The Actual Manifesto

Actual tells the truth about the work — automatically, with no extra effort.

Actual is built for the people who do the work and the people who support them. No fancy theory. No complicated systems. Just a simple idea:

If the work matters, the record of the work should be true.

Everything else follows from that.

The person doing the work should never have to “prove” they worked

Timecards, forms, photos, check-ins — all of that steals time from the job and forces people to explain themselves after the fact.

Actual puts the truth right where the work happens.
You wear the badge. It records what really happened.
No phone. No app. No extra steps.

The record starts with you, not with paperwork.

The badge isn’t a tracker — it’s a witness

Actual is not surveillance.

The badge doesn’t spy. It doesn’t record conversations. It doesn’t monitor your day. It simply captures the basic facts of the job:

• When you arrived
• When you moved
• When you used tools
• When the day wrapped up

It only records what the work creates. Nothing more.

The truth should never be editable

Once something happens, it shouldn’t get changed later.

Actual saves every record exactly the way it happened. If something needs to be clarified, it gets added — not rewritten. That way, nobody has to argue about time, work, or what’s “really” true.

The truth stays the truth.

Tools should make life easier, not harder

If a tool slows you down, it’s not a tool — it’s a burden.

The badge doesn’t need Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a phone, or a learning curve. It stores everything, then uploads on its own. You don’t have to manage it.

You work. The badge handles the rest.

Real data makes the whole job run smoother

When the truth is automatic, everything improves:

• Pay is clean
• Schedules match reality
• Estimates get better
• Delays finally make sense
• Nobody has to “remember” anything

Actual creates a clear picture of how the job really flows — not how somebody guessed it would flow.

Better decisions come from what actually happened

Because the badge records the real story of the job, the system can show:

• Where time goes
• Where things slow down
• Where tools sit unused
• Where the crew gets stuck
• What work really costs

This isn’t theory. It’s the job — as it happened.

Simple always wins

Complicated systems break, confuse people, or get ignored.

Actual is built to stay simple:

• One badge
• One worker
• One automatic record of the truth

That’s it.
No forms. No steps. No training. No friction.

The promise

Actual exists so the people who do the work finally get the benefit of the truth.

It protects your time.
It protects your integrity.
It protects the story of the job exactly as it happened.

Actual is honest, simple, and built for the field — built for you.