How to Track Time and Boost Labor Efficiency in Your Trade Business
Labor is 40–60% of your costs. If you're not tracking it accurately, you're flying blind — and probably losing money on jobs you think are profitable.
Here's a question that separates growing trade businesses from stagnant ones: Do you know — to the hour — how much labor each job type actually takes?
Most contractors estimate based on gut feel. They've done hundreds of water heater installs, so they "know" it takes about 3 hours. Except it doesn't. Their best tech does it in 2.5 hours. Their newest tech takes 4.5. And nobody tracks the drive time, the parts run, or the time spent explaining the warranty to the customer.
The result? Jobs priced for 3 hours that actually take 5 — and profit margins that exist only on paper.
Let's fix that. Here's how to build a time tracking system that actually works in the field.
Why Time Tracking Fails (And How to Make It Stick)
You've probably tried time tracking before. Bought the app, rolled it out, watched adoption crater within two weeks. Here's why:
- ✗Too many taps. If it takes 30 seconds to clock in, techs won't do it. The threshold is about 5 seconds.
- ✗Feels like surveillance. "You're tracking me?" kills morale. Frame it as job costing, not policing.
- ✗No visible benefit to the tech. If tracking doesn't help them, they won't do it. Period.
The fix is simple: tie time tracking to job status updates they're already doing. When they mark "arrived on site," the clock starts. When they mark "job complete," the clock stops. No extra steps.
The Four Times You Should Track (And Why)
Not all time is equal. Here's what matters:
1. Travel Time
From the previous job (or shop) to this job. This tells you if your routing is efficient and helps you price jobs in far-flung areas correctly.
2. On-Site Work Time
Arrival to departure. This is your core labor cost. Break it down further if you can: diagnosis, work, cleanup, customer walkthrough.
3. Parts Run Time
Time spent fetching parts mid-job. This should be close to zero if your van is stocked right. High parts run time = inventory problem.
4. Admin Time
Paperwork, photo uploads, customer calls. This is the hidden time sink nobody budgets for.
Turning Time Data Into Profit
Tracking time is pointless if you don't use the data. Here's how to turn numbers into money:
Calculate your true labor cost per hour.
Wages + benefits + truck costs + insurance, divided by billable hours. For most contractors, this is $45–85/hour — way higher than the hourly wage.
Compare estimated vs. actual hours by job type.
After 20–30 jobs of each type, you'll see patterns. If water heater installs average 4.2 hours but you're quoting 3, you're losing money on every one.
Identify your most (and least) profitable jobs.
Some job types eat hours. Others are money-makers. The data tells you which to market and which to raise prices on.
Spot training opportunities.
If one tech takes twice as long on panel upgrades, that's a training need — not a character flaw. Data makes the conversation objective.
Getting Your Team on Board
The "surveillance" objection is real. Here's the pitch that works:
Then back it up with action:
- ✓Share the aggregate data with the team monthly — no individual call-outs
- ✓Use efficiency gains to improve pay or reduce overtime pressure
- ✓Celebrate wins: "Panel upgrades are now 15% faster — that's an extra job per week"
- ✓Never use time data for discipline (unless there's fraud)
Key Metrics to Watch Weekly
Once you're tracking, here are the numbers that matter:
Billable efficiency = (time on billable work) / (total paid hours). If it's below 60%, you're losing money to windshield time, callbacks, or admin bloat.
The Payoff: What Good Time Tracking Looks Like
After 90 days of consistent tracking, contractors typically see:
- →15–25% improvement in quote accuracy
- →10–20% reduction in unprofitable jobs (by re-pricing or declining them)
- →Clearer picture of which techs need support and which are crushing it
- →Data to justify price increases to customers ("Here's exactly what goes into this job")
- →Reduced overtime from better job allocation
The Bottom Line
You can't improve what you don't measure. Time tracking isn't about catching slackers — it's about understanding your business well enough to price correctly, schedule smarter, and actually make money on the jobs you're already doing.
Start simple. Track arrival and departure on every job for 30 days. Look at the data. Then decide if you want to go deeper. Most contractors who see their real numbers never go back to guessing.
Built-In Time Tracking That Doesn't Annoy Your Techs
JobWright tracks time automatically when your team updates job status — no extra taps, no pushback. See real labor costs by job type, tech, and customer.
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