In the world of painting and decorating, precision is key - but when it comes to timesheets, accuracy often gets painted over by errors and guesswork. On fast-paced jobs, paper timesheets can get lost in the back of vans, smudged with paint, or filled out in a rush leading to inaccuracies. Payroll can quickly become a huge source of stress - how much time are you losing each week chasing down missing hours and fixing timesheet errors?

Moving your team to a mobile clock-in system cuts down on admin and streamlines the entire payroll process. Team members can clock in from their phones at the start of the day, ensuring accurate time tracking in real time. From there, they can focus fully on the job at hand until it's time to clock out at the end of the day - no paperwork, no guesswork. Let's dive into the key features that can save your painting & decorating business a lot of time and money on time & attendance.

Track hours across different painting jobs

Keep track of how many hours your team spends on each specific painting job, individual task (like surface prep, undercoating, final coats etc), or the overall project. With this level of insight, you’ll be able to see where time is going on each site, compare estimated vs. actual hours, and spot areas of improvement with future jobs in mind. It also helps manage labour costs with confidence, especially if you have painters on different pay rates or use subcontractors. Additionally, when a client asks for a breakdown of what they’re paying for, a job costing report can be generated in seconds showing exactly how time was spent.

Roll with real time updates & visibility

Need a quick way to check who's on site and where they’re working today? Live reporting lets you see the most recent clock-in time and location for each team member, so you’ll always have real-time visibility across all your painting jobs - whether they’re working on a residential repaint, a commercial site, or a new-build project. Team leads can be assigned to monitor their own crews, helping reduce unnecessary calls or WhatsApp messages just to confirm who’s turned up. It’s a simple way to stay on top of your jobs and make sure each site is fully staffed and running smoothly.

Prevent team members from painting outside the lines

Features like facial recognition and geofencing ensure your team can only clock in and out when they’re actually on site. It guarantees that the clock-in process is location-specific, so you can be sure your crew is where they’re supposed to be. Add in facial recognition, and you’re upping your security and efficiency even more. Employees can clock in and out with a simple scan of their face, reducing the risk of buddy clock ins. Rest assured that your team is always in the right place at the right time, keeping everything within the lines of your project and budget.

Manage leave & expenses with ease

Employees can request time off straight from their phones, and you’ll get notified instantly. Approve or decline these requests in seconds, view upcoming absences on a shared calendar, and avoid scheduling clashes that leave you in a predicament. Expense management is just as simple. Employees can submit expenses straight from their mobile phone, whether it’s for materials, travel, or any other job-related cost. Each expense can be then linked directly to a specific job, so you always know where your money’s going. They can take a photo of the receipt, upload it instantly, and move on with their day. With the ability to review and approve expenses in real time, everything can be kept transparent, accurate, and easy to track.

Stroke of genius: integrate with payroll

Generate automated reports and timesheets with just a few clicks. By integrating your timesheets with payroll software like Xero, Sage, BrightPay, or MoneySoft, you can eliminate the risk of manual errors, saving you hours of tedious work. The integration simplifies the payroll process from start to finish, ensuring precise calculations while freeing up your time to focus on what really matters - growing your business.

Adjust to seasonal demands

Team size can change depending on the season. Spring and summer can mean larger projects, meaning more hands on deck are required. During quieter months, you can easily scale down by archiving temporary workers who no longer need to clock in - but without losing their data and timesheets. When your team expands again, those records are right where you left them, ensuring smooth transitions with no hassle.

Final thoughts: time to brush up on time tracking

Embracing a mobile time & attendance solution for your painting and decorating business can drastically simplify your time tracking, payroll, and job management. With features like job-specific tracking, geofencing, and seamless payroll integration, you'll have more control over your team's time and expenses.
Save time, reduce stress and see how it can help your business to run more smoothly. No more stress when payroll rolls around.