GPS geofencing on every task.
WorkTrac is a workforce management app with built-in GPS geofencing for field crews. The office sets a fence on a task by typing the address (or using their current location) and a radius in metres, and on Android the app prompts the crew member to clock in when they arrive inside it. The fence records rather than blocks: clocking in always works, and when a task is completed away from the site, the distance is computed server-side and shown to the manager, while a completion with no GPS fix is marked location unavailable instead of inventing a coordinate. Task completions are signed on the device with their on-site coordinates, and time-entry edits are written to an audit trail, giving contractors a defensible record for billing disputes and payroll questions. Geofencing is included on the Enterprise tier, and the same task coordinates feed route optimization with no second address entry.
How geofencing works in WorkTrac
A foreman or office admin opens the task, types the address (or taps to look it up, or uses their current location), and sets a radius in metres. The fence saves immediately and registers on assigned crew members' phones on their next sync, up to the 100 active fences Android allows per device. The worker grants background location permission once on their phone; after that there is nothing to enable per job and no separate add-on to buy. Geofencing is an Enterprise tier capability, built into the same offline-first system the rest of the app uses.
On the mobile side, boundary detection uses the phone's low-power geofencing API rather than polling GPS. When an Android device crosses into a task's fence, the app raises a notification with the task's name and a one-tap Clock In action. It is a prompt, never a silent punch, and the worker can always decline. Clock-out happens when the worker taps out or completes the task; there is no exit-side prompt today, and arrival prompts are an Android feature for now.
The fence is deliberately a record, not a wall. Clocking in always works, even in a basement with no fix. The check runs when the task is closed out: completing from outside the radius asks the worker to confirm, and the manager sees an off-site chip with the recorded distance. A completion with no GPS fix is marked location unavailable, which is an honest record either way, and the distance itself is computed server-side so a modified app cannot fake it.
What gets captured on every clock-in
When a task is completed, WorkTrac records the completion coordinates, the distance from the task's fence if the worker was outside it, and the timestamp, and the signed task-completion event carries those coordinates in the tamper-evident work proof chain. An offline-queued punch keeps the time the worker actually tapped, not the time it uploaded. Time-entry edits require a stated reason and are logged with the original value, the new value, who changed it, and when, so a quiet correction is not quiet.
Recorded at close-out and carried in the signed completion event.
Completed away from the fence? The manager sees the metres, computed server-side.
An offline-queued punch keeps the time the worker tapped, not the upload time.
No GPS fix? The record says so, instead of inventing a coordinate.
Clock-ins and completions signed at capture. Tampering breaks the chain.
Tasks can require photos before they can be completed. Enforced server-side.
Defensible records for prevailing wage and disputes
Contractors working public-works projects under Davis-Bacon, state prevailing wage statutes, or any DOT-funded program have to produce certified payroll showing the hours each worker spent on-site. A buddy-punched timecard or a hand-written sheet does not hold up under audit. The combination of geofenced arrival prompts, location recorded at close-out, and a cryptographic work proof chain produces records that survive scrutiny: the punches are signed on the worker's own device at capture, the completion carries its coordinates, and any after-the-fact edit is detectable and logged.
The same records resolve disputes downstream. A client questions an invoice: pull the recorded track for that job and the signed close-outs. A worker disputes their paycheck: the punches are there with the times they were actually tapped. An insurer questions a workers' comp claim: the incident report carries its time, description, and photos. Geofencing converts the common field-services arguments from "your word against theirs" to "here is the record."
Where geofencing pays off
Construction GCs use it to see whether subs closed out on the right site before billing. HVAC and plumbing shops use it to record whether the tech was at the customer address when the job was closed, which settles the argument before it starts. Electrical contractors on multi-site service days use the per-task fences so each job carries its own site record. Landscaping crews put the fence on the weekly routine once and every spawned visit inherits it. And when a records request lands, the signed log exports with everything needed to verify it independently.
Common questions, answered.
Accuracy depends on the device, sky view, and proximity to buildings. Typical phones lock to 3 to 10 meters outdoors with clear sky and 20 to 50 meters in dense urban or partially-covered sites. WorkTrac never blocks a punch on GPS: clocking in always works, and the location check happens at close-out, where a missing fix is recorded as location unavailable rather than a guess. For sites with chronically poor GPS, widen the radius; the fence records rather than blocks either way.
Also explore
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Clock-ins and completions are signed at capture time. The chain detects after-the-fact edits.
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Auto shop software for small shops: GPS-clocked tech hours become the invoice, every ASE and specialty cert is on file with its expiry.
The same setup for route-based crews: weekly routines, photo minimums, offline mobile.
The same setup for route-based crews: ordered stops, proof at close-out, offline mobile.
See it on your crew, today.
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