Time Tracking in Mothernode: What It Is and What It Is Not

[Mothernode Support]

Time Tracking in Mothernode: What It Is—and What It Is Not

Overview

Time tracking in Mothernode is purpose-built for job costing and operational analysis, not employee payroll or timecard management. Understanding this distinction is critical to using the system correctly and avoiding downstream accounting issues.

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What Mothernode Does Track

Mothernode tracks Production Time within Work Centers for the sole purpose of:

• Accurate job costing

• Measuring labor efficiency

• Understanding true project profitability

• Comparing estimated vs. actual production effort

Time is logged against specific jobs, inside defined work centers, to create a reliable cost picture at the job level.

This data lives entirely inside Mothernode and drives internal reporting, dashboards, and job costing metrics.

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What Mothernode Does Not Do

Mothernode is not designed to function as:

• A time clock

• A payroll system

• A wage compliance tool

• A labor law enforcement mechanism

Specifically:

• It should not be used for employee punch-in / punch-out

• It should not be used to calculate payroll hours

• It does not replace timecard or attendance software

Using job-based production time for payroll almost always leads to inaccuracies, disputes, and compliance risk.

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Payroll & Timecards: The Right Approach

If your goal is payroll accuracy, the recommended strategy is:

• Use a dedicated timecard / attendance solution

• Integrate that solution directly with QuickBooks

• Let payroll tools handle wage rules, overtime, breaks, and compliance

There are many proven payroll-focused tools that integrate cleanly with QuickBooks and are purpose-built for this task.

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QuickBooks Integration Clarification

• Job costing data stays in Mothernode

• Production time is not transferred to QuickBooks

• QuickBooks remains the system of record for payroll and accounting

• Mothernode remains the system of record for operations and job costing

This separation is intentional and protects data integrity on both sides.

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Bottom Line

Mothernode tracks how long work took on a job.
Payroll systems track how long an employee worked.

Those are different questions, with different answers—and they belong in different systems.

If you need help choosing a payroll-focused time tracking solution that works alongside Mothernode, our team can point you in the right direction.