs associated with both manual and digital time tracking methods. 

Costs of Manual Time Tracking

• Errors and inaccuracies: Manual entry is error-prone, resulting in miscalculated payroll and risking compliance with labor or tax laws. Misplaced or lost paper timesheets can also result in unpaid time. You also run the risk of buddy punching and time theft, which can inflate a project’s labor costs and impact profitability, 
• Increased administrative costs and burdens: Managing and reconciling paper timesheets is time-consuming. Staff wastes valuable time on mundane tasks like data entry and looking for physical files.
• Penalties or fines: Compliance is harder to maintain with manual methods, making you more likely to incur compliance-related fines.
• Poor decision-making: Lack of timely or accurate data makes it more difficult to estimate future projects or make informed decisions, resulting in lost opportunities and reduced profitability.

Costs of Time Tracking Software

The costs of digital time tracking solutions are much more straightforward. They include:

• Software licensing or subscription fees
• Implementation and training costs
• Expenses for ongoing maintenance and support

How To Calculate ROI

Now that you understand the true costs of these time tracking methods, you can calculate the ROI by comparing the software’s costs with the financial benefits you expect to achieve. For instance, if you expect it to increase productivity, you can convert the expected time your company will save by the average hourly rate to determine a monetary value. 

Here’s a real-world example. NEI General Contracting switched from manual time tracking processes, which included Excel spreadsheets, to hh2’s Remote Payroll to streamline how they collect and process time cards. After implementation, they immediately cut their payroll processing time by half, saving approximately 10 hours of administrative work each week.

Other financial benefits to consider include reduced administrative expenses and cost savings from more accurate budgeting and project estimates. Intangible benefits like better decision-making and higher employee satisfaction should also be considered, as these impact your long-term productivity and financial health — though they may be more difficult to quantify.

The formula for calculating the ROI of time-tracking software looks like this:

ROI = (Total Benefits - Total Costs ) / Total Costs x 100

How To Choose the Right Construction Time Tracking Software

If you’re ready to choose a time-tracking software for your construction business, there are a few factors you’ll need to evaluate. To ensure the digital solution meets your construction company’s specific needs, consider its:

Ease of Use

A mobile time clock for construction can increase payroll accuracy while reducing processing time, but only if the tool is easy enough for your entire workforce to use. Look for software that offers an intuitive, easy-to-use interface that can be accessed via the web and on both iOS and Android devices. Features like offline mode and automated job coding also simplify processes for your employees.

Integrations

Construction time and attendance software also needs to integrate with your existing payroll, accounting, or ERP systems so data can flow seamlessly and in real time. Consider solutions that offer integrations with top construction ERPs like Sage Intacct or ProCore.

Scalability

You want construction time tracking software that can grow and adapt as your business changes. Top solutions offer the flexibility needed for small, large, or growing teams. In addition to user growth, scalable solutions can maintain performance even as your data increases in volume or complexity. They allow you to maintain smooth operations and adapt to changes in your business or industry over time without needing to move to a different platform. 

Pricing 

It’s important to select software that meets your business’s needs while staying within your budget. Compare features and pricing between solutions, and remember that some offer comprehensive pricing while others charge per user. You may also want to take the ROI of time tracking software into account, as it can potentially reduce costs over the long term.

Customer Support

Since you will rely on time tracking software to ensure an accurate payroll and maintain compliance, its customer support needs to be top-notch. Look for software solutions that offer onboarding, training resources, and a knowledge base so your staff can quickly implement the software and troubleshoot problems. Top options will also have responsive one-on-one support options through phone, email, or online tickets to quickly solve critical issues.

What Makes hh2 a Top Choice

hh2’s construction time and attendance software offers distinctive features that set it apart from its competitors. Our solutions:

• Increase accuracy: hh2’s mobile construction time clocks use geofencing and photo capture technology to ensure on-site time is tracked accurately. They also offer customizable job codes, pay rates, and overtime rules to maintain compliance with all regulations.
  
  
• Offer flexibility: With hh2’s offline mode, you can capture data on sites with little or no connectivity and in the way that works best for your company — individually or for your entire crew through the web, smartphone, tablet, or mobile punch clock.
  
  
• Simplify the process: Integration with other top construction ERPs means no more manually entering data for job costing, payroll, or financial management purposes. You’ll get access to real-time data for reporting so you can make smarter decisions.
  
  
• Provide comprehensive support: hh2’s help center includes a knowledge base, virtual training workshops through hh2 University, support forums, webinars, and an online support ticketing system to resolve issues promptly.
  
  

Upgrade Your Payroll With hh2’s Digital Time Tracking Solutions

Construction time tracking is critical for maintaining an accurate payroll and keeping project costs within budget. But if your construction company is still using paper timesheets or manual methods to track time and process payroll, you’re at greater risk of payroll errors, compliance issues, and increased expenses due to inflated labor costs and lost productivity. Without making changes, your company’s profitability and long-term financial health are at risk. 

In comparison, upgrading to a digital time tracking solution like hh2’s Remote Payroll can greatly benefit your construction business by increasing the accuracy of your payroll, streamlining workflows, and reducing compliance risk. 

Stop losing money to payroll errors and wasted time. Get a free demo of hh2 Remote Payroll today and see how you can cut payroll processing time and eliminate compliance headaches.