GUIDE

How much billable time do tradespeople actually lose?

Q: How much billable time do tradespeople actually lose?

Solo tradespeople typically lose 5 to 10 hours of billable revenue every week due to 'administrative leakage' like unrecorded travel and forgotten stops. TradesTimer recovers this lost time by automatically reconstructing your workday and mileage from background GPS without you ever hitting a timer.

The High Cost of Manual Logging

When you are mid-task, the last thing you want to do is stop to start a timer. This leads to 'micro-leaks'—10 or 15-minute increments of work that simply aren't recorded because you forgot to check your phone.

Over a month, these small gaps accumulate into several days of unbilled labor. Because TradesTimer uses background GPS to detect stops, these gaps are captured automatically, turning forgotten minutes into rounded, billable hours.

The Unrecorded Travel Trap

Many tradespeople forget to bill for the time and distance spent driving between job sites. If you aren't manually tracking every trip, you are essentially providing free transport services to your clients.

TradesTimer treats every movement as a 'trip' and every job as a 'stop.' It records the distance of every leg of your journey, creating a precise mileage log for tax season and ensuring no travel distance goes uncounted.

Eliminating Administrative Friction

The most effective way to stop losing time is to remove the need for manual input entirely. Traditional time-tracking apps require you to pre-configure jobsites and manually start/stop tasks, which is prone to human error.

By removing the need for accounts, timers, or pre-configured schedules, you eliminate the friction that causes most logging errors. The data stays on your device, and the reconstruction happens silently in the background.

FAQ

Do I need to remember to start the app when I arrive at a site?

No. TradesTimer uses background GPS to automatically detect when you have arrived at a jobsite and when you have departed.

Can I use the data for my tax deductions?

Yes. The app automatically logs the distance of every trip, which you can export as a mileage log for tax purposes.

Last updated 2026-06-08.