You are pricing time tracking for an electrical shop with 10 to 30 people, and ExakTime is on the list. This guide works out ExakTime pricing for electrical contractors using the vendor's own published numbers, crew size by crew size.
Prices below were checked on November 3, 2026, on arcoro.com/exaktime/pricing-plans. Every dollar total is example arithmetic: crew size times the listed starting price. Run it with your own headcount.
Price is the first question. The second one matters more on a T&M job: when the GC questions a ticket, what does the record actually say?
What Does ExakTime Cost an Electrical Contractor?
ExakTime, now sold as Arcoro Time, lists three plans starting at $9, $12 and $20 per employee per month, on an annual contract paid annually.
Those are "starts at" prices. Monthly and quarterly terms exist, but the pricing page does not list a price for them. Volume pricing is offered for large organizations.
| Plan | Listed starting price | Terms as listed |
|---|
| Time Essential | $9 per employee per month | Annual contract, annual payment |
| Time Professional | $12 per employee per month | Annual contract, annual payment |
| Time + Payroll | $20 per employee per month | Annual contract, annual payment |
| Monthly or quarterly terms | Not listed | Ask for a quote |
ExakTime Pricing Worked Out for a 10, 20 and 30 Person Crew
The table multiplies headcount by each listed starting price. These are floor numbers, not quotes. Your quote may differ.
| Crew size (input) | Essential at $9 | Professional at $12 | Time + Payroll at $20 |
|---|
| 10 employees | $90/mo ($1,080/yr) | $120/mo ($1,440/yr) | $200/mo ($2,400/yr) |
| 15 employees | $135/mo ($1,620/yr) | $180/mo ($2,160/yr) | $300/mo ($3,600/yr) |
| 20 employees | $180/mo ($2,160/yr) | $240/mo ($2,880/yr) | $400/mo ($4,800/yr) |
| 30 employees | $270/mo ($3,240/yr) | $360/mo ($4,320/yr) | $600/mo ($7,200/yr) |
Example: 20 employees x $12 (Professional) = $240 a month, or $2,880 for the year. Because the listed terms are annual payment, plan on that yearly figure as one bill unless the quote says otherwise.
Headcount is the input to get right. Before you multiply, decide who counts: field electricians, apprentices, the foreman, the office. Then ask the vendor whether every one of them is billed.
What the Listed Price Leaves Out
The pricing page answers "what does it start at." It leaves several questions open that change the real number for a small electrical sub.
| Open question | Why it matters to a 10-30 person shop |
|---|
| What is the monthly-billing price? | Monthly terms are offered but unpriced. If you want to avoid a year-long commitment, you need that number before you sign. |
| What does "starts at" become in my quote? | The listed figures are floors. Get the per-employee rate in writing. |
| Who counts as a billed employee? | Office staff, seasonal helpers and apprentices can change the headcount input. |
| How long is the free trial, and does it need a card? | A trial is offered; its length is not stated. |
| Is any hardware or add-on required for how we work? | The pricing page does not list hardware costs. Ask so the total is complete. |
| Where does volume pricing start? | It is offered for large organizations. Ask whether a 30-person crew qualifies. |
None of these are red flags. They are the questions any buyer asks before signing an annual contract.
What Each Arcoro Time Tier Buys
All three plans include GPS and perimeter control. Professional adds alerts, scheduling and job assignment, and PTO. Time + Payroll adds Arcoro Payroll.
| Feature (as listed by the vendor) | Essential | Professional | Time + Payroll |
|---|
| Time tracking with GPS and perimeter control | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts | No | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduling and job assignment | No | Yes | Yes |
| PTO | No | Yes | Yes |
| Arcoro Payroll | No | No | Yes |
How to pick a tier for an electrical shop:
- Essential fits if you only need clean in and out times by job, and you already run payroll and scheduling elsewhere.
- Professional fits if a foreman or the office assigns crews to jobs each morning and you want that in the same system.
- Time + Payroll fits only if you plan to move payroll off your current provider. It lists at $20 per employee per month against $12 for Professional, so if payroll already runs through QuickBooks or an outside service, the example difference is $8 per employee per month for payroll you already have.
How Does ExakTime Connect to QuickBooks?
ExakTime imports hours into QuickBooks Online, Pro, Premier and Enterprise through what the vendor calls "account-bridging software."
The QuickBooks page does not name which QuickBooks Online plan is required or what kind of record the hours become. Ask these on the call:
- Which QuickBooks Online plan do we need for the import to work?
- Do hours land as time activities, as payroll hours, or as something else?
- Do they land on the right QuickBooks customer and job, or do we assign those by hand?
- Does the crew's note travel into QuickBooks with the hours?
- Is the import automatic, or does someone in the office run it?
The Question the Price Sheet Does Not Answer: What Does the Record Say?
Most time records say when someone clocked in and out and how many hours that adds up to, which is not enough to explain a T&M charge when a customer questions it.
The price sheet tells you what the clock costs. It does not tell you what the record says when a customer asks, "What were your people doing for nine hours?"
Picture the T&M invoice that gets pushed back. The work was real. The hours were real. The charge was fair. What was missing was the explanation.
Here is the same day, recorded two ways:
| What the record shows | What the customer can check |
|---|
| 8.77 hrs | Nothing. They have to take your word for it. |
| Thu 7:02a-3:48p, pulled and terminated circuits 12-18, second-floor east wing | The date, the window, the circuits and the location. They can walk the floor and see it. |
The first line starts an argument. The second one ends it before it starts.
GPS and perimeter control answer a different question. The phone recorded a location at clock-in. That is useful context, but it does not say what got done. Only the person who did the work can say that.
So when you compare time clocks, compare two things: the price per head, and whether the record carries a line of what got done that you can hand to a customer.
The ExakTime pricing page lists GPS, perimeter control, alerts, scheduling and PTO. It does not describe a field note on the time record. Ask whether one exists, and whether it prints on something you would send a GC.
How Do You Get the Crew to Write Anything Down?
Ask for one line at clock-out, in a fixed shape, and make it faster to write than to skip. Long daily reports get skipped. One line gets written.
The obstacle is real. Electricians are paid to pull wire, not write. After an eight-hour day in a ceiling, nobody wants to fill out a form. That is a reasonable position, so design around it.
The one-line format:
[What you did] + [which circuits, panels or devices] + [where].Examples a crew member can copy:
- Pulled and terminated circuits 12-18, second-floor east wing
- Set and wired panel LP-2A, electrical room 104
- Rough-in for 14 receptacles and 6 switches, units 3B and 3C
- Trenched and set conduit, parking lot light poles 1-4
- Troubleshot tripping breaker 22 at RTU-3, found and replaced damaged whip
- Waited on GC to clear ceiling grid, area C, 10:15a-11:40a
How to roll it out:
- Tell the crew why: the note protects their work when a customer pushes back on the bill.
- Ask for one line, not a paragraph. Show the examples above.
- Accept short notes. "Circuits 12-18, 2nd fl east" is enough.
- Read the notes for two weeks and say something when a note saved an argument.
- Fix vague notes by asking one question: "Which circuits, and where?"
A Billing Backup Format You Can Use With Any Time Clock
Whatever you buy, the customer should get the same backup page behind every T&M invoice. Here is the layout. Copy it.
Example backup page (illustrative names and rates):
| Date | Worker | Time in-out | Hours | What was done | Bill rate (example) | Amount (example) |
|---|
| Thu 10/29 | Journeyman A | 7:02a-3:48p | 8.77 | Pulled and terminated circuits 12-18, second-floor east wing | $95.00 | $833.15 |
| Thu 10/29 | Apprentice B | 7:05a-3:45p | 8.67 | Assisted pulls, labeled circuits 12-18, second-floor east wing | $65.00 | $563.55 |
The rates and names above are example inputs, not real people or a rate recommendation. Amount is hours times bill rate.
Rules for the page:
- Show the bill rate, never the cost rate. What you pay the crew, labor burden and margin stay off anything the customer sees.
- Every line gets a note. A line without one is the line that gets questioned.
- Location is supporting context only. Write "the phone recorded a location at clock-in," not a claim about what happened on site.
- Match the invoice total exactly. If the backup and the invoice disagree by a dollar, that is the conversation you will have.
Questions to Ask on the ExakTime Sales Call
Bring this list. Write the answers down next to each one.
- What is my per-employee price on an annual contract, at my headcount?
- What is the price on monthly terms, and on quarterly terms?
- Who counts as a billed employee?
- How long is the free trial, and is a card required?
- Is any hardware required, or can every worker use their own phone?
- Which QuickBooks Online plan do we need, and what record do hours become?
- Do hours land on the right QuickBooks customer and job automatically?
- Can a worker add a note about what got done, and does it show on exports?
- Can I print a customer-facing page that shows bill rate but hides cost rate?
- What happens to our data if we do not renew?
How to Decide
| Your situation | What to look at |
|---|
| Mostly bid work, little T&M, payroll handled elsewhere | Essential pricing. The note matters less when the customer pays a fixed number. |
| Office assigns crews daily and wants it in one place | Professional pricing. Price out $12 x your headcount. |
| Ready to replace your payroll provider | Time + Payroll. Compare $20 x headcount against your current payroll cost. |
| Heavy T&M and change-order work | Whatever clock you choose, confirm it captures a note per entry and prints a customer-safe page. If not, add the paper method. |
| You want no annual commitment | Get the unlisted monthly price in writing before comparing. |
For a broader checklist that covers any vendor, see the buyer checklist for electrician time tracking. If you are already on ExakTime and weighing a move, the switching guide covers the steps. For a similar breakdown of another vendor, see ClockShark pricing for electrical contractors.
Disclosure: FieldTimesheet, which publishes this blog, also sells electrician time tracking. Its comparison pages for ExakTime and ClockShark are written by a vendor, so check every claim against the competitor's own pricing page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does ExakTime cost per worker?
Arcoro Time (formerly ExakTime) lists Time Essential from $9, Time Professional from $12 and Time + Payroll from $20 per employee per month. Those prices assume an annual contract paid annually, as checked November 3, 2026.
What would ExakTime cost a 20-person electrical crew?
Example arithmetic at listed starting prices: 20 x $9 = $180 a month on Essential, 20 x $12 = $240 on Professional, and 20 x $20 = $400 on Time + Payroll. Your quote may differ, so get the per-employee rate in writing.
Is there a monthly option without an annual contract?
Monthly and quarterly terms are offered, but the pricing page does not list a price for them. Ask for that number in writing before you compare it with annual pricing.
Does ExakTime include GPS on every plan?
Yes. GPS and perimeter control are listed on all three plans. Keep in mind that a location at clock-in shows where the phone was, not what work got done.
Which ExakTime plan includes payroll?
Time + Payroll, listed from $20 per employee per month, adds Arcoro Payroll. Essential and Professional do not include payroll.
Does ExakTime work with QuickBooks Online?
ExakTime lists QuickBooks Online plus Pro, Premier and Enterprise, with hours imported through account-bridging software. The QuickBooks page does not name a required QuickBooks Online plan or the record type, so ask both on the sales call.
Does ExakTime produce T&M billing backup for customers?
The pricing page does not describe a customer-facing billing backup or a field note on the time record. Ask on the call, and if the answer is no, build the backup page yourself with the one-line note format and the table in this guide.
Is ExakTime the same as Arcoro Time?
Yes. The product is now sold as Arcoro Time (formerly ExakTime), and the pricing page uses both names.