The 7 Best Construction Job Costing Software Solutions for 2024
Looking for construction job costing software for your business? We’ve reviewed 7 of the best apps on the market to help you choose!
For construction managers and contractors, job costing challenges are an all too familiar battle. Accurately tracking and managing the costs associated with construction projects is crucial for maintaining profitability and ensuring projects stay within budget. From meticulously monitoring labor hours and wages to precisely calculating material expenses, equipment costs, and overhead, the task of estimating project costs can seem like an impossible juggling act for many construction firms.
Effective job costing is essential for construction businesses to remain competitive and maximize their profits. It provides valuable insights into where money is being spent, allowing managers to identify areas for cost savings and make data-driven decisions to improve project outcomes. However, manually tracking and analyzing all of these cost components can be extremely time-consuming and prone to errors, especially for larger and more complex projects.
That’s why we compiled a list of the best construction job costing software to help you find the right solution for your business needs.
In this article, we’ll look at seven of the best job costing software for your construction business and what users have to say about them. We’ll examine the key features of each one and score them based on their offerings and performance. Let’s take a look at the list.
Top Picks
Below, you’ll find a summary of each app we’ve reviewed, with our scores, each app’s ideal use cases, its pricing, the availability of any free trials or free tiers, and the platforms on which the app is available. Each app has been thoroughly investigated and analyzed for users like you, with pros and cons, key features, integrations, and real user reviews.
Let’s take a look…
9.5 
14-day free trial, (no card needed)
8.1 
No trial available.
8.1
Clients can request a demo
8.0
No trial available.
7.7
No trial available.
7.5
No trial available.
7.1
30-day free trial
EDITOR’S NOTE: We created Workyard – the first app reviewed here – to address issues we encountered while struggling to track and manage construction payrolls for over 700 workers in over 50 construction businesses. We built the Workyard app from the ground up to support construction companies like yours, with industry-essential features like the industry’s most accurate time clock app with GPS and geofencing, intuitive contractor scheduling, construction cost tracking tools, and more.
Learn more about how Workyard works on our main website, or sign up for a 14-day free trial today to see what Workyard can do for your business.
Workyard
Scoring
Key Features
-
Job costing for all types of jobs
-
Best-in-class GPS time clock
-
Scheduling for individual workers and teams
-
Job-tracking with real-time data
-
Labor compliance in-app functionality
-
Reporting with analysis and insights
-
Integration with key systems and workflow in minutes
Accurate labor cost capture and calculation
Great mobile experience
Good reporting customization
Field workers need onboarding to understand app GPS tracking
Record adjustment could be made easier for users
Minor app bugs
Job Costing
With Workyard’s construction cost tracking software, you can easily see project labor costs at a glance.
Let’s say an employee works on a renovation project in the morning and is assigned to a demolition team in the afternoon. The employee logs his work hours for each task and submits his time card to you at the end of the day.
Workyard receives each log and time card submission, automatically calculating job costs for each task. The platform also calculates pay with cost codes. Workyard does this for every employee on your team and updates your dashboard in real time.
This gives you a granular view of job costs per employee, task, and project. It allows you to access job cost data faster and better estimate project budgets in the future.
Use Workyard’s construction job costing software to group and filter job costs by:
- Employee
- Project type
- Duration of project
- Cost code
- Date
You can use Workyard to generate job cost reports by time period, project, employee, cost code, and more.
Workyard also automatically feeds billable hours into your invoicing system for faster processing.
See why 50,000+ workers and over 10,000 contractors use Workyard (and why construction managers and leaders like you have rated us 4.9 of 5 stars on Capterra). Explore Workyard and start a 14-day free trial today to see how we can speed up your construction and workforce management.
Best-in-Class GPS Time Clock
Workyard’s time clock tracks employees across multiple project sites using live phone-based GPS tracking and personalized geofencing. The app tracks clock-ins, clock-outs, breaks, and locations for every employee.
Workyard also automates clock-in and clock-out for every employee using appropriate geofencing settings, minimizing the need for employees to tap their phones to signal arrival (or exit) on the job. The app also puts every team member on a map you can view anytime.
Workyard makes sure you have accurate reimbursements for vehicle trips by calculating mileage and journeys via GPS.
With its precise GPS tracking, Workyard makes sure every working minute is accounted for and that your company pays only for actual worked hours.
Scheduling
Workyard makes it easy to assign team members to projects and tasks with its visual calendar dashboard.
With Workyard’s construction scheduling software, you can:
- Schedule multiple jobs for any worker (or several workers to the same job)
- Assign job duration from start to completion
- Add to-do checklists to each job
- Track scheduled jobs by status
- See schedules by week, month, or task
- Organize schedules by job type, deadline, date, and others
- Repeat scheduled projects or tasks
Workyard’s mobile app syncs employees’ schedules in real time so everyone stays on the same page.
Job Tracking
Use Workyard’s job-tracking software to monitor job costs, resources, time, and profitability on every project.
With Workyard, you can easily:
- Capture job progress with the mobile app
- Increase transparency around project activity
- Speed up business processes
- Improve billing and job estimates with labor costs
You can also use Workyard to manage cost codes for each job. Simply click a button to add or import cost codes and let Workyard crunch the numbers for you.
The platform captures and consolidates project data so you have the information you need to track expenses:
Labor time and costs. Every timecard submission includes hours worked per job and/or cost codes.
Site visits. Every employee clock-in and clock-out is automatically captured.
Worksite vehicle trips. Relevant driving trips to each job site are tracked and recorded.
Project updates. Every worker assigned to a job can share progress updates with notes and photos.
Receipts. Team members have the autonomy to record receipts and attach them to the relevant job.
Labor Compliance
Workyard has built-in labor guidelines for managing compliance. The platform creates automatic audit trails to document time records for every employee in your team.
Workyard is FLSA-compliant and stores records in an online, searchable repository.
In most cases, there’s no need to research state and city labor laws. Use Workyard to set rules for mandatory breaks and overtime by state and stay compliant with labor regulations.
Reporting
Workyard comes with customizable reports and dashboards to give you insights for better business and workforce management.
Generate and customize the following reports in minutes:
- Time cards (detail, summary)
- Time card notes
- Time off summary
- Pay period time
- Project and cost code time (detail, summary)
Workyard allows you to create the following reports:
Task report. Filter and group entries by time, cost code, and project code
Project report. Create project reports on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis
Progress report. Export current project notes in PDF and CSV format, including image attachments
Employee time report. Create reports on teams’ worked hours, labor costs, and activity on job sites
Workyard places key metrics and data at your fingertips to help you gain insight into project labor costs and understand how employees spend their time.
Integrations
Workyard’s integration list includes CRM, accounting, and leading payroll systems:
- QuickBooks Desktop
- QuickBooks Online
- ADP Run
- ADP Workforce Now
- Foundation Software
- Sage 100 Contractor
- Sage 300 CRE
- Sage 50
- ComputerEase
- Gusto
- Oracle NetSuite
- Paychex
- Paycor
- Paylocity
- Rippling
You can quickly import employee and project data to other systems to streamline billing, invoicing, and job cost reporting.
Workyard also exports data to CSV for use in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Need more flexibility? The company offers a Developer API, which allows you to connect to more systems not already on the list.
Reviews
Workyard users love the app’s job costing and labor cost reporting. They also love how the app lightened their management workload, though some mention minor app bugs.
iOS user mmg2010sf says his crew has no complaints about Workyard:
iOS user mmg2010sf says:
App really saves me time ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I wasn’t going to write a review but after not hearing any complaints from my crew I took that as a pretty big sign that this is a good product. The last app we used caused me so much frustration I eventually deleted it. …I was able to get everyone set up and using Workyard within a day and we’re now about to pass the time card data into our payroll system. Let’s just say I’m getting to bed earlier.
The big surprise with Workyard is all the reporting it’s capable of. I’m getting reports now showing me how much our work time is costing us on each job. I even added cost codes for specific tasks and the app creates reports off of that. Really glad we found it and looking forward to seeing what’s next.
Android user Andrew Webb loved the labor cost reporting:
Android user Andrew Webb says:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great for keeping track of employee hours. Even better than that I can get reports on the labor costs for each of my projects without any extra effort!
Workyard user Srdjan B. says he loves seeing where team members are working. However, he mentions minor app bugs:
Capterra reviewer Srdjan B. says:
Excellent construction time card tracker ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: Very pleased. Tracks what project employees worked on with ease and is easy to reference back and see on what project they have been
Pros: Ability to see where employees are while working
Cons: Not all phones work as good due to phone’s limitations. Minor bugs
Pricing
Free Trial?
14-day trial with no credit card required
Time Tracking
Annual: $6 / mo. per user + $50 base fee
Monthly: $8 / mo. per user + $50 base fee
Workforce Management
Annual: $13 / mo. per user + $50 base fee
Monthly: $16 / mo. per user + $50 base fee
Catch budget overruns as they happen with Workyard
See How it Works
Buildertrend
Scoring
Key Features
-
Accurate job costing
-
Easy-to-use takeoff solution
-
Automated proposals
-
User-friendly estimating templates
-
Stored details in cost database
-
Budgeting with real-time expense tracking
Reliable (minimal downtime)
Customer support
Pre-built estimating templates reduce error and ensure consistency
Issues with QuickBooks integration
Frequent updates can overwhelm busy users
Not easy to set up
Highlights
Buildertrend’s construction job costing software and estimating solution help home builders, contractors, and remodelers predict realistic project costs and labor hours. The software quantifies materials and measurements directly from project plans.
Buildertrend offers automated proposals and easy-to-use estimating templates to reduce errors. It centralizes storage of estimates in a cost database for easier access.
The platform breaks down project costs in comprehensive detail and tracks expenses in real-time so project owners can adjust resources.
Reviews
Buildertrend users were happy with most of the app’s features, but some complained about the price tag and the cost-reporting function.
iOS user Hartman H says Buildertrend’s ‘all-in-one’ solution is a bold claim:
iOS user Hartman H says:
Looking to go a different direction (for a while) ⭐⭐
I’ve had this software for 15 months. I am an owner operator with a 5 man crew in the field. If you do not have an office staff to constantly keep things orderly and up to date on the sales & pre construction side of the business you can forget it. Not flexible for viewing from the initial lead inquiry to the final invoice of a project. The app is difficult to use with all of the filters to click on or clear before viewing.
Also, $400+ a month is one of the more expensive softwares I’ve ever used or found. The iCal sync is lacking because you have to leave Buildertrend and manually add an alert. Text messaging with clients & within the company needs to be integrated without question. Clients can only approve 1 proposal and the rest automatically expire once approved. “All in one solution” is a bold claim.
Android user Charles Palo says the app gets a lot done but needs to be more user-friendly:
Android user Charles Palo says:
⭐⭐⭐
It’s a very basic builders app. Leaves a lot to be desired when compared to others such as AccuLynx and BuildPro. But at the end of the day, it gets a majority of the job done. Needs to be more streamlined and become more user friendly.
Buildertrend user Trevor A. says he’s happy with the customer service, but not with the project cost reporting:
Capterra reviewer Trevor A. says:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: Buildertrend has been great so far and we are happy we chose to use this product. Hopefully as some of these new fixes / integrations get worked out the tool will become even more useful for us!
Pros: Once set up, there are lots of functions within Buildertrend that save us time (and therefore money). We have found our quoting processes has gone from hours or even days down to under an hour. Having a dedicated support person help walk you through set up and questions was amazing and [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] (our guy) is incredibly knowledgable and if he doesn’t know the answer he finds it out for you.
Cons: The integration with our accounting software, Quickbooks (QB) needs some improvement. It doesn’t pass data through correctly nor does data created in QB pass back into Buildertrend very well. So unfortunately trying to get reporting on our true costs on projects still takes manual calculation. The other major drawback is there really isn’t a good automatic tax feature (in Canada) so we essentially have to add a line item for each of our taxes. So if we make changes to estimate values, we need to manually update the tax lines as well.
Pricing
Free Trial?
NO
Essential
Monthly: $ 499 / mo.
Annual: Must contact sales
Advanced
Monthly: $ 799.00 / mo.
Annual: Must contact sales
Complete
Monthly: $ 1,099.00 / mo.
Annual: Must contact sales
Procore
Scoring
Key Features
-
Budgeting with real-time field data
-
Time-phased cost forecasts
-
Project team collaboration with real-time project updates
-
Labor cost management
Project collaboration tools involve all stakeholders
Brand presence
Customer support
Expensive
Poor Android mobile experience
App issues take too long to resolve
Highlights
Procore’s construction project financial management software brings teams together to collaboratively manage budgets with real-time updates from the field.
The software tracks budgeting with each project progress report and syncs changes with accounting systems. The platform produces time-phased forecasts to enable decision-makers to act quickly and keep project budgets on track.
Teams and stakeholders can access real-time budgeting data and project changes as they happen.
Procore automatically updates budgets every time labor and production timesheets are submitted, so you can control labor costs in real time.
Reviews
Procore users were wowed by the company’s brand presence and sales talk, but some ran into major issues after signing up.
iOS user transparent contractor says he was impressed with the app’s marketing and sales but woke up to a harsh reality:
iOS user transparent contractor says:
Don’t do this ⭐
Procore seemed like a significant step up in project management software for our growing, high end residential construction business. Certainly the price tag would indicate that it must be quite wonderful. Additionally our salesperson put a great many things in writing to promise that they could deliver on our specific needs…
Sadly almost immediately upon writing the first oppressively expensive check the “white glove service” began to fall short of expectations.
Specifically:
– there implementation teams are extremely siloed. The project management team doesn’t know anything about the financial model and neither seem to be well versed in the ERP connection to QuickBooks
– when we began to realize that procore could not grant us the single point of entry budget and financial integration we bought it for we suffered months of dead ends and platitudes with no resolution.
– We finally did get to someone who knew all of the particulars of our simple requests and in 5 minutes he admitted that the salesman had mislead us.
– When we tried to get out of procore and get our money back we received crickets from our “account executive”…
Android user H T loves the iOS version but not the Android one:
Android user H T says:
⭐⭐
The app is not good when you are using Android, it is pretty cooperative with IOS.
Capterra Amy F. says:
Would Rather Not Have Been the Guinea Pig ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: We were previously integrated using Ryvit (now DataXchange) however, when we moved our projects under a different company in Vista and tried to resync/integrate, the process failed. We spent roughly 4 months trying to make our projects whole again.
…It is only after having this disrupt our entire company that we learned some of these very critical nuances that can cause integration to fail. They have since added additional tools following the lessons learned with our company, but it was not pleasant being the guinea pig for troubleshooting.Pros: We have a new Customer Success Manager who is far more engaged than previously. Fairly comprehensive
Cons: The integration process was a nightmare given the right individuals were not engaged in the conversation. Users do not know what they don’t know- we need our software partners to help us understand limitations. Not FedRamp certified Not the best platform for projects with numerous areas
Pricing
Free Trial?
No
Custom Quote
Must contact sales for pricing
Penta
Scoring
Key Features
-
Field job costing with timesheet and expense management
-
Job cost analytics and reporting with 100+ job cost data types
-
Project review with visual job cost information
-
Labor cost and productivity analytics
End-to-end solution for construction job costing
Customer support
Good integrations with accounting systems
Not user-friendly for non-tech personnel
UI needs to be updated
Poor mobile experience
Highlights
PENTA’s construction job costing software includes mobile solutions such as eTime construction timesheet software and eExpense expense management software. Together with PENTA’s mobile solutions, this suite of apps help you collect, process, and approve job cost data from the field.
The platform allows you to view job cost data visually through its ‘Role-Based Workbenches.’ It also offers a ‘Forecast Entry’ window where you can access job cost summaries such as cash position, labor cost, and margins.
Reviews
PENTA users are pretty happy with what the app gets right, but wish the platform was a little more flexible.
PENTA had no reviews on Google Play, and only a tiny handful of reviews on the iOS App Store. However, PENTA user Kimberly W. says the app does what it needs to do. However, she wishes it would be a little more user-friendly for non-tech personnel:
You get what you put into it! ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: Overall, PENTA does what we need it to do. It isn’t sleek and sexy like other software, but their support staff is always available if we have any concerns.
Pros: PENTA is a true ERP. The functionality of the software met our needs for project management, accounting, as well as payroll. Our IT department is able to create reports very easily based on what our needs are.Cons: I wish there was a more in depth HRIS system to utilize. It is important to know that what you put into the system is what you will get out so if you are not utilizing all aspects then you will be missing pertinent information to analyze. I also wish there was a way for the user to create their own reports outside of the workbench so I did not have to rely so heavily on our IT department.
Pricing
Free Trial?
No
None
Must contact sales for pricing
Vista
Scoring
Key Features
-
Job costing with reporting and drill-down inquiries
-
Service management with mobile construction work order tools
-
Equipment tracking with revenue rate and category assignments
-
Automated payroll processing
Job costing for assets/equipmen
Customizable
Scalability
Not easy to correct entry mistakes
Poor customer service
Difficult to implement custom setups
Highlights
Vista offers a construction accounting suite, which includes project management, estimating, and service management solutions, among others.
Vista’s job costing solution allows you to immediately view project cost details and items such as change orders, materials, labor, and equipment. It also lets you view project progress in either ‘units’ or ‘percent complete.’
The platform tracks equipment usage, maintenance, and repair costs to help you understand asset expenses. Vista also manages service agreements and simplifies customer billing.
The platform automates payroll processing within its accounting suite to help contractors comply with labor laws.
Reviews
Vista users were happy with its basic functions, but felt the app needed a major makeover.
iOS user amyadamski thought the app offered a good concept, but said its bugs need fixing:
iOS user amyadamski says:
Good concept ⭐⭐⭐
The concept of the app is great. It is easy to use and straight forward once you learn to use it. Problem is the performance, it’s spotty at best. We have been dealing with the glitches and performance problems for 2 years now and it’s to the point that our guys won’t use it anymore and they use the web browser. There is huge potential IF they could get those issues taken care of but until then, it’s just too frustrating for the guys to use.
Android user Mike Spano complains the app locks him out:
Android user Mike Spano says:
⭐
Won’t let me sign in
Vista user Justin L. says he likes the variety of features, but believes the app itself needs to be overhauled:
Capterra Justin L. says:
Antiquated and Bulky ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: I haven’t used vista for anything beyond time keeping and basic invoicing, but I feel like it needs an overhaul, but in terms of UI, but also functionality.
Pros: It has many features and groups them all together in one place
Cons: Filling out forms and records is an arduous task, the software balks at the user when fields are not filled out in the precise manner that it expects. Often after filling out an entire record, it is deleted because one field is incorrect or missing.
Pricing
Free Trial?
NO
None
Must contact sales for pricing
Trimble
Scoring
Key Features
-
Job costing with profit reporting
-
Materials, labor, and subcontractor tracking
-
Procurement and stock control
-
Templates for ‘small works’ jobs
-
Integration with leading payroll packages
Cost tracking for materials, labor, and subcontractor expenses
Customer service
Not user-friendly
No mobile apps
Program bugs stay unfixed
Expensive
Highlights
Trimble MEP’s job costing software is part of its Total Estimating+ suite, a cloud solution for account administration.
It offers job costing with performance tracking and profit reporting to help you realign projects according to budget. The platform also tracks materials, labor, and subcontractor costs as each job progresses. It helps you manage procurement for multiple projects to economize purchases.
Trimble provides templates and draft invoices for ‘small works’ jobs, saving time and effort. Trimble states that its platform integrates with leading payroll packages, though it did not specify which ones. Instead, it invites interested parties to request a demo for more information.
Reviews
Trimble MEP users say the platform’s features are comparable to its competitors, but some say the customer support needs to step up its game.
Trimble MEP had no reviews on either the App Store or Google Play. However, Trimble MEP user David S. says the platform was user-friendly, though he could use more customer support:
Capterra reviewer David S. says:
Procontractor MX Estimating and Earthwork. ⭐⭐⭐
Pros: The product is fairly easy to use and is comparable in features to most software on the market.
Cons: Customer support is none existent. In most case it is not worth your time to call because the response is not timely.
Pricing
Free Trial?
NO
None
Must contact sales for pricing
Crewcost
Scoring
Key Features
-
Job costing with automatic budgeting
-
Change order management
-
Work-in-progress (WIP) reporting
-
Integrated accounting processing
Automated job costing tasks
Offers early access
Designed to work out-of-the-box
Expensive
No mobile apps
No user reviews to gauge practical value
Highlights
Crewcost’s job costing software sets up job budgeting automatically and tracks actual versus estimated costs to help you keep an eye on profitability.
The platform manages change orders and committed costs to help keep margins healthy as a project progresses. It creates work-in-progress (WIP) reports at the job and company levels, offering drill-down inquiries into cost code and type.
Crewcost’s job costing software includes integrated accounting processing to eliminate double entries and errors.
Reviews
Sadly, Crewcost’s users have yet to share their opinion on the app.
Pricing
Free Trial?
30-day free trial
Builders’ Essentials
Starts at $399 / mo.
Based on annual revenue – must contact sales for pricing
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, construction job costing software’s value lies in its capability to accurately capture job costs, provide an overview of project expenses, and improve future estimates by providing historical project cost data.
Job costing software needs to be built around the construction business model and address core areas such as time-tracking, labor cost calculation, integration with accounting, and robust reporting.
Construction managers and field workers love the Workyard mobile experience. Our iOS and Android apps are designed around the needs of field service managers in the construction business. Our web platform also simplifies scheduling, project management, payroll, and more. Try Workyard free for 14 days and see how we can simplify your field service management and make your business more profitable!
Our Scoring System Explained
Our 8-part scoring system was created to help you understand the potential value of any software we review simply and fairly.
We created it after reviewing dozens of software products, which we covered in depth, but without providing a direct and simple way for readers to compare products on their merits – without spending a lot of time looking through our articles for the information they needed to make an informed decision.
Every app we review will include Customer Support and Company scores, which we’ll explain in more detail below. Many of the factors reviewed in this article will also be consistent across most (or all) of our software reviews, with some differences:
The 8 factors assessed and their contribution to a product’s overall score may differ slightly from product to product based on various factors, such as the use case we’re reviewing for, the type of business these products are tailored to, and other considerations. However, all reviews will feature an 8-part score, weighted and combined to calculate each product’s overall score.
How We Score Software
All factors in our reviews are scored on a 10-point scale – technically 11 points – from 0-10. However, we only give products a score of 0 if it does not include an essential feature at all, and we try to avoid giving out 0 scores if a product can demonstrate any functionality in line with the specific factor being reviewed.
In general, the 0-10 range translates as:
- 9.0 – 10 – One of the absolute best in its category (amazing).
- 7.5 – 8.9 – Very good, but with some minor issues (very good).
- 6.0 – 7.4 – Mediocre performance with notable shortcomings (average).
- 3.0 – 5.9 – This feature is not ready for prime time (borderline).
- 1.0 – 2.9 – This feature actually makes its product worse (unacceptable).
- 0 – The product doesn’t include this important feature at all.
How We Calculate Overall Scores
The 8 factors reviewed are weighted based on an overall total of 100%:
- Ease of Use: 20%
- Time Tracking Accuracy: 20%
- Scheduling Features: 15%
- Job Tracking: 15%
- Integrations: 10%
- Customer Support: 15%
- Company: 5%
Methodology for Each Factor
Ease of Use
We evaluate a product’s ease of use based on three main considerations:
- How easy is it to set up this app?
- How easy is it for managers to use the backend dashboard?
- How easy is it for frontline workers to use the (mobile) app?
These three considerations cover the main ways you and your team would use the software being reviewed – when you first obtain it, when someone (a manager, executive, team leader, or similar role) needs to use it to manage people, money, data, and other things, and when workers you’re tracking use the app (usually a mobile version of the software designed for frontline and/or field team members) to clock in, clock out, record time worked, or address other day-to-day needs.
Time Tracking Accuracy
Every minute matters when you’re trying to control payroll costs. This factor accounts for various features and common needs in time-tracking apps, such as…
- How accurate or precise is its GPS tracking capability?
- How accurate – and how customizable – is its geofencing feature?
- How accurate is its travel and mileage tracking (if available)?
- Can it automatically clock workers in and out based on the above?
- Can you set and/or restrict rules for clocking in and out?
- Can the app continue tracking workers while offline?
- How easy is its mobile app and/or kiosk for frontline workers?
Scheduling Features
Many construction businesses prefer to manage as many aspects of employee labor activity as possible in a single app, which is why many time-tracking apps also include worker scheduling as a core feature.
When we consider a product’s scheduling features, we look at:
- Its dashboard customizability (daily, weekly, or monthly views).
- Its project-based scheduling and visibility.
- Its real-time updates and notifications for workers.
- Its real-time map views of worker locations for best-fit scheduling.
- Its recurring schedule (copies to subsequent weeks, etc.) functionality.
Job Tracking
This factor helps you understand if the software can also provide insight into specific projects, which is particularly handy when your business deals with many customers or clients who generally need shorter-term work. Effective job tracking typically also includes accurate job costing functionality for construction companies.
We assess several things when calculating a product’s job tracking score:
- Its project-based tracking for multiple projects per day/week/etc.
- Its ability to track multiple / many projects simultaneously.
- Its use of (and your ability to customize) construction cost codes.
- Any built-in job costing views.
- Any integrations for cost coding (QuickBooks etc.)
Integrations
No business can operate on a single app, which is why integrations with other apps and tools are such important aspects of modern business software.
To calculate a product’s integration score, we’ll examine:
- How many native integrations (the simplest connection) does it offer?
- How effective and easy-to-use are its integrations with payroll software?
- Does it have robust data import and export features?
Customer Support
Learning how to use a new app can be frustrating, even if it’s meant to be the most user-friendly app around. That’s why great customer support is so essential when considering which time-tracking app to use.
Customer support scores are calculated based on:
- Live support channels available (phone, email, chat, etc.).
- Live support hours (business hours only, 24/7, etc.).
- The strength of the product’s online help center and/or FAQs.
- What other users say about support in online reviews.
Company
A great company with a highly customer-friendly approach can often make up for shortcomings in their software products – at least up to a point.
When assessing this score, we’ll examine:
- Transparency (easy-to-find pricing, etc.)
- Trial period (duration, feature availability, credit card requirements, etc.).
- Subscription flexibility (contracts, required durations, etc.).
- Ease of cancellation or pausing subscriptions.
- Customer perceptions (online product reviews).
- Website (a minor consideration, but great companies tend to have great websites).
Any questions about our scoring system? Have any suggestions on how we could make it even better? Click here to send us your feedback – we’d love to hear from you!
We created it after reviewing dozens of software products, which we covered in depth, but without providing a direct and simple way for readers to compare products on their merits – without spending a lot of time looking through our articles for the information they needed to make an informed decision.
Every app we review will include Customer Support and Company scores, which we’ll explain in more detail below. Many of the factors reviewed in this article will also be consistent across most (or all) of our software reviews, with some differences:
The 8 factors assessed and their contribution to a product’s overall score may differ slightly from product to product based on various factors, such as the use case we’re reviewing for, the type of business these products are tailored to, and other considerations. However, all reviews will feature an 8-part score, weighted and combined to calculate each product’s overall score.
How We Score Software
All factors in our reviews are scored on a 10-point scale – technically 11 points – from 0-10. However, we only give products a score of 0 if it does not include an essential feature at all, and we try to avoid giving out 0 scores if a product can demonstrate any functionality in line with the specific factor being reviewed.
In general, the 0-10 range translates as:
- 9.0 – 10 – One of the absolute best in its category (amazing).
- 7.5 – 8.9 – Very good, but with some minor issues (very good).
- 6.0 – 7.4 – Mediocre performance with notable shortcomings (average).
- 3.0 – 5.9 – This feature is not ready for prime time (borderline).
- 1.0 – 2.9 – This feature actually makes its product worse (unacceptable).
- 0 – The product doesn’t include this important feature at all.
How We Calculate Overall Scores
The 8 factors reviewed are weighted based on an overall total of 100%:
- Ease of Use: 20%
- Time Tracking Accuracy: 20%
- Scheduling Features: 15%
- Job Tracking: 15%
- Integrations: 10%
- Customer Support: 15%
- Company: 5%
Methodology for Each Factor
Ease of Use
We evaluate a product’s ease of use based on three main considerations:
- How easy is it to set up this app?
- How easy is it for managers to use the backend dashboard?
- How easy is it for frontline workers to use the (mobile) app?
These three considerations cover the main ways you and your team would use the software being reviewed – when you first obtain it, when someone (a manager, executive, team leader, or similar role) needs to use it to manage people, money, data, and other things, and when workers you’re tracking use the app (usually a mobile version of the software designed for frontline and/or field team members) to clock in, clock out, record time worked, or address other day-to-day needs.
Time Tracking Accuracy
Every minute matters when you’re trying to control payroll costs. This factor accounts for various features and common needs in time-tracking apps, such as…
- How accurate or precise is its GPS tracking capability?
- How accurate – and how customizable – is its geofencing feature?
- How accurate is its travel and mileage tracking (if available)?
- Can it automatically clock workers in and out based on the above?
- Can you set and/or restrict rules for clocking in and out?
- Can the app continue tracking workers while offline?
- How easy is its mobile app and/or kiosk for frontline workers?
Scheduling Features
Many construction businesses prefer to manage as many aspects of employee labor activity as possible in a single app, which is why many time-tracking apps also include worker scheduling as a core feature.
When we consider a product’s scheduling features, we look at:
- Its dashboard customizability (daily, weekly, or monthly views).
- Its project-based scheduling and visibility.
- Its real-time updates and notifications for workers.
- Its real-time map views of worker locations for best-fit scheduling.
- Its recurring schedule (copies to subsequent weeks, etc.) functionality.
Job Tracking
This factor helps you understand if the software can also provide insight into specific projects, which is particularly handy when your business deals with many customers or clients who generally need shorter-term work. Effective job tracking typically also includes accurate job costing functionality for construction companies.
We assess several things when calculating a product’s job tracking score:
- Its project-based tracking for multiple projects per day/week/etc.
- Its ability to track multiple / many projects simultaneously.
- Its use of (and your ability to customize) construction cost codes.
- Any built-in job costing views.
- Any integrations for cost coding (QuickBooks etc.)
Integrations
No business can operate on a single app, which is why integrations with other apps and tools are such important aspects of modern business software.
To calculate a product’s integration score, we’ll examine:
- How many native integrations (the simplest connection) does it offer?
- How effective and easy-to-use are its integrations with payroll software?
- Does it have robust data import and export features?
Customer Support
Learning how to use a new app can be frustrating, even if it’s meant to be the most user-friendly app around. That’s why great customer support is so essential when considering which time-tracking app to use.
Customer support scores are calculated based on:
- Live support channels available (phone, email, chat, etc.).
- Live support hours (business hours only, 24/7, etc.).
- The strength of the product’s online help center and/or FAQs.
- What other users say about support in online reviews.
Company
A great company with a highly customer-friendly approach can often make up for shortcomings in their software products – at least up to a point.
When assessing this score, we’ll examine:
- Transparency (easy-to-find pricing, etc.)
- Trial period (duration, feature availability, credit card requirements, etc.).
- Subscription flexibility (contracts, required durations, etc.).
- Ease of cancellation or pausing subscriptions.
- Customer perceptions (online product reviews).
- Website (a minor consideration, but great companies tend to have great websites).
Any questions about our scoring system? Have any suggestions on how we could make it even better? Click here to send us your feedback – we’d love to hear from you!
The best construction job costing software should make tracking labor and material expenses easy for project managers. Workyard expedites job costing tasks by accurately capturing job costs with each time card submission. The app automatically calculates project-level and employee-level labor costs with every field update so you can monitor project costs at a glance.
Workyard also enables you to create and customize reports by:
- Employee
- Project type
- Duration of project
- Cost code
- Date
Lastly, Workyard automatically feeds employees’ worked hours into your invoicing system to speed up accounting processes.
Here are other construction job costing software:
- ClockShark – A job costing tracking app built for construction and field service businesses. It allows real-time tracking of labor costs and expenses.
- eSUB – A mobile and cloud-based project management solution that helps subcontractors manage day-to-day operations and connect field workers with office managers.
- Procore – A comprehensive construction management platform that offers job costing features to track costs and maintain profitability.
When choosing the best job costing software, consider factors such as the size and complexity of your projects, your team’s requirements, budget, and the software’s features like digital time capture, expense tracking, reporting, and integration with payroll and accounting systems. Adopting the right job costing software can improve efficiency, profitability, and overall project management in the construction industry by providing accurate data, better resource allocation, and enhanced communication.
Construction job costing software helps construction companies increase profitability by reducing errors, tracking all labor and material costs, and improving future estimates. The best job costing software minimizes error by digitally capturing worked hours and automatically calculating labor costs without manual processing of time cards and timesheets.
The best solutions also track and visualize project costs in real time, providing an overview of expenses as jobs progress. Lastly, the best job costing software helps contractors estimate future projects more accurately by providing past projects’ estimates and actual costs.
Here are more reasons why it is important for construction companies to use job costing software:
- Accurate tracking of expenses: Job costing software allows construction companies to track all expenses related to a project, including labor, materials, equipment, and overhead costs. This provides a detailed and accurate view of the actual costs incurred.
- Budget management: Job costing software enables construction companies to set budgets for each project and track expenses against those budgets in real-time. This helps identify any cost overruns early on so corrective action can be taken.
- Improved profitability: By accurately tracking and managing costs, job costing software helps construction companies identify areas where they can reduce expenses and improve the profitability of each project.
- Better pricing and bidding: Historical job costing data allows construction companies to price future jobs more accurately and submit more competitive bids.
- Enhanced project management: Job costing software integrates with other construction management tools to provide a comprehensive view of project progress, enabling better decision-making.
- Streamlined accounting and reporting: Job costing software automates many accounting tasks and generates detailed reports, saving time and improving financial visibility.
In summary, job costing software is essential for construction companies to control costs, improve profitability, and make data-driven decisions that drive the success of their projects.
Key features of the best construction job costing software include:
- Accurate cost capture – The software should capture all costs associated with a job including hours worked, materials used, subcontractor expenses, travel costs, and others.
- Automatic calculations – The platform should automatically calculate costs as time cards come in to expedite accounting processes.
- Job costs visualization and overview – Ideally, the platform should visualize labor costs both in summary form and detailed breakdown to help project managers assess profitability at a glance.
- Integration with accounting – The best construction job costing software should seamlessly integrate with accounting systems to eliminate double entry and manual synchronization of data.
- Customizable reporting – The platform should allow flexibility and customization in reporting to provide the right information at the right moment. For example, if a project manager requires job costs by employee or project type, the ideal platform should be able to generate the right customized report in minutes.
Workyard connects seamlessly with leading payroll and accounting systems including QuickBooks Desktop and Online, Sage (100 Contractor, 300 CRE, and 50), ADP Run and Workforce Now, Foundation, Gusto, and others.
Here are more construction job costing software options that integrate well with accounting systems like QuickBooks:
- eSUB – A cloud-based project management solution for subcontractors that connects the field with the office. It integrates with QuickBooks to help track labor, materials, and other job costs.
- Knowify – Offers a best-in-class integration with QuickBooks Online, allowing construction companies to balance operational and financial data. It provides comprehensive job costing capabilities.
- Contractor Foreman – An all-in-one construction project management tool that integrates with QuickBooks to simplify accounting functions like expense tracking and invoicing. However, the integration setup can be complex.
- Buildertrend – Provides real-time cost analysis and forecasting by automatically capturing project costs from integrated systems like QuickBooks, though reporting capabilities may be limited.
The best construction job costing software for you will depend on your specific needs, budget, and the features required to integrate with your existing accounting system. Evaluating options like those above can help you find the right fit.
