Tracking labor time is an essential process for most construction companies, whether for payroll, measuring job progress or time and material billing.
At Knowify, we’ve seen all sorts of outdated methods for tracking time: from people calling the office and leaving a voice message with the number of hours (ouch!) to paper sheets filled out by the foreman on the jobsite. It’s 2016! There are much more efficient ways to track time!
With the Knowify mobile app, not only will you get to enjoy high automated timekeeping, but you will also be able to see in real time how your job is performing. That’s a big deal!
The Knowify mobile app, available for both IOS and Android, allows you to track time in 4 different ways.
1. Individual check in / check out (online)
This is the most precise way of tracking time. In the first tab of the smartphone app, you’ll see a list of scheduled jobs. You can check into any of those jobs (or use the “Find” feature to check in to an unlisted one) and we’ll record the GPS location and the check in time.
Upon checking out, we record the GPS location and the check out time, and calculate the time and cost associated with the time entry for job costing purposes. No more waiting until the end of the week or the month to know where you stand: have that information in a timely manner, enabling you to make better, faster decisions in your business.
2. Individual check in / check out (offline)
When you have low or non internet connection, you can still use the app to check in and out. On the login screen, just click ‘Enter offline mode’ to stop relying on your internet connection.
Once inside the Offline Mode section, you’ll see the list of unsynced offline check ins, if any:
Now, if you wish to check in just select a job from the list and check in. If you don’t see the job (probably because with no internet connection you couldn’t download it), just click on Basic Check In and the time will be stored but unallocated. You’ll have a chance in the office to point it to the right job.
You might be wondering: if there is not Internet connection, how do these time entries get uploaded into Knowify? Well, we definitely need internet connection at some point to make it work. Whenever you recover the connection, just log into the app and the time entries will be synced up with your account.
3. Foreman timekeeping (online)
Many companies don’t want to leave it to their guys to enter their own time; they prefer to have a foreman or supervisor doing all the tracking. We get it. In the second tab of the smartphone app you’ll find the Forman section, where you can enter time or check in/out your crews.
4. Manual timecard entries (online)
This is the most manual way of entering time, but it will also give you the flexibility to select the time and job. The downside is that we will not be able to record the GPS location. You will be able to manually add time in the third tab of the smartphone app. When you are there, just click on ‘Add Time’ to get started.
As you can see, we have quite a few options to track time. We know that every business is different, so we built the Knowify mobile app to have the flexibility to work in almost any situation.
Finally, keep in mind that any time entry submitted through the smartphone app can be adjusted from the office. For instance, if one of your guys left his phone at home, you can check him in and out from the office. You can also check him out if he forgets to check out at the end of the day.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions on how to track time in your company. We know dealing with new technology can be frustrating sometimes, that why’s we have the best of the best in our team to help you out. You can find us at support@knowify.com.
– The Knowify Team