Overview
Labor is one of the biggest cost drivers on any construction project, and tracking it accurately makes the difference between a profitable job and one that quietly bleeds money. Structur's Timesheets feature gives you a straightforward way to log hours for every team member, whether they work in the field or the office and automatically connects that time to your project budget.
Every timesheet entry is tied to a cost code, so labor costs flow directly into the right budget line without any manual reconciliation. And because Structur supports both licensed users and non-licensed team members, you can track time for your entire crew, not just the people who have platform access.
Understanding Timesheets
What It Does
Structur's Timesheets feature allows you to:
Log timesheet entries for any team member on a project
Assign each entry to a cost code for accurate labor cost tracking
Record start and end times, along with any break periods
Set hourly pay rates per employee so labor costs calculate automatically
Have those costs flow directly into the project budget as a Labor Hours Expense
Track time for both licensed users (who can log their own time) and non-licensed team members (whose time is entered by an admin or manager)
View all entries in a list format and add multiple entries back-to-back efficiently
When to Use It
Timesheets are most valuable when you want to:
Track actual labor hours against your project budget in real time
Manage payroll-related data without a separate time tracking system
Give field supervisors or project managers a simple way to log crew hours daily
Keep non-licensed field staff in the system for time and cost tracking without paying for extra seats
Understand where labor hours are being spent across cost codes on a project
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Add a User to Structur
Before you can track time for someone, they need to exist as a user in your Structur account.
Go to Settings → Users
Click New User
Enter the team member's name and email address
Select their role: Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Field Supervisor, or Subcontractor
At this point, you have two options depending on whether the team member needs platform access:
Option A - No license seat (field-only tracking)
Do not assign a license seat to the user
This team member will not have access to Structur
They can still be selected in timesheet entries and tracked for labor cost purposes
This is ideal for field workers who don't need to log in themselves
Option B - Assign a license seat (full platform access)
Assign the team member a license seat
Click Send Invite, they'll receive an email to create their account
Their access within Structur will be governed by their role-based permissions
Licensed users can log in and submit their own timesheet entries
2. Set the Employee's Hourly Pay Rate
Before creating timesheet entries, make sure each team member has an hourly rate configured. This is what drives the automatic labor cost calculations.
Go to Settings → Users
Click on the team member's user details
Enter their hourly pay rate
Do this for every employee whose time you plan to track. Without a rate, Structur can't calculate labor costs for that person's entries.
3. Navigate to Timesheets on a Project
Open the active project you want to track time on
Navigate to the Timesheets section within the project
You'll see a list of all existing timesheet entries for that project.
4. Creating a New Timesheet Entry
Timesheet entries can be logged two ways: Daily or Weekly.
Daily Entry
Click + New Entry
Fill in the following details:
Date - Enter the date the work was performed
Clock In / Clock Out - Specify the start and end times
User - Select the team member whose time you're recording
Hourly Rate - Enter the employee's rate per hour
Cost Code - Choose the cost code this time should be charged to
Breaks - Add any break start and end times; click + New Break to add multiple breaks
Click Save to save the entry
Weekly Entry
Click + New Entry and select the Weekly tab
Fill in the following details:
User - Select the team member
Hourly Rate - Enter the employee's rate per hour
Weekly Timesheet - Enter Clock In, Clock Out, and Cost Code for each day of the week (Mon–Sun)
Use the + button on each row to add additional cost code entries for that day
Click Save to save the entry
Track Time (Live Timer)
For real-time time tracking, click Track Time in the toolbar. This opens a live timer that displays your name, hourly rate, and a running clock. Click Clock In to start the timer when work begins.
5. Review Automatic Cost Calculation
Once a timesheet entry is saved, Structur automatically:
Calculates the labor cost based on the employee's hourly rate and total hours worked
Adds that cost to the project budget as a Labor Hours Expense under the assigned cost code
You don't need to manually enter labor costs into the budget. The moment a timesheet entry is saved, the budget updates. This keeps your financial picture accurate in real time without any double entry.
Best Practices
Set hourly rates before logging any time - If rates aren't configured when entries are created, labor costs won't calculate correctly. Set rates in Settings as soon as you add a team member.
Log time daily, not weekly - Daily entries are more accurate and easier to verify than trying to reconstruct a week's worth of hours at once.
Use cost codes consistently - Always assign timesheet entries to the correct cost code so labor costs land in the right budget line and your financial reporting stays clean.
Add non-licensed users for field crew - Don't skip tracking field workers just because they don't need platform access. Adding them without a license seat keeps labor costs accurate without increasing your subscription cost.
Use Save and Add New for bulk entry - When logging time for multiple crew members at the end of a shift, Save and Add New speeds up the process significantly.
Review timesheet entries regularly - Check the timesheets list periodically to catch any missing entries, incorrect cost codes, or data entry errors before they distort your budget.
Common Questions
Q: Can a team member log their own time, or does a manager have to do it?
A: It depends on whether they have a license seat. Licensed users can log in to Structur and submit their own timesheet entries. Non-licensed team members, typically field workers added without a sea have their time entered by an admin, project manager, or field supervisor on their behalf.
Q: Do I need to manually update the project budget when I log timesheet entries?
A: No. Structur automatically calculates the labor cost for each entry based on the employee's hourly rate and adds it to the project budget as a Labor Hours Expense under the assigned cost code. There's no manual step required.
Q: Can I track time for workers who don't have a Structur account?
A: Yes. You can add team members to Structur without assigning them a license seat. They won't have access to the platform, but you can still select them in timesheet entries and track their labor costs against your project budget.
Q: What happens if I forget to set an hourly rate for an employee?
A: Without an hourly rate, Structur cannot calculate a labor cost for that employee's timesheet entries. Set the rate in Settings → Users as soon as possible, and be aware that entries created before the rate was set may need to be reviewed.
Q: Can I add breaks or lunch periods to a timesheet entry?
A: Yes. When creating or editing a timesheet entry, you can include break periods within the entry. These are subtracted from the total hours worked and therefore from the labor cost calculation.
Q: Can I enter multiple timesheet records at once?
A: Yes. After saving an entry, use Save and Add New to immediately open a fresh entry form. This is the fastest way to log time for multiple employees or multiple days in a single session.
Q: What roles can be assigned to team members for timesheets?
A: When adding a user in Settings, you can assign them the role of Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Field Supervisor, or Subcontractor. The role controls their permissions within the platform, while their ability to appear in timesheets is independent of their role.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Don't | ✅ Do |
Skip setting hourly rates before logging time | Configure each employee's hourly pay rate in Settings before creating any entries |
Only track licensed users and ignore field crew | Add non-licensed team members so all labor costs are captured in the budget |
Enter a week's worth of hours all at once from memory | Log time daily while it's fresh and accurate |
Assign all time to a generic cost code | Use the correct cost code for each entry so budget reporting stays meaningful |
Manually add labor costs to the budget separately | Trust Structur's automatic calculation, timesheet entries update the budget directly |
Forget to include break periods | Add breaks to entries so total hours and costs reflect actual paid time |