The two clocks: why payroll and billing don’t measure the same time

Here's technician Marc's day: leaves at 7:10, first client at 7:40, three jobs, 40 minutes of driving between sites, lunch, back at 4:30.

Two distinct questions: how many hours do you pay Marc? And how many hours do you bill the three clients? Most businesses answer with a single stopwatch — and that's where margins leak.

Why one stopwatch fails

• If you pay Marc "door to door" and bill only on-site time, the gap (driving, waiting, surprises) comes straight out of your margin — without ever showing up anywhere.
• If you bill all paid time, your clients pay for driving between sites that doesn't concern them — until one compares hours and disputes.
• And if the timesheet is filled from memory on Friday, both numbers are wrong.

The two-clock model

The payroll clock follows the employee's day per your HR policy: first arrival → last completion, or first "On my way" → last completion, or manual punch. The billing clock follows time per client per your commercial policy: travel always billed, only between sites, only above a threshold, or never.

Both clocks read the same GPS timestamps (en route, arrival, work start, completion, departure) — there's only one reality, but two configurable readings.

What it changes

• The paid-vs-billed gap becomes a visible metric per technician per period: your road cost, in black and white.
• Timesheets build in real time; no more Friday memory.
• Client disputes settle with GPS arrival proof, not word against word.

This is the heart of MainteQC — both clock policies are configured in settings, and the features page shows the detail.