Revenue Leaks, Episode 1: The Cost of Unbilled Time (and How to Track It)

Field service businesses lose money in many small, quiet ways, but unbilled time is one of the most common and most damaging. It doesn’t show up on financial statements in an obvious way. It rarely gets discussed during team meetings. Most business owners acknowledge it happens, but underestimate how much it costs.

Across roofing, plumbing, flooring, HVAC, electrical, fencing, cleaning, landscaping, and every other trade, unbilled time drains revenue day after day. It slips through cracks in processes, habits, communication, and documentation. And because the gaps are small—ten minutes here, another ten there—it’s easy to ignore until you add up the months of lost labor.

This is the first episode in the Revenue Leaks series, and it covers one of the biggest issues affecting field service profitability: unbilled time in field service and how much it impacts job costing, scheduling, growth, and margins.

In any field service operation, labor is your largest expense and your biggest opportunity for profit. Every hour your team spends on a job has value. The problem is that not every hour gets billed. Some of that time simply disappears in the chaos of a typical workday.

“Unbilled time” refers to labor that was performed but never made it onto an invoice. It’s real work, real effort, and real cost—but no revenue is assigned to it.

The tricky part is that it rarely shows up as one big chunk. It usually comes in small pockets:

• A few minutes of extra troubleshooting

• A short trip to grab something from the shop

• An adjustment that seemed too minor to charge for

• Ten minutes spent waiting for access

• Cleanup or setup that wasn’t added to the job

  
  

These small gaps feel harmless, but they compound fast. Ten to fifteen minutes per job is all it takes to see a monthly revenue leak that could have funded an extra technician, a new truck, or upgraded equipment.

Every trade business deals with this, and most don’t realize how much it is holding them back. The good news is that once you learn how to track labor time consistently and build better workflows, the issue becomes easier to fix.

Section 1: What Counts as Unbilled Time

Many business owners think unbilled time only means tasks that took much longer than expected. That’s only part of it. Unbilled time also includes dozens of tiny moments throughout the day that never get captured.

Below are the most common categories.

1. Travel Time That Wasn’t Added to the Invoice

This includes driving between job sites, unexpected detours, or longer routes due to traffic. If travel is part of your pricing model, missed travel entries add up quickly.

2. Picking Up Materials

A stop at the supplier for one missing part may feel reasonable, but unless it’s billed, it becomes unpaid labor. Many teams forget to log these trips or assume they’re “too small to charge.”

3. On-Site Adjustments

Small fixes, quick adjustments, or minor labor done outside the primary task often go unbilled. These moments accumulate across dozens of jobs.

4. Additional Labor Outside the Original Scope

Scope creep is one of the biggest sources of revenue leaks. If extra work gets completed but not documented, the time disappears from your job costing.

5. Measurements, Revisions, and Admin Tasks

These tasks are real labor. Whether it’s taking extra measurements, updating paperwork, or revising a work order, these minutes need to be captured.

6. Fixing Mistakes or Rework

When a mistake needs correction, many teams handle it quickly to avoid customer frustration. But the labor is still a cost, and if it’s not tracked, it distorts your profitability.

7. Waiting for Customers or Access

When technicians arrive early, or customers are late, or gates are locked, that time often goes unbilled unless logged correctly.

8. Time Spent Clarifying Unclear Job Notes

If technicians must call the office or estimator because the job notes don’t include everything they need, this communication time often goes unrecorded.

All of this is unbilled time. And none of it is rare.

Section 2: Why Unbilled Time Happens

Unbilled time doesn’t usually come from intentional oversight. It comes from the pace of field service work and the lack of structure around labor tracking. Here are the most common causes.

1. Loose Time-Tracking Habits

Some technicians round down their hours. Others forget to update logs until the end of the day. A few feel uncomfortable billing for tasks that seem small.

2. Lack of Standardized Job Documentation

When job descriptions vary from job to job, technicians make assumptions. Missing details lead to extra tasks that don’t get captured.

3. Jobs Started Based on Verbal Approvals

Verbal instructions often leave gaps. Without written scope and pricing updates, additional work gets completed without billing.

4. Poor Communication Between Estimator and Field Tech

If estimators don’t pass complete job information to the field, technicians end up doing more labor than expected without updating the invoice.

5. Jobs That Evolve On-site But Aren’t Updated

It’s common for a job to shift once a technician arrives. Extra tasks appear, but unless someone logs them formally, they stay off the invoice.

6. Pressure to “Just Get It Done”

Many teams want to avoid calling the office for approvals or adding time because they feel it inconveniences customers.

7. Teams Not Logging Add-ons or Small Tasks

Adjusting a hinge, trimming flooring edges, or tightening a faucet may take a few minutes, but skipped entries add up.

When these behaviors repeat daily across multiple technicians, it creates a significant contractor workflow problem.

Section 3: The Real Cost — Why a Few Minutes Matter More Than You Think

Unbilled time doesn’t feel expensive when you look at it in small pieces. Ten or fifteen minutes here and there doesn’t seem harmful during a busy day. The problem is scale. When every technician loses a small block of time on every job, it compounds fast.

Across a team with several technicians running multiple jobs a day, these small gaps can easily add up to dozens of hours of lost billable labor each month. For most field service companies, that translates to a meaningful amount of revenue—often enough to cover an additional hire, upgrade equipment, or reinvest in operations.

Even conservative estimates show that a little untracked time on every job becomes one of the biggest revenue leaks trades experience. It eats into margins, affects job costing accuracy, and limits growth without anyone noticing it in real time.

Section 4: Early Warning Signs Your Company Is Losing Money

Most businesses feel the symptoms long before they recognize the source. Here are the most reliable signs:

• Jobs regularly take longer than estimated, but invoices stay fixed.

• Labor overages show up on job costing reports without clear explanations.

• Technicians say, “It only took a few minutes” when describing extra work.

• Jobs require frequent return visits to finish small tasks.

• Paperwork or digital logs don’t match the time technicians actually spent on-site.

• Travel time is inconsistent or missing.

• You see constant gaps between estimated and actual labor hours.

• Technicians rush to the next job without logging what they did.

If you see any of these patterns, you’re likely losing revenue to unbilled time.

Section 5: How to Track Unbilled Time (Step-by-Step)

Getting control of unbilled time starts with documenting labor in a simple, consistent way. The following steps work across plumbing, roofing, flooring, HVAC, fencing, landscaping, electrical, and other field service operations.

1. Use Daily Digital Time Logs

Paper logs get lost. Memory is unreliable. Digital time tracking helps teams record labor in real time with timestamps that are hard to dispute.

2. Add Job Checklists with Predefined Labor Categories

When technicians can choose from predefined tasks—setup, teardown, adjustments, pickup, travel—they capture more of their actual effort.

3. Track Travel, Setup, Teardown, and Add-ons Separately

These categories highlight patterns in workflow and help identify where time disappears.

4. Standardize Task Durations

Give your team reference numbers for typical tasks. This reduces guesswork and improves job costing accuracy.

5. Compare Estimated vs. Actual Labor Weekly

A weekly review prevents small errors from building into larger profit issues. It also helps you adjust future quotes.

6. Log Material Pickups and Corrections

Even a five-minute pickup should be logged. When logged consistently, you’ll find patterns that show whether the root issue is inventory, planning, or communication.

7. Use Timestamped Job Activity

Automated timestamps encourage accurate time entries and give managers a clear view of workflow patterns.

This is the most effective way to understand labor tracking in field service and reduce future revenue leaks.

Section 6: How to Eliminate Unbilled Time Going Forward

Tracking is the first step. Eliminating it requires better workflows.

1. Use Pre-priced Add-ons

Common small tasks shouldn’t be free. Pre-price them so technicians can add them to invoices immediately.

2. Provide Clear Job Notes for Every Visit

Techs shouldn’t guess what’s included. Clarity reduces unnecessary communication and prevents unplanned labor.

3. Require Approvals for Extra Tasks

If a job expands, the invoice should expand too. A simple approval step prevents revenue leaks.

4. Encourage Real-time Job Updates

Waiting until the end of the day increases the chance of missed entries.

5. Standardize Estimator-to-Tech Handoffs

Everyone should follow the same communication flow. This prevents mismatched expectations.

6. Create Standard Operating Procedures for Small Tasks

From adjustments to cleanup, SOPs clarify what’s billable and what’s included.

7. Train Teams to Capture All Billable Moments

Most technicians underestimate the value of their time. A short training session helps them understand how these gaps affect the business.

When these systems are in place, unbilled time drops dramatically, and field service profitability rises.

Section 7: Bonus — How to Talk to Customers About Labor Charges

Capturing all billable time doesn’t mean creating friction. Here’s how contractors can communicate labor charges clearly.

1. Be Transparent Upfront

Tell customers what’s included in the quote and what counts as extra.

2. Explain Small Tasks When Needed

Customers appreciate clarity. A simple explanation like “Adjusting the frame required an extra 15 minutes of labor” builds trust.

3. Keep the Focus on Value

When the customer understands the work involved, the charge makes sense.

4. Document Everything

Clear notes prevent misunderstandings during billing discussions.

5. Stick to Your Policies

Consistency reduces disputes and reinforces professionalism.

Being upfront helps you reduce revenue loss in trades without damaging customer relationships.

Conclusion

Unbilled time is one of the most invisible but harmful revenue leaks that trades experience. It grows quietly through small gaps—missed travel logs, adjustments that felt too minor to charge for, material pickups, unclear job notes, and rushed entries.

Once you begin tracking time accurately, the issue becomes clear. Once you build systems and workflows around capturing labor consistently, the revenue leak slows down. Many contractors gain thousands in recovered labor simply by tightening this process.

This episode focused on identifying and fixing unbilled time in field service operations. The next episode in the series will cover another major leak: Underquoting Labor — The Silent Profit Killer.