A Spectrum time tracking integration moves approved hours into Trimble Spectrum’s payroll as pre-time cards coded to job, phase and cost type. Spectrum then updates job cost. The open question is where hours are captured and reviewed first.
Spectrum is a construction ERP from Trimble Viewpoint. It runs accounting, payroll and job cost for contractors. It is strong at turning coded hours into wages and job cost. It is less suited to capturing the client, task and billing context that firms on time-and-materials contracts need before they invoice.
Quick Answer
There are three supported ways to get time into Spectrum. Field supervisors can use Viewpoint’s Payroll Time Entry mobile app. Office staff can use the SDX Time Entry Workbook in Excel. Developers can call the Pre-Time Card web service in Spectrum Data Exchange (SDX).
All three land as pre-time card records that payroll reviews inside Spectrum. A separate time tracker earns its place only when you also bill clients for that time. In that case, capture and approve hours upstream, then send payroll-ready totals to Spectrum. Our pillar guide to Sage time tracking applies the same test to another construction ERP family.
What Does a Spectrum Time Tracking Integration Actually Do?
It connects two records that are easy to blur. The first is the labour record: who worked, on which job and phase, under which pay type. The second is the billing record: which client, task and billable status the work belongs to, and whether a manager approved it.
Spectrum owns the labour record. According to Trimble’s Payroll Time Entry help page, hours entered in the field sync to Spectrum Payroll and update job cost automatically. An integration should therefore feed Spectrum’s payroll import, not bypass it.
The billing record often lives elsewhere. Engineering consultancies, design-build firms and specialty contractors on T&M contracts need task notes and billable flags. Payroll codes alone rarely explain an invoice line to a client.
Which Route into Spectrum Fits Your Team?
Each route suits a different person and a different volume of entries. The table below uses Trimble’s own documentation for what each one does.
| Route | Who enters time | How it reaches Spectrum | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll Time Entry app | Foremen and crew leads on site | Syncs to Spectrum Payroll after review in an admin web portal | Field crews where job and equipment hours drive payroll |
| SDX Time Entry Workbook | Supervisors or payroll staff in Excel | “Send to Payroll” creates pre-time card lines for review | Small teams, offline entry, existing spreadsheet habits |
| Pre-Time Card web service | An integration built by your developer or partner | One record per call, held for approval in Spectrum | A third-party time tracker or custom app |
| Pre-Time Card Batch web service | An integration sending many records | Records land in an import errors screen and need a recheck | High-volume nightly or weekly loads |
The Spectrum Data Exchange help page describes the workbook as a protected, macro-enabled Excel file. Payroll sets it up with allowed jobs, employees and pay types, then hands it to supervisors.
How does the Pre-Time Card web service handle imported hours?
Trimble’s Pre-Time Card documentation says imported records wait in the Payroll Approve Pre-Time Import screen. Someone must approve them in Spectrum. The service validates authorisation, required fields, the company code, work date and pay type.
That approval step matters. Spectrum does not trust an outside system blindly, and neither should you. The batch version needs a manual recheck too. Both expect the Payroll and General Ledger modules to be set up.
What Fields Must Be Ready Before Hours Reach Spectrum?
A pre-time card needs payroll codes, not just hours. Trimble lists batch code and pay type as required fields. Employee, job, phase and cost type carry the job-cost detail. Pay types include regular, overtime, double time, holiday, vacation and sick.
Most time trackers export a different shape. Here is how a typical billable-time export maps onto a Spectrum pre-time card. The Keito columns come from its data export docs.
| Time tracker column | Spectrum pre-time card field | Mapping note |
|---|---|---|
| Team member | Employee code | Keep a lookup table of names to Spectrum employee codes |
| Date | Work date | One row per person per day per job |
| Project | Job number | Store the Spectrum job number in the project code or name |
| Task | Phase code | Mirror your phase list as tasks so codes stay aligned |
| Hours | Hours | Use actual hours for payroll; rounding is a billing choice |
| Billable (Yes/No) | Not sent | Stays in the billing record for invoicing |
| Notes | Not sent | Stays as client-facing evidence |
| (fixed per row) | Pay type and cost type | Usually R and your labour cost type; overtime is split by payroll rules |
Two fields never cross over: billable status and notes. That is the point of the split. Spectrum gets what payroll and job cost need. The billing record keeps what the client needs.
A Worked Example: One Week for a Three-Person Engineering Crew
Take a specialty contractor with a site engineer, a project manager and a technician. They work on Job 1001, a T&M fit-out, plus internal training. They log 112 hours in one week.
| Person | Job 1001, phase 02 (billable) | Job 1001, phase 05 (non-billable rework) | Internal training |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site engineer | 34 h | 4 h | 2 h |
| Project manager | 22 h | 0 h | 4 h |
| Technician | 40 h | 6 h | 0 h |
| Total | 96 h | 10 h | 6 h |
Spectrum needs all 112 hours for payroll. It needs 106 of them on Job 1001 for job cost, split across phases 02 and 05. The client invoice needs only the 96 billable hours, each with a note explaining the work.
If the crew logs straight into a payroll tool, the 10 hours of rework sit on the same job with nothing marking them as non-billable. Someone then strips them out of the invoice by hand, from memory. Capture billable status at entry and approve it weekly. Then payroll gets 112 hours, job cost gets 106, and the invoice gets 96 with no rework.
How Should You Set Up the Handoff?
Keep each system in its lane. Spectrum stays the owner of payroll, job cost and the ledger. The time tracker owns capture, billable status, approvals and invoice evidence.
- Mirror the codes. Create one project per Spectrum job and one task per phase you bill. Use the job number in the project name so exports join cleanly.
- Capture while working. Ask the team to log against job and phase daily, with a short note on billable entries.
- Approve weekly. A manager reviews the week before anything leaves the tracker. Keito’s timesheet approval queue shows billable and non-billable totals per person.
- Export payroll totals. Filter the export to approved time for the pay period. Convert names to employee codes and add pay type and cost type.
- Load and approve in Spectrum. Send rows through the SDX workbook or a Pre-Time Card integration. Payroll then approves the import inside Spectrum.
- Invoice from the same approved record. Bill the client from approved billable hours, not from a separate spreadsheet.
Reconcile every period. Total approved hours in the tracker should match total pre-time card hours in Spectrum. Any gap is a rejected row or a late correction, and it should be explained before payroll closes.
Where Does Keito Fit with Spectrum?
Keito is a time, expense and billing tool. It does not have a native Spectrum connector. The handoff works through its standard CSV or Excel time export, or through its Reports API if your developer builds a Pre-Time Card integration.
It suits firms that bill clients for hours tracked against Spectrum jobs. Think engineering consultancies, MEP designers and specialty contractors on T&M work. It does not offer GPS or geofenced clock-in. For large field crews where location proof drives payroll, Spectrum’s own Payroll Time Entry app is the better fit.
What Keito adds upstream of Spectrum:
- Job-coded time by client, project and task from desktop, iOS or browser.
- Billable and non-billable status on every entry, kept out of the payroll file.
- Timesheet approvals on Pro and Business plans before time is exported or invoiced.
- Invoices from approved time, so billing and payroll share one reviewed record.
Contractors comparing tools should also read our guide to software for contractors to track job costs and timesheets. It covers loaded labour rates and job budgets in depth. Other ERPs follow the same handoff pattern, as our Sage Intacct time tracking integration guide and MYOB time tracking integration guide show.
Key Takeaway
Send Spectrum payroll-ready, job-coded hours. Keep billable status and notes in an approved billing record, so payroll, job cost and invoices agree.
Bill clients from the hours Spectrum pays for
Keito captures job-coded, billable time and puts a manager’s approval in front of every export and invoice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I integrate time tracking with Trimble Spectrum?
Use one of Spectrum’s supported time entry routes: the Payroll Time Entry mobile app, the SDX Time Entry Workbook, or the Pre-Time Card web service. Each creates pre-time card records that payroll approves inside Spectrum. Third-party trackers usually connect through the web service or a formatted export.
Does Spectrum have its own time tracking app?
Yes. Viewpoint’s Payroll Time Entry app lets supervisors enter labour and equipment hours by job from a phone or tablet. Hours are reviewed in an admin web portal, then sync to Spectrum Payroll and update job cost.
What is the Spectrum Pre-Time Card web service?
It is part of Spectrum Data Exchange and accepts time records from outside systems. Each imported record waits on an approval screen in Spectrum until payroll approves it. A batch version handles high volumes but needs a manual recheck.
What fields does a Spectrum pre-time card need?
Batch code and pay type are required. Employee, job number, phase and cost type carry the job-cost detail, and the work date is validated on import. Map your time tracker’s people, projects and tasks to these codes before the first load.
Can I send billable status from a time tracker to Spectrum?
Not as a payroll field. Spectrum’s pre-time card is built for pay types and job cost, not client billing flags. Keep billable status and notes in your time tracker and invoice from that approved record.
Do construction firms need a separate time tracker if they use Spectrum?
Only if they bill clients for hours. Spectrum already covers payroll and job cost time entry well. Firms on T&M or hourly contracts add a tracker when they need task notes, billable status and approval before invoicing.