Table of Contents
Introduction
It’s Tuesday morning, and your field service crew is gearing up for a packed day of client meetings across town. As they hustle out the door, tracking their time is the last thing on their minds. By week’s end, you find yourself sorting through scribbled notes and calendar appointments, trying to reconstruct billable hours. There has to be a better way!
Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
According to surveys, over 60% of field service organizations experience payroll delays and billing inaccuracies due to time-tracking challenges.
But what if your team could automatically clock their hours on site and seamlessly track time to projects with just a few taps on their phones?
The future of simple, streamlined field work is here.
Introducing Workstatus’s continuous clocking capability.
Your team can eliminate the daily time-tracking grind with automated location-based clocking, switchable projects, and in-app timesheets. Just imagine – accurate, verifiable timesheets delivered directly to your fingertips, no math required.
From intake to invoice, join us as we walk through getting your crew up and running with Workstatus’s revolutionary mobile solution.
Join us as we explore how Workstatus can solve your team’s time-tracking woes and free you up to deliver quality work efficiently.
Summary
Tracking time is a constant headache for field service teams moving from job to job. Workstatus’s continuous clocking capability provides the simple, automated solution you’ve been looking for.
In this blog, we will cover:
- Getting Started With Workstatus’s Mobile App
- Auto Clock-In Based On Location
- Reviewing Timesheets And Approving Time
- Managing Team Timesheets And Schedules
- Maximizing The Benefits Of Continuous Clocking
With continuous clocking, automate the time tracking & attendance process and keep accurate records of each employee for invoicing, payroll, and conflict-resolving purposes.
Getting Set Up
Getting set up with Workstatus is fast and easy. Your team can start seamless time tracking with the app, employee profiles, and projects configured.
It only takes a few minutes to get up and running, but the setup is critical to access key features like location-based clocking, timesheet approvals, and reporting.
Let’s get started:
1. Downloading the Workstatus Mobile App
The first step is to download the Workstatus app on each employee’s smartphone or tablet.
The app is available for both iOS and Android.
Employees can search “Workstatus” in their app store, download the app, and log in using their work credentials.
The login and onboarding process is quick and intuitive.
2. Configuring User Profiles
Once logged in, employees will be prompted to configure their user profiles in the app.
It includes entering their role, contact details, location permissions, billing rate, and settings.
Configuring profiles properly ensures activities are tracked for the right employees, and location-based features work accurately.
3. Setting Up Projects
Managers must set up projects in Workstatus’s web portal that field employees can log time against.
It includes creating a hierarchy of client accounts, projects, and sub-tasks if needed.
Resources like employees and their rates can also be assigned to each project. This setup provides the framework for tracking time.
With the mobile app, user profiles, and projects configured, field employees are ready to start leveraging Workstatus’s continuous clocking and eliminate their time-tracking headaches!
The simple setup enables accurate and automated tracking.
Starting The Clock
With Workstatus, starting the clock to track time is easy and flexible for field teams. No more forgetting to start timers or losing track between sites!
Auto clocking makes time tracking simple and hands-free, so field employees can focus on the work.
1. On-Demand Clock In/Out
With the Workstatus mobile app, employees can manually clock in and out for each client site or project using simple tap buttons.
On-demand time tracking lets field staff start and stop the timer as needed when shifting between locations and tasks.
Employees simply tap the “Clock In” button on the app dashboard to clock in and select the appropriate project or task to track time against. The timer will begin tracking time.
Tapping “Clock Out” stops the timer when work is complete.
2. Auto Clock-In Based on Location
In addition to manual tracking, Workstatus offers automated clock-in/out based on location.
Using GPS and geofencing, the app detects when an employee arrives at or leaves a client site and clocks time accordingly.
Employees can set up frequently visited client sites for location-based auto-clocking. When they reach the defined geofence perimeter, the app will clock them in to start tracking time at that client site.
No manual interaction is required.
Combining on-demand and automated clocking allows field teams to easily track time as they move between projects out in the field.
Tracking Throughout The Day
Workstatus makes time tracking seamless throughout the day with simple project switching, note-taking, and expense capture in the mobile app.
Employees can clock in once and record work details, expenses, and shift projects without losing time data.
Tracking time becomes effortless.
1. Switching Projects
With the mobile app, switching between projects and tasks is seamless.
Employees simply select the appropriate project from the list when they start work on a new job.
The app stops time for the previous project and starts a new timer for the newly selected one.
No data entry is needed to account for time between projects.
2. Adding Notes
Employees can add notes to their time entries in the app to provide additional context.
For example, they can include specifics on work completed, parts installed, issues encountered, or any other relevant notes.
Managers get insight into what was accomplished.
3. Capturing Expenses
Any job-related expenses can be captured using the mobile app’s camera and documented by the project. Meals, materials, and more can be tracked.
Expenses are automatically combined with the weekly timesheets for faster reimbursements.
With project switching, notes, and expense capture, field teams have simple in-the-moment tools to document important details while clocked in. Time tracking is seamlessly integrated with other needs out in the field.
Ending The Day
Workstatus streamlines closing out time tracking each day. Auto clock-out, bulk adjustments, and manager approvals ensure complete, accurate timesheets.
Employees finish the day with all hours accounted for, and the timesheet review is simple on the backend.
1. Auto Clock Out
Based on GPS location tracking, the Workstatus app can automatically clock employees out when they leave a client site.
It ensures no time is missed when transitioning from one job to another.
2. Adjusting Times
Employees can manually adjust their times for the day in the mobile app before submitting the timesheet.
Bulk adjustments can also be made to fix clock-in/out errors.
3. Approving Timesheet
Once an employee submits their daily timesheet, it routes to managers for review and approval through the web portal.
Managers can view all submitted timesheets and approve or request adjustments if needed.
With automated clock out, easy adjustments, and manager review, field teams can ensure complete and accurate time data is captured each day before submitting to payroll and billing. Time tracking ends cleanly so they can start fresh the next day.
Reviewing Data And Reports
Here is how automated reports by Workstatus can help managers and employees:
For Employees
1. Daily/Weekly Timesheets
The mobile app lets Employees view and access their submitted daily timesheets and weekly/monthly summaries.
It allows them to monitor their hours worked and time allocated to each project or client.
2. Productivity Metrics
The app provides productivity metrics to employees based on their time data.
It includes statistics on billable time vs administrative time, overtime, timely task completion, and more.
3. Tracking Billable Hours
For field services teams, the ability to track billable time versus non-billable internal tasks is essential.
Employees can easily track billable hours by client/project in the app and view progress towards billable targets.
With access to historical timesheets, productivity metrics, and billable hour tracking, employees can take ownership of their time data and continuously improve their efficiency.
For Managers
1. Team timesheet overview
This allows managers to view and track the hours logged by each team member.
It shows who is working on what projects, and how much time they spend, and ensures accurate billing and payroll.
Managers can use it to ensure team members log their time properly and identify any issues.
2. Project tracking
This involves monitoring projects’ progress and status to ensure they are on time and on budget.
Managers track project schedules, milestones, resource allocation, budgets, risks, issues, etc.
It shows how projects are progressing and where changes may be needed.
3. Scheduling optimization
This organizes tasks, resources, and time to maximize efficiency and productivity.
Managers can use tools and techniques to assign resources appropriately, sequence tasks logically, set reasonable timeframes, and balance workloads.
The goal is to complete work on time and avoid conflicts, overload, or delays.
Factors like capacity, dependencies, and priorities are considered.
Case Studies And Success Stories
Workstatus has 4.7 out of 5 stars on G2 (a popular software review site).
Here’s what our customers have to say about our clocking software tool:
I used the software to view and approve timesheets from his team. It allowed me to monitor project hours and ensure accurate billing.
John Smith, Project Manager
Workstatus enabled me to pull timesheet data for payroll. I can easily process payroll each week knowing that the hours logged in the system are accurate.
Jane Doe, HR
I accessed reporting in the software to get a high-level view of employee time logged across the company. I used this to identify resource needs and bottlenecks.
Mark Williams, CEO
You can check Workstatus’s G2 reviews here.
Best Practices For Adoption
Here are some major practices for adopting a clocking app for field employees:
- Explain the benefits: Ensure employees understand how the software makes their work easier, saves time, improves accuracy, etc. Focus on how it helps them personally.
- Involve teams early: Get key users and influencers involved during tool selection and setup. Early buy-in helps drive adoption.
- Make participation mandatory: Require all employees to use the system to log hours, request time off, etc. This encourages adoption.
- Offer training: Provide on-demand resources like videos and live training sessions to teach employees how to use the software.
- Start small: Initially target a pilot group or single team. Once they adopt, expand to other areas.
- Highlight wins: Share success stories and metrics showing the value achieved. This builds enthusiasm.
- Get leadership onboard: Ensure managers and executives vocally support and participate in the new tool. Leading by example is crucial.
Maximizing The Benefits Of Continuous Clocking
To get the most benefit from continuous clocking software, set expectations upfront about regular clocking but allow some flexibility.
Choose tools that make clocking seamless through browser extensions, mobile apps, and offline access.
Track time to specific activities, not just workdays.
Provide real-time visibility into tracked time so employees feel ownership.
Use automatic reminders and incentives to reinforce the habit. Analyze patterns to address issues.
Highlight benefits like recouped revenue and productivity gains unlocked by accurate time tracking. With the right approach, continuous clocking can be adopted successfully.
Closing Thoughts
Workstatus’s continuous mobile clocking streamlines time tracking for field teams.
By automating clocking through their user-friendly app, field employees can clock hours without costly disruptions.
Real-time syncing gives managers visibility into productivity.
Features like location tracking and geo-fencing verify work activity for confidence.
Custom reporting provides insights to improve planning and scheduling.
For any business with a dispersed field workforce, Workstatus delivers accurate, automated time tracking for the future of work.
