Laborbook Alternative for Construction Sites: When Hajiri Alone Is Not Enough

Laborbook is a construction management app used by Indian contractors. A contractor may start using it, or another hajiri app, mainly to record daily labour attendance. This can be useful when paper registers, WhatsApp messages and memory are causing confusion. But attendance is only the first step. As projects grow, hajiri must connect with wages, contractor settlement, material, site kharcha and client updates.

This guide explains when a hajiri-only process may no longer be enough. It also shows how Trackovo handles connected site work. For current Laborbook prices, plans, user limits and detailed capabilities, check its own website or ask its team for a written quote.

What a hajiri app does well

A basic hajiri app replaces the paper attendance register. The munshi or site engineer can record who came to site, who was absent and sometimes whether a worker completed a full or half day. This gives the office a cleaner record than scattered messages.

Such an app can be enough for a small site where one contractor supplies most labour, wages are fixed and material is controlled separately. It can also help a supervisor send attendance without carrying a register to the office. A simple labour attendance sheet can do this well when the team is disciplined and only needs a basic monthly record.

The difficulty starts when attendance affects several other records. The accountant needs payable days. The contractor wants settlement. The purchase team needs material requests. The owner wants site-wise expenses. The client wants progress. If every answer comes from a different sheet or WhatsApp group, the team spends time matching records.

Five moments when hajiri alone is not enough

1. Wages must come from attendance

Attendance has financial meaning. A worker marked present, absent or on half day affects the wage calculation. If hajiri is in one app and wages are in Excel, someone must copy the days manually. A wrong name, duplicate worker or missed half day can change the payable amount.

This becomes harder when different mistris have different wage rates or payment cycles. The office should be able to move from attendance to wage working without rebuilding the register. Trackovo connects attendance and salary. Labour attendance can include a photo and site location, while labour wages are managed within the same system.

2. The labour contractor asks for settlement

Contractor settlement is not the same as individual labour wages. The contractor may ask for payment based on attendance, agreed rates or work completed. The office may also need to see previous payments before approving another amount.

When hajiri and settlement are separate, the contractor’s bill may not match the site record. The accountant then calls the engineer, the engineer checks the munshi’s register, and the contractor waits. Trackovo includes labour wages and contractor settlement as part of its labour management process. This keeps the labour record closer to the payment working.

3. Labour progress depends on material availability

A mason may be present, but work can still stop because cement, blocks or fittings did not reach the site. Hajiri alone cannot explain why output was low. The office needs to see whether the site raised a material indent, whether it was approved, whether an order was placed and whether delivery arrived.

Trackovo covers material requests, approvals, orders, receipts and stock. Delivery, or GRN, can be recorded with photo proof. This helps connect a delayed task with the actual material position. Teams can learn more about the material management flow or use a standard material indent format before moving from paper.

4. Site kharcha is difficult to reconcile

Daily site work creates many small expenses. These may include loading, transport, repair, tea, petty purchases or an urgent cash payment to a vendor. If hajiri is digital but site kharcha remains in notebooks and chats, the owner still lacks a complete site view.

Trackovo records site-wise payments and expenses. It also manages vendors and has GST and TDS handling. For accounting handover, it provides a Tally export. This is an export, not a live Tally integration. A team that wants to organise its current process can first use a site expense register format and then compare it with Trackovo’s finance management workflow.

5. The client asks what happened today

Attendance shows who came to site. It does not, by itself, show what was completed. A client may want task progress, site photos, measurements or a clear update on pending work. Sending raw hajiri is not a useful client update.

Trackovo includes tasks, daily progress, a measurement book and client updates. It also manages machines and tools. The site team can record work progress while the office follows the same project. The daily progress process is useful when attendance must be understood beside actual site activity.

How Trackovo connects the site records

Trackovo runs on Android, iPhone and web. The same app covers attendance, wages, settlements, material, site payments, expenses, vendors, tasks, daily progress, measurements, machines, tools and client updates. This does not mean every contractor needs every module on day one. A practical rollout can start with hajiri and wages, then add material and finance after the team is comfortable.

Labour attendance can be recorded with a photo and site location. Trackovo does not provide biometric hardware or face recognition. It also does not claim offline working. Sites with weak connectivity should test the actual working conditions during the trial before changing their process.

Labour, contractors and staff can log in free and unlimited on every Trackovo plan. Only office and site roles count as users. Every module is included in every plan. The listed launch-offer prices, valid until 31 March 2027, are:

GST at 18% is extra. Review the current details on the plans page. For Laborbook pricing, limits and commercial terms, check Laborbook’s own website or request a written quote. Compare the total process, not only the subscription amount.

How to move from a hajiri app

1. Export the current register. Download labour names, attendance dates, contractor details and wage records from the existing app. If export is unavailable, ask its provider for your data.
2. Clean duplicate names. A worker may appear under a full name, nickname and mistri reference. Decide one standard name before import.
3. Separate sites and contractors. Mark the correct site and labour contractor for each record. This makes later settlement easier.
4. Import the opening data. Trackovo’s team helps import data from Excel. Keep the original export as a backup.
5. Run both systems briefly. Test one attendance and wage cycle before stopping the old process. Match totals for present days, half days, wages and contractor dues.
6. Add the next workflow. After hajiri is stable, connect material requests, site expenses and daily progress. Do not force the entire site team to change everything on one morning.

Trackovo exports your data on request. It does not include a construction CRM, design tools or 3D tools. A firm needing those systems should plan separate software. You can use the 14-day free trial without a card, or request a WhatsApp demo to check the workflow with your team.

Common questions

Can Trackovo calculate labour wages from hajiri?

Trackovo includes labour attendance, labour wages and contractor settlement. Attendance can be recorded with a photo and site location. Test your wage rules during the trial, especially if you use different rates, half days or contractor-specific methods.

Do labourers need paid user accounts?

No. Labour, contractors and staff log in free and unlimited on every plan. Only office and site roles count toward the core-user limit.

Does Trackovo connect live with Tally?

No. Trackovo provides a Tally export, not a live Tally integration. It also handles GST and TDS. Confirm the export format with your accountant during evaluation.

Can we import records from our current hajiri app?

First export the register from the current app into Excel or another usable format. Trackovo’s team helps import data from Excel. Clean names, sites and contractor mappings before import, and verify one wage cycle before completing the switch.