Why CHS Does Not Encourage On-Site Time Tracking

Some builders try to track their own time or their project managers’ hours to assign as job costs. In theory, it sounds accurate. In reality, it causes problems.

• It creates tension with homeowners, who feel like they’re being billed for every conversation or site visit.

• It adds hours of unnecessary data entry and cleanup.

• And it muddies your job cost reports, because labor overhead doesn’t belong in direct job costs.

CHS takes a cleaner approach: use our Markup Tool to calculate the right markup for each job.
That markup covers your overhead — including wages — without logging timecards or complicating your books.

✅ No time tracking.
✅ No awkward cost explanations.
✅ Just accurate pricing that keeps your jobs profitable and your relationships strong.

Some systems encourage builders or project managers to log their time on each job—to “prove” what was spent where. But that approach doesn’t fit custom homebuilding, and it often backfires.

Here’s why we skip it:

• It creates unnecessary friction with buyers.
  Tracking and charging builder or manager hours can make clients feel nickel-and-dimed—especially when they’re already paying a markup designed to cover overhead.

• It adds needless data entry and adjustments.
  Recording, categorizing, and applying time to job costs takes hours each week—and leads to reconciliation headaches.

• It complicates job cost reports.
  When you mix wage costs into job data, it blurs true profitability and inflates direct job costs.

CHS keeps it simple.

CHS takes a cleaner approach. Instead of tracking hours, use our Markup Tool to determine the right markup percentage to apply across your jobs—covering your overhead, including salaries and wages. That markup covers your overhead — including wages — without logging timecards or complicating your books. That approach keeps reporting clean, pricing consistent, and buyer relationships positive.

✅ No timecards.
✅ No awkward cost justifications.
✅ No double entry.
Just straightforward, accurate pricing that covers your business expenses and preserves your professionalism.