Time tracking
Make travel and preparation time visible without distorting job costs
A job uses more than the hours spent on a wall or installation. Loading the van, collecting materials and driving between customers also use capacity. If these periods stay invisible, the next schedule starts with an unrealistic assumption.
Separate recording from payment and billing
Allocating a journey for internal reporting does not decide whether it is payable working time or chargeable to a customer. Those questions depend on the applicable rules and agreements. First establish the information the office needs: start, destination, reason and related job. Keep the actual sequence understandable before deciding how each period will be treated.
Follow one working day
A team spends 30 minutes loading, drives 45 minutes to Müller and works there for four hours. It then travels to Brandt. A single entry reading “Müller, six hours” mixes different causes. Separate periods show whether the day was shaped by distance, missing materials or the work itself. This is more useful for the next similar job than one combined number.
Use only the detail you need
Begin with a few categories such as travel, preparation and execution. A complex list is easily misused on the move. At the weekly review, discuss repeated material trips: was something missing from the packing list, or did the job change? Improve stock and preparation accordingly. Recording should reveal avoidable journeys, not invent a new label for every minute afterwards.
Your business checklist
- Record actual journeys and their purpose promptly.
- Clarify allocation, staff payment and customer billing separately.
- Use a few understandable activity types.
- Investigate the cause of repeated material trips.