Payroll nightmares are real. Halloween might come once a year, but for many contractors, payroll horror stories show up every week.
You know the ones:
It’s enough to make even the toughest superintendent
Temporary and contingent labor is a common practice in the completion of many construction projects and has become increasingly popular in recent years. Contractors often rely on 1099 workers to complete larger projects and stay on schedule.
However, tracking time for these workers is a hassle. Most time tracking systems
Do you think your reported hours would pass a spot check, where labor auditors compare payroll records against who was actually on site?
In fiscal year 2024, construction firms were required to repay more than $32 million after federal inspectors identified significant record-keeping gaps.
That money vanished because hours on
Most contractors think construction efficiency comes down to better planning or stronger crews. But there’s one thing quietly killing your schedule, budget, and productivity. And it’s happening every single day.
Bad time tracking.
When hours are wrong, everything falls apart. You can’t cost a job accurately, manage crews effectively, or
Punch lists are supposed to wrap a project up, not drag it out. Too often they end up stacked with notes about unfinished electrical, unprotected finishes, or missing materials.
The issue isn’t effort. It’s when quality checks are left too late instead of being built in from day one.
For
Profit is won or lost in the estimate.
Miss it, and labor, materials, and schedules all collapse under the weight of bad numbers.
Research shows that “nine out of ten construction projects exceed their budget by an average of 28%.”
The problem isn’t just math. It’s relying on memory,
Keeping cash flow steady is one of the toughest parts of any construction project. That’s where a construction draw schedule comes in. A well-built draw schedule sets clear payment milestones, keeps subcontractors moving, and helps avoid disputes with owners or lenders. But when payment requests depend on paper timesheets or
Coordinating labor hours across multiple jobsites is one of the biggest challenges in construction.
When labor hours are collected in different formats, such as paper logs, Excel sheets, and text messages, the data quickly becomes fragmented.
Manual processes can’t keep up with today’s pace or scale. Whether it’s buddy punching,
A time and material (T&M) ticket is a document used by contractors to track and bill for the work they perform. It shows the total hours worked by a contractor and the total cost of materials used to complete the job.
Many construction
When communication breaks down in the field, it shows up fast in delays, rework, and unexpected costs. According to the Construction Industry Institute, rework alone can cost between 2% and 20% of the total construction project value. This is often triggered by miscommunication, poor documentation, or unclear approvals.
Even a
