ExakTime vs Connecteam: A Comparison of Time Management Software

Accurately tracking time and managing jobs is critical in the construction and field service industries. With crews spread across multiple sites, complex payroll needs, and regulatory requirements, construction companies need a time-tracking solution designed specifically for their unique needs. When searching for alternatives to Connecteam, construction companies often compare it with industry-specific solutions.

While both Connecteam and Arcoro's ExakTime offer time tracking capabilities, their approaches differ significantly. This detailed Connecteam review explores how it stacks up against ExakTime for construction-specific needs. When it comes to the specialized requirements of construction and field service, ExakTime rises above Connecteam as the superior choice.

Understanding Construction Time Tracking Software

Time-tracking software is a crucial tool in the modern workplace, offering digital solutions to streamline employee management within organizations. While general-purpose solutions like Connecteam provide basic functionality, construction-specific platforms offer specialized features that enhance efficiency and accuracy in tracking employee work hours. When evaluating Connecteam vs. specialized construction software, several key features should be compared:

• ​Clocking In and Out: Both Connecteam and construction-focused solutions like ExakTime allow employees to record their working hours digitally through web-based or mobile time clock applications. Each clock-in and clock-out event is timestamped with the precise time and date, ensuring a reliable record of work hours.
• ​GPS Tracking: Employee time clock software records GPS data, providing validation of the geographic location where clock events occur. This enhances employee accountability.
• ​Automated Reports: Administrative and managerial users gain access to automated reports covering daily operations, employee hours, job site coding, overtime calculations, payroll software export files, and more. These reports help organizations make informed decisions based on accurate data.
• ​Notifications: Configurable notifications are sent regarding clock events, overtime rules, possible missed clocks, and other alert triggers, ensuring managers and administrators are always informed.
• ​Payroll Integration: Payroll integrations are seamlessly integrated into employee scheduling software, making the transfer of clocked hours into payroll software systems easy and reducing the risk of errors.

For construction companies, time-tracking apps eliminate the need for outdated paper timesheets, which are often susceptible to issues like lost sheets, buddy punching, inaccuracies, and other integrity problems.

The advantages of adopting digital time-tracking apps in the construction industry include:

• ​Reduced payroll errors and time theft
• ​Simplified compliance with labor laws and regulations
• ​Improved payroll services accuracy through seamless integrations
• ​Better visibility into job and project costs
• ​Location monitoring capabilities like GPS tracking and geo-fencing
• ​Reduced administrative workload

While basic time clocks provide essential digital logs, advanced plans provided by ExakTime offer tailored features and capabilities designed to meet the specific management needs of the construction industry.

The Importance of Time Tracking Software in Construction

Construction presents unique challenges when it comes to capturing, managing, and validating field employee time. With a dispersed, mobile workforce operating across multiple job sites, general workforce solutions like Connecteam and paper-based time-tracking processes quickly fall short.

While basic time tracking apps help digitize timesheets, construction companies need more. Supervisors may struggle to collect accurate, complete paper timesheets from team members spread across projects and locations. Administrative staff spend countless hours transcribing handwritten sheets, manually calculating hours worked, applying proper job codes, and ensuring certified payroll compliance. With limited construction-specific features, payroll services delays and mistakes remain challenges.

ExakTime's robust, construction-focused platform solves these problems through digitization, mobility, and construction-specific functionalities. Unlike Connecteam's basic GPS features, ExakTime provides management with real-time visibility and oversight into remote field teams through location data like GPS tracking and geo-fencing. Integrations with payroll software systems reduce repetitive manual data entry and improve accuracy.

While Connecteam offers basic time tracking, ExakTime's advanced features like shift scheduling, equipment tracking, custom field alerts, and more provide a specialized construction management platform that solves the unique challenges of this industry.

ExakTime Review

ExakTime by Arcoro stands out as an industry-leading time and attendance tracking platform, meticulously crafted to cater to the distinctive requirements of the construction industry. From small crews to large enterprises, their basic plan offers a comprehensive set of core features that facilitate efficient workforce management.

Built Specifically for Construction Teams

Purpose-built for construction teams, the intuitive time clock app simplifies the process of clocking in and out for employees. These clock events capture GPS tracking data, validating the exact location where the clock-ins and clock-outs occur.

Reliable Performance on Job Sites

ExakTime's mobile time clock app can function in offline mode. Workers can continue clocking in and out of jobs without an internet connection. Pending time clocks are synced to the cloud when an internet connection is restored, ensuring uninterrupted time tracking from any job site.

Construction-Grade Reporting

ExakTime boasts powerful reporting capabilities tailored to construction management needs. Real-time employee attendance reports provide actionable insights into hours worked, labor costs, overtime calculations, certified payroll compliance, payroll previews, and more. These reports are accessible through web and mobile dashboards.

Payroll Integration

Construction companies benefit from payroll integrations, enabling automated synchronization with over 100 major payroll software platforms, including ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks, and others. This integration saves time and reduces the likelihood of payroll errors.

Advanced Job Costing Features

Job costing is another essential component of ExakTime's employee scheduling software. It provides robust coding options to allocate hours worked to cost codes, prevailing wage categories, specific equipment, job phases, and more. This ensures detailed insights into expenses.

Field Oversight and Location Management

ExakTime offers location monitoring through GPS tracking of clock events and geo-fencing. This confirms that crews are clocking in only from their designated job sites and enables the tracking of worker movements.

Construction-Specific Scheduling

Employee scheduling is made efficient with ExakTime, allowing managers to schedule shifts, trades, job assignments, equipment access, and time off requests for field crews.

Real-Time Job Site Alerts

Configurable alerts keep managers informed about exceptions such as overtime hours, missed clock-in events, inconsistencies, and inactive employees.

Secure Role-Based Access

ExakTime provides access controls, allowing for administrative configuration of customized roles and access permissions for supervisors, foremen, payroll administrators, and employees.

Connecteam Review

Connecteam offers a simplified digital time tracking application with a broader emphasis on team communication tools. Key features include straightforward digital clock-in and clock-out functionality through web and mobile applications. However, it lacks some of the advanced verification features found in other systems.

Connecteam enables communication via team chat, group notifications, and document sharing. Users can create customized digital forms for managing tasks, conducting equipment inspections, making announcements, and more. Its limited GPS tracking feature for location stamping falls short of construction requirements, lacking advanced options like geo-fencing.

Key Differences Between ExakTime and Connecteam

When reviewing time tracking solutions for construction, understanding key differences between platforms is crucial. While both ExakTime and Connecteam offer digital time tracking capabilities, their approaches to serving the construction industry differ.

Construction Industry Focus

Connecteam serves construction firms as one of many industries, while ExakTime is designed exclusively for construction, skilled trades, and field service industries. ExakTime’s features are built around industry-specific needs, such as job site validation and site-to-site visibility.

Features

ExakTime provides workforce management oversight capabilities like customizable SMS alerts, equipment tracking, employee scheduling, certified payroll handling, and more. Connecteam offers streamlined digital clocks but lacks deeper specialized features required for complex field operations.

Customer Support

ExakTime has a US-based customer service team dedicated to construction industry needs, providing guidance through configuration, training, and ongoing optimization. Connecteam does not promote specialized construction vertical support or expertise.

Criteria for Evaluating Construction Time Tracking Software

When reviewing Connecteam and other time-tracking solutions for the construction industry, consider these critical factors:

• ​Construction-Specific Features: Does the system handle prevailing wage rate tracking, multiple job locations, certified payroll, and customizable coding for equipment and cost centers? ExakTime provides these capabilities, including shift scheduling, trade management, and field alerts.
• ​Access Controls: Can administrators configure granular permission controls for different roles? ExakTime offers robust role-based controls, while Connecteam provides just a basic employee time clock app.
• ​Payroll Integrations: Does the system automate data transfer into your payroll platform? ExakTime integrates with over 100 major payroll software systems; Connecteam relies on exporting CSV files.
• ​Field Oversight: Are GPS location tracking, geofence mapping, and verified check-ins available? ExakTime offers comprehensive field oversight tools; Connecteam has limited GPS capabilities.
• ​Support and Training: Is there specialized industry-focused customer service support? ExakTime provides tailored assistance for the construction industry.
• ​Scalability: Can the solution scale as your business grows? ExakTime's cloud platform is designed to scale seamlessly.
• ​Data Security: Does the vendor provide assurances and safeguards related to data security, access controls, and compliance standards? ExakTime follows robust security protocols.

Why Construction Firms Choose ExakTime

ExakTime consistently stands out as the superior choice for construction firms. Reasons include:

• ​Purpose-built for construction, with features designed for the industry's unique needs
• ​Proven return on investment through time savings, increased payroll accuracy, and reduced administrative expenses
• ​Verified tracking capabilities that protect against fines, litigation, and non-compliant pay practices
• ​Scalable cloud platform for businesses of all sizes
• ​US-based customer success team with construction expertise

Learn More About ExakTime's Time Tracking Solutions

From location tracking to certified payroll handling, robust access controls, and real-time data visibility, ExakTime from Arcoro gives construction firms the tools needed to effectively track, manage, and optimize a dispersed, mobile workforce. The platform scales from 5 to 50,000+ employees. To learn more and request a demo, visit ExakTime.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

What industries are ExakTime's solutions designed for?

ExakTime is purpose-built for the construction, skilled trades, and field services industries. Every feature is designed around the unique needs of tracking and managing dispersed construction crews and projects.

Does ExakTime offer GPS and geofencing?

Yes. ExakTime has robust location-tracking capabilities. Every clock in/out event is GPS timestamped down to the job site or even position within a site. Administrators can build virtual geofences around job sites and receive alerts when workers clock in from outside expected locations.

What payroll platforms does ExakTime integrate with?

ExakTime offers certified real-time payroll integrations with over 100 major platforms including ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks, and many more. This automation eliminates the need for duplicate manual data entry.

Is phone support available?

Yes. ExakTime customers gain access to US-based, construction-experienced customer success representatives who provide unlimited phone, email, and chat support at no additional cost. Customized onboarding, training materials, weekly live training webinars, and proactive check-ins are also provided.