When we think about the landscaping industry, we often envision vibrant lawn maintenance crews tending to lush gardens or skilled hardscape installers crafting beautiful patios and walkways.
However, behind every project they bring to life lies a diverse team of professionals who ensure everything runs smoothly: designers and architects, estimators and supervisors, and, of course, the front and back office staff.
With such a variety of roles involved, choosing the right timesheet software for landscaping business requires careful consideration of everyone’s needs.
In this post, we’ll explore different types of timesheet software that can fit landscaping companies and consider the unique features and the pros and cons of each option so that you could determine which solution fits your team’s requirements best.
Types of Timesheet Software for Landscaping
First come what we can call “all-purpose time tracking and project management tools.”
These versatile software solutions integrate task management with time tracking, allowing you to oversee landscaping projects from inception to completion while monitoring employee hours.
You can create, assign, and prioritize tasks for team members, collect accurate data for payroll and client billing, and generate insightful reports on work time, project progress, team productivity, and overall project profitability.
However, the abundance of features, as well as the price that goes with them, may turn out to be overwhelming for small service teams with simpler needs.
Next are the GPS-powered time tracking tools. They are monitoring employee locations and hours worked through mobile devices, enhancing employee oversight and operational efficiency.
Geofencing modules send automatic alerts when employees enter or exit designated job sites, and their supervisors get real-time updates about each employee’s status and location at any moment.
This integrated solution ensures a cohesive approach to managing employee activities while enhancing productivity and compliance, though some employees may feel uncomfortable being tracked constantly.
And last are the field management systems, solutions that cater specifically to businesses that operate in the field, providing tools for scheduling, task management, and time tracking tailored to outdoor work.
They let you create work orders, manage inventories, and even monitor the usage of equipment and supplies needed for a specific job, ensuring that teams have the necessary resources at their disposal.
The only drawback of the FMSs is their niche focus, as they typically revolve around optimizing operations for businesses that require field-based work and may lack project management capabilities.
Let’s take a closer look at each type.
Project Management and Time Tracking Software
actiTIME: To Cover the Whole Project Lifecycle
actiTIME is a time tracking and project management software solution that helps companies from various industries manage employee work hours, control project budgets, and analyze performance.
It allows employees to log time across different tasks and projects using a web timesheet, a mobile app, or a browser extension and avoid stress related to GPS-based tracking.
The tool captures both billable hours for tasks like lawn maintenance, hardscaping, or irrigation and non-billable time for the office work.
It also allows business owners and managers to set pay rates and track expenses against specific landscaping projects to ensure they remain profitable and stay within the client’s budget.
Xero: For Most Accurate Billing
Xero landscaping timesheet is a digital tool within the Xero accounting ecosystem used by landscaping businesses to manage project costs and automate payroll and client invoicing.
Staff clock in and out directly from job sites using the Xero Me app or integrated third-party solutions.
After a manager approves a timesheet, the data automatically flows into Xero’s payroll system, calculating regular and overtime pay based on predefined earning rates, and is used to track project profitability and compare actual labor against initial quotes.
Hourly: Bringing Time and Cost Together
Hourly is another digital tool designed to help landscaping businesses automate the generation of employee timesheets.
In addition to basic time tracking and invoicing capabilities, it allows users to create unique expense tracking profiles so they can monitor all labor, material, and transport costs for a specific project in one place.
GPS-Powered Trackers
ClockShark: For Centralized Data Storage
ClockShark is time tracking and scheduling software popular with mobile-based industries like landscaping, construction, and field services.
Employees clock in and out from their smartphones, selecting specific landscaping jobs, and the dedicated app verifies the location of every clock punch.
If needed, a supervisor or foreman can clock in the entire landscaping crew at once from a single device, which is ideal for teams where not everyone has a smartphone.
After the work is done, all the related files, such as project documentation and the photos of completed tasks, are attached right to the timesheet.
LMN (Granum): Making the Most of GPS
LMN (Landscape Management Network) timesheet software is a mobile-first tool for landscaping businesses that lets crews clock in/out and track real-time job hours with GPS verification.
Beyond simple time, crews can record material usage (e.g., bags of mulch or salt), take jobsite photos, and leave notes or comments on weather conditions.
LMN also provides live data comparing the hours estimated for a project against the actual hours used, helping businesses monitor profitability and adjust future bids.
Arcoro: Harnessing the High-Tech
Arcoro is an innovative workforce management solution that not only replaces manual timesheet creation but also leverages technology to its fullest potential, automating every process that was once time-consuming or prone to error and tampering.
- Lets managers set virtual perimeters around specific landscaping sites, while the system validates that employees are within these boundaries to track time.
- Uses “FaceFront Biometrics” to capture a photo at clock-in, preventing “buddy punching” (one employee clocking in for another).
- Offers battery-powered, weather-resistant time clocks designed for outdoor environments.
- Automatically tracks required meal breaks, rest periods, and overtime to reduce the risk of labor violations.
and more…
FMS Systems
Jobber: Lean but Powerful
Jobber is cloud-based field service management software that includes dedicated timesheet and time-tracking features, specifically designed for home and commercial service businesses.
Besides GPS-powered hour logging and automated timesheet filling, it offers quite rich functionality for quoting, scheduling, and dispatching, and 20+ reports for profitability and efficiency monitoring in a straightforward UI.
It also allows you to sync approved timesheets directly with accounting software and online or payroll services to automate payments.
ServiceTitan: For Team Collaboration
ServiceTitan is an all-in-one field service management platform, allowing users to manage job-specific time (drive time, wrench time), and enhance payroll with customizable pay rules and bonuses, ultimately saving time and boosting profitability
It’s not specifically designed for the landscaping industry, but its geofencing tools, flexible pay structures (e.g., per job, per hour), and functionalities for creating timesheets or time entries for entire crews working the same schedule can save supervisors of the landscaping crews significant time
Aspire
Aspire is a comprehensive business management platform that includes an integrated timesheet and mobile time tracking feature. It is an all-in-one solution, positioning itself as a single source of truth for landscaping businesses.
It offers GPS-powered time tracking and timesheet automation, automatically applies logged hours to specific jobs or work tickets, and allows businesses to monitor real-time labor costs against estimated hours and determine job profitability.
Aspire’s full suite of tools also includes scheduling, estimating, invoicing, and reporting.
Conclusion
Selecting the right timesheet software for your landscaping business is a crucial decision that can significantly impact your operations.
It’s important to consider your company’s specific needs and the nature of your projects when making this choice.
For instance, if your work involves on-demand tasks, prioritizing features like GPS tracking can help you monitor your teams in real-time and ensure timely service delivery.
On the other hand, if you manage larger projects that require coordination among multiple crews or stages, opting for software with robust management and reporting capabilities, such as actiTIME, will help you not only maintain oversight but also optimize resource allocation.
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