Time Done Right

Time collection is a critical task that all contractors perform. Time collection is the process of recording the hours worked by employees. In the construction industry, it’s common for a majority of field employees to be paid on an hourly basis. So, in order for a construction company to pay their employees the correct amount, they must first learn how many hours each employee worked.
FROM PAPER TO DIGITAL
For decades, the time collection process used to be done exclusively on paper. Timesheets and time cards were used. The process was simple; the employee on either a timesheet or time card would record how many hour he/she worked on each day of the week. The payroll department would then collect the documents and process them to send out paychecks.
The biggest advantage to this approach is the simplicity of the process. All the employee has to do is read and write down information. The payroll department at that point simply has to read and enter information. Easy to execute.
There are, though, some disadvantages to a paper-only approach for time collection. Papers can easily get lost or damaged. An employee may forget where he/she placed their timesheet or time card. What if a payroll employee accidentally tears or damages the paper? For a construction company, this can easily become a nightmare. Also, sorting through them can become quite the challenge, depending on the number of employees. Another issue is accuracy. If the individual filling out the time card has illegible handwriting and the payroll employee cannot read it, then incorrect information may get entered in the system as a result.
Over the years, time collection became something you could do online on a computer. Time entry on a PC eliminates the need for paper, and now mobile technology has taken that approach even further.
Now, there are mobile applications for time collection, making it easier than ever. Contractors are now using mobile apps to enter in their time and other specific job information.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
Located in Woburn, Massachusetts, with more than 100 employees in the field, Pavilion Floors was looking to improve their payroll process. As their company grew, so did the time it took to enter in payroll data for employees, particularly those in the field. The process they used consisted of having their employees fill out time cards and then submit them in for processing. As described earlier, this method has many drawbacks.
For Pavilion, in particular, there were two main issues. One was accuracy. Many time cards submitted were difficult to read and would constantly lead to inaccurate information being entered. The other issue was the time spent on the entire payroll process—it was simply too long. Employees in the field do not work at the company headquarters where payroll is conducted, instead working at various locations at different jobsites. Once a week, they would stop by headquarters to drop off their time card and then return to where their jobsite was located. If one of the workers were to forget to submit their time card, a payroll employee would have to track that individual down and get the info; this developed into a time consuming practice.
To improve their time collection practices, Pavilion Floors turned to a mobile time collection app to streamline their workflow and increase efficiency.
One of the challenges is successfully implementing the mobile technology. A poor implementation can hamper any effort to really make use of the mobile application. It can also discourage future usage of other mobile applications. John Medeiros, director of field services, was in charge of overseeing the implementation of the mobile app and its usage. “It was set up so that just the foremen and field supervisors would enter in the time. At the end of each day, either the foremen or field supervisor would log into the app, select the job, and enter in the time for each employee. They were able to do this from the jobsite.”
POSITIVE RESULTS
After the successful implementation of the mobile app, Pavilion was able to see immediate results. Time reporting was more accurate, and most importantly, their initial goal of decreasing the amount of time spent on payroll decreased significantly. “The amount of time we were saving on payroll alone was phenomenal. Before it would take me about a day and a half to complete the entire payroll process. Now it takes me 3 hours,” says Medeiros.
Due to the adoption of mobile technology, productivity applications in particular, Pavilion Floors was able to decrease the amount of time spent on a task and increase efficiency at the same time. One of the biggest benefits gained was that now employees were able to become more productive. “Now, I’m able to do more things, due to having more time. We have two employees who help with payroll; now they can do more as well,” notes Medeiros.
Pavilion Floors demonstrates that mobile applications, if implemented and used properly, can help construction companies become more efficient. ■
About the Author:  Eric Goldstein is the president of C/F Data Systems. With over a quarter of a century of experience in the construction software arena, Eric has led C/F Data’s ongoing development of the company’s flagship solution, STRUCTURE, a leading construction accounting platform. C/F Data Systems also develops and sells integrated project management and job-costing software. For more information, visit www.cfdatasystems.com.
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Modern Contractor Solutions – July 2016
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