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Geofencing keeps punches on the job site. Biometric verification stops buddy punching. Both included free for 30 days.
Try It FreeTime tracking in construction is messy, especially when crews are moving between sites, clocking in late, or writing hours on paper (if at all).
We compared ten construction time tracking options offering different combinations of mobile punching, offline records, crew management, job costing, and play nice with payroll without slowing down the field.
In this guide, you’ll find 10 apps that solve real construction time tracking problems. Whether you’re managing union crews, prevailing-wage jobs, juggling cost codes, or just tired of late-night payroll math, these tools help bring accuracy, visibility, and peace of mind to your job site hours.
| Service | Best For | Capterra Rating | Starting Cost | Free Trial? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OnTheClock | Small construction businesses needing mobile punches and payroll-ready timecards | 4.7 | $5/month plus $4/employee/month | Yes - 30 days |
| ClockShark | Crew scheduling and job-cost tracking | 4.7 | $42/month base + $9.50/user/month (3-year contract) | Yes - 14 days |
| Connecteam | All-in-one mobile crew app | 4.6 | Free up to 10 users; Operations Basic $35/month for first 30, +$1/extra user | Yes - 14 days (or Free) |
| Raken | Daily field reporting | 4.6 | Custom quote | Ask vendor about trial |
| Workyard | GPS-based workforce visibility | 4.7 | Starter $8/user/month + $50 monthly base | Yes - 14 days |
| BusyBusy | Equipment tracking | 4.5 | Free plan; Pro $11.99/user/month + $40 admin license (first user included) | Yes - 14 days (or Free) |
| Arcoro Time | Construction field timekeeping and compliance records | 3.6 | Monthly quote required | Trial available; ask vendor |
| QuickBooks Time | QuickBooks integrations | 4.8 | $20/month base + $10/user/month; QuickBooks Online extra | Yes - 30 days |
| SmartBarrel | Physical kiosk clock-ins | 4.9 | Custom quote | Ask vendor about trial/demo |
| Buildertrend | Home builders | 4.5 | Custom quote | Ask vendor about trial/demo |
How construction timecards compare to time tracking software
For some, a timecard is a paper card punched at a time clock or a time sheet filled out by hand and turned in at the end of the week. For others, it’s a digital record of when an employee worked and for how long. Both versions aim to solve the same problem.
A construction timecard needs to capture a few basics, whether it's paper or digital:
- The employee's name and job or cost code
- The date and hours worked
- A way to review the entry, such as an employee acknowledgment or a supported GPS-related punch record
Paper construction timecards may be workable for a small crew at one site. But they start to break down once you've got multiple crews, multiple job sites, and a foreman doing payroll math on a legal pad on Sunday night. Handwriting gets misread, hours are estimated instead of recorded, and a construction time sheet meant to track job costs becomes guesswork.
If you're not ready to give up paper yet, start with a free construction time sheet template to standardize what your crew turns in. But if you're managing more than a handful of employees across job sites, a construction time tracking app may reduce manual recordkeeping and payroll preparation.
OnTheClock: Best for small construction businesses
- Best for: Small construction businesses needing GPS-enabled punch records and approved hours for payroll
- Capterra rating: 4.7
- Starting cost: $5/month base + $4/employee/month
- Free trial: 30 days
OnTheClock is a construction time tracking app that works for smaller crews without sacrificing key capabilities. It tracks employee time, handles shift scheduling, supports paid time off (PTO) requests and balances, and offers optional full-service payroll at $40/month base plus $6/employee/month, with a one-time $250 implementation fee. It also integrates with several payroll providers, including ADP, Gusto, and QuickBooks.
Your crew can open the mobile app, choose a job or cost code, and clock themselves in with just a couple of taps, so managers can review submitted punches and hours in their account. These records can help managers review job costing and overtime without paying for enterprise features your crew may never use. Digital timecards can make missing punches and location-related discrepancies easier to review.
OnTheClock also comes with GPS tracking and anti-fraud features. Configured geofencing can limit supported punches to designated job site areas, subject to device settings and location accuracy. Supported photo and attendance controls help managers review punches but do not independently guarantee identity.
“It's a game changer for the company! I started implementing it the past month, and it feels like I've used it for years. My workers find it very easy to use.”
— Rigo F., Capterra reviewer & construction owner
OnTheClock combines mobile time tracking, scheduling, PTO, and manager-review tools for small construction businesses.
For a small construction company looking to reliably track time, manage basic job codes, and reduce the chaos of Monday morning payroll corrections, OnTheClock delivers a simple, mobile-friendly option.
Key Features
ClockShark: Best for Crew Scheduling and Job-Cost Tracking
- Best for: Crew scheduling and job-cost tracking
- Capterra rating: 4.7
- Starting cost: Standard $42/month base + $9.50/user/month; Pro $63/month base + $11.50/user/month (3-year contract)
- Free trial: 14 days
ClockShark is a time tracking and scheduling platform for construction and field-service businesses, with a GPS time clock mobile app designed for ease of use and crew-friendly scheduling tools. Supported crew-punching workflows allow a foreman to record attendance for multiple workers, while the drag-and-drop schedule board lets you create, move, or copy shifts quickly.
ClockShark offers mobile field punching and crew scheduling. PTO management and advanced job costing are available on Pro rather than Standard. Teams needing PTO tracking should compare available plan features and contract terms.
Key Features
Connecteam: Best all-in-one mobile crew app
- Best for: Mobile crews seeking an all-in-one mobile app
- Capterra rating: 4.6
- Starting cost: Free for up to 10 users; Operations Basic $35/month for first 30 (+$1/additional user); Advanced $59 (+$3/additional user); Expert $119 (+$5/additional user)
- Free trial: 14 days
Connecteam offers time tracking, scheduling, tasks, communications, and training in separate hubs. Operations covers time and scheduling, Communications covers chat, and HR & Skills covers training; paid hubs may have separate charges.
Its free Small Business plan covers up to 10 users with feature limits. Paid Operations subscriptions may require additional Communications or HR & Skills fees, depending on what a crew needs.
Key Features
Raken: Best for daily field reporting
- Best for: Daily field reporting
- Capterra rating: 4.6
- Starting cost: Custom quote
- Free trial: Confirm availability and terms with Raken
Raken is built for job sites where crews input hours, progress, safety checks, and photos in real time. With its mobile app, crews can clock in, upload photos, attach notes, track material or equipment use, and share it all with you at the office. The app also provides a unified mobile platform for job site conditions, safety logs, and quality inspections.
Raken is particularly suited to contractors needing daily field reports, production records, photos, and safety documentation alongside labor time records.
Key Features
Workyard: Best for GPS-Based Workforce Visibility
- Best for: GPS-based workforce visibility
- Capterra rating: 4.7
- Starting cost: Starter $8/user/month + $50 monthly base
- Free trial: 14 days
Workyard is a mobile workforce management tool built for field service industries. GPS-enabled attendance records and location-based tools help review job site punches. Hours can be associated with jobs for labor-cost reporting when properly configured. Its scheduling tools help managers assign employees to jobs and coordinate upcoming work.
Managers should test location settings and punch behavior on actual field devices. The monthly base fee on top of per-user charges is an important budgeting consideration.
Key Features
BusyBusy: Best for equipment tracking
- Best for: Equipment tracking
- Capterra rating: 4.5
- Starting cost: Free plan available; Pro $11.99/user/month + $40 admin license (first user included); Premium $17.99/user/month + $40 admin license
- Free trial: 14 days
BusyBusy offers mobile time tracking and supported offline punch storage that synchronizes when connectivity returns, along with GPS-related records on eligible plans. It also offers equipment-tracking functions: idle vs. active hours, equipment lists by site, and operator logs attached to machines for paid subscribers.
Its paid plans include additional job site reporting and equipment features. Contractors should confirm whether the tracking and reporting functions they need are included in Pro, Premium, or separate services.
Key Features
Arcoro Time (formerly ExakTime): Best for construction field timekeeping
- Best for: Construction field timekeeping and compliance records
- Capterra rating: 3.6
- Starting cost: Monthly quote required
- Free trial: Available; confirm eligibility and duration
Arcoro Time (formerly ExakTime) records field hours and job-related information through mobile and physical clock options. Supported GPS, photo, labor-classification, and export workflows can help managers prepare payroll and compliance records, but do not by themselves fulfill every certified-payroll requirement.
Offline punch recording is available through supported workflows, with records syncing when connectivity returns. Available hardware, timekeeping controls, and implementation costs depend on the selected configuration.
Key Features
QuickBooks Time: Best for QuickBooks integrations
- Best for: QuickBooks integrations
- Capterra rating: 4.8
- Starting cost: Premium $20/month base + $10/user/month; Elite $40/month base + $12/user/month; QuickBooks Online extra
- Free trial: 30 days
Formerly TSheets, QuickBooks Time is a cloud-based time tracking and employee scheduling software solution built alongside Intuit’s payroll tools. It also manages time-off requests, supports photo attachments on eligible workflows, and supports time kiosks built into tablets. If you’re already using QuickBooks for payroll, it’s a solid choice.
QuickBooks Time supports timecard review and compatible QuickBooks accounting and payroll workflows. A separate QuickBooks Online subscription is required, and payroll may incur additional costs. Geofencing is available through supported Elite workflows, which cost $40/month base plus $12/user/month.
Key Features
SmartBarrel: Best for physical kiosk clock-ins
- Best for: Physical kiosk clock-ins
- Capterra rating: 4.9
- Starting cost: Custom quote
- Free trial: Ask vendor about trial or demo terms
SmartBarrel offers construction-focused time tracking through physical kiosks and mobile punching. Kiosk power and weather-resistance specifications vary by hardware model, and supported photo and location controls can help managers review attendance records and discourage unauthorized punches, although neither independently guarantees identity. Eligible workflows may also provide incident and safety records.
SmartBarrel is most relevant to contractors seeking a fixed job site clock alongside a mobile option. Its quote-based pricing should account for hardware, installation, connectivity, subscriptions, and support.
Key Features
Buildertrend: Best for home builders
- Best for: Home builders
- Capterra rating: 4.5
- Starting cost: Custom quote
- Free trial: Ask vendor about trial or demo terms
Buildertrend is construction management software built for remodelers and home builders. It combines time tracking with broader project, financial, and client-management capabilities. Job-cost reporting can help managers spot projects approaching their planned labor budgets.
Buildertrend primarily serves residential builders and remodelers. Businesses that only need employee time tracking should weigh the cost and configuration of a full construction-management platform against a dedicated time clock.
Key Features
Tips for Choosing the Right Tool for Your Crew
Choosing the right time tracking software for your construction team doesn’t have to be complicated. The best way to find the right fit is to align the software’s features with how your crew actually works.
Geofencing and Employee Verification
Geofencing can help restrict or flag punches based on a device’s location relative to configured job site boundaries. Without it, you risk employees clocking in outside of the job site. It also helps when they forget to clock out, as some systems offer location-based reminders or supported automatic clock-out workflows, depending on settings and permissions.
Test each product’s handling of brief visits, arrivals, departures, and GPS inaccuracies. Photo, PIN, and supported biometric controls may also help deter unauthorized punches without guaranteeing identity.
Buddy punching occurs when an employee records attendance on another employee’s behalf. Supported verification controls can help deter it.
Tools offering GPS/geofencing and attendance controls (features vary):
- OnTheClock
- ClockShark
- BusyBusy
Mobile Clock-Ins
Mobile punching lets employees record time on compatible phones, subject to connectivity, location permissions, and configured punch rules. Employees can skip to the part of the day that actually matters to you: getting the job done so you can get paid.
Look for a straightforward clock-in process that employees can use at the job site. Scheduling notifications and shift-swap options may also be useful for crews with changing assignments.
Tools that offer mobile clock-ins:
- OnTheClock
- Connecteam
- SmartBarrel
Prevailing Wage and Certified Payroll
For contractors working on certain federal or federally assisted construction projects, accurate time tracking is also a compliance issue.
Under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, covered contractors and subcontractors must pay laborers and mechanics at least the applicable prevailing wage, including required fringe benefits. They also need accurate records showing the hours employees work and the classifications of work they perform.
When employees perform work in multiple covered labor classifications, keep an accurate breakdown of hours in each classification and apply the applicable wage and fringe-benefit requirements. That matters when one employee works in more than one classification or across multiple projects. Your time tracking system should make it easy to tie hours to the correct job, labor classification, and pay rate so payroll can apply the right prevailing wage.
Covered contractors must also submit certified payroll information weekly. Accurate job, classification, regular-time, and overtime records make that process easier and reduce the need to reconstruct hours after the fact. If your company performs prevailing-wage work, look for software that can track hours by job and cost code, support multiple pay rates, and produce reports your payroll process can use for certified payroll. Time tracking alone does not satisfy every certified-payroll filing and recordkeeping obligation.
Job Costing and Payroll-Ready Data
Construction crews need tools that track time for more than basic payroll. Assigning employee hours to specific jobs and cost codes helps managers understand labor costs and compare actual spending with project budgets.
Time tracking should also provide you with payroll-ready data, so you’re not wasting time digging through sheets to pay your employees. Ideally, they should integrate with third-party payroll providers, such as QuickBooks or Gusto. Or, at the very least, they should export a clean CSV, so you’re not stuck copying things over.
Tools that offer job costing with payroll-ready data:
- OnTheClock
- QuickBooks Time
- SmartBarrel
Cost and Scalability
Small business owners don't have time to waste finding out how much an extra feature will cost. Look for companies that provide clear, per-unit pricing and break down exactly how much these extra features will cost.
This factor is doubly important if you're planning to add extra people to your crew. A system that works fine for tracking timecards for construction crews of five doesn't always scale cleanly to 50. Pick a tool that grows with you and doesn't add headaches when you've got to manage rising labor costs.
Equipment Tracking
Equipment tracking is a nice feature to have if you want to protect it from theft, but you might not be looking for this feature in your payroll provider. Instead, consider a dedicated equipment-tracking provider that can also track your vehicles, such as Geotab or Samsara.
Tips for Rolling Out Time Tracking Successfully
Switching to a new time tracking system can feel like one more thing on your plate. Here's how to roll out OnTheClock while reducing the risk of payroll disruptions.
Start with one crew
Pick your smallest or most tech-comfortable crew first. Set up their job and cost codes in OnTheClock, hand them the mobile app, and run it alongside your current system for one pay period, comparing punches, breaks, overtime, job codes, and payroll exports. You'll catch missing job codes or geofence boundaries that need adjustment before the whole company depends on them.
Explain the ‘why’ before the geofence
Employees notice GPS tracking right away, so tell them what it's for before they open the app: accurate hours and payroll review. Explain what location data is captured, who can access it, and how the records are used. Employees should understand how location features are configured before using the app. OnTheClock can record punch locations and, when enabled with the appropriate permissions, use GPS tracking while employees are clocked in. It does not track employees while they're clocked out.
Set job codes and break rules before day one
Build out your job or cost codes in OnTheClock ahead of the rollout, and configure break and overtime rules according to applicable requirements. Test the calculations before processing payroll. Post the basics, like how to clock in and how breaks work, somewhere the crew can see them. Fewer questions on day one means fewer corrected timecards later.
Show them the app once
OnTheClock's mobile app comes down to picking a job code and tapping to punch in. A short hands-on walkthrough can help employees learn the clock-in process. If your team uses supported photo, PIN, or other shared-device controls, demonstrate those steps too. Provide additional training where needed.
Assign Supervisor Access
Assign appropriate supervisor permissions so a foreman can review or approve timecards without unnecessary unrestricted administrator access. That's one less thing landing on your desk, and one fewer call your employees have to make to the office.
Watch your first few reports
Run OnTheClock's automated reports, like the payroll summary and scheduled versus actual hours, for the first couple of weeks, and check for missing punches or job codes that need cleanup. If you're catching the same issue twice, investigate whether configuration, connectivity, device settings, or training caused the problem.
Point out the first smooth payroll
After a successful payroll run, review whether digital timecards reduced corrections and preparation time. OnTheClock offers U.S.-based support for setup and troubleshooting.
Be Confident in Your Time Tracking Process With OnTheClock
The best time tracking software for construction may not be the same for your firm as it is for the next one. But we can all agree it should help you track employee hours, review job costs, and prepare accurate time records for payroll without making clock-ins unnecessarily complicated.
OnTheClock’s mobile interface provides a streamlined clock-in process on supported devices. Configurable geofencing and attendance controls also give managers additional information to review employee punches and address discrepancies.
Start your free trial today to find out how OnTheClock can help you focus on growing your construction business.
