Time is money in construction, and that's not just a cliche. Subcontractors who track time accurately save an average of 5-10% on labor costs, improve their bid accuracy, and catch profitability problems before they become disasters.
Why Most Subcontractors Track Time Poorly
Traditional time tracking methods like paper timesheets, honor system clock-ins, and end-of-week estimates are inherently inaccurate. Studies show that manual time tracking overestimates hours by 10-15% on average. That's money leaking out of your business every week.
The Real Cost of Inaccurate Time Tracking
Overbilling Clients
If your timesheets overestimate hours, you might be billing clients for time that wasn't actually worked. This creates disputes, damages relationships, and can even lead to fraud allegations on public projects.
Underbidding Future Work
If you don't know how long tasks actually take, you can't estimate future projects accurately. This leads to underbidding, which leads to thin margins or money-losing jobs.
Hidden Labor Waste
Without accurate time data, you can't identify inefficiencies. Is setup taking too long? Are certain tasks consistently running over estimate? Is non-productive time eating your margins? You need data to answer these questions.
Implementing Digital Time Tracking
Modern time tracking tools let crew members clock in and out from their phones with GPS verification. This ensures accuracy while being convenient for the workers. Key features to look for include mobile clock-in and clock-out, GPS location verification, job and task assignment, overtime calculations, and integration with payroll.
Using Time Data to Improve Your Business
Once you have accurate time data, use it to compare actual hours versus estimated hours on each project. Identify tasks that consistently take longer than expected. Spot patterns in overtime and non-productive time. Improve the accuracy of future estimates based on real data.
The Payroll Connection
Accurate time tracking feeds directly into payroll processing, eliminating the errors and disputes that come from manual timesheets. It also provides documentation for workers comp audits, wage and hour compliance, and Davis-Bacon prevailing wage projects.
Subcontractors who switch from manual to digital time tracking typically see the investment pay for itself within the first month through reduced labor waste and more accurate billing.