Production moves fast, and your tools should too. 

In this episode of Master Your Craft, host Shannon Cruz is joined by Cast & Crew’s Alex Bair, Director of Product Solutions, and Kody Schmidt, Product Manager for Hours+ (Timekeeping). They discuss the biggest 2025 Hours+ (Timekeeping) updates designed to help production accountants move faster, stay compliant, and get more done with less stress. 

From real-time cap tracking to flexible approval workflows and timecard overrides, these new tools put more control in the hands of production teams where it belongs. 

Key insights from this episode: 

• Leveraging automation for smarter production finance 
• How to fix timecard issues fast without breaking your workflow 
• The impact of proactive cap tracking on crew and compliance 

Chapters: 

(00:00) Meet Alex Bair and Kody Schmidt 

(01:25) The most impactful updates coming to Hours+ this year 

(03:05) Approval workflows made for self-service 

(05:44) Allowance cap tracking in real time 

(08:11) East Coast incentives and compliance features 

(11:02) Enabling flexibility and efficiency in production workflows 

(16:02) Hours+ for international productions 

(17:58) Future plans for Hours+ in 2026 

(19:55) Rapid-fire round: How Alex and Kody work and unwind 
 
Want a tailored 15-20 minute product walkthrough? Check out this link: https://info.castandcrew.com/2025-product-recap  

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