Write the day down once, on the day
Whatever tool you use, three rules keep this clean:
- One line per worker, per job, per day, with his rate. Written the same day, not on Friday from memory.
- Owed and paid are two different things. A day is owed until you pay it, and the payment says how: cash, Zelle or check.
- The same day is also the job's labor cost. If you write it twice, in payroll and in the job, sooner or later the two numbers disagree.
Keep the papers next to the money
Decide for each person whether he is a 1099 contractor or a W-2 employee, and keep the form that goes with it: a W-9 for a 1099, a W-4 and an I-9 for a W-2. In January your accountant will ask for exactly that and the year's payouts. If you are not sure which one a worker is, ask your accountant before you pay him.
How it works in WorkTime CRM
Open a project, Team, Crew, and add a worker. A name is enough; the phone is only for texting him a link. On his card press "✓ Worked", pick the day and the amount, and save. The first amount becomes his day rate, so next time it is already filled in. With two or more workers on a job, "✓ Everyone worked today" marks the whole crew in one tap.
That one tap writes the day in two places: the job's labor cost on the Money tab, and Accounting → Team Pay as owed, with the job name. The money is counted once. When you pay, pick cash, Zelle or check and press "Paid". A worker with several owed days gets "Pay all".
The card "Crew by the week" in Team Pay shows any week: who worked how many days, on which jobs, and what is still owed. Each person also has a Taxes row: mark him 1099 or W-2 and keep his W-9, or his W-4 and I-9, right there. Those files are private.
Or let the worker tap it himself
Send the worker his personal link. If he is paid by the day, his "Start work" on a job records that day at his rate, with his location on the tap. Same two places, and a day is never counted twice.
