Even if you are the owner, you need to track your hours

The reason? Because if you hired someone to do the same work that you do, you would pay them for it. Right? Which means that you need to provide for this time in your job estimates. You won’t know how much to put in your estimates unless you track your time on a regular basis.

It’s easier than you think. You don’t need to go hog wild with it. Start by breaking down your time in ½ hour increments. Using an Excel spreadsheet, divide each day into Production – on the job time; Superintendent – planning and supervising labor and materials time; Sales – meeting with prospects and preparing estimates time; Office – any administrative time; and Owner – working on your company time.

Enter time each day and total on a regular basis – weekly or monthly.

You may even find that you are spending way too much time working in your business rather than on your business. But that’s the subject for another day.