Analytics and Data Collection

Form Builders and Templates – What You Need to Know

Posted on March 16, 2021November 14, 2024 by Danny Kanev

Form Builders and Templates – What You Need to Know

Analytics and Data Collection | Business Operations | Forms

Forms can be complex and many times they can be more nuanced than you might expect. But with properly designed layouts, you can improve workflows, facilitate automation, and enable your business to customize and enhance its data collection practices. Continue reading this blog post for:

Information about forms
A summary of different types of forms on the market today
Examples of industry use cases for forms

What is a form?

A form is a tool that has fields where individuals can write text or select from various options. The end use of forms can vary significantly, but most often they function to register for something, fill out a statement, create a request, or submit an order.

Forms may also be multi-purpose by design, and they can even lead end-users to different outcomes based on how they respond to the form fields. While most forms are provided blank, some form designers may also leverage placeholder content in digital forms that can prompt users to provide certain types of data.

Forms can also have advanced features like dynamically populating content using data that is being referenced from a database, often referred to as reference data. Reference data can help pre-populate form fields, simplifying the process for people filling out the form by leveraging data that is already known.

The benefit of using forms to collect data is that they help to make data consistent and uniform for storing, processing, and analyzing the data. One common example of using forms is when businesses need to collect data from their customers to store inside a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

Integrating the form with the CRM database allows a business to dynamically populate the form fields based on the data they already have from the customer. It then allows them to collect a standard set of data fields from customers, ensuring that they are bringing in consistent and standard data that can be used when creating reports and performing analysis.

What are the different form builders on the market, and how are they used?

There are different types of form builders available to the market today. Some of these form-building tools have more niche-specific uses, while others have a broad set of use cases. Here’s a quick overview of some of the different form builders on the market today:

Mobile App Forms

Mobile app forms are specialized forms that function as mobile apps. GoCanvas is a leading firm in developing mobile app forms for data collection and sharing. Users can access the form builder to create custom apps that can be used on tablets and smartphones or through a desktop app available on Windows and Apple computers.

The data from these forms is stored in the cloud and it can help businesses reduce their paper usage. The functional capabilities of GoCanvas apps include GPS location capture, photos, custom form fields, signature capture, and reference data, among others. Users can share form submissions through a .csv file or a PDF report.

GoCanvas also integrates with a wide range of platforms, including Quickbooks, Salesforce, Dropbox, Google Drive, PulseM, Netsuite, Zendesk, and much more. Through Zapier, GoCanvas can integrate with over 3,000 apps to automate workflows and increase workplace productivity.

WordPress Plugins

There are countless WordPress plugins available that form writers can use to develop and deploy forms accessible from websites. Some of the most popular ones include Gravity Forms, Formidable Forms, WPForms, Jetpack Forms, and others. These form builders are drag-and-drop plugins that are dynamic in their applications. It is relatively easy to embed these forms directly into websites designed on the WordPress CMS.

Most often, people use these types of forms as a contact form, registration form, or marketing form to collect information for email marketing campaigns. These forms can also function as a submission tool for file uploads or a payment authorization tool that can integrate with PayPal or Stripe systems.

Form data collected through these plugins are typically accessible in various formats, including an online dashboard or exportable format through .csv or XML format. Users can customize these forms by using more advanced CSS or HTML code to define specific looks and functionality.

Email Marketing Forms

Most email marketing campaigns will use lead capture systems and CRMs for marketing and sales purposes. Some of the most well-known email marketing providers include Hubspot, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact – all of which have forms that can integrate with various types of websites, mobile apps, or through stand-alone systems.

In general, these forms are somewhat limited in their capabilities, although it is possible to automate workflows based on inputs and conditional logic. Most commonly, these types of forms are meant to collect basic information that can inform marketing and sales teams about interested customers or prospective customers.

Survey Tools

Google Forms and SurveyMonkey are two popular tools for sending out free or low-cost surveys. These types of forms can be built with conditional logic, automation, and other capabilities to collect data from groups of all sizes.

Reporting dashboards are also available in these platforms so that users can generate actionable and insightful data from results. Google Forms integrates directly with Google Sheets so that these forms can quickly aggregate data into a cloud-based Google Sheet.

Use cases for different form builders

Given the various types of form builders available to the market, it may be helpful to compare the different uses for each form builders we’ve covered in this article. Here’s a quick summary:

Mobile App Forms are helpful tools for businesses that require checklists, reports, data collection tools, evaluations, guidelines, and other tools for recording, reporting, or sharing information.
WordPress Plugins can be used in various use cases but are often deployed for contact capture purposes, as registration forms, contact forms, and other somewhat simplistic use cases.
Email Marketing Forms are niche purpose forms, mostly related to capturing contact information for users.
Survey tools are great for collecting responses from respondents and aggregating data into easy-to-understand insights such as charts and graphics.

How different industries can use forms effectively

Nearly every industry today uses forms to improve its business processes and outcomes. Here are some of the innovative ways that companies are using mobile forms to streamline their operations:

Work orders for companies in the construction, repair, and improvement industry may be generated through a form builder to integrate with systems such as Quickbooks so that accounting departments can approve expenditures or authorize work quickly.
Building inspection forms can utilize conditional logic and automation to rapidly dispatch the correct maintenance personnel depending on the nature of an issue during the inspection.
Estimate sheets can be used to help businesses to bid effectively on projects, using calculations that can be performed automatically through the form.
Time tracking can be automated for staff when companies may leverage GPS capabilities integrated into forms to ensure that inspectors are at the correct job site at the right time
Field service reports can streamline communications between workers and their offices, ultimately minimizing miscommunications and improving service outcomes. Field service technicians can use technical service orders to automatically request specialized service types while including pertinent details such as images of problem areas, GPS coordinates of where a problem is, and much more.
Forms for Human Resources departments to effectively track employees’ time, ensure proper training sessions are attended, or even authorize vacation and time-off requests with ease.
Compliance and safety management for organizations that need to comply with OSHA requirements. These companies use forms for inspection checklists to maintain employee health and safety by ensuring that facilities are in compliance and that proper safety inspections are occurring regularly.

Mobile apps and forms can make an impact on businesses of all types and sizes. If you are looking for other types of forms to use for your business, GoCanvas has done the work for you already – we have over 20,000 mobile app forms that are pre-built for many different industries and use cases to help you get started for free.

About GoCanvas

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Analytics and Data Collection | Business Operations | Integrations

How Timesheet Apps Benefit Your Business

Posted on March 7, 2021October 14, 2024 by Danny Kanev

How Timesheet Apps Benefit Your Business

Timesheet apps represent the newest iteration in how businesses and contractors track their time. So what do these apps do? What makes a good timesheet app? How do these work with financial systems? What ways are different industries using these apps? Continue reading this article for answers to these questions and a high-level overview of how timesheet apps can benefit your business.

What does a timesheet app do?

Hourly employees, contractors, or other workers who are paid on an hourly basis typically use timesheets to track time worked for payroll calculations or for invoicing billable hours to a client.

Businesses and contractors can also use timesheets to gather data to ensure accurate pricing for services or products. This allows them to optimize their processes by understanding how long it takes to perform specific tasks. Other examples include freelancers or consultants that are required to submit time entries to their clients for billing purposes.

Timesheets can vary in how they look or function. Here are some common examples:

Punch cards or time cards use either a time clock that may physically punch a card or a digital clock-in/clock-out system that creates the timesheet.
Point-of-service (POS) systems are used by businesses for employees to log in and log out for timesheet purposes.
A physical piece of paper is a basic way for employees to write down the hours worked
Excel spreadsheet or .csv files are basic time tracking tools that can either be processed manually or imported into time management or payroll systems.
Mobile apps are a way to use smartphones or other devices for employees to complete their timesheets digitally.

As smartphones have grown in popularity, more companies are moving away from traditional forms of time cards, and they are moving toward mobile apps that are more convenient for collecting timesheet data from employees.

Using the native functionality in Android and iPhone mobile devices, employers can engage in real-time tracking of team members’ time. This can also enable their organization to automate additional functions like payroll or paying contract consultants/employees. Mobile apps also open up an opportunity to use new technologies, like the ability to use GPS locations or geofencing that can monitor and track the employee hours spent at a physical job site.

Technology is empowering businesses to become more efficient and many companies are starting to realize productivity gains by moving toward mobile apps for their time tracking.

What are the best elements of a time tracking app?

There are several timesheet apps and time tracking software platforms on the market, but not all of them are created equal. When evaluating your options, here are some of the top features you will want to have in your timesheet app:

Having multiple employee types is an important feature that lets you differentiate between employee time tracking and contractor time tracking to ensure detailed and accurate billing.
GPS integration and geofencing capabilities allow your business to automate the time tracking of workers at job sites.
Security features that are native to iOS and Android, like facial recognition, can be used in timesheet apps to ensure the correct individual is logging time.
Integrations with your core systems (like payroll or accounting platforms) can help to minimize the effort of processing payroll and paying invoices.
Flexibility to track time both in real-time and through manual entry (and differentiating between those tracking methods).
Accessibility on different devices is incredibly important for employees to be able to use both Apple/iOS and Android phones/tablets, as well as web browsers or desktop applications.

When selecting a timesheet app, your business should carefully determine what requirements need to be met for tracking people’s time and select a timesheet solution that is easy and secure for collecting and managing your data.

How can timesheet apps integrate with payroll and accounting systems?

Timesheet software and time tracker apps are most effective when integrated directly with payroll and accounting systems such as ADP, Quickbook, Xero, and others.

By leveraging these integrations, companies ranging from small businesses to enterprise-level clients can automate time tracking processes.

Consider an integration with your payroll and accounting system if your business needs to improve business operations and cut out manual processes. Integrations can significantly help your business save time, effort, and money, while also increasing payroll accuracy.

What are the benefits of digitizing and automating time tracking with a timesheet app?

Moving to a digital strategy for tracking time provides many benefits to a business. Here are three of the top benefits of timesheet apps for business:

1. Streamline project management

From a project management perspective, understanding the allocation of resources is critical to managing businesses’ workflows. If a worker takes more time on a task than expected, it can cause missed deadlines, cost overruns, and other problems. Understanding task timing is critical for keeping projects on time and it gives you the ability to forecast budgets and project estimates more accurately in the future. Timesheet apps will streamline your business processes and improve project management.

2. Avoid losing track of time

Employees and contractors are not always perfect and missed time happens. Timesheet apps can help your business avoid losing track of time. This can be done by automating time tracking with systems that help to ensure that all the billable hours are captured. Advanced capabilities like geofencing or the ability to retroactively validate time can help employees capture all their time worked.

3. Simplify the process for staff

Timesheet apps and digital time tracking platforms make managing multiple employee timesheets or project timesheets a breeze. The insights from having multiple employees or projects aggregated in one location can help to ensure that everyone is billing accurately. For example, if one employee in a group does not have time logged while the others do, there may be missed time. Tracking timesheets for multiple employees and projects at once also streamlines the effort required to process timesheets.

Examples of time tracking apps for business

Now that we’ve covered how you can save time and money with digital time cards, you can start to check out some of the time tracking app examples available today. GoCanvas timesheet apps are accessible right from your mobile device and help businesses to:

Eliminate data entry and re-entry errors, missing timesheets, and fraud with mobile time-tracking
Provide visibility into who’s working, who was late, and how many hours have been clocked
Access time cards anywhere with instant access to digital time tracking apps

With the option to get started for free, you can see how GoCanvas fits your business and consider how it can help you streamline your processes for time tracking and business operations.

Industry Use Cases of Timesheet Apps

Timesheets are used by many different industries. Below are some common examples of how different industries use timesheet apps:

Construction Services

Companies providing construction services use a combination of employees, contractors, and subcontractors on job sites. These individuals are often generating billable events by merely being at a specific job site. By using time tracking apps with geofencing capabilities, construction services can accurately track workers’ timing and hours in an automated fashion.

Construction Timesheet App Template

The Construction Timesheet mobile app helps contractors, sub contractors, trade specialists and others fill out construction timesheets to track when they start work each day, which project they are working on, their lunch break and the ending time. This employee timesheet app is designed for companies that focus on a certain type of work and don’t need to break it down by job phase or category. Additionally, this app calculates the employee’s time automatically (i.e. an in-app time clock), and has the ability to enter and track multiple employees as well.

Field Service Companies

Like construction companies, field service companies often use a combination of employees and contractors to provide services. Time tracking apps can help these workers bill for services more accurately as different types of installation, repairs, maintenance services, or even specific clients can have special pricing or service rates.

Field Service Timesheet App Template

This Field Services Timesheet App makes it easy for workers to access an employees time clock from anywhere in the field. Instead of using complicated time clock software or standard time tracking machines, this easy to use app is accessible using a smartphone or tablet. Perfect for small business owners and others who manage employee time and attendance, this easy to use time tracking app will simplify your payroll processes each month.

Transportation Companies

For businesses that provide transportation services, coupling time tracking with travel distance can help provide accurate billing. Using these apps also helps ensure that drivers who may be subject to transportation regulations and restrictions are not driving more hours per day than is legally allowed.

Transportation and Logistics Timesheet App Template

This Transportation Timesheet App is the easiest way for truck drivers, trucking services and vehicle transportation companies to track all the most important details of short haul long haul trucking jobs. With the truck driver time card app, you don’t have to worry about losing any of the important daily log details. This app covers a record of the work completed, including dates and times, load details, and road conditions. The truck driver daily log also includes a safety list to ensure that all trucking industry professionals have the right gear on board before hitting the road.

Professional Services

Providers of professional services, such as lawyers, accountants, and consultants, live by the billable hour. Making time tracking as easy as possible to reference different projects or clients can significantly improve billing accuracy and maximize revenue.

Professional Services Timesheet App Example

This professional services timesheet app allows you to track every detail necessary, including company details, consultant information, hourly rate, hours worked, and authorized signatures. This consultant timesheet template documents billable hours through tracking time each day. This time tracker app is an ideal component of effective project management, where this info can be pulled for invoices and weekly timesheets.

About GoCanvas

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Analytics and Data Collection | Business Operations

How Work Order Apps Streamline Operations

Posted on March 4, 2021November 19, 2024 by Danny Kanev

How Work Order Apps Streamline Operations

Work order management is the process of ensuring that a work order process is in place for organizations. This entire process begins with work requests and ends with either a denial or approval and the subsequent work that happens.

The workflows surrounding work orders leave many opportunities for errors and inefficiencies. But with the use of fire work order apps, organizations can easily streamline the work order process to improve maintenance teams’ performance and improve overall workflows for their business.

This article will highlight some of the top challenges with work orders using paper-based forms and we will explain some of the top reasons why companies are switching to mobile apps instead.

Problems with traditional work orders

The standard work order has typically been a paper-based form, but there are several pitfalls and problems that can arise with paper-based work. Here are some of the problems that exist when using paper-based work orders:

Lost work orders: Losing work orders can become a real problem when you are dealing with paperwork orders. It’s common for papers to get lost, they can also be misfiled by accident, or they can sometimes even be thrown away inadvertently. These potential problems can lead to the need for multiple copies or submissions of work orders, ultimately delaying maintenance tasks and impacting metrics that matter to organizations focused on responsiveness and efficiency.
Illegible handwriting: Illegible handwriting can be a significant problem with all sorts of paper forms. This can happen if workers are at a job site and they happen to be holding a tool bag while trying to write up a work order or if the worker is in a hurry to get to their next appointment. No matter the excuse for the messy handwriting, this seemingly minor issue can lead to real problems. For example, if a field technician is filling a work order, messy handwriting could lead to misunderstanding the intent, overlooking important details, or struggling to find the correct location.
Calculation errors: For work orders with integrated pricing and parts costs, field service technicians or maintenance workers may need to calculate costs for supplies quickly. Not everyone will have the time to check their math and paper work orders that require manual calculations can create cost overruns for companies or cause the ordering of the wrong quantity of supplies.
Misinterpretation of information: Intent can sometimes be difficult to convey clearly. If a work order requires information in a narrative or long-text form, then misinterpretations can easily occur. Likewise, paper-based work orders do not allow users to attach annotated photos without physically printing images, which hinders the real-time fulfillment of a work order.
Increase in downtime: Paper forms require users to either scan them in and email them or physically deliver them. In the work order management process, this can be a significant hindrance to efficiency.
Inability to automate: Businesses cannot integrate paper forms into software applications without additional steps, which makes incorporating automation into the work order process difficult. Without automation, the submission of work orders cannot kick off specific steps such as scheduling maintenance follow-ups, invoicing parties that may be required to pay for work performed, or changing maintenance schedules as a result of escalated maintenance work.

Benefits of using work order apps

For mobile apps used to generate work orders, there are many benefits that maintenance teams and workers can realize. Here are some of the top benefits of using work order apps:

Expanded functionality: A mobile app that works on iOS or Android platforms can create robust and detailed mobile work orders, by utilizing the native functionality of the phone, such as its camera, GPS, accelerometer, and touch screen. This functionality also allows users to include photos of areas that require maintenance or work and users can even annotate specific regions on an image to show exactly where work is needed. GPS also allows for location-based service requests to be issued and provides evidence that a service request has been fulfilled. Additionally, software on mobile devices that allow for push notifications means that service personnel can immediately see work orders in real-time.
Improved workflows: Efficiencies in work order management or field service management can create significant cost savings for organizations. Through the use of work order apps, users can submit work orders through the mobile device, which then triggers a series of automated events, resulting in the dispatching of a maintenance team without any human intervention.
Standardized work orders: Apps used to submit work orders can utilize standardized templates so that work orders are consistent. This consistency reduces the likelihood of errors such as missing a critical field.
Ease of use: Mobile devices are relatively ubiquitous, and most people are comfortable with using them. Facility managers or maintenance departments can customize a mobile work order app to be incredibly user-friendly and intuitive. Ultimately, this ease of use improves the completion rate of work, while also making the entire workflow surrounding a service request much more efficient.
Improved asset management: Organizations with assets requiring regular maintenance can use work order apps in conjunction with work order management software. This combination allows users to schedule preventive maintenance automatically, maintain upkeep of equipment, and generate warnings if maintenance requests to mission-critical equipment or assets are submitted.

How work order management impacts different industries

Many industries can benefit from improving work order management by using apps for submitting maintenance work orders. Some examples include:

HVAC companies can use work order apps to escalate problems or broken systems so that technicians can more rapidly complete work on HVAC systems, which can be a matter of public safety in very hot or cold climates.
Small businesses can benefit from efficiencies usually reserved for larger companies through a robust and scalable work order management system coupled with work order apps.
Property management companies can ensure that the proper scheduling of preventative maintenance occurs and that tenants receive status updates related to the work performed.

Ultimately, the benefits of using a work order app and management software can be significant and highly beneficial for organizations that need to streamline their operations and reduce their reliance on paper-based forms for collecting data.

About GoCanvas

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Analytics and Data Collection | Business Operations | Compliance and Safety

Safely Returning to Work After COVID-19 Vaccinations

Posted on February 25, 2021November 21, 2024 by Danny Kanev

Safely Returning to Work After COVID-19 Vaccinations

Now that the rollout and administration of various COVID-19 vaccines are underway throughout the country, employees are slowly becoming able to return to work as governments lift the stricter lockdowns and people, communities, and businesses try to get back to some semblance of normal. As companies can secure employee vaccinations, different policies and procedures are vital for keeping employees safe. Regardless of the type of COVID-19 vaccination received by an employee (Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, etc.), having employees who are unlikely to suffer severe illness or symptoms if exposed to the coronavirus makes conducting business during the pandemic much easier.

As more and more employees return to work following vaccination, employers may wonder how they can keep their staff safe?

Safety While COVID-19 Vaccination is Underway

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently approving various vaccines through an emergency use authorization. While vaccination policy is determined at the state and local level by public health officials, vaccination priorities typically include health care workers, frontline workers, long-term care facility workers, and others with a job-related direct threat to the virus given priority to vaccinate over the general public. Many workers have received the first dose of the vaccine, while some are starting to receive their second dose.

Authorities and vaccine manufacturers currently do not know if the vaccine will prevent the spread of the virus from those who are vaccinated or if vaccination provides immunization to the vaccine recipient. Accordingly, businesses and their employees must follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines related to social distancing, hand hygiene and handwashing, the use of face coverings, and other safety measures. Only until a significant percentage of the population receives their vaccination against the coronavirus and achieves herd immunity can we return to pre-pandemic activities and behaviors.

To keep employees safe, Human Resources departments should work with their state governments to include employees in vaccination programs. At the same time, businesses should establish policies such as requesting proof of vaccination for entering a workplace or worksite, offering reasonable accommodations for working from home, and requiring mandatory vaccinations subject to certain conditions. For example, a valid exemption from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines such as a high-risk medical condition, religious belief, or other undue hardship vaccination should all be valid reasons for an employee to have an exemption from immunization. EEOC guidance related to vaccination during the pandemic is available on their website.

A business should not consider employees to be fully vaccinated until they receive their second dose of any two-dose mRNA vaccines (e.g., the Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines) and have waited the appropriate time for maximum immunity to take effect (clinical trials indicate this to be about two weeks following the second dose).

After Herd Immunity with the COVID-19 Vaccine

The administration of the COVID-19 vaccine should eventually provide herd immunity to the coronavirus as we end up with enough vaccinated people to disrupt viral transmission. While debate exists about whether or not COVID-19 is here to stay (a situation where people would receive a COVID shot annually, similar to a flu shot), we know there are many ways to maintain employees’ safety after the widespread administration of the vaccine. While face masks and face coverings may eventually become less ubiquitous, businesses should determine how employees interact with each other and with visitors, clients, or customers in the future. If it is not a business necessity to have physical contact with visitors or other employees, companies should consider minimizing such contact. Occupational safety measures such as availability of hand hygiene products and hand washing stations, plexiglass, glass, or plastic barriers, more tolerant sick leave programs, and more flexible work from home infrastructure can help to minimize the future spread of the coronavirus, as well as other airborne viruses and infectious diseases such as the flu.

Ongoing Threats

Despite the positive news about the vaccine, there are ongoing threats related to COVID-19, the most notable being emerging variants. Several vaccines appear to protect against viral variants; however, the degree of that protection fluctuates depending on the variant. While vaccination is underway, there is an ongoing and asymmetric level of protection against the virus. It is essential to slow the spread of the virus to suppress the opportunity for new variants, any one of which may not be susceptible to existing vaccines or treatments.

GoCanvas has multiple tools that businesses and human resource departments can implement to help companies more effectively combat the coronavirus. By using a combination of apps such as Daily Employee Screening Logs, Office Cleaning Checklists, and other apps in the COVID-19 toolkit, businesses can operate in the pandemic with customers and employees feeling safe and healthy.

About GoCanvas

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Construction Innovation: 4 Tools To Help You Succeed

Posted on February 18, 2021March 13, 2025 by Danny Kanev

Construction Innovation: 4 Tools To Help You Succeed

Analytics and Data Collection | Inspections | Reporting

Construction projects and the construction industry stand to benefit from access to various innovative technology tools. Construction companies that integrate real-time data and analytics can leverage automation to improve safety, decision-making, and knowledge management. This intelligence is critical for the protection and optimization of human resources and building materials allocation. In a traditional model, construction companies use daily reports, inspections, timecards/timesheets, and work orders as components of the construction process. Using these tools requires time and effort to incorporate into workflows on a construction site functionally. With cutting-edge construction technology, companies can automate data capture to monitor key metrics and improve the bottom-line. Companies in the construction sector need to incorporate digital tools and positively disrupt their current workflows to stay competitive in the market. We identified four specific digital tools to help construction companies streamline operations.

Daily Reports

Daily reports utilized on construction sites are necessary to track construction jobs’ ongoing progress while also documenting job site disruptions and safety concerns. These reports typically include information populated by a manager, foreman, project manager, or other senior personnel to create a summary of the day-to-day progress on a job site. The elements in different reports can vary significantly from one construction daily report to another. Some may note weather and site conditions, while others can list the critical construction items completed that day and provide notes about the work done. Generally, daily reports summarize significant accomplishments onsite, materials and equipment used, subcontractors onsite, personnel attendance, safety incidents, or building defects and exceptions.

Most construction companies today use traditional daily paper-based daily reports. However, it can be difficult to extract usable data based on these reports because it requires a time-consuming manual process and is prone to human error. These reports can provide a record of the construction project that can address stakeholders’ concerns or effectuate compliance with OSHA requirements. Companies can use GoCanvas daily reports to reveal trends in construction projects and more accurately predict project lifecycle. It’s easier to manage the construction process and make real-time decisions if data capture is automated and visualized.

Inspections

Construction inspections are vital to operations and safety. They also need to be custom-built to the specific needs of a project. In many cases, pre-built templates may not work. Some inspections may run through a checklist covering site access or PPE, while others may focus on project details like equipment or building inspections. A significant problem with traditional construction inspection methodologies is the static nature of these forms and the absence of real-time data to inform key stakeholders and the construction process. With GoCanvas’ construction inspection app, construction companies can undertake a more dynamic approach to construction site inspections. The customizable nature of GoCanvas’ tools means building- or job-specific inspections can improve performance and insights. For example, GoCanvas can integrate images of blueprints or 3D models of buildings or construction plans into the inspection app. Users can follow prompts to specific construction project components that require inspection. Users can differentiate between various types of structures with specific inspection requirements into one or more GoCanvas apps. For example, residential home inspection requirements will differ from the inspection requirements for an industrial facility construction site. Real-time data can highlight problems in the construction process or unfinished items to redirect workflows to enable the successful completion of jobs in a timely and efficient manner.

Timecards/Timesheets

Construction companies often track multiple employees, workers, and subcontractors on a job site. Traditional use of timecards or timesheets typically required employees to punch-in or punch-out, or rely on self-reported timesheets. One problem with paper-based timesheets is they can are vulnerable to false data (writing down an earlier time for arrival at the job site) and cumbersome to add to a payroll or human capital management system. With dynamic timecards and timesheets offered by GoCanvas, construction workers can either enter time manually with date/time-stamped entries or use GPS functionality to check-in when they arrive at a job site. Workers can then check-out when they leave with an integrated time-stamp used to calculate hours worked. This process saves time and money and ensures records are accurate. It also minimizes the time required to submit payroll or contractor pay through human resources departments. GoCanvas directly integrates with Quickbooks but can also work with other payroll systems and solutions.

Work Orders

Construction work orders provide vital functions on a job site. They can effectuate contracts, summarize work to be completed, track information about individuals who request or authorize work, request required services and job elements, note the tools or materials needed, and more. Paper-based work orders require multiple layers of review and approval for submission, and typically, an order may execute only once materials, labor, and equipment are secured. Companies can quickly and easily achieve approvals with GoCanvas’ digital work orders. The requisitioning of materials, labor, and equipment can take place automatically and with far less effort than is required with traditional paper-based work orders. GoCanvas can utilize Java and .NET frameworks with the APIs of popular project management systems to effectively couple real-time data with automation to ensure work orders are integrated more efficiently into the construction process.

About GoCanvas

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Analytics and Data Collection

Apps to Help You Organize Your Office Workflow

Posted on January 27, 2021February 17, 2025 by Danny Kanev

Apps to Help You Organize Your Office Workflow

6 Ways to Organize Office Workflow Using GoCanvas

Achieving a balanced, healthy workflow is a key threshold for all successful businesses. The organization of your office workflow can affect your company’s productivity, employee performance, office dynamics, and customer satisfaction. Thankfully, programs like GoCanvas can now help you streamline your workflow to optimize business performance. Here are six ways to organize workflow for a healthier and more productive system.

Assigning and Organizing Tasks

The GoCanvas system’s dispatch service provides complete transparency between management and employees, making it easier than ever to ensure that everything gets done as it should. This system stratifies workflow processes in a controlled chain of order and distributes this information using an internal calendar. One common example of this is the timecard completion and approval app, which digitally converts the payroll process using the mobile GoCanvas system.

With fields marked as “required,” employees will no longer be able to submit incomplete timesheets. The ease of use and access will guarantee that all employees are able to send in timecards on time, without waiting around for the paper submissions. You can also easily distribute dispatch calendars within the GoCanvas app, handle approvals in real-time, and monitor the progress of this dispatch conveniently from your mobile device. All of these features collectively work to ensure that your entire team is on the same page and working as a unit.

Reference Data Auto-Population

Manual data reentry can create unnecessary monotony and inconsistency in your workflow processes, wasting valuable corporate time and energy. Adding reference data to your GoCanvas account allows this information to be accessible in your company’s apps. Organized by spreadsheets on the backend of your account, this GoCanvas addition eliminates the redundancy of filling in the same information more than once. Examples of reference data include:

Customer Records
Product list
Accounting codes
Service pricing
Other data specific to your business

This feature can speed up your workflow processes, saving you, your employees, and your customers a significant amount of time.

Streamline Office Communication

With GoCanvas, you can send prefilled forms such as service orders to techs in the field, edit dispatch calendars real-time, and assign apps to your employees. This reduces the time wasted by missed memos and forgotten schedules. As your workload changes throughout the day, your office can compensate with immediate updates to field workers. This reduces the wasted time that poor communication causes, promoting an efficient work environment.

Digital Signatures

It is no secret that the paper documentation process can be much more time consuming than the digital alternative; however, print processes are often needed where signatures are required. This is why GoCanvas has made implementing digital signatures into your workflow processes easy and accessible. Reduce the need to print, sign, and scan your signature-required documents when you convert to digital signatures. This conversion also allows you to digitally organize your documents while simplifying the signing and sharing processes. Switching to digital signatures is easier than you might anticipate with GoCanvas, as mobile signatures are enabled automatically on the app.

Custom Mobile Form Creation

Converting to mobile forms using the GoCanvas app allows you to take your company’s processes with you wherever you go. Access your business information just as easily from a job site as you could within your office. Blank templates, such as estimates, inspections, invoices, waivers, and work orders are just a few examples of the forms that can be created, distributed, filled out, signed, and accessed from your mobile device with GoCanvas. By generating custom forms unique to your company’s platform, GoCanvas makes it easy for you to support your workflow where it is needed most. If you don’t believe how easy it is, just send GoCanvas your form today and we will create a mobile version for you for free! You will find that the reliability and convenience of mobile forms can benefit multiple facets of your workflow organization, including both your internal and client-facing processes.

Payment Processing and Photo Capture

Using your Square-enabled GoCanvas app, you can now streamline your sales and purchase order processes. This partnership provides all of the notable qualities of Square services integrated directly into your company’s internal apps. Digitally process payments without expensive or overcomplicated software systems, which require unnecessary attention from your office. This digital processing also allows you to reduce the wait time involved with manual payment processing.

Get GoCanvas

GoCanvas is designed to optimize businesses and support an organized workflow. Upgrade your company today by creating a GoCanvas account, and see for yourself how this platform can help you save up to 1,400 workplace hours annually. Try it risk-free by signing up now!

About GoCanvas

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

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Analytics and Data Collection | Compliance and Safety | Reporting

Five Ways Safety Management Software Can Help Your Business

Posted on November 4, 2020November 19, 2024 by Danny Kanev

Five Ways Safety Management Software Can Help Your Business

Consistent Documentation

Every day on a jobsite brings different challenges and risks. It is important that no matter the circumstances, your crew is being provided consistent messaging as well as capturing consistent information.

Safety management software helps your team maintain consistency in delivering and documenting data. Standardized forms with required fields and established checklists ensure that the proper information is conveyed and collected for every situation.

Safety software also helps with accuracy, so when the same tasks are repeated, workers can focus on the procedure without forgetting key pieces of information.

Remote Access

There are times when your teams will have to report to multiple locations, or be spread out across massive worksites. This presents a challenge to make sure the latest safety forms and regulations are distributed in a timely manner.

With many safety software solutions, your crew can get the latest versions of necessary forms on their mobile devices or company tablets. Workers can rapidly complete incident or hazard reports and send them directly to your office systems, so you can keep your team aware and safe.

Efficient and Streamlined Reporting

So much time is wasted trying to collect paper forms from various jobsites, not to mention the amount of effort needed to decipher, catalog, and report on data from multiple sources.

With the right safety management software, you won’t lose time to waiting for paper forms from daily briefings to be returned at the end of the day or managing documents from multiple worksites. Any standard forms completed by your team can be immediately sent via the safety software, which means you can store and track important data in a single system.

Improved Compliance

When it comes to keeping your team safe, it is vital that workers stay up-to-date on the latest OSHA regulations and compliance issues. As you are sharing this information, it is also important to be able to confirm and track who has attended daily briefings, completed certifications, and other safety program milestones.

Safety management software often includes required attendance logs, so you can collect the names and IDs of every employee at each worksite to ensure they are present for the latest daily briefings and toolbox talks. Plus, you can capture details related to the jobsite location, project manager, as well as date and time stamps for every briefing.

Digital safety forms can also include an integrated signature capture field, which means you can have employees verify their attendance and you can collect signatures from your foreman and any safety representative who makes an onsite visit, ensuring compliance measures are met for every situation.

Increased Customer and Employee Confidence

When workers know that their safety is a priority within your business, worksite morale inevitably goes up. Your crew and contractors want to know that their well-being is an important aspect of daily operations.

Safety management software ensures that your team is informed of the latest potential risks and related precautions, so they know how to stay safe and have confidence that their safety is a priority.

Using safety software can also provide real-time visibility of your current Certification Programs (including expiration dates and IDs) and active incident reporting. You can quickly share safety program data with customers, fulfilling SLA requirements so you can get jobs done faster while keeping your team safe.

Looking for a safety management software that will provide these benefits to your team? GoCanvas Safety includes pre-built digital forms so you can streamline your planning and ensure that you collect accurate and complete information for every job. Customizable reports and turn-key dashboards mean you can regularly audit and update your safety program, so you can focus on the human factors to keep your team safe. Learn more here.

About GoCanvas

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Analytics and Data Collection | Compliance and Safety | Disaster Preparation

Five Steps to Successful Job Safety Analysis

Posted on October 26, 2020March 10, 2025 by Danny Kanev

Five Steps to Successful Job Safety Analysis

Step One: Choose a Job to Analyze

Every effective safety program starts with identifying and addressing hazards before incidents occur. Ideally, you will want to perform a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) for every task performed at your worksite. But safety managers and employees have limited time to analyze all of the various jobs associated with their operations. So it’s important to prioritize the jobs to be analyzed, to ensure the most critical are examined first.

OSHA recommends the following criteria when deciding job analysis priority:

Jobs with the highest injury or illness rates
Jobs with the potential to cause severe or disabling injuries or illness, even if there is no history of previous accidents
Jobs in which one simple human error could lead to a severe accident or injury
Jobs that are new to your operation or have undergone changes in processes and procedures
Jobs complex enough to require written instructions

Step Two: Identify Job Site Needs and Task Breakdown

Once you have decided on a specific job to analyze, you should break down the entire job into a list of tasks to be performed. You will want to list every necessary step from start to finish.

For example, operating a piece of equipment may include:

Preparing for the job
Turning on the device
Performing the task
Shutting down the machine
Completing any necessary clean-up

Doing this sort of breakdown and analysis may seem time-consuming, but each of these steps require different safety measures and personal protective equipment (PPE). So it is vital to analyze every step for an overall picture of what hazards could occur during a job.

Step Three: Determine Hazards and Risks

Now we come to the focus of any JSA – identifying the potential hazards associated with a job. Once you’ve broken down a job into individual steps, you can more easily see the risk present in each task. Many safety managers will even identify hazards in tandem with the task breakdown, as they will be more aware of the environment and potential risks of every step.

As you proceed through the sequence of tasks for a job, it is important to address the following questions:

What type of hazard is present?
What is the risk level of this hazard?
How probable is this hazard?

The answers to these questions can vary depending on the specific potential hazards and work environments associated with each job. Consulting with employees who regularly complete a job is a solid tool to properly identify hazards, as well as using established checklists and resources from digital safety solutions.

Step Four: Develop Preventative Controls

Reducing risk and preventing incidents on a job comes down to taking proper preventative measures. The types of prevention available depend on the potential hazards, and can be generally broken down into five categories:

Elimination – Physically remove the hazard from the environment
Substitution – Replace the hazard with a safer option
Engineering controls – Isolate your team from the hazard
Administration controls – Change the way people work to avoid the hazard
PPE – Protect your team with personal protective equipment

Once a JSA has been completed, the related reports should be documented and made available to your employees. Every worker who performs a job needs to be aware of the associated hazards and what preventive measures will help keep them safe.

This also means making sure that the reports are easy to access and understand. When a worker is training for a particular job, the related JSAs should be provided to them and confirmed that they were read. This helps keep your team safe and ensures accountability if an incident were to occur on a job.

Looking for a safety solution that covers every step of an effective Job Safety Analysis? GoCanvas Safety includes pre-built digital forms so you can collect accurate and complete information for every job. Established PPE checklists, environment photo capture, and hazard analysis tables means that you get the vital details every time, so you can focus on taking the appropriate actions to keep your team safe. Learn more here.

About GoCanvas

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.