Top Time Tracking Software for Contractors

  • Kate Borucka
  • May 10, 2018
  • 9 min read

Contractor time tracking can help record billable hours and monitor key performance statistics. It’s a worth-to-invest solution since it can contribute to not losing money and ensuring high productivity. Well-performing projects lead to high client satisfaction and business growth.

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Track time in projects and tasks, create reports, and bill your clients in just one tool.

Why Use Time Tracking Software for Contractors?

Contractors very often work in areas such as architecture, design, construction, banking, civil engineering, or IT. Fields which make the daily life of other people better. But they tend to be forgotten, and their service is of great value since they work hard to make our lives better.

Contractors have to deal with many difficult aspects of work which include a variety of tasks. They have to involve in business consulting, accounting, complying with local or federal permits. They also need to make sure they’re getting paid for their job and work on profitable projects. All these tasks require a lot of work.

Independent contractors and those working on a freelance basis are in the same boat. They work with multiple clients, often on an hourly basis, and need to keep a hand on all the administrative processes.

Here’s how time tracking can help every contractor in their work:

  • Accurate time entries with employee time and hours worked make client billing easier
  • The ability to monitor projects profitability, overall costs, and important metrics helps to stay on track with money and work hours
  • It’s easy to issue client invoices with no effort
  • Easy way of monitoring performance and key metrics
  • It’s easier to schedule employees workload, plan workflow and calculate employee cost

With the right app, you’ll facilitate work and help your company grow.

What Is The Best Contractor Time Tracking Software?

To keep track of hours spent on working on projects, contractors need a reliable time tracking app that can help them manage their business. There are many timesheet apps on the market.

If you are a contractor looking for the ideal time tracking software, you are in the right place. Today, we present the list of top time tracking software for contractors.

  1. TimeCamp – automatic, free time tracker for recording billable hours
  2. Quickbooks Time – tracking and managing employee time for payroll
  3. Harvest – keeping track of budget and billable time
  4. eSub – project management with time tracking for subcontractors
  5. Freshbooks – accounting and invoicing
  6. Teamwork – team time tracking
  7. Accelo – real-time analysis of project progress
  8. Procore – time tracking for field workers
  9. web2project – on-premise project management system
  10. GoCanvas – creating a personalized app
  11. Zipbooks – managing accounting processes for construction contractors
  12. Bridgit – tracking projects and different stages of work

👉Click here and find out more about time tracking software for consultants

#1 TimeCamp

Best for: tracking time and billable hours automatically in a simple way

Either working solo or with a team, TimeCamp is a fantastic time tracking software for contractors – and now it’s free for unlimited users! It’s one tool that combines features of time tracking and project management software which will work wonders for your company.

👉Read also: how to increase billable hours

TimeCamp team time tracker attendance

Take a look at the list of core features to see how TimeCamp helps in contractor’s work:

  • TimeCamp is now free for unlimited users with unlimited projects
  • Because accounting is of great importance in contractor’s work, you can easily bill your clients based on billable hours, tasks, or projects
  • Set different billable rates and hourly rate
  • Invoicing based on the reports and sending them right away to your clients
  • Automatic time tracking with a desktop app saves your time. You don’t have to switch between different tasks. The app follows your activities
  • Extensive and detailed reports inform you about your activities and show those productive and unproductive
  • Tags let you add more details to the reports; you can also use them as job sites or job codes
  • Attendance tracking: easily track and analyze your or your team’s absences, sick leaves, or holidays. This feature is crucial when it comes to payoff and taxes
  • Powerful integrations enhance your work with other apps
  • You can use the desktop app, online timer button, or native mobile app

TimeCamp’s features take away the pain of dealing with financial issues and help you allocate all resources. And if you’re working alone, the software gives you a detailed insight into how much time and money you spend in real-time.

Turn your contracting into professional services with TimeCamp! No credit card required.

Turn your contracting into professional services with TimeCamp!

Register for free today!

time tracker

#2 Quickbooks Time

Best for: tracking and managing employee time for payroll

Quickbooks Time (previously TSheets) was created with contractors in mind. It’s an integrated part of Quickbooks and it synchronizes with the accounting software.

The time tracking app automatically tracks time for your employees. Quickbooks Time saves all the data in the form of electronic timesheets and you can easily access them from anywhere.

The software has a mobile app for iPhone and Android and the build-in GPS automatically tracks employees’ location. Whenever they have clock-in clock-out system, you see that information in timesheets. Moreover, with this time tracking tool you can be sure that you comply with the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), especially important when working on government contracts.

👉 Read more about Best Timesheets Apps!

#3 Harvest

Best for: keeping track of budget and billable time

harvest-screen

If you need to track time and set billable rates Harvest may be the right time tracking app for you.

It is a simple task management solution and if you need to predict future forecasts and the true cost of each assignment, you will find it helpful. Here are the main features:

  • Tracking expenses, clients, projects, and tasks
  • The timesheets in the visual form help you understand your team’s work and see how much time they spend on different tasks. You see the precise hours, when, and on what projects people are working
  • Simple reports show time spent on a particular job, budget, progress, time left to a deadline, etc.
  • Harvest allows you to integrate with Xero or QuickBooks to create invoices and quickly send them to your clients. This feature makes accounting easier

Harvest if free for a single user.

👉 See the comparison between Harvest & TimeCamp

#4 eSub

Best for: project management for sub- and contractors from construction industry

esub time tracker for contractors

ESub construction software will be your perfect match if you work as a subcontractor and need a good project management tool. Especially if you’re working with teams. The software may not be suitable for individuals.

As in any other project management software, you can track the time and progress of your projects. Additionally, ESub enables you to easily enter data, site events, labor activities, material costs, workforce information, and more into a fully searchable database updated in real-time. 

Thus, it is a perfect time tracking software for employees who work on the construction site, in the electrical, mechanical, or similar industries. eSub helps you oversee the processes in delivering your services and is your right hand in handling all the paperwork.

👉 Read more about construction time tracking software,

#5 Freshbooks

Best for: accounting and invoaccounting and invoicing for small businesses

freshbooks time tracking

As a contractor, you may be looking for accounting software with a time tracking app that will help you manage budget. Its aim is to serve as an accounting tool so you can monitor time spent on work and certain projects, organize expenses, create professional invoices, collaborate on work, but also get paid faster and understand all financial aspects of your work.

In terms of financial issues and taxes, such time tracking software solution is remarkably helpful.

Freshbooks may be an alternative to Quickbooks Time. It’s easier to use and provides basic accounting and tracking functionalities.

#6 Teamwork

Best for: tracking time for teams

Teamwork dashboard

Teamwork helps employees in organizing work and the company’s culture. It also offers functionalities to help you improve client work as it gives unlimited free access for clients to collaborate.

Main features:

  • The feature of management helps in monitoring every aspect of work hours: categories, dates, activity overview, project roles, features, observers, reports, integrations, etc.
  • The same goes for tasks: task list, subtasks, charts, progress, due dates, and many more
  • Planning and scheduling with milestones and due dates
  • Attach files and work on them
  • You can create notebooks
  • Communicate with colleagues and clients in real-time with integrated chat
  • Performance metrics
  • If your employees have different job codes, you can set different billable rates

#7 Accelo

Best for: real-time analysis of project progress

accelo time tracking

This cloud-based software is a good tool for improving communication between your team and stakeholders and to better understand their needs.

It provides a detailed analysis of ongoing multiple projects and information on all aspects of the project such as sued and forecasted budget, expenses, project’s stage, or deadlines.

Accelo works best for larger organizations with many clients. With the feature of time tracking, the tool helps you to focus on the most important aspects of your work while automating the processes of your business.

#8 Procore

Best for: tracking time for field workers, maintenance, construction

Procore time tracking app

The Procore app is available on mobile phone or tablet. This mobile project management solution enables you to have the freedom to move around the job site while it tells you what’s happening and when it’s happening.

You have full insight into every stage of work. You can also send information, answer questions, and even make sure your teams are working with just one click.

With the Daily Log, you can quickly type in your notes, detail observations, or update job site conditions in real-time while being in the field. That gives you full control over the total hours spent on particular tasks on the site.

#9 web2project

Best for: creating a private, on-premise project management system

w2p project management

This time tracking software for contractors is a flexible, feature-filled, and stable platform to build upon for your specific business needs.

So if you need software that will assist you in creating your own brand, web2project may solve your problems. Here are its main features:

  • It has a secure web-based infrastructure capable of managing any number of projects, companies, departments, and users
  • Web2project is of great help when it comes to assessing and solving risks related to projects
  • Role-based permission system that gives the Project Manager fine-grained control over sensitive data
  • Project and group-wide Gantt Charts
  • A unified calendar – with iCalendar support – showing all relevant tasks and events
  • A modular infrastructure that allows the addition or removal of modules to customize the features according to your requirements

Web2roject is free and can be used by anyone as it can be easily adjusted to personal needs.

#10  GoCanvas

Best for: creating a personalized construction time tracking app

gocanvas app

This isn’t exactly one specific tool. GoCanvas offers a variety of mobile apps that enhance work on the construction site. You can choose those most convenient which correspond to your needs. Or you can combine them to improve your work even more.

Here are those most important features of some of the apps:

  • Managing subcontractor agreements
  • Filling out building inspection checklists, and complete contractor hours and activities electronically
  • Construction, repair and improvement reports and apps for building and construction project maintenance management
  • Managing projects according to set deadline and budget
  • Monitoring workers’ progress
  • Attaching photos, files, and creating PDF documents

GoCanvas is great when not working in the office because it digitizes work in the field. Moreover, it is an easy-to-use mobile app so you can access it from anywhere. It’ll be a suitable time tracking solution for a construction company.

#11 Zipbooks

Best for: managing accounting processes for construction contractors

zipbooks accounting app

This time management app for construction industry will work wonders in terms of accounting. So if you need an app that will help you (and your accountant) in smoothening financial processes of projects, Zipbooks is there for you.

Besides time tracking Zipbooks has the following features: flexible billing tracking, invoicing, credit card processing, recurring payments, late payment reminders, transactions, bank integration, bank account reconciliation, estimates, expenses, staff and client management, accounting, customer feedback, financial reports, 1099 contractor management, multiple currency support.

#12 Bridgit

Best for: tracking projects and different stages of work

Bridgit app dashboard

“With Bridgit, you can streamline the entire construction process—from pre-con to completion.” Bridgit works in a quite simple way. It tracks your projects, which you can log while on the site, and monitors all stages of work. Here’s what you can do with the app:

  • Manage and track inspections, checklists, and milestones. All aspects of creating a new construction in one place.
  • You can streamline communication and workflow to save time and keep your projects on track.
  • You can create reports.
  • Bridgit enhances communication between you and your subcontractors by allowing them to see project’s stages.

Again, this time management app for the construction industry is a great solution for people spending little time in the office.

👉 Check also our list of The Best Free Online Timesheet Software

Conclusion

There are plenty of time tracking apps for time management in construction so it may be difficult to choose the one and only. However, if you know the needs, preferences, and requirements of your business, you’ll be able to quickly find the perfect solution.

The right time tracking software for contractors can help you stay productive, profitable, and deliver professional projects to even the most demanding clients.

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6 Comments

  1. Trevor Thomas
    May 12, 2019 at 22:49
    (Edit)

    Hi Kate, I think your audience deserves to know about Timeero (timeero.com) 🙂
    Timeero is built for field service and construction businesses. Disclaimer: I am with Timeero.

  2. Ronald Goyco
    August 27, 2019 at 08:55
    (Edit)

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    October 19, 2019 at 06:00
    (Edit)

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