Time Tracking for Contractors: Use One of These 7 Apps

As a contractor, not only are you juggling bids and projects, but you're also responsible for tracking time spent on each task and ensuring all the paperwork is accurate.

Keeping up with these details can be overwhelming, especially when you're managing multiple projects simultaneously. That's where time tracking software for contractors comes in.

But with so many different apps on the market, it can be challenging to pick the right one for your business. To help you out, we've rounded up some of the best time tracking software options for contractors available today.

Each app below has unique features that can help you stay on track and productive. So, wthout further delay, here are the best time tracking tools you can use as a contractor:

1. Hourly

Best All-in-One Solution

Hourly is a robust solution that combines a clock and time tracking feature with payroll and workers' comp insurance management from an easy-to-use mobile app. It's compatible with iOS and Android.

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Here are some of the main features of Hourly:

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• Workers can clock in on their phones with a single click, and you can instantly see who's working, when and where
• To-the-penny accurate labor costs provided in real-time
• Geofencing to monitor your subcontractors' location with location alerts
• Customizable rules, like enforced lunch hours, breaks and 8-hour workdays, or setting a mandatory start time
• Automatically calculate overtime based on local labor laws
• Payroll management to pay your team based on real-time data 
• Connects payroll directly to your workers' compensation policy, so premiums are always accurate

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If automatic time tracking isn't your thing, Hourly also lets you use manual time entries too. 

Pricing

The time tracking component of Hourly is free. 

So you can get started without paying any monthly fees. This is perfect if you're trying to bootstrap your construction business or are just trying to cut down on your monthly budget. 

2. Toggl Track

Best for Basic Time Tracking

If you're looking for a time tracker that's easy to use and not too obtrusive, Toggle Track could be a good choice. It's a basic tracker, especially if you go with the free version. There aren't many bells and whistles, but it includes: 

• Unlimited project tracking
• Unlimited clients
• Exportable time reports so you can access open reports in Excel 
• Pomodoro timer
• CSV imports

If you need a few more features, such as being able to create project time estimates or run time audits, you'll need to upgrade to a paid version. Some of the things you can do in a paid plan are: 

• Set unique billable hours for different subcontractors or tasks
• Round your time
• Create project forecasts for task management 

Pricing

Toggl has four pricing tiers:

• Free: Plan is free for up to five users. 
• Starter: Runs $10 a month per user. 
• Premium: $20 a month for each user. 
• Enterprise: Designed for large organizations. It comes with a custom price tag and unlimited users. 

To help you decide which plan is right, there's a 30-day free trial that includes the premium features. This allows you to determine if the freebie plan has what you need or if you'll need to pay for an upgrade.  

3. QuickBooks Time

Best for QuickBooks Integration

In early 2021, the popular timesheet app, TSheets, was rebranded as QuickBooks Time. This software integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks, a popular accounting software for small business owners. 

This software offers features such as: 

• The ability to manage multiple timesheets
• Compatibility with mobile devices for updating on the go
• Customizable reports to help you look for bottlenecks and boost profits
• Ability to upload photos to share progress on projects
• Create schedules for your subcontractors and share them
• GPS tracking to help ensure everyone is at the right job site

Pricing

QuickBooks Time has two pricing tiers:

• Time Premium: Costs $10 per month, plus $8 for each team member. However, the project features, including collaboration and geofencing, are only included with the more expensive Elite plan.
• Time Elite: Runs $20 monthly, plus $10 for each additional user. 

You can sign up for a 30-day trial without a credit card to test the different features.

4. Harvest

Best for Generating Invoices

If you want a way to turn your tracked time directly into an invoice, Harvest could be the time tracker you're looking for. This platform allows you to create and send invoices that include any time and expenses you've tracked. 

It also features: 

• PayPal and Stripe integrations for clients to pay you quickly
• Integration into QuickBooks and Xero 
• Updates your budget as your team members clock their time
• Filters to help you customize the reports to see the data you need 
• A way to visually track your team's availability 

Pricing

Harvest has two pricing tiers:

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• Free: Plan is limited to only one user and two projects. 
• Pro: Costs $12 monthly for each user.

There's a free 30-day trial to see if this program is a good fit. 

5. Homebase

Best for Subcontractor Scheduling 

If you're looking for a way to schedule your team and track their time, Homebase might be just what you're looking for. It offers: 

• Robust employee scheduling features
• Ability to send out schedule updates to the entire team
• A team chat feature
• The ability to track breaks and overtime
• Editable timesheets
• Employee onboarding
• A way to track employee documents 

Pricing

Homebase has four different pricing tiers: 

• Basic: Plan is free and includes unlimited employees at one location. 
• Essentials: Costs $24.95 per location per month. It adds the team communication feature mentioned above. 
• Plus: Runs $59.95 per location per month. It lets you set time off limits and track PTO for your team. 
• All in One: Runs $99.95 per month per location and has tools to help you control your labor costs and set your budget. 

The company offers a 14-day free trial of the All-in-One plan so you can see which features you need.

6. Time Doctor

Best for Identifying Time Wasters

While construction contractors might not need some features that Time Doctor offers, it'd be a good fit for independent contractors or freelancers doing more work on their computers. 

If you're a freelancer who easily gets distracted by Facebook or another time-wasting activity, Time Doctor can notify you with a pop-up that checks to see if you're still working. This can help you improve your productivity. 

Here are some of the other key features of this app: 

• Time management reports
• Website, app, and chat monitoring
• Weekly reports on online activity 
• Integrates with QuickBooks, Asana, Trello, Slack, and other programs
• Ability to turn features on and off
• Random screenshots
• Screen-recording options 

You can turn the screenshots off if you're not comfortable with that feature. It's also possible to blur the screen a bit to help protect your privacy. 

Pricing

Time Doctor lets you choose between three subscription options:

• Basic: Costs $7 per month per user. It gives you time tracking and screenshots. 
• Standard: Runs $10 per month for each user. This plan adds the ability to integrate payroll and track apps and URLs. 
• Premium: Is $20 a month for each user. It provides client login access and VIP support.

Time Doctor offers a 14-day free trial. 

7. TimeCamp

Best for Large Businesses

As a contractor, you want to ensure you're staying on budget to meet your revenue goals. TimeCamp allows you to do just that. It offers: 

• The ability to set different billing rates for each subcontractor or project
• A way to define project costs so you can stay on budget
• Notifications when you're about to miss a deadline or go over budget
• A way to invite clients to access project reports so they can track the work
• A fully automated tracker where you can adjust time entries manually 
• Graphical timesheets so you can visually see how you spent your time

Pricing

If you think TimeCamp can solve your time tracking problems, you can try it for free for 14 days. 

Then, you have four choices to choose from:

• Free: Comes with unlimited users, projects, and tasks. 
• Basic: Costs $7 per user a month. It allows you to access the billable time and budgeting features mentioned above. 
• Pro plan: Runs $10 per user each month. It adds invoicing and timesheet approval in addition to some other features. 
• Enterprise: Custom program at a custom price. 

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