In the world of subcontracting, time isn’t just money—it’s your reputation. A project that runs over schedule or a payroll system plagued by manual errors can quickly erode the thin margins that specialty trades work within. While generic construction tools often treat scheduling as a static calendar, Subtrade Software treats it as a living, breathing engine of profitability.
Here is how Subtrade’s specialized scheduling and time approval workflows give subcontractors the ultimate competitive edge.
Precision Scheduling for Specialty Trades
Most scheduling tools are built for the macro-view of a General Contractor. They care about when the building is topped off; you care about whether your three-man crew can finish the fourth floor by Tuesday.
Subtrade’s drag-and-drop scheduling is designed for the high-velocity environment of trade work. It allows project managers to:
- Allocate Resources Efficiently: Assign crews based on specific skill sets or certifications.
- Visual Dispatching: See exactly where every team is across multiple jobsites in a single, intuitive interface.
- Real-Time Adjustments: If a site isn’t ready for your crew, you can pivot their schedule instantly, sending a push notification to the foreman’s phone to prevent wasted travel time.
By keeping the schedule dynamic, you eliminate “dead time” and ensure that your labor—your most expensive asset—is always being utilized where it generates the most revenue.
Frictionless Time Tracking and Approval
The “Friday Afternoon Scramble” is a tradition most contractors would love to kill. Chasing down paper timesheets, squinting at messy handwriting, and manual data entry are recipes for disaster. Subtrade replaces this chaos with a digital-first time approval workflow.
The Field Experience
Workers check in via the mobile app. Using GPS-verified geofencing, the software ensures that time is only logged when the employee is actually on the designated jobsite. This isn’t just about accountability; it’s about accuracy. It automatically assigns the hours to the correct cost code, meaning your job costing is updated in real-time without the office lifting a finger.
The Approval Workflow
Once the hours are submitted, the “Time Approval” dashboard allows supervisors to review and approve logs with a single click.
- Audit Trails: Every change to a timesheet is logged, ensuring compliance with labor laws and union regulations.
- Anomaly Detection: The system flags overtime, missed breaks, or check-ins outside the geofence for immediate review.
- Payroll Integration: Approved hours flow directly into your accounting or payroll system, cutting administrative overhead by as much as 70%.
The Bottom Line: Total Visibility
When your schedule is synced with your time approvals, you get a “true north” view of your project health. You can compare Estimated vs. Actual labor hours daily, allowing you to catch budget overruns while there is still time to fix them.
Subtrade Software doesn’t just track time; it protects it. By automating the most tedious parts of the construction day, you free your team to focus on what they do best: building.
