What Is a Timesheet?

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

What Is a Timesheet?

A timesheet is a data table that allows you to report the time worked on a job. Instead of using a simple punch card to clock in and clock out, companies will use timesheets for tracking time and related information about the job. Paper or excel spreadsheets are simple methods for time tracking, but many companies prefer to instead use digital technology like mobile apps and software for timesheets.

Much of what’s included on a timesheet is up to the company’s unique needs, so the ability for customization is important when choosing a tool. For example, some organizations may need their employees to fill out timesheets at a determined frequency — like a monthly timesheet, a bi-weekly or weekly timesheet, or a daily timesheet. Companies may also need more detail than a simple time-in/time-out line, so the digital timesheet can be customized to include more detailed information about the particular job site or client information.

Pros and Cons of Different Types of Timesheets

There are definitely some pros and cons when it comes to choosing a tool for timesheets.

Paper timesheets and excel files are basic tools that are simple and not very expensive upfront. The downside with these options is that there tend to be costs in the long-term due to inaccuracies with work hours and inefficiencies for processing the data. 

Inaccuracies can happen when an excel file or document is modified or changed by mistake, due to a human error. It’s possible that employees can delete or corrupt data that creates additional work later on trying to reconcile these issues. For processing the information, paper sheets or excel sheets can create additional work that is often manual and time-consuming. For example, an accounting team may be required to spend additional work processing payroll because the data lives in a spreadsheet on someone’s computer or on a paper sheet that needs to be digitized manually.

To avoid these issues, companies have found that mobile apps and software for timesheets are a better alternative. Timesheet software and apps allow employees to fill in their time and any additional information into a digital form.

Digital timesheets are very useful when employees need to use a timesheet in the field. Simply using a mobile application on a phone, employees can digitize the information and set the company up for success. While there may be a small cost involved with mobile apps and software, companies have found that the efficiency, accuracy, and insights gained are able to offset any of the upfront investment. No matter the size of your organization, there are many great reasons to move your business over from paper or excel sheets, into a more reliable business application that is specifically designed to improve the timesheet processes for your operations.

Why are timesheets necessary?

Timesheets are necessary because they create a record of the time that team members or employees spent working. 

Companies can also use timesheets for more advanced purposes. For example, project managers may want to use timesheets to understand if projects are progressing on time and budget. Another example is lawyers or professional services teams that need to record their billable hours and detailed information about services rendered to the client. Timesheets are necessary for keeping an accurate record of this information, both for invoicing purposes and documentation. 

Many companies also find that timesheets give them greater insight into the work being performed. By understanding how employees, freelancers, and contractors use their time, companies can execute business processes and personnel changes to improve efficiency and revenue. Having this information stored digitally helps to enable companies to easily report on the information that is collected. 

Should exempt employees fill out timesheets?

A question that comes up regularly is whether or not exempt employees who are salaried need to fill out timesheets. 

For employees who do not get paid on an hourly basis, timesheets can still be valuable tools. A daily timesheet can help these types of employees understand how they are using their time and help determine an effective hourly rate. Knowing the effort required to perform work can help determine fair salaries, award additional time off, and determine appropriate pricing for any services those employees provide.

Another benefit to exempt, salaried employees filling out timesheets is for human resources and record-keeping purposes. A timesheet creates a valuable record for noting when a worker is present and when they are using PTO or sick leave. 

How do timesheet apps improve time tracking?

Timesheet software and timesheet mobile apps can help organizations of all sizes and with multiple employees or worker types. Here are some of the key benefits of these technologies:

  • Real-time tracking: An advanced feature with apps is that they can utilize GPS data, worker activity, and more to automatically maintain a record of time. 
  • Field data-collection: Timesheet apps are available on iOS or Android devices, so employees can submit information in the field with ease. 
  • Consistent and trusted information: Apps are designed to standardize how the data is collected, helping to avoid human error and mistakes that are common with paper sheets or excel.
  • Streamlined business processes: Staff members save valuable time when the information is digitized and the data can be used to automate other related tasks or workflows. For example, apps can be integrated with payroll software or HR software to streamline how your teams work.

Timesheet apps and software are simple but very effective for tracking time and any related information to the job. Paper forms and spreadsheets may be a simple option to start, but ultimately these tools will lead to data issues later on that are not ideal for your business. Consider switching to a mobile app for time tracking to eliminate these issues and to gain the operational efficiencies that help your business work smarter.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Getting Started with Health Screening Apps

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

Getting Started with Health Screening Apps

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Health screening is an essential undertaking for many businesses and workplaces to promote public health. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the importance of health screening and it has become a necessary component for many companies and organizations to continue their operations today. 

Some of the actions that fall into this category are the daily screening of employees, health checks of visitors, health questionnaires, and regular logging of visitors for contract tracing purposes.

Many businesses are turning to health screening apps like GoCanvas to keep their customers and employees safe with digital tools that are designed to protect everyone’s best interests. Continue reading this article to learn how these apps work and additional resources to get you started.

How health screening apps improve businesses and work environments

Health screening apps are powerful tools that can help to promote the health and wellness of the general public, including your employees and customers. These tools are designed to support new processes and procedures that are needed for your business to stay open and to ensure that you stay in compliance with regulations and maintain safety protocols for everyone.

GoCanvas health screening tools are deployed as mobile apps, where people can work on iPhones, Androids, or desktop applications to submit the required information. Mobile technologies today are widely adopted by the general public, making them easy to adopt and providing a secure platform that is HIPPA compliant. The result is a comprehensive screening solution that gives you the tools you need to protect your business and promote safety.

What are the different kinds of health screening apps?

There are many types of health screening apps available, some that target a specific virus like COVID-19 and others that are more generalized. Typically you will see that health screening apps include things like questionnaires, checklists, logs, risk assessment, screening forms, self-assessments, and other forms used as screening solutions. 

Primarily, health screening apps are used by corporate offices or businesses. They’re also being used by government agencies, schools, restaurants, and other similar types of commercial environments. Since GoCanvas’ platform is HIPAA compliant, these apps are also viable options for healthcare providers and medical offices, in addition to commercial organizations.  

For more information on different kinds of apps, you can search in the GoCanvas app store to see the various types of health and infectious disease-related apps that are available to get started with for free.

Uses for health screening apps

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the primary use case today for health screening apps is to identify exposure and detect potential coronavirus symptoms for people entering public spaces or businesses.

In addition to screening, these apps can also have automation built-in for notifications. These features can help to notify other employees about a potential exposure if they have been near someone who reports a positive test, symptoms, or exposure.

The pandemic has made screening apps necessary for resuming many activities in our daily lives, and the public has become increasingly aware of the need to comply with screening to promote public health. 

Beyond COVID-19, health screening apps can be applied for similar health and public safety scenarios that would require an organization to perform this type of check.

Using health screening apps for COVID-19 screening

Many businesses have been relying on health screening apps during the COVID-19 pandemic to reopen safely and in compliance with state and federal mandates. Health screening apps help slow the spread of COVID-19, enable contact tracing for visitors, and encourage employees who are not feeling well to stay home rather than coming to work while potentially ill.

As vaccines become more available to the general public, using these apps can also provide an effective screening solution for companies that need to have a vaccination log. 

This gives companies the ability to limit entry to spaces for people who are either fully vaccinated or those who can pass specific screening measures such as temperature checks or COVID-19 symptom self-assessments. Ultimately, it’s up to businesses and individuals to stay in compliance with any of the regulations in their states and health screening apps are designed to empower organizations with tools that are needed for this purpose.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way that we approach daily health monitoring. Businesses and human resources departments are deciding how to implement new employee health screening procedures to take temperatures, evaluate symptoms, and identify close contact or exposures.

Many types of organizations will want to implement health screening apps for things like religious ceremonies, gatherings at educational institutions, concerts and venues, events, and more. These apps for real-time health monitoring can help provide the needed tools to perform contact tracing, symptom self-reporting, and temperature checks.

Businesses are closely monitoring the situation in their states and will continue to rely on health screening apps to prevent further spread of the disease and to promote the health and safety of their employees and customers.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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4 Reasons Your Business Needs Time Card Apps

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

4 Reasons Your Business Needs Time Card Apps

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Time card apps present an opportunity for you to increase your team’s efficiency and streamline time-tracking workflows for your business operations.

These types of applications are widely used to help hourly workers or contractors track their time digitally so they can be paid based on hours worked.

So when does it make sense to switch from manual time cards and punch clocks to digital apps? Continue reading this article for a look at some of the top reasons for using time card apps and how to know when it makes sense for your business to switch.

Benefits of time card apps vs. time clocks and paper timesheets

Using paper sheets to track employees’ time can be inefficient and error-prone. Paper sheets tend to get lost over time, manual work is required to process the paperwork, and mistakes are often made by employees or required information can be missing from the document.

Time card apps, time clock apps, and time tracking apps provide flexibility in how your business can track time and work hours for employees, contractors, freelancers, and more. When you think about the time spent on mobile devices today, it makes sense that workers should be able to use an app on their iOS devices such as iPhones, iPads, or Android mobile devices.

The data collected in apps are then available for office administrators or workers to access on a desktop, as needed. Here are 4 business reasons to switch to time card apps instead of paper or spreadsheets:

1. Need for secure and reliable cloud applications

Paper time cards are error-prone and subject to being lost by employees or HR departments before being submitted for payroll or invoicing. 

But with time card apps, work is tracked in real-time and the data is automatically stored securely in the cloud or locally to the device. This reliability makes mobile time tracking apps and time clock apps ideal for small businesses and enterprise-level companies to ensure that accurate records are kept. 

Time card apps are more secure than traditional paper timesheets or even online timesheets, giving your workers the ability to manage the entire process from their mobile devices. 

If security and reliability are top priorities for your business and you can’t afford to lose data, then it definitely makes sense to have your time card processes moved over to a secure cloud application that can provide peace of mind.

2. Need for automation and workflows

Time card apps also allow you to introduce simple automation rules that can change the way your teams operate. For example, using time tracking software or time management software in conjunction with a time card app, companies can automatically submit employee hours to payroll platforms such as ADP, QuickBooks, Xero, Workday, Paychex, and other payroll services. This streamlines processes for your teams and makes the entire process seamless, freeing up valuable time that can be spent elsewhere.

If productivity is a challenge and you need to free up time for your staff, consider using apps that can modernize your process and automate tasks that would otherwise be manual and time-consuming.

3. Need for GPS tracking and geofencing

If your business needs to verify that work has been performed on-site, the GPS functionality of a mobile app can provide a way to verify the exact location. For this use case, businesses are using time card apps on mobile devices that tap into GPS location features to identify when workers enter a job site and when they leave a job site in real-time. 

This practice is often referred to as “geofencing,” where companies draw a digital boundary around a specific area. As users’ devices enter or exit that area, a time tracker can kick in to track billable hours.

If your business relies on a distributed or field workforce, then there is a strong business case for implementing mobile apps that are designed to simplify field operations management.

4. Growing business complexity

If you have a complex business with different categories of workers, it can be beneficial to use time card apps and timesheet apps to manage this process. The apps can handle the hours submitted by full-time employees, part-time employees, freelancers, and contractors differently. 

Some of these workers may have different pricing levels. Others may require the withholding of taxes, and others may require payment through various hiring platforms. All of these differentiators are trackable with proper time management tools.

When you are getting to this level of complexity with managing time, there’s definitely a clear advantage to time card apps and the amount of time saved through simplified processes.

Templates to build your own time management apps 

Every business is unique, with different people, processes, and technologies in place. Two important considerations when selecting a time management solution are ease of use and level of customization.

Given all of the nuances of your business, you need the ability to customize an app to fit your requirements. But at the same time, it shouldn’t require an advanced level of technical expertise or a big budget to achieve that customization.

Organizations have found that GoCanvas provides the ideal balance between customization and ease of use. Using our drag-and-drop app builder requires no coding to publish custom apps for your specific business needs.

The simplicity of the product and the extensive library of templates gives you the ability to very quickly build advanced apps, for time cards and many other common business cases.   

Navigate to the GoCanvas app store to view all of the time card apps that we have pre-built as templates. Make sure to use the search feature to find other examples and templates specific to your industry or use case.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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9 Ways Companies are Utilizing Reference Data

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

9 Ways Companies are Utilizing Reference Data

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The apps built using GoCanvas have access to a powerful tool that allows businesses to pull information from dynamic and static data sources to populate fields and information in apps automatically – this tool is called Reference Data. App developers can include reference data in apps by uploading a CSV file into GoCanvas and referencing it from within an app or through web-based integrations. An app can reference multiple sources of reference data, and multiple apps can use a single source of reference data.

There are many reasons why users may want to use reference data, but the two most popular ones include populating a drop-down list and auto-populating fields. Developers can implement drop-down lists with reference data to allow users to pick from a pre-built table (CSV file) while pulling information mapped to additional columns in that file.  

Manufacturing Uses

Manufacturers can benefit from the use of reference data in various ways. A major use case for manufacturers is related to inspections and quality control. Properly inspecting items and ensuring the quality of products coming off the production line is critical for manufacturers to operate effectively and maintain a good reputation. Developers can also use reference data to improve safety checks by customizing evaluations of production lines and process controls.

Equipment Inspections

GoCanvas has plenty of apps that users can use to perform inspections in manufacturing facilities. These apps help ensure that technicians can inspect equipment used in manufacturing and inspect the end-product. The use of reference data can significantly improve the performance and value of these inspections. For example, a manufacturer can use GoCanvas at various points on its production line. Apps can map reference data on a production line so that as a specific object or component passes in front of an inspector or user, that object or element can be selected from a drop-down list or identified with a barcode scanner. Additional columns of reference data in a CSV file can provide users with inspection criteria required to perform an inspection accurately. 

Quality Control

Similarly, quality control processes can ensure that final outputs on a production line meet various criteria and pass quality control measures. Quality control professionals can select items from a drop-down list or use a barcode scanner to pull the correct information to allow them to perform a detailed check of the item. Reference data can standardize the options that users can select when performing quality control. For example, one product may have various electronics and batteries requiring a different set of quality control details than a manually operated item. Reference data can map the multiple components that need to be checked depending on the item type selected. 

Inventory Management

One of the most prolific uses for Reference Data is inventory management. Inventory management is a critical step of the supply chain process. The process for companies with inventory to catalog what they have available can be daunting, and there is a high potential for incorrectly handled inventory management to cause problems.  

With reference data, app developers can directly map product lists to various fields of GoCanvas apps. This use of reference data helps to standardize product names and also to pull in other information about a product into the app, such as its pricing, a description of the product, its location in a warehouse or storage area, barcode or SKU numbers, and the expected quantity available, among other information.

Integrating barcode functions with inventory management apps allows barcode scanning with either the native functionality of a mobile device’s camera or the use of external, dedicated barcode scanners.

Physical Inventory Audits

Users who need to perform physical inventory audits can use GoCanvas and reference data to track the items in the inventory more effectively. Individuals who perform inventory checks can scan the barcode on an item or select the item’s name from a list populated by reference data. If scanning a barcode, the Reference Data can populate the item name and description into the app. Conversely, if an item’s name is selected, the app can display the SKU number, or users can use a barcode scanner to validate the item type. Users can check the number of items counted during an inventory audit and compare them with the number of items available in an ERP or inventory management system. The app can provide additional information to the user, such as the item’s location, the manufacturer of the item, the type or category of the item, and more.

Field Service Companies

Field service companies are regularly deploying workers into the field to perform a range of different tasks.  

Providing Services Consistently and Efficiently

A service worker can select a specific service from the reference data list, and it can populate the app with the correct screens to document that service. Additionally, depending on the service, the app can use reference data to identify different tools or equipment required to perform that service, the service’s pricing, and other important information. This information can ensure the accurate and consistent performance of services every time.

Dispatch Feature of GoCanvas

If you have been using GoCanvas for your field service company, you have likely been using the Dispatch feature. The Dispatch Feature integrates with GoCanvas apps that have Dispatch Enabled. Dispatchers can send a push notification and pre-populated app to a Service Technician’s device. Dispatchers can use reference data to generate multiple dispatches with multiple data sets from existing reference data files. This process helps quickly create multiple dispatch instances with various information that the dispatcher can map to the Reference Data fields.

Invoices and Estimates

A very straightforward use case for Reference Data is for generating accurate invoices and estimates. A business with a list of the products or services it sells and provides can use Reference Data to ensure the inclusion of up-to-date pricing and consistently name items in generating invoices and estimates. Given a source of Reference Data such as the following table, a user can create an invoice by selecting the Product Name and drop-down field that maps to Product_name. The invoice can include the SKU number by mapping to the Product_sku field, and the pricing automatically populates by mapping to the Product_pricing column. Using this Reference Data keeps Product Names consistent as a user is only able to select “Item A,” “Item B,” or “Item C,” rather than typing the item name which users could write as “Item A,” “A,” “12345A,” or “Item A – 12345A”. This consistent naming schema helps control records’ accuracy while also avoiding issues with entering prices incorrectly or requiring users to refer to outside resources to check an item or service’s pricing.

Product_nameProduct_skuProduct_pricing
Item A12345A9.99
Item B12345B15.99
Item C12345C12.99

Crowd Control and Security

Many businesses and buildings are concerned with controlling the visitors that enter buildings and maintaining buildings’ security. Additionally, events regularly limit individuals’ attendance based on whether they have signed up, registered, or purchased tickets. Reference Data in GoCanvas can pull information from a list of attendees, and the app can map different details related to their registration status to their names.  

Building Access

Buildings with high-security requirements can have a list of potential visitors that identifies the areas they are authorized to visit, notification protocols for when they visit, and specific restrictions on the dates/times they can be on the property. When checking in, a visitor can provide their name. The app can then pull reference data mapped to other information. Security guards can escort individuals who check in to the building areas they are authorized to visit, notify appropriate individuals of their arrival, or deny them access to the building.

Event Access

For events such as conferences, expos, or other exhibits, event producers generally limit attendance based on whether individuals have tickets, if they are with a specific company, or register at the door. Event managers could use reference data to allow a GoCanvas app to associate a name with identifying if that individual has a ticket or has registered for the event. For unregistered users, a user could allow them to register directly in the GoCanvas app when checking in.

Learn More About Reference Data

To learn more about using reference data in GoCanvas, check out our GoCanvas Help Center’s Reference Data section. 

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

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What are the Main Stages and Processes of Incident Reporting?

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

What are the Main Stages and Processes of Incident Reporting?

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Incident reports are effective tools to promote safety in the workplace. You want to do everything in your power to fill out your incident reports as professionally and effectively as possible. We have compiled a thorough list of the main incident reporting stages so you can ensure you’re taking every step to foster a culture of safety in the workplace. Here are the main stages and processes to consider for incident reporting: 

1. Initial response and disclosure 

You should begin the process of incident reporting as soon as an incident or near-miss occurs. Your initial responses should include administering any medical aid that’s necessary, containing spills, and calling the authorities if needed.

You should also contact your company leadership team so they’re aware of the situation and can begin reporting protocols right away. Your leadership team will ensure other team members have left the danger zone and are out of harm’s way.

You can then begin formal documentation once you’ve secured everyone’s safety and notified supervisors. 

2. Preserve and document the scene 

You will need to start your incident reporting by getting formal and accurate documentation immediately after the event has occurred.

You will first want to make sure that your teams have shut down any equipment and that any hazards or spills have been contained. As soon as it’s safe to do so, you will need to preserve the scene of the incident and begin recording the details of the event by taking photographs and videos of the scene.

You will want to begin your documentation before equipment or other materials have been moved for clean-up purposes so that you are getting an accurate picture of the scene. In some instances, you may also want to use tape or cones to prevent team members from compromising the scene before you have had a chance to fully document the incident. 

It’s critical that you record as many details as possible so the investigative team can have the most complete picture of what happened and what led to the event. Here are a few important details that you will want to include when surveying the scene:

  1. Equipment involved in the incident
  2. Cleanliness of the area as well as obvious hazards, such as spills
  3. Weather conditions 
  4. Lighting and noise
  5. The presence or lack of safety guards and safety equipment
  6. General location, date, and time of the incident

3. Gather witness testimony 

Gathering witness testimony is one of the most crucial components of incident reporting and interviewing witnesses in a timely manner will increase your chances of acquiring accurate details about the event. You can move toward collecting information from witnesses once you have finished documenting the scene of the event.

Contact the supervisor to get the names and contact information from anyone that was present and promptly begin interviewing the witnesses. You don’t want to delay these interviews because it’s possible that the memories of witnesses can become blurred with the passage of time – particularly in the case of a traumatic accident or near-miss.

To help you maximize your witness interviews, here are some helpful tips to consider:

  • When possible, conduct your interviews at the scene of the incident to help witnesses remember some of the more minute details of the incident. 
  • Assure witnesses that your job is to gather information and not to place blame. Emphasize that their honesty is crucial to the safety of the workplace and that incident reporting helps to prevent future accidents.
  • Allow witnesses time to think and retell the incident. Ask open-ended questions. 
  • Interview witnesses privately. This gives them the opportunity to recall their own memories of the event and not fall under the influence of another witness’s testimony. 

You should record all this information as thoroughly as possible. In addition to written notes, consider using an audio recorder or filming witness interviews so you don’t miss any crucial details.

It’s best to discuss interview methods with supervisors or leadership before you begin. After an incident, workers might be afraid of providing their testimony, so you will want to make sure they feel safe and supported throughout the process.

4. Complete the form 

You should compile a formal incident report once you’ve gathered all of the pertinent information. OSHA requires workplaces to file incident reports on accidents, injuries, and even near-misses. The administration also provides helpful forms to ensure you record and submit your incident reports correctly. 

5. Report to the authorities 

In certain cases, you will need to submit the report to the appropriate authorities once the report has been completed. For example, this would apply in instances where there’s been a fatality, a hazardous spill, or any other major event where there are statutory requirements for you to disclose this information to the proper authorities. 

6. Determine the causes 

After you file your incident report, you now must work to determine how and why the incident occurred in the first place. This process of investigating a workplace incident is often referred to as a root cause analysis.

You or your investigative team will need to conduct a root cause analysis to locate the gaps in your safety protocols and systems so that you can determine the “root causes” of an incident. OSHA provides a helpful guide for determining the root causes of an incident and this guide outlines helpful questions to ask when executing your investigation.

This guide can help you to consider the incident from multiple viewpoints and ensure you are performing a thorough examination of the incident. 

7. Implement corrective actions 

Once the investigation has been completed, you can start to take steps to prevent a similar incident from occurring again in the future. Your team can implement the corrective actions that are needed to cultivate a culture of workplace safety that’s in the best interest of the organization and its employees. 

The first place to start with your corrective action plan is to understand the safety and quality standards for your workplace. Once you have a solid grasp on these standards, you can begin to plan specific ways of preventing future harm and educating team members on how to practice workplace safety. 

For example, this could be anything from stressing the importance of wearing safety gear to dedicated training on safe equipment use. Your corrective action plans should be tailored to your specific workplace and the weaknesses that you uncovered in the incident investigation. 

Creating a safe and productive workplace

Incident reports are an important part of creating a safe and productive workplace for all your team members. When you take the necessary steps to complete the incident reports, you’re enabling the company to take the appropriate corrective actions, and this will allow the company to be more prepared going forward. At the end of the day, it’s all about doing everything you can to foster a safer working environment for everyone.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

Three people in hard hats looking at a tablet.

Smarter, Faster, Safer: Improving Safety Compliance with Mobile Technology

Compliance, there are many ways we talk about it. A necessary evil, a chore, a struggle, or a critically important part of business. We all know how crucial it is, helping save…

Read the eBook
Woman reviewing information on a tablet.

Your Guide to Waiver Forms — Examples and Templates

Waiver forms are a type of legal protection used by businesses to reduce their liability and risk. This type of agreement between a business and its customers is used…

Read the Blog
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Form Builders and Templates – What You Need to Know

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

Form Builders and Templates – What You Need to Know

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Forms can be complex and many times they can be more nuanced than you might expect. But with properly designed layouts, you can improve workflows, facilitate automation, and enable your business to customize and enhance its data collection practices. Continue reading this blog post for:

  • Information about forms
  • A summary of different types of forms on the market today
  • Examples of industry use cases for forms

What is a form?

A form is a tool that has fields where individuals can write text or select from various options. The end use of forms can vary significantly, but most often they function to register for something, fill out a statement, create a request, or submit an order.

Forms may also be multi-purpose by design, and they can even lead end-users to different outcomes based on how they respond to the form fields.  While most forms are provided blank, some form designers may also leverage placeholder content in digital forms that can prompt users to provide certain types of data.

Forms can also have advanced features like dynamically populating content using data that is being referenced from a database, often referred to as reference data. Reference data can help pre-populate form fields, simplifying the process for people filling out the form by leveraging data that is already known.

The benefit of using forms to collect data is that they help to make data consistent and uniform for storing, processing, and analyzing the data. One common example of using forms is when businesses need to collect data from their customers to store inside a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

Integrating the form with the CRM database allows a business to dynamically populate the form fields based on the data they already have from the customer. It then allows them to collect a standard set of data fields from customers, ensuring that they are bringing in consistent and standard data that can be used when creating reports and performing analysis.

What are the different form builders on the market, and how are they used?

There are different types of form builders available to the market today. Some of these form-building tools have more niche-specific uses, while others have a broad set of use cases. Here’s a quick overview of some of the different form builders on the market today:

Mobile App Forms

Mobile app forms are specialized forms that function as mobile apps. GoCanvas is a leading firm in developing mobile app forms for data collection and sharing. Users can access the form builder to create custom apps that can be used on tablets and smartphones or through a desktop app available on Windows and Apple computers. 

The data from these forms is stored in the cloud and it can help businesses reduce their paper usage. The functional capabilities of GoCanvas apps include GPS location capture, photos, custom form fields, signature capture, and reference data, among others. Users can share form submissions through a .csv file or a PDF report. 

GoCanvas also integrates with a wide range of platforms, including Quickbooks, Salesforce, Dropbox, Google Drive, PulseM, Netsuite, Zendesk, and much more. Through Zapier, GoCanvas can integrate with over 3,000 apps to automate workflows and increase workplace productivity.

WordPress Plugins

There are countless WordPress plugins available that form writers can use to develop and deploy forms accessible from websites. Some of the most popular ones include Gravity Forms, Formidable Forms, WPForms, Jetpack Forms, and others. These form builders are drag-and-drop plugins that are dynamic in their applications. It is relatively easy to embed these forms directly into websites designed on the WordPress CMS. 

Most often, people use these types of forms as a contact form, registration form, or marketing form to collect information for email marketing campaigns. These forms can also function as a submission tool for file uploads or a payment authorization tool that can integrate with PayPal or Stripe systems.

Form data collected through these plugins are typically accessible in various formats, including an online dashboard or exportable format through .csv or XML format. Users can customize these forms by using more advanced CSS or HTML code to define specific looks and functionality.

Email Marketing Forms

Most email marketing campaigns will use lead capture systems and CRMs for marketing and sales purposes. Some of the most well-known email marketing providers include Hubspot, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact – all of which have forms that can integrate with various types of websites, mobile apps, or through stand-alone systems.

In general, these forms are somewhat limited in their capabilities, although it is possible to automate workflows based on inputs and conditional logic. Most commonly, these types of forms are meant to collect basic information that can inform marketing and sales teams about interested customers or prospective customers.

Survey Tools

Google Forms and SurveyMonkey are two popular tools for sending out free or low-cost surveys.  These types of forms can be built with conditional logic, automation, and other capabilities to collect data from groups of all sizes.

Reporting dashboards are also available in these platforms so that users can generate actionable and insightful data from results. Google Forms integrates directly with Google Sheets so that these forms can quickly aggregate data into a cloud-based Google Sheet.

Use cases for different form builders

Given the various types of form builders available to the market, it may be helpful to compare the different uses for each form builders we’ve covered in this article. Here’s a quick summary:

  • Mobile App Forms are helpful tools for businesses that require checklists, reports, data collection tools, evaluations, guidelines, and other tools for recording, reporting, or sharing information.
  • WordPress Plugins can be used in various use cases but are often deployed for contact capture purposes, as registration forms, contact forms, and other somewhat simplistic use cases. 
  • Email Marketing Forms are niche purpose forms, mostly related to capturing contact information for users. 
  • Survey tools are great for collecting responses from respondents and aggregating data into easy-to-understand insights such as charts and graphics. 

How different industries can use forms effectively

Nearly every industry today uses forms to improve its business processes and outcomes. Here are some of the innovative ways that companies are using mobile forms to streamline their operations:

  • Work orders for companies in the construction, repair, and improvement industry may be generated through a form builder to integrate with systems such as Quickbooks so that accounting departments can approve expenditures or authorize work quickly. 
  • Building inspection forms can utilize conditional logic and automation to rapidly dispatch the correct maintenance personnel depending on the nature of an issue during the inspection.
  • Estimate sheets can be used to help businesses to bid effectively on projects, using calculations that can be performed automatically through the form.
  • Time tracking can be automated for staff when companies may leverage GPS capabilities integrated into forms to ensure that inspectors are at the correct job site at the right time
  • Field service reports can streamline communications between workers and their offices, ultimately minimizing miscommunications and improving service outcomes. Field service technicians can use technical service orders to automatically request specialized service types while including pertinent details such as images of problem areas, GPS coordinates of where a problem is, and much more.
  • Forms for Human Resources departments to effectively track employees’ time, ensure proper training sessions are attended, or even authorize vacation and time-off requests with ease.
  • Compliance and safety management for organizations that need to comply with OSHA requirements. These companies use forms for inspection checklists to maintain employee health and safety by ensuring that facilities are in compliance and that proper safety inspections are occurring regularly.

Mobile apps and forms can make an impact on businesses of all types and sizes. If you are looking for other types of forms to use for your business, GoCanvas has done the work for you already – we have over 20,000 mobile app forms that are pre-built for many different industries and use cases to help you get started for free.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Daley’s Drywall Taps GoCanvas For Mobile Field Reports

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

Daley’s Drywall Taps GoCanvas For Mobile Field Reports

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Highlights

  • Streamlined work orders from days into 30 minutes
  • Rich feature set makes it easier to collect important data
  • Improved communications with customers 

Forms Used

  • Field Report
  • Material Order Form
  • Field Incident Report Form

Background

California-based Daley’s Drywall and Taping operates in an industry not known for its use of innovative products or technologies. But this provider of commercial and residential drywall services sped past its 50th year in business due to its progressive approach to meeting and exceeding clients’ expectations for safety, quality and services.

The company’s forward-looking approach has extended to adoption of technology, as long as the technology made a return on investment.

Until 2012 however, one area that remained anchored in paper-based processes was work orders and field reports. Their foremen, working on various sites, continued to fill out and submit these forms by hand. 

With drywall construction projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, manual submission of work orders and field reports was becoming a problem. Taking hours or days to return the office led to delays and inefficiencies in processing. With slow returns, and time spent on data entry, manual submission impacted worker productivity, process efficiency, customer satisfaction and ultimately, Daley’s bottom line.

SOLUTION & RESULTS

In November 2012, Daley’s decided to go with GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile forms for business. Daley’s Drywall foremen quickly embraced the GoCanvas solution, a testament to the intuitive interface with the flexibility built in.

It was intuitive enough that forms could be created, deployed and customized by “non IT” professionals within the organization. The solution was fully deployed within three months and field report forms were created within a week. 

Daley’s Drywall found itself in the same position thousands of GoCanvas customers have; the GoCanvas platform—with 14,000+ customizable mobile forms, the form builder and real-time form management—was revolutionizing their internal processes.

Today more than 40 foremen use the Field Report form, which is customized to fit their needs. Daley’s Drywall also uses other forms, including one for accident and safety investigation forms. Over the past year and a half, this company has seen real, measurable results. Some benefits include:

Real Time Information

Prior to turning to GoCanvas, a work order form for a new project would be signed in triplicate by a client on 3-part carbon forms. With projects at residential and business locations throughout the Bay Area, Daley’s Drywall has foremen leading projects ranging from two-man jobs to 70-person operations. These disparate locations meant that it could take several days for the foreman to return to the office and submit the work order.

Once the foreman returned to the office with required paperwork, the work order would be processed, further prolonging billing. All of these delays could result in losing up to 10 days of cash flow. This drawn out process meant that project managers responsible had delayed visibility into the status of each customer project. 

Today, Daley’s collects information more quickly. Users are able to create some field reports within 30 minutes, which is a dramatic improvement from a process that used to take several days.

In addition, the data captured via GoCanvas’s mobile form solution is automatically transmitted in real-time to Daley’s corporate office. Project managers now receive a consistent flow of key customer and project information. They can analyze this information and head off cost impact issues in the field, or other data related to the project. 

More Efficient Service

When filling out work information with paper, sending information to customers took longer. Not only did the office have to wait hours or days to receive information, so too did Daley’s clients.

Moving from paper-based processes to GoCanvas accelerated the turnaround time for delivering field reports to residential and commercial customers. When customers once waited days, they can receive in real time. As a result, customers have more immediate visibility into projects.  

“By using GoCanvas’s mobile form solution, the process of creating and submitting field reports that used to take several days now can be done in thirty minutes – significantly improving the efficiency of our mobile workforce, cash flow position and customer satisfaction.” – Craig Daley, President, Daley’s Drywall

Rich Feature Set

Previously, Daley’s foremen were restricted by paper: The full information they needed couldn’t be done on paper. In the past, a foreman had to take a picture with a cellphone, email the photo to himself, and then attach it for others to view. Not only was this cumbersome, it also allowed room for error.

With GoCanvas, the foremen today can:

  • Transmit work orders back to the central office in real-time
  • Collect e-signatures from customers on-site 
  • Email the signed e-forms to project managers for immediate processing
  • Take photos of work in progress and transmit them as needed in real-time to project managers

This rich feature set assures that Daley’s not only works efficiently, but also removes fewer opportunities for errors. Using GoCanvas strengthens the information employees collect as well as continues to streamline their processes even further.

Flexibility to Meet Evolving Business Needs

As a cloud-based, mobile platform combined with an easy-to-use mobile form builder, GoCanvas provides Daley’s Drywall the flexibility to add new features and functionality to any of their mobile forms. As needs evolve and change, GoCanvas makes editing forms a frictionless process.

For instance, as the cost of their supplies changes, Daley’s Drywall can go into their GoCanvas account and simply update the price list they use. Within minutes, these cost changes will be updated for all their technicians. This allows for an easy transition, with limited possibility for accounting errors.

Other mobile form alternatives make this process cumbersome or costly, weakening the effectiveness of their platforms. With GoCanvas it is a frictionless process at no additional cost. 

Today, Daley’s continues to embrace mobile forms. They continue to look at other paper forms they can convert to mobile, streamlining their processes even further. With faster processes, improved customer service, and real time information, Daley’s sees only benefits from going with GoCanvas.  

“Based on feedback to date from our foremen and project managers, we hope to have all our foremen operating 100 percent paperless in the near future.”  – Craig Daley, President, Daley’s Drywall

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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10 Best Small Business Apps for 2020

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

10 Best Small Business Apps for 2020

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Top 10 Best Business Apps to Improve Efficiency in 2020

With 2020 kicked off, it is time to start preparing your small business for the new year. Mobile applications are an effortless way to streamline your company’s processes, helping you save both time and money. Get your small business ready for success in 2020 with these top 10 mobile applications.

Visitor Sign In/Sign Out Sheet

Helpful for small businesses in a wide variety of industries, the Visitor Sign In/Sign Out Sheet mobile application can improve the way you collect customer data and keep records for your small business. By allowing visitors to sign in and out through this mobile application, you remove the need to transcribe visitor information from a paper sheet into your system. This allows you to easily manage the information of multiple visitors at once. Your small business can use this app to keep track of visiting clients, employees, customers, and other visitors to your organization. Digital check-in sheets make the visitor management processes of your small business easier than ever, so you can spend more time on what is important to your company.

Quality Control Inspection Checklist

High quality is frequently the characteristic that helps small businesses stand out from their large competitors. With this Quality Control Inspection Checklist, you can be sure that your small business never misses a beat. Designed to help small businesses conduct in-process inspections of mechanical devices, this mobile quality control inspection checklist can be adapted to meet the specific needs of a wide variety of industries. When converting to mobile inspections, your small business can take advantage of real-time data entry e.g. by alerting maintenance immediately if an issue is spotted. Once you have completed the inspection, this application converts your mobile document into a PDF, which can be emailed, shared, or stored for easy access down the road. 

Lighting Audit Survey

Are you looking for ways to reduce the utility bill of your small business? The Lighting Audit Survey has a checklist containing both commercial and home lighting inspection data. This is especially helpful for small businesses in the construction industry who want to help their clients save money. However, this app can also be used by a wide range of small businesses that are upgrading to energy-efficient lighting, which can help your company save money on electric bills each month. 

Time and Materials Log – Construction Forms for Contractors

Making your way as a small business contractor is not easy, but with forms like the mobile Time and Materials Log, you can stay ahead of even the largest construction companies. This app helps you manage client information and keep track of the materials used on a job site as well as the time that each project takes to complete. By moving to mobile forms, you can update and keep track of material and labor records real-time, reducing waste and needless data rekeying. 

Field Level Hazard Assessment (FLHA)

Keep your employees and your company safe with the Field Level Hazard Assessment (FLHA) mobile app. You can ensure that everyone on a job site has read the Orientation and Job Safety Risk procedures and acts in compliance with these protocols. Using the signature feature, you can collect, confirm and save each employee’s agreement for liability documents. This can help you maintain a continuously safe environment for your work-site. 

Field Service Report

Mobile forms and applications are especially helpful for small businesses that require fieldwork. The Field Service Report is a popular example of one such application. With this app, you can access and complete service order forms directly from your mobile device. The Field Service Report also helps you keep dispatchers and technicians on the same page, as the document details can be shared and accessed from a wide range of devices. This application can be completely customized to the needs of your small business. 

Construction Daily Field Report

Another application that can help small businesses in the construction industry is the Construction Daily Field Report. This app allows project engineers and subcontractors to track activities at the job site including work completed, weather issues, incidents, project progress, number of workers at the site, and much more. Customize your Daily Field Report application and the features it contains to meet the evolving needs of your construction small business.

DOT Driver Vehicle Inspections – IndustrySafe

For small businesses that use commercial vehicles, keeping them DOT compliant and safe is paramount to minimizing accidents, injuries and potential liability. The DOT Driver Vehicle Inspections app is designed to do just that. Customize this app to meet a wide variety of internal inspection processes such as trip checks, maintenance issues, and other common vehicle inspections. 

Job Service Ticket

Adaptable across all service industries, the Job Service Ticket mobile app is fully customizable. This form includes key fields such as customer billing data, project cost, company location, and description of job work. Review billing information and sign off on costs remotely using this application. Using your Square-enabled GoCanvas app, you can also accept payments directly within this system. Built to make every small business more efficient and profitable, the Job Service Ticket app is a must-have today. 

Roof Inspection Report

Roofing mobile apps can help the inspection process happen more smoothly for your small business. The Roof Inspection Report mobile app can help you manage the essential data required for roof maintenance, roof replacements, inspections, repairs, and new roofing installations. With all of the information you need to get the job done without the paper lull, this app can help your small business compete with larger roofing companies.

Get GoCanvas

Access these and other small business applications within the GoCanvas system today! Each of these apps and thousands of others can be customized to meet your company’s unique processes. You can even create custom applications with the GoCanvas system. Sign up for free today or schedule a demo to get started!

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Learn more
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Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

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GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

View integrations

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

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5 Things to Consider when Choosing a Data Collection App

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

5 Things to Consider when Choosing a Data Collection App

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Finding the Right Mobile Data Collection App

Mobile data collection can revolutionize your business model and advance your information processing to new heights. With access to the data you need to adequately inform your internal and external practices, there is no limit to what your business can do with the support of mobile data collection. However, finding the right data collection app is not always easy. Here are five considerations that will help you select the right data collection app. 

Analytics

The partnership between data collection and data analytics offers the complete package you need toacquire data-driven insights. The data-fueled benefits for your business are stunted when you do not have the tools you need to understand and act on the information it provides. Partnering with a data collection app that has internal analytic capabilities will help you turn your data into actionable insights. With the help of analytics, you can spot trends in your business, create alerts for negative trends or outliers, and run your business on data-driven decisions vs. hunches or anecdotal evidence. 

Templates

Does the data collection app you are considering offer templates that align with your specific business needs? This can help you save time on building out new forms, and gives you a starting point. From there, you should be able to customize and adapt the templates. Check out these pre-built templates for an idea of how data collection templates might serve your industry:

This is just a brief look into how a mobile application (and the templates it encompasses) can benefit your company’s data collection processes. 

Custom Capabilities

Beyond the extent of templates, your data collection app should be able to expand in scope and offer the ability to customize it – on your own – without needing to know coding. This capability allows you to tailor data input fields in order to capture the information that is more relevant to your business. There is no limit to what your business can do with dynamic, custom capabilities in a data collection application.

Ease of Use

With a mobile data collection app, you can access your company’s data from almost anywhere. However, this accessibility is only beneficial if the app is easy for you and your workers to adopt and use. Partner with a system that has an intuitive configuration, attentive customer support, and an abundant amount of resources for you to use. An easy-to-use system will also make it less painful to get workers and staff to embrace the new technology.  

Advanced Features

Highly advanced features within your data collection app can widen the scope of data you can collect. With mobile data collection, you can access features such as dispatch, workflow, image capture, signature capture, mobile payments and more. 

Get GoCanvas

Try GoCanvas for free today! This data collection app includes all of these top industry templates, robust features, and so much more. Digitally convert your paper processes to save your business both time and money. Sign up for free today to get started!

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Create your own Android mobile app with digitial signature capture in 5 minutes

Posted on by GoCanvas Team

Create your own Android mobile app with digitial signature capture in 5 minutes

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How to Build an App in 5 Minutes!

GoCanvas allows you to easily create your own apps for Android, iOS, and Windows PC.  Today, I wanted to walk through a quick and simple example of how to do this in 5 minutes. This app will allow you to capture a digital signature on your mobile device in just seconds. Below, you can see what the result looks like on Android mobile device.  We already have over 20,000 pre-built data collection mobile apps in our .  Each of these can be customized, but in this article we are focusing on how to create one from scratch that can capture digital signatures.

The goal of this article will be to walk through signing up for GoCanvas, building a simple mobile app which captures some simple information (first name and last name) and a digital signature, fill out the app on an Android device and view the results as a PDF document.

Step 1 – Sign up for GoCanvas

If you aren’t already a GoCanvas customer, sign up for free GoCanvas account.

Step 2 – Install GoCanvas

Once you sign up for GoCanvas you should receive an e-mail with a download link for your device.  If you didn’t get the email, you can go to https://beta.gocanvas.com/m to download GoCanvas.

Step 3 – Login to the GoCanvas website using your desktop computer

Login to the GoCanvas website with your new login on your desktop computer to begin building your digital signature capture mobile app.

Step 4 – Build your GoCanvas signature capture application

On the ‘Apps’ tab in the GoCanvas website, click ‘Create New App’.  Below, you’ll see the button to click inside the blue box:

Enter a name for the new app, let’s call it “Sample Signature Capture.”  Click ‘Save and launch app builder’.

Drag a ‘Signature’ control from the left-hand palette.  In the popup for the text input, enter ‘Please sign your name’.

The outline of your ‘Sample Signature Capture’ GoCanvas mobile application should look like the below screenshot.

To add additional fields to your new signature app drag a ‘Text box’ from the left-hand palette.  In the popup for the text box, enter ‘First Name’. Drag another ‘Text Box’ control from the right-hand palette. In the popup for the text input, enter ‘Last Name’.

Step 5 – Save and publish your GoCanvas signature capture application

At the top of the GoCanvas app builder, click ‘Save’ and select ‘Save and publish’.  Once the GoCanvas app builder has finished saving, you will be prompted what users should have access to the new application.  Make sure to check your login and click ‘Publish’.

Step 6 – Start GoCanvas on your Android and login

Start GoCanvas on your Android device and log in using your e-mail and password that you registered with.

Step 7 – Fill out the ‘Sample Signature Capture’ app

Fill out the ‘Sample Signature Capture’  mobile app and once done, click ‘Yes’ to upload your submission.

Click on the signature field, and sign with your finger or stylist.

After the signature is captured you will see the box turn green as shown below.

Step 8 – View your data online

If you logged out of the GoCanvas website, log in again and click on the ‘Submissions’ tab.  You will find the data you just filled out on your Android.  You can now view it online, download it as a PDF, export it as a CSV/Excel file, or integrate it into a backend system.

Wrap Up

Hopefully the above example demonstrated how easy it is to go paperless with GoCanvas.  All of the applications created with GoCanvas work across all of the mobile devices we support. These include Android, Windows PC, iPhone and iPad. You can get rid of filing and data entry and save your business time and money.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Learn more
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Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

View integrations

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Let’s Build A Plan Together
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