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Time Tracking for Landscaping

Landscaping businesses can save over 10 hours weekly on administrative tasks by using Harvest's time tracking solution, which enhances project profitability and compliance.

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How much revenue is your team leaving on the table?

Most agencies run at 55-60% utilization. Even a small improvement means significant revenue. See what closing the gap looks like for your team.

Number of people who track billable time
$
Blended rate across roles (junior, senior, lead)
55%
Percentage of total hours that are billable. Industry average is 55-60%.
75%
A realistic target for service businesses is 70-80%.
Monthly revenue gap $0
Revenue at current utilization $0/mo
Revenue at target utilization $0/mo
Extra billable hours needed per person/day 0h
Annual revenue opportunity $0

Start tracking team utilization

Walk through the entire flow below. Start a timer, check your reports, and create a real invoice — all in three clicks.

Go ahead — start tracking!

One click and you're timing. Try it right here: start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Harvest.

  • One-click timer from browser, desktop & mobile
  • Works inside Jira, Asana, Trello, GitHub & 50+ tools
  • Duration or start/end — your call
  • Day, week & calendar views to stay on top of it all
  • Friendly reminders so no hour gets left behind
Acme Corp
Website Redesign
Homepage layout revisions
1:24:09
Content Strategy
Blog calendar planning
1:30:00
SEO Audit
Technical audit report
0:45:00
Brand Guidelines
Color system documentation
2:15:00
Logo Concepts
Initial sketches round 1
1:00:00
Today's total 6:54:09

The Hidden Drain: Why Manual Time Tracking Fails Landscaping Businesses

Manual time tracking methods, such as paper timesheets or spreadsheets, often fail landscaping businesses due to inefficiencies and inaccuracies. These traditional systems rely heavily on memory, leading to errors and misreported hours. It's estimated that landscaping companies waste 10-15 hours per week managing disconnected tools and correcting timesheet errors. This inefficiency can erode profit margins and complicate compliance with labor laws.

Additionally, the challenge of accurately tracking geographically dispersed crews and multiple job sites further exacerbates these issues. "Off-site" time, including travel between jobs and trips to supply houses, often goes untracked, silently eroding profitability. This lack of precision in tracking can lead to payroll errors, billing disputes, and non-compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which mandates detailed daily records of hours worked.

Essential Features: What to Look for in Landscaping Time Tracking Software

When choosing time tracking software for landscaping, certain features are essential to maximize efficiency and accuracy. Mobile accessibility is crucial, as crews often work in remote locations with limited connectivity. A user-friendly interface ensures ease of use, reducing training time and increasing adoption rates among field crews.

GPS tracking and geofencing are vital for location verification and automating clock-ins and clock-outs. This helps in accurately capturing "on-site" and "off-site" hours, which are critical for precise job costing. Integration capabilities with payroll and accounting systems, such as those offered by Harvest's integration with QuickBooks and Xero, streamline administrative processes by reducing manual data entry. Robust offline tracking and comprehensive reporting tools are also important for generating actionable insights that can drive profitability.

From Hours to Profits: How Time Tracking Boosts Your Bottom Line

Accurate time tracking directly influences the profitability of landscaping businesses by enabling precise job costing and competitive bidding. With efficient tracking, businesses can improve profit margins by 5-10% through better job cost estimation and identifying profitable jobs. Harvest provides project-specific labor hour reporting, allowing landscape managers to pinpoint underbid jobs and areas of inefficiency.

Moreover, streamlining payroll and invoicing processes through integrations with accounting software, like those Harvest offers, can save over 10 hours weekly on administrative tasks. By reducing payroll errors and ensuring compliance with labor laws, businesses can prevent overpayments that typically account for 5-10% of payroll. This enhanced accountability and transparency not only save costs but also boost operational efficiency.

Optimizing Crew Management with Harvest’s Mobile App

For landscaping businesses, managing crews across multiple job sites can be challenging. Harvest's mobile app is tailored for outdoor crews, offering time tracking capabilities even without internet connectivity. This feature is essential for operations in remote areas or during unpredictable weather conditions, ensuring that all time data is accurately recorded and synchronized once a connection is reestablished.

The app supports job-specific tracking, enabling crews to log time against various tasks such as mowing, planting, or irrigation. This granularity facilitates detailed job costing and enhances billing accuracy. By leveraging Harvest's mobile app, landscaping businesses can ensure compliance with labor laws, such as the FLSA's requirement for accurate time records, while improving workforce management and project efficiency.

Time Tracking for Landscaping with Harvest

See how Harvest helps landscaping businesses track time efficiently, even in remote locations, improving profitability and compliance.

Harvest interface showing landscaping time tracking features.

Time Tracking for Landscaping FAQs

  • Digital time tracking for landscaping businesses saves time and reduces errors, providing accurate job costing and payroll processing. It can improve profit margins by 5-10% and eliminate 5-10% in overpayments due to payroll inaccuracies.

  • Harvest integrates seamlessly with accounting and payroll systems like QuickBooks and Xero. This integration helps streamline administrative processes by automating the transfer of accurate time data into payroll, reducing manual entry and errors.

  • GPS tracking is crucial for verifying location and automating clock-ins/outs for landscaping crews. It ensures accurate tracking of "on-site" and "off-site" hours, which is essential for precise job costing and compliance with labor laws.

  • Yes, Harvest's mobile app supports offline time tracking, which is perfect for landscaping crews working in areas with limited connectivity. Once internet access is restored, the app synchronizes data to ensure accurate records.

  • Accurate time tracking improves profitability by providing precise data for job costing, enabling competitive bidding, and identifying inefficiencies. It can enhance profit margins by 5-10% and save over 10 hours weekly on administration.

  • Key features include mobile accessibility, GPS tracking, offline capabilities, and integration with payroll systems. These features ensure precise time tracking, compliance with labor laws, and streamlined administrative processes.

  • Harvest helps landscaping businesses maintain compliance with labor laws by providing detailed records of hours worked, clock-in/out times, and breaks. This ensures adherence to regulations like the FLSA and prevents payroll errors.