Tracking real production hours and costs
Without logged hours there is no known margin. A light method the shop will actually use.
Log it without bureaucracy
Time tracking only works if it is fast. Starting, pausing and finishing an operation should take seconds from a phone or tablet on the floor.
If it requires filling in forms, nobody does it and the data stops being reliable within two weeks.
Hours per operation, not per day
Logging eight hours 'on the Smith job' teaches you nothing. Logging two hours cutting, one edgebanding and three assembling lets you fix future estimates.
Over time each part type earns a standard time you can quote from.
Real cost versus quoted cost
Real job cost is consumed material plus logged hours at the crew's hourly rate, plus outsourced services.
Comparing that with the quote shows, without argument, where the money is lost: in pricing, in estimating or in execution.
What to do with variances
Repeated variance on the same operation means the estimate is wrong. One-off large variances usually mean unbilled changes.
Adjust your standard times and record every client change as a new quote version.