Construction Time Tracking Software
Track your crew’s hours and locations, assign time to projects, and set prevailing wage rates with Buddy Punch’s time clock app for construction.
When your employees work in the field at various job sites, you need something more sophisticated than simple clock-in/clock-out software.
That’s why the best construction time-tracking software goes beyond basic time tracking with features that improve accountability and oversight for field teams.
How we chose the apps on this list
We started by looking for the apps with the highest customer ratings, paying particular attention to the ratings for ease of use and customer service.
After that, we considered pricing. We wanted to offer a range of options with pricing that accommodates both small construction operations and major construction companies.
Next, we looked at each tool’s features to make sure that each app offered the features that construction businesses need.
Finally, we narrowed our list down to the most unique. What we were left with was this list of the nine best time-tracking apps for construction.
The 9 Best Construction Time Tracking Software
1. Buddy Punch
2. BusyBusy
4. ExakTime
5. Workyard
6. ClockShark
7. Raken
8. Clockify
1. Buddy Punch
Best for affordability and range of features.
Buddy Punch packs both basic time-tracking functionality and construction-specific features into one user-friendly and affordable platform.
It can be used for all of your essential workforce management needs, like tracking work hours, employee scheduling, and payroll processing.
Plus, its web, iOS, Android, and Chrome apps allow you to have clock-in and out kiosks anywhere your employees work — or they can punch in and out using their phones.
For field teams, Buddy Punch offers all of the advanced, construction-specific features you need:
Job tracking
Create job codes for your different projects. Employees select a job code when clocking in, then you can see how many hours were spent on projects.
Overtime calculations
Buddy Punch automatically creates timesheets for you and calculates every crew member’s hours, overtime, and pay. Say goodbye to manual calculations!
Prevailing wage rates
Set up project-specific rates for your prevailing wage jobs, and Buddy Punch automatically assigns the right pay rates to the hours worked on those jobs.
GPS tracking
Capture GPS location data when your employees clock in and out. Review their locations on their time cards to make sure they were on site when billing time.
Geofencing
Create virtual boundaries around your job sites, then limit clocking in and out to within those boundaries to prevent employees from punching in off-site.
Photos on punch
Require your employees to take a photo of themselves when clocking in or out. This helps prevent the time-theft practice of buddy punching.
Flexible punching options
Set up Buddy Punch on a tablet to use it as a portable time clock kiosk, or have your site foreman clock everyone who’s on-site in and out at the same time.
Notifications
Get an alert when an employee is nearing overtime, when timesheets need to be approved, when an employee clocks in late, and much more.
Payroll integrations
Instantly connect your time data to payroll and accounting software like QuickBooks, ADP, Gusto, Rippling, Workday, Paycor, Deltek, and more.
In addition to the features listed above, Buddy Punch also offers:
- Text to punch: Let your construction workers clock in and out via text messages.
- Employee scheduling: Create and distribute job schedules.
- PTO tracking: Set up PTO accrual rules, update PTO balances, and let employees make time-off requests.
- Time card approvals: Give supervisors the ability to review and approve crew timesheets before payroll.
- Automatic breaks: Automatically remove break times from employee timesheets.
- Punch rounding: Automatically round clock-ins and outs to the nearest hour.
Pricing
Buddy Punch has a free 14-day trial — no credit card required. Its paid plans start at $4.49 per user per month, plus a $19 per month base fee.
Try Buddy Punch For Free
Track employee hours automatically, run payroll in minutes, and streamline job scheduling.
2. BusyBusy
Best for tracking company equipment.
If you’re looking for time, GPS, and equipment tracking, BusyBusy’s construction time card app is a good option.
Its free plan lets you add unlimited users and track employee time, GPS coordinates, and equipment locations. Additionally, you get job costing as part of the free plan to attach employee hours to specific construction projects.
Your employees can clock in and clock out using an app on their mobile devices (iOS and Android apps are both available), or you can set up a device as a kiosk for punching in and out.
However, you get a lot more when upgrading to BusyBusy’s premium plans, including GPS breadcrumbing that allows you to see where employees were during their entire shifts, project photos where employees can upload images of job site progress, and scheduling tools to create employee schedules.
Subscribing to one of BusyBusy’s premium plans makes the app an all-in-one construction project management platform where you can track projects, crew hours, updates, equipment, budgets, and more for all of your projects across all of your job sites.
Key features
- Time card signatures
- Document uploading
- Progress photos
- Facial recognition
- Location-based reminders
- Safety sign-offs
- Project tracking
Key integrations
- Quickbooks
- Sage
- Procore
- ADP
- ComputerEase
- Foundation Software
- ConstructionPayroll.com
Pros
- Has a free option
- Many customization options are available
- Very accessible app for employees
- Works for all types of construction businesses
Cons
- Location tracking features can be buggy and don’t work at all in low- to no-service areas
- Customers report some issues with the mobile app where it can take a long time to load
Pricing
BusyBusy’s free plan includes GPS time tracking for unlimited users. Paid plans start at $9.99 per user/month and include scheduling, photos, notes, and supervisor tools.
3. QuickBooks Time
Best for mileage tracking.
If your company is already using QuickBooks for payroll, QuickBooks Time might be a great solution for time tracking. It’s available for free for businesses on QuickBooks Payroll’s Premium and Elite plans.
QuickBooks Time comes with all of the standard features of a time card app — time tracking, scheduling, and time-off management. Additionally, it streamlines payroll workflows if you’re using QuickBooks Payroll.
For construction-specific features, QuickBooks Time offers GPS tracking, geofencing, overtime calculations, photo attachments, and mileage tracking, which is helpful if you pay team members for their mileage in addition to the hours they work on jobs.
Key features
- Offline functionality
- Expense management
- DCAA/DOL compliance
- Audit trails
- Mileage tracking
Key integrations
- All other Intuit products
- ADP
- Square Payroll
- Paychex
- Justworks
Pros
- The audit log feature allows you to see all changes made
- Made to integrate well with Intuit’s other products such as QuickBooks Payroll and Online
- Offers an online app, a mobile app, and a kiosk
Cons
- Many people have reported issues with their customer support
- Expensive when compared to other products
- Not many integrations when compared to other products
Pricing
QuickBooks Time is available for free to QuickBooks Payroll customers on the Premium and Elite plans. For other customers, plans start at $8 per user per month plus a $20 per month base fee.
4. ExakTime
Best for companies with Spanish- or French-speaking employees.
ExakTime is one of the most well-known construction timesheet apps on the market. It’s been around since 1999 and is 100% focused on the construction industry.
ExakTime does have a $9 per employee per month plan designed for smaller companies, but it’s largely focused on major construction companies.
One of the standout features of ExakTime is its native in-app translations. Employees can choose their default language when signing up — English, Spanish, and French are available — and the app will always show all text in the selected language in the future. This can be useful if you have a multilingual crew.
Beyond that, ExakTime has all of the other features you’ll need from a time tracking app, including GPS tracking, geofencing, prevailing wage tracking, photo ID capture, cost code tracking, and integrations with more than 100 payroll providers.
Key features
- Durable, portable time clocks available
- Facial recognition
- Equipment tracking
- Materials and inventory management
- Multi-language translations
Key integrations
- Sage
- Quickbooks
- ADP
- ConstructionPayroll.com
- Procore
Pros
- Employees can provide more in-depth information with photos and voice memos
- Easy for field workers to use
- Can keep track of equipment use
Cons
- High pricing that might not be great for smaller businesses
- Customers have reported having issues with attendance tracking
Pricing
ExakTime’s plans start at $9 per employee per month plus an unspecified base fee and include time and attendance tracking, GPS tracking, geofencing, and break tracking.
5. Workyard
Best for tracking Workers’ Comp.
Workyard is another construction time clock app designed specifically for crews and contractors.
It comes with all of the features you need, like GPS time tracking, clock-in rules, auto clock-in, geofencing, mileage tracking, picture progress updates, and expense management.
One of the standout features of Workyard is its ability to include Workers’ Comp in your payroll. Simply edit the pay for the employee on Workers’ Comp, then you can add an effective date, Workers’ Comp code, and the applicable pay rate.
Additionally, Workyard also has highly accurate location tracking capabilities, making it ideal for real-time tracking of equipment, materials, and employees as they travel from your warehouse to job sites or between job sites over the course of a day.
Key features
- Precision GPS tracking
- Route mapping
- Match worker availability with job requirements
- Performance tracking
Key integrations
- QuickBooks
- Foundation Software
- Sage
- Rippling
Pros
- Easy to use and set up
- Customer support is very quick to respond
- Useful for both small and large businesses
Cons
- Tracks location even when employees are off the clock, which is illegal in some U.S. states
Pricing
Workyard’s plans start at $6 per user per month plus a $50 base fee and include time, location, and mileage tracking.
6. ClockShark
Best for collecting updates from the field.
ClockShark has all the standard features construction companies need from a time-tracking solution: scheduling, time tracking, GPS monitoring, geofencing, facial recognition, and job/task codes. Additionally, ClockShark has built-in Spanish language support.
ClockShark’s most unique feature, though, is clock-out questions.
To ensure you get updates on how projects are going, you can ask employees to provide updates, photos, or documentation when they clock out. This helps supervisors and admins stay up-to-date on project progress when they can’t be in the field.
Key features
- Clock in/out reminders
- Custom questionnaires
- Team chat
- Document sharing
Key integrations
- QuickBooks
- ADP
- Sage
- Xero
Pros
- Simple and easy to use
- Can easily keep detailed information on each employee and job type
- Integrations are easy to set up and work well
Cons
- Customers report that their crews sometimes have issues with the mobile apps
- The scheduling tool is missing some key features
Pricing
ClockShark’s standard plan starts at $8 per user per month plus a $40 per month base fee. Plans that include clock-out questions start at $10 per user/month plus a $40 base fee.
7. Raken
Best for large construction companies.
Raken is a complete workforce management platform that has time tracking and a number of other features that are designed for construction companies.
You can track time, materials, and equipment and get reports on project progress in messages, documents, pictures, and even videos.
Additionally, Raken has safety and quality management features like checklists, incident reporting, risk assessments, compliance checks, and even built-in safety training modules.
Finally, Raken can be used as a complete project management tool. You can use it to create project plans, track employee time to specific job codes and tasks, run detailed reports, and consolidate all time, documents, videos, photos, and incidents into a single project plan.
Key features
- Voice-to-text
- Project timelines
- Profitability tracking
- Safety checklists
- Incident reporting
- Maintenance scheduling
- Subcontractor collaboration
Key integrations
- QuickBooks
- Foundation Software
- Sage
- Viewpoint
- Procore
- Dropbox
- Drone Deploy
Pros
- Automatic timecard updates
- Complete multiple tasks with one product
- Easy to use for all employees
Cons
- Lack of customization
- Customers report some issues with the app when using it on older mobile devices
Pricing
No public pricing is available for Raken. To get a quote, you must request a demo through the company’s website.
8. Clockify
Best for free app for basic time tracking.
If you’re looking for a simple, free time tracking app to get away from Excel spreadsheets and paper timesheets, Clockify might be the right option.
Clockify’s forever-free plan comes with unlimited users and projects and provides basic features like time tracking, timesheets, and team activity reports and exports.
This makes it a viable option if all you need is something free you can use to keep time for your field crews. However, other features — like GPS tracking, PTO management, payroll system integrations, forecasting, and kiosks — are only available on Clockify’s premium plans.
Key features
- Unlimited users
- Unlimited tracking
- Time tracker
- Timesheets
- Kiosk
Key integrations
- Github
- Teamworks
- Airtable
- Notion
- Basecamp
Pros
- Offers a free plan for those with simple needs
- Can also be used as a project management tool
Cons
- Paid plans are pricier for their included features than many of the other apps on this list
Pricing
Limited functionality is available on Clockify’s free-forever plan; paid plans start at $3.99 per user/month.
9. Construction Clock
Best for automated time tracking.
ConstructionClock is different from the other apps in this list because it doesn’t have manual clock-in and clock-out functionality. Instead, it uses geofencing to automate punching employees in and out when they arrive at or leave a job’s location, giving you more accurate time records.
Additionally, if employees leave a site and return to it on the same day to do something like collect or purchase materials, ConstructionClock automatically logs those time entries as travel time and adds it to the employee’s billable hours.
ConstructionClock has mobile apps available for both Apple and Android devices. It also has some of the simplest pricing of all of the apps on this list with just one plan that includes all of the app’s core features.
Key features
- Auto clock in/out
- Real-time labor costing
Key integrations
- QuickBooks
- CompanyCam
Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Responsive customer service
- Fully automatic clock in and out
- Deleted users that were paid for will apply as credits for new users
Cons
- One of the more expensive options on this list
- Only two integrations are available
Pricing
ConstructionClock’s plans start at $8.33 per user per month when paying annually, or $10 per user per month when paying monthly.
Features to look for in a construction time clock
Any of the hundreds of time-tracking software on the market will deliver basic features: track time, create employee schedules, run payroll, and manage time off.
But as a construction business, there are other features you should look for to make sure the app you choose will help you reduce time theft and administrative costs.
Here are some construction-specific features to consider as you’re evaluating time-tracking apps:
- Project tracking – Construction companies often work on multiple projects at once. A good time-tracking app lets you easily assign the hours employees work to specific job codes to accurately track project labor costs.
- GPS tracking – GPS tracking features can help you verify that employees are at the correct construction sites when they clock in and out. It adds an extra layer of accountability and ensures accurate record-keeping.
- Mileage tracking – Tracking mileage can be useful if you need to reimburse employees for the miles they travel in their own vehicles for work.
- Geofencing – Geofencing features let you limit where employees can clock in and out to specific locations, ensuring that no one is clocking in before arriving at a worksite or clocking out after they’ve already left.
- Variable wages – If your crews commonly work prevailing wage jobs, you’ll need a time tracking app that allows you to set employee wages per project to automatically calculate exactly how much employees should get paid.
- Offline capabilities – Job sites won’t always have internet access, and in more remote areas, mobile signals may be sparse too. Your time tracking app should let crew members clock in and out even when they’re in areas with poor or no internet access, with data syncing automatically once they regain connectivity.
- Multiple clock-in/out options – If your employees don’t all have personal or work-provided devices that can download mobile apps, you may need to look for a tool that allows employees to clock in/out in other ways, such as by text message, using a kiosk, or group punch from a supervisor/foreman.
To find the time-tracking app that’s right for your team, take your time, weigh your options, and start free trials of the tools you’re considering to make sure the one you choose fits your needs perfectly.