LOCATION
South Florida
CONTRACTOR TYPE
Specialty
TRADE
Plumbing
NO. OF EMPLOYEES
100 field | 15 office
INTEGRATIONS
THE CHALLENGE
The High Cost of the Honor System
Clinton Watson, VP of Business Operations at Southwest Plumbing, moved from paper timecards to what he thought was a better solution, Procore’s timesheets. While this was a step up, a fundamental flaw remained: the process still relied entirely on the honor system.
Foremen had to manually enter hours and cost codes for every worker at the end of the week. Despite trusting their foremen, this system relied solely on memory making it prone to mistakes and inaccuracy. Clinton also lacked real-time visibility into absenteeism unsure who was on the jobsite and when.
The pain extended into payroll. Foremen often submitted hours, but cost codes were either missing or incorrect, creating a massive bottleneck.
"Every Wednesday, there would be a two-page list of corrections. Foremen are busy; they are trying to manage crews and they make mistakes."
To fix this, they required two full-time staff members working the entire day chasing down corrections and reconciling hours. Clinton needed a solution that was verifiable, automated, and built for construction.
THE SOLUTION
Timekeeping Solutions Built for the Jobsite
Clinton implemented SmartBarrel across multiple projects with minimal learning curve for his crews.
"It doesn’t get easier than typing your phone number and taking a picture."
SmartBarrel shifted timekeeping accountability from the foremen to the workers. By checking in and out, workers generate 100% accurate time logs that appear in a foreman’s dashboard in real time. This means foremen stop the error-prone practice of entering hours at the end of the week and start verifying accurate hours daily. Cost codes are now assigned daily as well, rather than in a last-minute rush.
Project Managers spend minutes providing a final layer of approval in Smartbarrel before the hours hit payroll. With accurate time from the field, payroll processing is now 40% faster eliminating the weekly scramble. Instead of two full time staff heads down on just processing payroll, they are far less stressed and able to work on other things every Wednesday.
Field workers are reaping the benefits too. Immediately after each punch, they receive a time-stamped text message confirming their hours, giving them a level of visibility they never had before. With accurate time in SmartBarrel, they’ve eliminated payroll reruns all together.
Reflecting on the partnership, Clinton appreciates how SmartBarrel was built for construction saying:
"If you're not specific to construction, it’s generally not that helpful. You guys have almost thought of everything."
THE RESULTS
40% Faster Payroll & Zero Reruns
By removing the “two-page correction list” from the weekly routine, Southwest Plumbing transformed their back-office efficiency and field accountability.
- 40% Faster Payroll: The time required to process weekly payroll was nearly cut in half.
- Administrative Savings: Eliminated several admin hours per week previously spent chasing manual corrections.
- Eliminated Reruns: Accurate data at the source means zero payroll errors and no more dreaded check reruns for workers.
- Real-Time Cost Coding: Daily verification ensures project labor costs are captured accurately, providing better visibility into project health.
The SmartBarrel Advantage for Plumbing Contractors
For Southwest Plumbing, the advantage is built on three pillars:
- Absenteeism Made Easy: By setting up crews before a job begins, Clinton’s team can manage absenteeism proactively. PMs are notified the moment a shift starts if a job is missing workers, allowing for immediate adjustments.
- Total Timesheet Accuracy: Every punch uses facial verification and real-time data. PMs never have to second-guess the hours they are approving and can confidently push that data to payroll without the “two-page correction list.”
- Built to Scale: With the administrative chaos removed, Southwest Plumbing can grow the number of projects it takes on without increasing overhead or requiring extra job site travel. Project Managers leverage the dashboard to oversee multiple projects at once.
