Ops Stack for Concrete & Masonry Contractors

This page gives you a simple, realistic software stack for concrete and masonry contractors.

The goal is not to bolt on more apps. The goal is to keep schedules, crews, equipment, and numbers aligned so pours go smoothly, sequences hold, and job performance is clear.

Who This Stack Is For

This stack is built for companies that:

Focus on structural concrete, flatwork, tilt-up, site concrete, or masonry
Run multiple crews, forming systems, and equipment across active jobs
Are tired of whiteboards, group texts, and generic tools that don’t match how pours and phases really work

Roughly, it fits contractors in the 10 to 100 employee range—big enough that mistakes are expensive, small enough that leadership still feels every delay and rework.

The Core Stack: What You Actually Need

At a basic level, a concrete & masonry ops stack should cover:

Time tracking for crews
Scheduling for pours, phases, and crews
Payroll and basic HR
Job costing and accounting
Project management and documentation
CRM and pipeline tracking

You can add more layers over time, but if you get these six working together, a lot of daily friction drops.

1. Time Tracking for Crews

Labor is one of your biggest levers. If crew hours by pour, phase, or area are wrong, your job numbers are wrong.

Your time tracking setup should:

Let foremen clock in crews by job, area, or phase
Work on phones or tablets with simple, repeatable steps
Capture basic notes when something slows or changes the work
Sync cleanly into payroll and job costing

Good signs you picked the right one:

Foremen use it daily without you nagging them constantly
Office staff spends less time fixing bad or missing hours
You can pull hours by job, crew, and phase without juggling spreadsheets

2. Scheduling for Pours, Phases, and Crews

Concrete and masonry jobs are sequence-sensitive. If one pour or lift is off, the whole schedule feels it.

Your scheduling tool should:

Show jobs and phases on a calendar or board view
Assign crews, equipment, and forming systems to each phase
Store addresses, mix specs, site constraints, and key notes
Be easy to update when weather, inspections, or other trades push you around

For some companies, time tracking and scheduling live in the same tool. For others, they’re separate but synced. The key is that field and office are looking at the same, current plan.

3. Payroll and Basic HR

Concrete and masonry work can involve overtime, different pay types, multiple sites, and sometimes prevailing wage or union rules.

Your payroll and HR tools should:

Pull approved hours directly from your time tracking system
Handle overtime rules, multiple pay rates, and different job types
Make it easy to onboard and terminate employees correctly
Store key HR documents and forms in one place

The goal is to move from “patching payroll by hand every period” to verifying clean, consistent data before you run it.

4. Job Costing and Accounting

Labor, materials, equipment, and forming systems all hit your jobs. If you can’t see them by job and phase, you’re guessing on margin.

Your accounting and job costing setup should:

Track labor, materials, equipment, and subs by job and major phase
Connect to your invoicing, change order, and draw process
Show estimated vs actual cost on key jobs
Deliver simple job reports leadership will actually review

This can live in a construction-focused accounting system or in a standard accounting platform with strong job and cost code structure. What matters most is that job reports are trusted and easy to pull.

5. Project Management and Documentation

Engineering, inspections, and coordination with other trades all create paperwork. If you can’t prove what was agreed and what was built, you’re exposed.

Your project management and documentation tools should:

Store contracts, drawings, specs, RFIs, and submittals
Keep photos and reports for rebar, embeds, formwork, and finished work
Track change orders, approvals, and punch lists
Make it easy to share clean updates with GCs, owners, and inspectors

Whether this lives in a dedicated project management system or a well-organized drive/CRM, the key is that critical information doesn’t live in one person’s email or text messages.

6. CRM and Pipeline Tracking

Your future work lives in relationships—with GCs, developers, owners, and repeat clients.

Your CRM should:

Track key contacts at GCs, developers, and owners
Store notes from bid invites, walkthroughs, and negotiations
Show where each opportunity sits in your pipeline
Connect in some way to your estimating and proposal process

It doesn’t need to be complex, but it should give your team a clear view of upcoming work and which relationships matter most.

How These Pieces Work Together

The best stack is the one that moves information with minimal retyping and guessing. A simple flow for concrete & masonry looks like this:

CRM and estimating define the job, scope, and key contacts.
Scheduling maps out pours, phases, and crews.
Time tracking records labor by job, area, or phase.
Payroll pulls approved hours with minimal edits.
Accounting and job costing receive labor, materials, and equipment costs.
Project management and documentation store drawings, photos, RFIs, and approvals.

If a tool doesn’t support this flow and constantly forces workarounds, it needs a strong reason to stay in your stack.

Small, Mid, and Larger Concrete & Masonry Companies

You don’t need the same tools at every size.

Smaller teams (10 to 25 people)

Simple time tracking with job and basic phase selection
Scheduling that shows where crews and equipment are going
Basic payroll that syncs with time
Light CRM or structured contact list for key GCs and clients

Growing companies (25 to 60 people)

Time tracking with better crew and job reporting
Scheduling that clearly maps phases, pours, and crews
Payroll that can handle more complex rules and multiple pay types
Job costing with regular reviews on major projects
Project management with standard checklists and clear documentation

Larger commercial players (60 to 100 people)

Deeper integration between field tools, payroll, and accounting
More formal HR with documented processes and records
Project management that supports multi-crew, multi-phase structures and schedules
CRM that connects sales, estimating, and operations in one view

You can grow into this stack. You don’t have to roll out everything on day one.

How to Use This Page

Treat this page like a roadmap, not a shopping list.

Mark what tools and systems you already use.
Highlight the gaps that create the most pain each week—missed pours, rework, payroll chaos, or unclear job numbers.
Fix one layer at a time, starting with the area that touches the most people.

As you look at tools, keep coming back to one question:

Will this make life easier for our foremen, crews, office, and leadership at the same time?

If the answer is no, keep looking. OpsForTrades is here to help you decide what belongs in your concrete & masonry stack and what doesn’t.