eCMS Integration for Construction Time Tracking: Connect Field Data to Your ERP

For contractors running eCMS as their construction ERP, the challenge isn’t software capability, it’s data flow. eCMS handles complex construction accounting, job costing, payroll, and project management effectively. But the system is only as valuable as the information feeding it.

When time data travels from jobsites on paper timesheets, gets collected by foremen, reviewed by project managers, and finally keyed into eCMS by accounting staff, days or weeks pass. Cost reports reflect yesterday’s reality. Payroll becomes a weekly scramble. Budget overruns are discovered after they’ve already happened.

That’s why Rhumbix built a direct integration with eCMS, connecting field time capture to your ERP with bidirectional data sync. This guide explains how the integration works, what data flows in each direction, and what eCMS users should consider when evaluating field time tracking solutions.

Why eCMS Users Need Field Integration

eCMS has established itself as a robust ERP platform for construction contractors. It offers comprehensive functionality: project accounting, job costing, payroll processing, equipment management, and reporting. Mid-sized to large contractors trust eCMS to manage the financial complexity of their operations.

But even the most capable ERP system faces a fundamental limitation: garbage in, garbage out. When field data arrives late, incomplete, or error-prone, every downstream process suffers:

• Manual timesheet entry creates bottlenecks: Office staff spend hours re-keying handwritten time cards, introducing transcription errors and delaying payroll processing
• Job cost reports lag behind reality: When time data takes a week to reach the system, project managers make decisions based on outdated information
• Budget tracking becomes reactive: Cost overruns are discovered in monthly close, not while there’s still time to course-correct
• Compliance documentation is fragmented: Prevailing wage projects require accurate, contemporaneous records, paper timesheets create compliance risk

Field time tracking integration solves these problems by creating a direct pipeline from crew activity to your ERP. As Ryan Quesnel, Manager of Development and Integration at Thomas Cavanagh Construction, explained: “The speed and accuracy of information provided by using Rhumbix enables us to move from monthly to near real-time reporting, revolutionizing how we track costs, manage resources, and ultimately deliver projects successfully.”

How Rhumbix Integrates with eCMS

The Rhumbix-eCMS integration creates a bidirectional connection between your field operations and back-office systems. Data flows in both directions, project information goes out to the field, and captured time and production data comes back for processing.

This bidirectional architecture ensures that field workers always have current project information while accounting staff receive accurate, coded time data without manual intervention.

Data Flowing from eCMS to Rhumbix (Inbound)

When you configure the integration, eCMS master data synchronizes automatically to Rhumbix. This includes:

• Projects and project budgets: New jobs created in eCMS appear in Rhumbix immediately, so field supervisors can select the correct project when logging time
• Cost codes associated with projects: Your complete cost code structure syncs to the field, allowing crews to code time accurately against the right job phases and activities
• Budgeted hours and quantities: Budget data flows to Rhumbix, enabling real-time tracking of actual vs. budgeted performance
• Employee information: Worker profiles including trade, classification, union affiliation, and pay rules synchronize between systems—no duplicate data entry required
• Equipment details: Equipment assets sync for field tracking and allocation
• Materials: Material codes and information are available for field documentation
• Client information: Customer data maintains consistency across both platforms

The immediate benefit is data consistency. When a project manager creates a new job in eCMS, that project becomes available to field workers in Rhumbix automatically. Employee information including trade, classification, and union affiliation is seamlessly synced between Rhumbix and eCMS—eliminating the need to maintain separate employee databases.

Data Flowing from Rhumbix to eCMS (Outbound)

The integration’s real power comes from what flows back. Field-captured data returns to eCMS for payroll and job costing:

• Hours captured in the field: Time entries flow directly into eCMS via configurable CSV exports, coded to the correct job, phase, and cost code
• Real-time project performance data: Actual hours and production quantities enable daily insights into project performance
• Labor distribution: Time allocated across multiple jobs or cost codes in a single day flows back with proper coding

This creates a closed loop: budgets and project data flow out to the field, actuals flow back to the ERP. Your eCMS system always reflects current field reality, not last week’s approximation.

Real-Time Visibility: From Monthly to Daily Insights

For eCMS users, one of the most transformative benefits of integrated field time tracking is the shift from monthly reporting cycles to near real-time visibility. When hours flow from the field as work happens, project managers gain daily insights into performance.

With budgeted hours and quantities syncing from eCMS to Rhumbix, you can track actual vs. budget continuously:

• Cost code performance: See which activities are tracking to budget and which are trending over before the month ends
• Labor productivity: Compare actual hours per unit against estimated production rates while there’s still time to adjust
• Resource allocation: Make informed decisions about crew deployment based on current performance data
• Early warning system: Catch budget variances when they’re small problems, not large ones

This shift from reactive to proactive management changes how contractors deliver projects. Instead of explaining cost overruns after the fact, project managers can intervene while issues are still correctable.

Streamlined Payroll Processing

For many eCMS users, the most immediate ROI from field time tracking integration is payroll efficiency. Construction payroll is complex—multiple pay rates, union requirements, multi-state compliance, prevailing wage calculations. When time data flows directly from Rhumbix to eCMS, that complexity becomes manageable.

The integration supports accurate and timely weekly payroll processing:

• Proper job and cost code coding: Time arrives in eCMS already coded, no manual allocation required
• Union compliance: Trade classifications and union affiliations sync between systems, ensuring correct benefit calculations and reporting
• Multiple rate handling: Different rates for different jobs, overtime situations, and classifications are captured correctly in the field
• Certified payroll support: Accurate, contemporaneous time records support prevailing wage compliance and certified payroll generation

The elimination of manual time entry alone typically saves hours of accounting staff time each week. But the accuracy improvement may be even more valuable, catching coding errors in the field rather than discovering them during month-end reconciliation.

The eCMS User Profile: Who Benefits Most

eCMS serves a specific segment of the construction market—typically mid-sized to larger contractors who have outgrown entry-level accounting software and need robust ERP functionality. These organizations share common characteristics:

• Project complexity: Managing multiple active projects with detailed job costing requirements
• Workforce scale: Enough field employees that manual time collection creates significant administrative burden
• Compliance requirements: Often working on prevailing wage or union projects requiring accurate time documentation
• Multi-company or multi-division structures: Complex organizational structures that eCMS handles well

For these contractors, the gap between field operations and back-office systems represents both significant cost and significant opportunity. Closing that gap with integrated time tracking delivers measurable value.

Implementation Considerations for eCMS Users

Implementing field time tracking integration with eCMS requires thoughtful planning. Here’s what to consider:

Data Mapping and Configuration

Your eCMS job and cost code structure needs to map correctly to Rhumbix. This includes:

• Job numbering conventions and structures
• Cost code hierarchies (phases, cost codes, categories)
• Employee identifiers that match between systems
• Pay type and earning codes for different hour categories
• Union and classification codes

Rhumbix provides white-glove implementation support, working with your team to configure the integration for your specific eCMS setup. The hours captured in the field flow back via CSV configuration tailored to your eCMS import requirements.

Workflow Design

Consider how time capture will work for your organization:

• Time entry approach: Will individual workers enter their own time, or will foremen enter for their crews?
• Approval process: What review workflow makes sense, field supervisor approval, project manager sign-off, or direct flow to payroll?
• Exception handling: How will corrections and adjustments be managed?
• Cost code level of detail: How granular does your time coding need to be?

Field Adoption

The success of any field time tracking solution depends on adoption by superintendents, foremen, and crews. Consider:

• Training approach: How will you train field supervisors and ensure they can support their crews?
• Offline capability: Many jobsites have limited connectivity, ensure the solution works offline and syncs when connectivity returns
• Mobile experience: The interface needs to be intuitive enough for daily use by busy field personnel
• Rollout strategy: Pilot with selected projects before company-wide deployment

eCMS-Specific Customizations

Many eCMS installations include customizations, modified reports, additional fields, adjusted workflows. When evaluating integration options, consider:

• How custom fields in eCMS will be handled
• Whether your modified job cost structures are supported
• How the integration accommodates any unique payroll processing requirements
• Compatibility with other eCMS modules you use

The Field-to-ERP Workflow in Practice

Here’s how the integrated workflow typically operates:

1. Project setup: PM creates new job in eCMS with budget, cost codes, and crew assignments
2. Automatic sync: Project data flows to Rhumbix = field workers see the new job immediately
3. Daily time capture: Foremen enter crew time via mobile app, selecting correct job and cost codes from synced data
4. Field approval: Superintendent reviews and approves time entries before they flow to accounting
5. Data return: Approved hours sync back to eCMS for payroll processing and job costing
6. Real-time visibility: Project managers see actual vs. budget performance as work progresses
7. Weekly payroll: Accounting processes payroll from complete, coded time data—minimal manual intervention

This workflow eliminates the paper chase, accelerates data availability, and ensures accuracy through system-to-system data transfer rather than manual re-entry.

Evaluating Integration Solutions for eCMS

When evaluating field time tracking solutions to integrate with eCMS, consider these criteria:

• Construction-specific design: Generic time tracking doesn’t understand job costing, cost codes, or construction payroll complexity
• Bidirectional sync capability: One-way export isn’t true integration, you need data flowing both directions automatically
• Real-time or near real-time: Weekly batch exports don’t provide the visibility needed for proactive management
• eCMS expertise: The vendor should understand eCMS data structures and common configurations
• Offline functionality: Construction happens where connectivity is unreliable
• Compliance support: Built-in handling for prevailing wage, certified payroll, and union requirements
• Implementation support: Look for partners who provide hands-on configuration and training

Data-Driven Decision Making

The ultimate goal of eCMS integration isn’t just process efficiency, it’s better decision-making. When accurate, timely data flows from field to ERP, project managers and executives gain the information they need to:

• Identify profitable work: Understand which project types and clients deliver the best margins
• Optimize crew deployment: Match the right crews to the right projects based on performance data
• Improve estimating: Feed actual production data back into future estimates
• Manage risk: Catch budget variances early and take corrective action

This data-driven approach enables PMs to make decisions based on facts rather than gut feeling, transforming construction management from art to science.

Getting Started with eCMS Integration

Implementing Rhumbix integration with eCMS typically follows this process:

1. Discovery: Review your current eCMS configuration, workflow requirements, and integration goals
2. Configuration: Set up bidirectional data mapping between eCMS and Rhumbix
3. Testing: Validate data flow in both directions with your actual job and employee data
4. Training: Prepare field supervisors and accounting staff for the new workflow
5. Pilot: Deploy on selected projects to refine processes
6. Rollout: Expand to full deployment with ongoing support

Rhumbix provides white-glove implementation support throughout this process, ensuring your integration is configured correctly for your specific eCMS environment.

The Bottom Line

eCMS provides the robust ERP functionality that construction contractors need. But that functionality delivers maximum value only when field data flows accurately and promptly into the system.

Rhumbix integration with eCMS creates the bidirectional connection that closes the loop between field operations and back-office systems. Projects, budgets, cost codes, and employee information flow to the field. Captured hours and performance data flow back. The result: accurate payroll processing, real-time project visibility, and data-driven decision making.

For contractors who have invested in eCMS, field time tracking integration is the key to unlocking the platform’s full potential.

Ready to connect your field operations to eCMS? Learn more about the Rhumbix eCMS integration or schedule a demo to see how it works for your specific workflow.

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Sources

• Rhumbix eCMS Integration – Bidirectional data sync details and integration capabilities
• Rhumbix Integrations Overview – REST API architecture and implementation support
• Thomas Cavanagh Construction Testimonial – Customer quote about real-time reporting transformation