Job costing is a project-based accounting tool that helps you determine the cost and profitability of a particular project. Using the job costing method, you review each project’s labor cost, overheads, and materials. It helps you track each cost in detail.
The insights from this accounting method will help you see which projects, clients, employees, and services have a better bottom line. From there, you can review current operations and identify areas of improvement.
Out of the three project costs, labor is the most uncertain. How do you spend the right amount of money on labor on a project? Time tracking will ensure that you can analyze and manage the cost of labor for each project accurately.
In this post, we look at how automating time tracking makes it easier to crunch the labor cost.
Importance of using time tracking software
Automating time tracking has a myriad of benefits for your project. Here are some of the major benefits.
Keep your employees on track and productive.
Tracking the time employees take to complete a task will keep them on their toes. It will challenge employees to do better each time. They can also own their tasks and create schedules to ensure they save time. You can maximize on your employees.
In addition, you can tell who in the team is lagging and rectify that at a good time.
Streamline the billing process and develop better client relationships
Accurate labor quotes will create trust in your clients. Using time tracking software, you can send your exact client numbers on how much it will cost to complete a project.
The data from the time tracking software gives you detailed insights into time spent on each project. That will make it easy to bill the client on time and accurately.
Prioritize high priority projects
With time tracking software, you can allocate and schedule projects accurately. The team can see the expected timeline to complete a project. Time tracking software lets your team see which tasks are high priority and the time it takes to finish each project. It creates accountability.
Improve project schedules
A time tracking application will help you look at projects critically and improve time frames. Data from time tracking software will help you improve and work with more realistic schedules.
The convenience of tracking time across different devices
If you have teams working across the world, you can still maintain time tracking for your teams. Cloud software solutions help you track time spent on a project, whether the team is onsite or offsite.
It gives you visibility of different projects.
With accurate data on different projects, you can compare various projects and see where to improve. You get to see which project is labor-intensive and what you can do to improve profitability.
How Automating Time Keeping makes job costs easier
Labor is considered the most significant risk to project profitability. Time tracking will ensure that labor costs are accurate and you can maximize profits. In this section, we review how automating time tracking makes it easier to get the cost of a job.
Scheduling and costing of projects in advance
With the time-keeping software, you can schedule projects and share them with employees. In addition, you get the labor cost in advance, and you can calculate the profitability of a project. You will be able to see the profitability of a project well in advance.
Get the cost of labor for a particular project accurately
Time tracking software will give you details on the time it takes to complete a specific project. You can accurately provide the labor quote for each project. It makes it easier to calculate the cost of completing a project.
Timely data
Manual timesheets take time to compile, and there is a risk of missing some information. Automating time tracking will give you accurate data when you need it.
Must-Have Features of good time tracking software
Time tracking software helps you analyze the time spent on a project, cost, and profits. Invest in tracking software that suits the needs of the company. Here are features to look out for in tracking software.
Analysis and reports
Time-keeping software should provide an analysis of each employee and the time they spend on completing a project. It gives you visibility of effective employees.
Scheduling capabilities
A schedule application will make it possible to schedule and allocate each employee’s tasks they can perform. The software should also alert you if you have not allocated enough labor for a project.
Cloud-based software
A good time-keeping software should allow you to punch the data at any time and anywhere. Cloud-based systems enable recording time whether employees are onsite or offsite.
User management capabilities
The time tracking should be able to segregate employees based on projects Time departments. This will also help generate reports by groups.
Capability to integrate with third-party applications
Integrating the time tracking software with other applications such as payroll will make project management more effortless. Look for tracking software that easily integrates with other third-party software.
Time tracking will help you calculate the cost of a project accurately and analyze the time spent on a project. Evaluate your business and invest in the right time tracking software for your business.
If you are looking for an efficient cloud-based time tracking software, contact us. Our time tracking and scheduling software will ensure that you accurately get the cost of your projects, save time and manage your teams effectively.