Time Tracking

Labour is usually a project's largest line and almost always the worst measured. It is estimated by eye when quoting and checked, if at all, when nothing can be done about it. Everything else (material, subcontractors, expenses) leaves an invoice; hours leave no trace if nobody records them.

Charging time has to cost almost nothing or it does not happen: a dropdown with open projects, the task and the hours. And if the work happens in the field, hours can come straight from the work report or the clock-in, with no double entry.

The tasks hours are charged to come from a shared catalogue, so two teams doing the same work record it the same way and their data can be compared. Without that normalisation, measurement produces numbers that mean nothing.

The worst measured line

Everything leaves an invoice except hours

Material bought leaves a delivery note and an invoice. Subcontractors leave invoices. Expenses leave receipts. Your own people's hours leave nothing: if nobody records them they exist nowhere, and the project margin gets calculated as if labour were free.

That is why it is the largest and worst measured line in almost any project. Estimated by eye when quoting, checked when closing, and nothing in between.

Charging time has to cost almost nothing or it does not happen. Here it is a dropdown with open projects, the task and the hours, from a computer or a phone. And when the work happens in the field, hours can come straight from the work report or the clock-in, without asking anyone for a second entry.

From hours to cost

An hour is not worth the same depending on who works it

Charged hours are valued at each person's or grade's cost, which is what makes them comparable with the budget. Adding up hours without valuing them tells you how much work was done, not how much it cost, and those are two different questions.

That valuation produces two figures rarely held together:

Real labour cost per project and per phase, which is what turns margin into a fact.
Deviation by line: how many hours were budgeted for that phase and how many have been used, while the project is still open.

That second point is what makes reaction possible. Knowing in week four that a phase has used 70% of its hours with 40% of the work done is actionable; knowing it at closing is a lesson for next year.

Making the data comparable

Without a shared catalogue, measurement means nothing

This is the detail that sinks most attempts to measure productivity. If one team charges to "assembly", another to "installation" and a third to "site work" for exactly the same thing, the data cannot be compared across projects or periods.

That is why the tasks hours are charged to come from a shared catalogue. It takes a while to define at the start and it is what makes the later analysis meaningful.

With that normalisation, productivity control can answer the useful question: which types of work systematically take longer than planned. And that repeated gap is almost never a people problem: it is usually a badly estimated quote or a process worth improving.

See time charging in a demo

Clearing things up

Frequently asked questions

Answers to what we get asked most.

Why does charging hours matter so much?

Because everything leaves a trace except hours: material leaves a delivery note, subcontractors an invoice, expenses a receipt. If nobody records your own people's hours, the project margin is calculated as if labour were free, and it is usually the largest line.

How much effort is it for an employee?

Very little, or it does not happen: a dropdown with open projects, the task and the hours, from a computer or a phone. And if the work is in the field, hours can come straight from the work report or the clock-in, with no double entry.

Are hours valued by grade?

Yes, at each person's or grade's cost. Adding up hours without valuing them tells you how much work was done, not how much it cost, and those are different questions: only the second can be compared with the budget.

Why is a shared task catalogue needed?

Because if one team charges to "assembly", another to "installation" and a third to "site work" for the same thing, the data cannot be compared across projects or periods, and productivity analysis is reduced to a list of names.

Projects and construction

Contracts, phases, work reports, scheduling and time allocation, so you find out a project is eating its margin while you can still fix it.

Project Management

Each project's complete record in one place: budget, phases, assigned team, documentation, events and financial result.

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Contracts

Framework contracts with the customer that their projects hang from, with their agreed terms, amounts and renewals.

Productivity Control

Productivity analysis by employee, team and task type based on charged hours.

Project Calendar

A visual calendar with the milestones, phases and scheduled work of every project at once.

Project Work Reports

Work reports linked to the project: what was done, who did it, how long it took and what materials were used, filled in from a phone.

BC3 Importer

Import estimates in BC3 format (the Spanish construction standard) with their chapters, items, measurements and prices, without typing a single line.