From Minutes to Money with Time-Clocking

Time is money but not all hours are billable. Cash in every minute with time-clocking.

You may manage your own time, but what about your techs? Ever had an angry customer dispute their labour charge? Other workshops tackle the challenge head on with a handy tool called time-clocking.

Time-clocking on modern systems refers to clocking in and out of jobs within your workshop management software, giving you accurate labour hours. And yes, some workshops even track off-the-book jobs, like cleaning or training, to get a more rounded view of productivity.

So, why should you time-clock?

Accurate billing = More money 💸

Imagine a technician spends 3 hours and 15 minutes on a repair job, but only bills the customer for 3. While 15 minutes might not sound like much, multiply that by several jobs a day, and the lost revenue stacks up.

Scott Newton of City Honda Manawatu found that out the hard way, saying; “We monitored charges for jobs before time-clocking so we could have a before and after comparison. The results showed we were undercharging.”

Be more efficient 🚀

Studying how long certain tasks take or finding trends in technician performance helps you pinpoint areas that need work. With the data at your fingertips, you can set realistic benchmarks, provide training, and reward top-performing techs. Now your team is unstoppable.

Keep your techs happy 🔧

Scott, like many, was initially hesitant to implement time-clocking because he worried it would come off controlling. It’s important to communicate that this tool isn’t about catching them out; it’s about arming them with info to do their job more efficiently and effectively. Time-clocking also flags areas where they need additional training or resources. As another time-clocking customer, Kelvin Armstrong from KAAR put it;

“I can easily see when my team are improving or declining, in real-time. Today it’s really important to reward your team’s progression and improvements because if you don’t, someone else will.”

Customers query the bill?

With time-clocking there’s no ambiguity. Your workshop can provide a detailed, itemised bill documenting the time spent on specific tasks.  

Scott from City Honda even made the team add notes to job cards, so they were aware of why jobs were taking the time they did, saying; “If the customer questioned the price, we had the notes and the exact start and end times to refer back to.” In an industry where reputation is everything, you have to fight for your customer’s trust.

Made it this far? You’re ready for time-clocking.

Your workshop needs good processes, efficient techs, and strong culture to succeed. Time-clocking isn’t just a nice-to-have, but an essential tool for those aiming to get ahead. If you’re an existing SAM or Orion customer who hasn’t activated the time-clocking add-on, email our Admin team on accounts@sam.co.nz to get started. If you’re new to workshop management software, get a free trial of webSAM below 👇.