Help / Crew time
How crew time works
Today in Arez shows who is working where. You or your crew tap Clock in and Clock out, and every hour lands on the job it was worked on. At the end of the week you export one file for payroll.
The two ways to clock in
You choose for each person, and you can change it later. Plenty of companies mix them: the foreman has the app and clocks in the rest of the crew.
Way 1
You clock them in
You or your foreman tap Clock in crew on Today. One tap clocks in everyone on that visit.
- Crew need
- Nothing. Not even a phone.
- Best for
- A crew working one site together, helpers and the trades you hire.
- Uses a seat
- No
Way 2
They use the Arez app
You invite them by email. They sign in on their own phone, tap Clock in, and see their visits, tasks, photos and hours.
- Crew need
- A smartphone with the Arez app.
- Best for
- Techs who run their own calls, and foremen.
- Uses a seat
- Yes
A crew person's phone number is optional. It is there so you or your foreman can call them.
Three companies, three setups
Way 1, with a foreman on the app
A roofing crew of three
Hall Roofing is Derek, the foreman, plus Luis and Rosa. Rosa has no smartphone. The owner, Sam, is on estimates most days.
- Monday, 4:00 pm. Sam schedules Tuesday's tear-off at 22 Oak Hollow Ct with Derek, Luis and Rosa. It takes one sentence in the job's chat: "Tear-off tomorrow 7 am, Derek, Luis and Rosa."
- Tuesday, 7:02 am. On site, Derek opens Today and taps Clock in crew (3). All three are on the clock.
- 12:00 pm. Lunch. Derek opens the visit menu and taps Everyone on break, then End break for all at 12:30.
- 2:15 pm. The tear-off is done and the crew heads to a repair across town. Derek taps Move crew to the next job, so the drive stays on the clock.
- 5:10 pm. Derek taps Clock out crew. Sam sees the labor cost on both jobs next to the estimates.
Luis and Rosa never touch a phone. Sam still has every hour, by job, for payroll.
Way 2, techs on their own phones
An HVAC shop with three techs
Brooks Home Services runs service calls and replacements. Each tech drives their own van and runs two to four calls a day.
- Dana, the owner, schedules the day's calls. Each tech gets a notification when they are put on one.
- Mia arrives at the first call and taps Clock in. The big button is already on the right job.
- When she leaves for the next call, she taps Clock out and Arez asks: "Switch to the next job? Your drive stays on the clock." One tap, and the drive counts.
- Between calls she checks off the job's tasks and adds photos, in the same app.
- Dana's Today shows who is on which call. Nobody calls the office to say they arrived.
Way 1, trades clocked in by the owner
A general contractor with hired trades
Torres Builders is a remodeler with one helper on a weekly wage, and an electrician and a tile setter she pays by the hour.
- Owner Ana adds everyone by name, with a phone number so she can call them, and sets each person's Pay: $45 an hour for the trades, $1,200 a week for her helper. Nobody installs anything.
- When the electrician shows up on a job, Ana or her helper taps his name on Today and clocks them in. One tap clocks in everyone on the visit.
- Their hours go into job cost, so Ana sees what the kitchen really cost against the estimate.
- On Friday the pay sheet shows each person's hours and what she owes them. Her helper's weekly wage is split across the jobs he worked, by hours, so every job's cost is real.
What you get out of it
- Labor cost on every job. Hours at each person's pay (weekly pay split across that week's jobs), shown on the job next to the estimate. You find out a job ran over while it is still running, not at tax time.
- Know what you owe. A pay sheet for each week or two-week period, with hours and amounts per person, and one file for your payroll service.
- No arguments about hours. Everyone sees the same times. If anyone changes an entry, it shows who changed it and why.
- No Friday timesheets. The hours are already there. You only answer the few questions Arez has.
What your crew sees
Your crew never sees money: not their pay, not the job's price, not anyone else's hours. Crew you clock in see nothing at all. Crew with the app see their own day.
Location and privacy
This is about crew who clock in with the Arez app. Crew you clock in yourself share nothing.
Location
- Arez checks location only at the moment someone taps Clock in or Clock out in the app. Never in between, never after hours.
- You see "Near the job" or how far away they were. You never see a map or a trail.
- If someone does not share their location, they can still clock in. The entry says "Not shared".
Phone numbers
- A crew person's phone number is only for calling them.
Leaving
- If you remove someone from your crew or team, their hours stay on your jobs and in your exports.
Hours to check
Most hours need nothing from you. When something looks off, Arez asks one plain question with a one-tap answer. These are the questions you can get:
| What happened | What Arez asks |
|---|
| Someone forgot to clock out | "Luis didn't clock out. End his day at 4:30 pm, when the visit was due to end?" Arez closes a forgotten clock 4 hours after the visit's end, at the visit's end time, never in the middle of a late emergency call. |
| A gap between two jobs the same day | "Mia drove 25 min between jobs. Add it to her hours?" Driving from one job to the next during the day counts as work. |
| Clocked in far from the job | "Derek clocked in 0.8 mi from Stone Oak. Keep his hours as they are?" |
| Clocked in without a visit | "Mia clocked in at Stone Oak without a visit. Keep these hours on Stone Oak?" |
| A change after you exported | "Derek's Tuesday changed after you sent payroll. Keep the change?" |
| No meal break, in California, Oregon and Washington | The person is asked at clock-out: "Did you take a 30 minute meal break?" If not, it is marked for you. |
Your foreman can answer the same-day questions for their crew from Today. Only you or a manager can change hours after that.
Paying your crew
When you set up crew time, you tell Arez how you pay: weekly or every two weeks, and the day a period starts. You can change it in Settings, Payroll. Crew labor always counts in each job's Costs to date, so every job shows its real profit next to the estimate.
- Open Settings, Payroll. The pay sheet shows the current period and, for each person, their hours and what you owe them.
- Answer any questions in Hours to check.
- Pay your crew the way you always do. Tap Export for payroll if your payroll service takes a file (CSV, one row per shift: date, person, job, start, end, breaks, hours, overtime hours and who changed what).
- Tap Mark paid. The period closes with today's date, its hours are locked, and it moves to the Paid list.
Each person's Pay is per hour or per week. Per hour: hours times the rate; overtime hours are marked, but the overtime rate is not added, so check overtime pay with your payroll service. Per week: the same pay every week, whatever the hours; every two weeks is two weeks of it. Arez does not make W-2s or 1099s.
Overtime rules are set once, from your company address: the state your crew works in and the day your work week starts. Most states mark overtime over 40 hours a week. California also marks over 8 hours a day and double time over 12; Alaska and Nevada mark over 8 hours a day; Colorado over 12. Arez marks the hours. It never works out pay, so your payroll service stays in charge of that.
The file has a Pay column ("$28 an hour" or "$1,350 a week") for everyone. To send a client or your bookkeeper a copy of hours by job, choose PDF for your records.
This page explains how Arez records time. It is not legal advice. If you are not sure how your state handles breaks or overtime, ask your accountant or payroll provider.
Questions
Do my crew need to download anything?
No, unless you choose the app for them. Crew you clock in need nothing, not even a phone.
How many crew can I have?
Starter includes 3 crew, Professional 10, Agency as many as you need. Crew you clock in do not use a team seat. People with the app use one.
Can I change how someone clocks in?
Yes, from Settings, Crew. If you give someone the app later, all their past hours stay with them.
Can I see this guide again in the app?
Yes. Settings, How crew time works, or the same row on an empty Today.