The software took months to set up and still isn't done
Long setups come from moving the books and rebuilding everything at once. Start with one job and keep the rest.
A new system usually starts with moving years of books, rebuilding the cost codes and training everyone on the same day. The office stops other work to do it, and the field waits for a go live date that keeps moving. Each delay costs the weeks you were paying for software you couldn't use. By the time it's finished, the first jobs are half over and their costs are in the old place.
Three moves, in order
What CFOS does about it
Nothing migrates, because CFOS reads your jobs, cost codes, vendors and bills from QuickBooks Online. You can set it up yourself or have us do it, and the job costing setup page shows the price by revenue. Tools you keep connect with a Connect button, the CFOS API or a file, and most software connects in 5 business days or less.
Who owns this: Owner and office manager.
At $5M, a setup that takes the office away from billing for a month costs a month of late invoices. Start with job costing and one active job, then add parts as the office is ready. At $20M, a phased start is worth more, because a dozen PMs can't all switch on one date.
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Step 05: Software and bookkeeping alignment
Live job costs inside thirty seconds, with the bookkeeping cadence that keeps them current.
Other problems step 05 solves
Other things that go wrong
What owners ask
Construction software implementation took too long?
Long setups come from moving the books and rebuilding everything at once. Start with one job and keep the rest. A new system usually starts with moving years of books, rebuilding the cost codes and training everyone on the same day. The office stops other work to do it, and the field waits for a go live date that keeps moving. Each delay costs the weeks you were paying for software you couldn't use. By the time it's finished, the first jobs are half over and their costs are in the old place.
Which part of the system fixes this?
The step is number 05, software and bookkeeping alignment. Live job costs inside thirty seconds, with the bookkeeping cadence that keeps them current. It's drawn from chapter 5 of CONTROL: C.F.O.S. Construction Financial Operating System.
Is this normal for my trade?
Across the 48 trades that publish a figure, net profit at $1M to $5M averages 7% before taxes. If you're well under that and this page describes your month, the two are usually the same story. The published average tells you where the pack is, and your own job costing tells you where you are, which is the number that pays payroll.
Where do I start?
List what has to be moved before anyone can use the new system, and mark what could stay where it is.
How long does it take to implement construction software?
It depends on how much has to move. Software that makes you migrate your books and rebuild your codes takes the longest. CFOS reads from QuickBooks Online, so there's nothing to migrate, and most software you keep connects in 5 business days or less.
Can I set up job costing software myself?
Yes. You can set up CFOS yourself, or have us do it. The job costing setup page shows the price of the done for you setup.
Do I have to retype my jobs and cost codes into a new system?
Not with CFOS. It reads your jobs, cost codes, vendors and bills from QuickBooks Online. You can start from the subcontractor list, the general contractor list or your own cost codes.
Can I fix this without touching anything else?
You can try, and it doesn't hold. Step 05 depends on step 01, job cost structure. Install it ahead of that and it produces numbers the field won't trust, which is worse than the problem you started with.
Wrote CONTROL, the 8 step system behind these figures. More about the author.