In many construction businesses, the same timesheet hours are entered three times: once on site, once into payroll and once into a job cost spreadsheet. The fix is to capture hours once, against the job, and let that single entry flow through to payroll and job costing automatically. No single app does all of that on its own. The value comes from connecting the systems you already use.
Here's how it usually plays out. Hours are written on paper or in a basic spreadsheet on site. Then someone in the office retypes them into payroll, usually in Xero or MYOB. Then a project manager or estimator enters the same hours again into a job cost spreadsheet so they can see how the job is tracking.
Paper to payroll to spreadsheet
Same numbers. Three different people. Every time someone retypes a number, there's a chance it's wrong. A transposed digit in payroll means someone is paid incorrectly. The same mistake in the job cost spreadsheet means a job looks better or worse than it really is.
Each handoff also adds delay. Payroll gets done because it has to be. The job cost spreadsheet often gets updated last, when someone has time, which means the people running jobs are looking at old numbers.
And when the three versions don't match, someone has to work out which one is right. That reconciliation is pure overhead.
One entry, three outcomes
Timesheet apps such as Deputy or Baracon let crews clock on from their phone against a job. Many of these apps can send approved hours to Xero or MYOB for payroll. That removes one round of retyping.
But that's only part of the picture. The hours also need to reach your job costing, multiplied by the right labour rates, and matched to the job budgets. If that last step is still a spreadsheet someone updates by hand, you've moved from three entries to two, not one.
The aim is a single flow:
- Crew records hours on site, against the job and cost code
- A supervisor approves them
- Approved hours go to payroll so people are paid correctly
- The same approved hours go to job costing, with loaded labour rates applied, so project managers see labour against budget
Nobody retypes anything. If a correction is needed, it's made once, at the source, and flows through everywhere.
How to get there
- Map the current path. Write down every place timesheet hours are entered or copied today, and who does it. This is often more than people expect.
- Standardise job and cost codes. Your timesheet app, payroll and job costing must use the same codes, or the data can't be matched.
- Choose where hours are captured. Pick one system for recording hours and make it the only one. Check whether it already connects to your payroll.
- Connect the job costing side. This is the step most businesses miss. Link approved hours to your job cost reporting, whether that's a construction system, a report or a dashboard. Our construction process automation page explains how we approach this.
- Retire the spreadsheet. Once the numbers flow automatically, stop updating the manual job cost sheet so there's only one version.
If your systems are already connected but the numbers still don't match, the link itself may need attention. See Xero and MYOB integration repair.
Frequently asked questions
Which timesheet app should we use?
It depends on how your crews work, which payroll system you use and what your job costing runs in. Check that the app records hours against jobs and cost codes, and that it can share data with your other systems. Pricing for these apps changes, so check the vendor's current pricing page.
Does connecting timesheets to payroll fix job costing too?
Not by itself. Payroll cares about who gets paid what. Job costing cares about which job the hours belong to and what they cost with on-costs included. Both need the same source data, but they're separate steps.
What if our crews don't have smartphones or reception on site?
Many timesheet apps can record hours offline and sync later, and some businesses use a shared tablet or have supervisors enter hours for the crew. What matters is that hours are recorded once, against the job, as close to the day as possible.
Is this only a construction problem?
No. Any business that records labour against jobs, such as manufacturing, field services or professional services, can have the same double and triple entry.
If your team is still entering the same hours more than once, book a free initial chat and we'll talk through how your timesheets, payroll and job costing could be connected.