How To Streamline and Track Field Measurements For Quick and Accurate Billing
No one wants to spend unnecessary time waiting to be paid. You need to receive your money promptly so you can, in turn, pay your suppliers, crews and staff. You need smooth cash flow so that you can focus on other aspects of your business, like quoting the next job, hiring good salespeople and planning for growth. That’s why it’s important to try and eliminate any potential snags in your billing process.
Billing Is Often Variable Based On Construction Site Conditions
Unlike other industries, you may not know what you are going to charge for a job when it starts when it comes to construction billing. It’s bad enough that material costs are constantly changing. As a concrete contractor, the amount you end up billing the builder generally also depends on how much concrete you pour. This in turn depends on specific site conditions, many of which you may not be aware of in advance. Is there poor soil quality, wetlands, contamination, or a utility issue? Does the site slope and exactly how much? Even when you are building near-identical houses in a community, your cost of concrete can vary from one house to another. This uncertainty makes estimating and finalizing billings more difficult.
Accurate Calculation Becomes More Difficult To Manage & Track
When it’s time to bill, the person who is preparing your invoice needs important information at hand. Among other things, they need accurate measurements of each site and every material used. Especially if the amounts exceeded the original estimates or were affected by change orders, documents will need to be produced as proof to avoid or settle billing disputes. Your field crew is responsible for taking these measurements, but where are the records at billing time? In the hands of the field supervisor; on a piece of paper jammed in someone’s pocket; on somebody’s desk waiting to be filed; or filed...somewhere? If the data was entered into your computer system, which program was used and where was it saved? You now have someone spending time and effort on tracking down information rather than quickly preparing and sending that bill. And this time and effort are probably being repeated over and over for multiple projects. The better your business does — the more projects you win and complete — the worse this problem can become.
Track Measurements In Real-Time To Support More Accurate Billing
The clear solution to this problem is to find a better way to manage, track and convey critical information like site measurements. As a complete general management software system built specifically for residential contractors, SupplyPro GM has a solution built-in. Using SupplyPro GM, you can create field forms to capture any and all site measurements. A customized work checklist will remind your field crews to take the appropriate measurements, which they can enter immediately into the SupplyPro GM mobile app. The app is easy to use with little training, works with or without wifi and conveniently comes in English and Spanish. Field crews can also take photos and include them in the app to support their measurements. All of this documentation will be available in real-time to all members of the team with access to the system, including your billing person and your builder.
You can also use the measurements and other job information to prepare customized and actionable reports that will enable you to improve your estimates for future work and manage your materials ordering.
Streamline & Track Field Measurements For Quick & Accurate Billing With Hyphen
As your business becomes more complex, integrating newer technologies into your residential construction jobs, you will need to enhance your capabilities in estimating, materials sourcing, training, site assessment, appropriate crew assignment, workflow monitoring, safety checks and more.
SupplyPro GM is cloud-based construction software that enables you to manage residential projects from work order creation through approvals and payments, with visibility and consistency. Feature-rich and built for mobility, this effective contractor and supplier software gives you real-time information and control in every part of your business, so you can increase productivity, profits and builder satisfaction.
Learn more about how SupplyPro GM can help you manage your Residential Construction business more effectively or schedule a demo today.
