Contractor Success Map With Randal Dehart | Contractor Bookkeeping And Accounting Services

This Podcast Is Episode Number 484, And It's About Power Up Your Construction Company Payroll Processes Payroll is one of those things that starts quite simple. You build your construction business, hire a few employees, and things tick along pretty well. It’s straightforward enough to keep everything in line at first, but what happens to most companies is that they grow!   However, having an employee is different than when it’s just you meeting the client, doing the work, and collecting the money. The dynamics change when you hire that outside person. You need to be even more cautious when considering hiring a friend or family member instead of a stranger because success has a thousand fathers while failure is an orphan! Success or failure could mean choosing between peace and harmony in your personal relationships or giving away a portion of your hard-earned fruit.   Paying must run smoothly as an essential aspect of your construction business. This is a great thing, but it also means that payroll becomes

This Podcast Is Episode Number 483, And It's About The Value Of Client Happiness And Ways To Keep Your Construction Clients Happy   Construction business owners know that to find a loyal client base, they must stand out from their competitors. One of the best and easiest ways to do that is to have outstanding customer service. How you treat your customers reflects your entire business. People think positively about companies that treat their customers and clients well.    Unfortunately, many small construction business owners focus much on their products and services, with customer service remaining an afterthought.    Take time to learn more about your customers.   Do they mention family members? Ask about their loved ones. Do they have particular concerns? For instance - too many cable cords around the house, and they have small children. Keep track of their issues and be attentive to their needs. Recommend solutions that address their specific problems. Go the extra mile to show your customers they're imp

This Podcast Is Episode Number 482, And It's About How To Prevent Employee Theft In Your Construction Company Recent employee theft statistics are increasing, and small business owners are more vulnerable to the problem. The most common embezzlement methods include billing fraud, cash on hand, and check tampering. You may not know how employees can steal from you as a construction business owner. Some standard methods include: redirecting company checks to personal accounts and altering entries to cover up the theft undercounting change to customers and keeping the balance seeking reimbursement for non-business related expenses or  pocketing inventory or supplies. Just as you can't be 100% secure all the time, there is no way to eliminate 100% of the embezzlement in your contracting company. However, you can limit your losses and avoid most of them with suitable preventative measures. As a small construction business owner, you may not have the significant security budget of a large company, but you can com

This Podcast Is Episode Number 481, And It's About Common Construction Contractor Bookkeeping Issues With Accounts Payable Accounts Payable keeps track of the bills owed to a supplier or subcontractor.   A proper Construction Contractor Bookkeeping System uses the Accounts Payable feature to track unpaid bills. The bank wants to get paid, and unlike the contractor who is embarrassed to call an old customer, the bank is very willing to call early and often for any outstanding payments due. Again, the banker wants to know how long it takes to pay your bills.   Another reason to keep a proper Construction Contractor Bookkeeping System is to be sure you did not overpay a supplier or subcontractor, cell phone, the internet, liability insurance, vehicle insurance, and more.   The bills keep coming depending on your payment schedule; you may receive the past reminder notice before the original invoice arrives. Some utility companies have a history of what appears to be randomly sending the original bill.   When you

This Podcast Is Episode Number 480, And It's About How To Make Xero Accounting Work For Your Construction Business The key to making Xero Accounting Online work is ensuring your account is correctly set up and maintained. Perhaps you own a service and repair firm specializing in plumbing, electrical, HVAC, or maybe a handyman service or someone who does small construction projects that last from a few hours to a few days, and you only need to give your customer or client one invoice?   Suppose you've just started working with Xero; making a few mistakes while learning is expected. We see pretty common errors - and unfortunately costly - so you should be aware of them if you want to get the most out of Xero's powerful cloud accounting system.    Not connecting all the bank and credit card accounts dedicated to your business Make sure that you keep all your construction business bank and credit card accounts synced to Xero to ensure that you don't miss any sales or expenses in your reports. Also, ensure that y

This Podcast Is Episode Number 479, And It's About Ways Reasons Why Contractor Startups Fail And How To Avoid Them Many surveys and reports show that nearly half of all new construction companies close their doors within the first five years of opening them. When we speak with contractors who failed, most say it was due to a lack of cash flow. It was pretty obvious, yet when questioned, all of them said they were "Blind-Sided" and were not aware they were running out of cash until it was too late.   There is a point when a contracting company starts to fail, and nothing short of a massive cash infusion can stop it, and a domino effect begins, which is when a series of similar or related events occur as a direct and inevitable result of one initial event.   Planning is essential to give your business the best chances for success. Planning means anticipating challenges and developing ways to successfully address them, so they don't upset your startup.    Here are three reasons why contractor startups fail and

This Podcast Is Episode Number 476, And It's About What Every Contractor Needs To Remember When Negotiating Contracts Several aspects of the construction business can only be learned through experience. One of them is negotiating contracts.   Most people fear the negotiation procedure because it is an intrinsically uncomfortable process. Asking for more money or making personal demands doesn't come naturally to everyone. But with the right toolkit, you can breeze through contract negotiations. And you'd better get used to it because you'll have to handle many contracts whether you're a construction company owner or employee.   Having the right mindset is critical to contract negotiations. You have to believe that you are going to get your way. Bring a positive attitude and a smile to the table. You're not signing contracts with the enemy. The people you're negotiating with will be your business partners in one capacity or another.   We recommend seeking the advice of a qualified construction attorney to put

This Podcast Is Episode Number 477, And It's About Ways To Sustain The Life Line Of Your Construction Company   Cash flow refers to the movement of money into and out of your business. It's based on the amount of money you bring in minus the amount you spend. A positive cash flow means bringing in more than you're spending. A negative cash flow means you aren't bringing in enough to cover your expenses.   Your construction company can run into problems by not charging enough for goods or services, having late-paying clients, growing too quickly, or simply spending too much money.   Solid cash flow management is vital to ensuring your contracting business survives, but not everyone understands what cash flow is or how to manage it. That's likely what makes it a leading cause of stress for small business owners.    Cash flow can vary throughout the year, depending on sales cycles or whether you've made a large purchase.  Here are three strategies you can use to gain control over your cash flow. 1. Understand y

This Podcast Is Episode Number 476, And It's About How High-Profit Jobs Can Make Or Break Your Construction Company Knowing which jobs have the highest probability of success and profit before getting involved moves your construction company from an unpredictable roller coaster to a peaceful merry-go-round.   You have what appears to be a high-profit job, and now you think you have it made, and I hope you are right!   The problem is that high-profit jobs can turn into low or no-profit jobs. In some cases, they can bankrupt your construction company because you bid on the project using whatever model you are accustomed to using, and in the end, you wind up with cash flow problems.   Many problems can be traced back to the "Halo Effect," which happens when a contractor thinks, "We are so good at (fill in the blank) we should expand into (fill in the blank).  The most common situation is when a residential remodel contractor who has built a reputation and a substantial company generating profits of 15% or more

This Podcast Is Episode Number 475, And It's About Proven Construction Business Processes When Creating Your To-Do List When you're a construction business owner, your to-do list is often long and constantly growing longer. You need to do many things, and it can feel like they're all urgent. In such cases, it's easy to push essential tasks to the side and focus on less-vital activities, but that often means you miss deadlines, make mistakes or always feel as though you're trying to catch up.   Construction Companies have two basic leadership styles; wait until an urgent situation occurs and react like a firefighter or develop business processes that allow the company to respond calmly and natural resources and solutions to the issues like a traffic police officer on a sunny afternoon.   Firefighter Leaders - Operate in one of three mental states: Going into a crisis Coming out of crises Waiting for a crisis Traffic Director - Leaders operate in one of four mental states: Preparing for new projects to appe

This Podcast Is Episode Number 474, And It's About Bad Business Practices In Construction Bookkeeping One of the biggest challenges construction company owners like you have with an in-house bookkeeper is training them to work for your best interest, not theirs, and deliver consistent results and the reports you can trust daily, year after year.   Having been involved with construction and construction accounting and bookkeeping for over thirty years, we have seen a consistent pattern repeated over and over that will turn ordinary, decent, pleasant bookkeepers into a disheveled, broken, mean, nasty, arrogant trolls, and that's a good day when the sun is shining, and the birds are singing!   Here's how it happens:  Someone is assigned the construction bookkeeping duties, and they are typically mild-mannered, shy, and unable to say no. The newly appointed "bookkeeper" opens the QuickBooks Pandora's box and loads the CD in the computer, believing it will be set up and ready to go in ten minutes.  That's when t

This Podcast Is Episode Number 473, And It's About How Technology Helps Construction Businesses Save Money The use of technology in construction has come a long way. Many articles have already been written about how construction has been sluggish in adopting new advancements in technology compared to other business sectors. However, more and more companies, especially small construction businesses, have been open to using technology to improve their operations.    Any change is difficult–especially in business. Changing how things have always been done in the past involves a lot of effort, persistence, and flexibility, not to mention financial investment. To sustain the interest and efforts towards these changes, it's crucial to fully understand and not lose sight of the benefits of adopting technology. For businesses, increasing the bottom line and reducing costs are always practical reasons to leap.    Here are the ways technology helps construction businesses reduce costs: Pre-construction Process From

This Podcast Is Episode Number 472, And It's About Unconventional Ways To Market Your Construction Business   One of your greatest fears is wasting money on a less than good lead.   They may or may not have any genuine desire for services. Sometimes a person is committed to collecting three bids when they already have someone picked out to do the work. They may be looking for a "temporary friend" to do them a favor, or by the time you have completed the form, they have changed their mind and no longer want service. This is often the case when one spouse or partner wants the work done, and the other doesn't.   Sometimes you want to try something new when networking with other business owners. Here are some unconventional ways to grow your network and bring in new leads. 1. Collaborate with others in the industry You know your niche, so you know the questions about your industry. Collaborate with people who fit your ideal market. For example, you could create a newsletter where you ask people in your niche mar

Every day you make financial decisions about your company, which affect how successful and sustainable your construction business is. If you're responsible for the bookkeeping and all the paper management (bills, receipts, estimates, invoices), you could be making errors that affect your decisions. Because of an incorrect decimal place, you may think that you have more money in the bank than you do. Or you may not fully understand how a decision today affects your business tomorrow.   Keeping up with paperwork is a typical construction business timewaster we noticed in more than thirty years in the industry. Doing your books often winds up costing you more money in the end, not to mention the time and energy that goes into a task you despise or, at the very least, don't fully understand.    This is one area that many construction company owners hate to be part of but still choose to take responsibility for.   Here are some ways having a construction bookkeeper can solve your paperwork frustrations and free

This Podcast Is Episode Number 470, And It's About How To Balance Profit Centers And Cost Centers In Your Construction Company Success in operating a profitable construction business is all about maintaining the proper balance of control over both The Profit Centers and The Cost Centers. If either one gets too powerful and is allowed to run your construction company, it can cause more damage than good.   The definition of a Non-Profit Construction Company is one that tries to fix its weaknesses and continues making the same mistakes repeatedly, expecting a different result and continues to struggle until the owner lays down and dies from over-work and exhaustion.   A Highly Profitable Construction Company builds on its strengths and core competencies and continues innovating, growing, and responding to changes in its environment.    It's Not Rocket Science; It's A Lot Harder Than That! Profit Centers Most construction companies earn most of their profits from less than four different project types or Profit

This Podcast Is Episode Number 466, And It's About Five Effective Ways To Find New Construction Clients If you want your business to continue growing and thriving, you'll need to find ways to bring in new clients.   Before the internet was commercially available, there were just as many experts advising contractors about the layout and design of yellow page ads and which books to spend money on. I say spend money because that is what it was and is now.   Many of us who owned and operated construction companies spent thousands of dollars on these experts and, based on their recommendations, spent tens of thousands of dollars annually in full-page yellow page ads as close to the first position as possible.   Nowadays, instead of yellow pages people, I see many well-intentioned people with their minds and hearts in the right place that have a lot of really great ideas on what works and fails in social media. I certainly don't know what works for every contractor; however, I know that every construction company

This Podcast Is Episode Number 468, And It's About Processes To Increase Production And Reduce Injuries At The Job Site Some construction business owners believe in maximizing production by driving everyone from the laborers to the project managers to work harder, longer, faster, hustle, and run. And if they are giving less than 110% to the company, they are not doing enough. One thing to consider: Don't let construction workers think too much; they may injure themselves. Apprentices and most Journeymen working on a construction job site are better off not thinking but simply following routines and patterns established by management based upon best practices. At first read, this sounds harsh, and yet it comes from our own experiences as a contractor operating multiple job sites with small crews on each from two to ten people; this one concept generated a lot of bottom-line profits and kept injuries very low. The system is the solution. Being process dependent, not people dependent, means investing the time an

This Podcast Is Episode Number 467, And It's About Four Key Areas To Evaluate In Your Construction Business Budget With the potential for business life to return to something resembling normal, it's good to look at your budget and see where you may need to shift some of your priorities. Pay attention to how your spending over the past few years affected your business and either helped you achieve or took you away from your overall goals.    Considering how your business and your employees functioned in recent years can help you predict upcoming trends, enabling you to plan for adjustments.    There is no better time to reflect and think seriously about your construction business. Excellent organization systems add considerable value to any business because they allow you to spend more time working on your business rather than on it.   Here are some key areas to evaluate in your budget to determine whether you need to spend more or less in these areas.  1. Technology This is possibly the business area with th

This Podcast Is Episode Number 466, And It's About Delight Your Online Prospects - Converting Visitors Into Clients Businesses are increasingly moving online to expand their reach and provide the best possible experience to their customers. Being online, however, means more competition, so business owners must come up with ways to amp up their game to gain a more significant market share.    You won't build a loyal client base if you can't earn your visitors' trust, so companies value social proof so highly. But proving your construction business's value online takes a unique skill set, one you can nurture by learning from the marketing industry professionals.   Great news for construction business owners like you since you're hyper-local and offer your services based on your location, which means you can target your online audience and optimize for better search engine results.   Connect with your prospective clients and "wow" them even before they reach out to you by implementing these strategies: 1. Put t

Contractors who ask for help in Cleaning Up their QuickBooks Files before filing taxes have better results than those that do not. The Tax Accountant is happier because the QuickBooks file is clean and easier to work with. They will likely find more deductions that can save you money and, in some cases, mean the difference between success and failure in your construction company. Because the QuickBooks file is clean, the Tax Accountant will have fewer questions for you. Because the QuickBooks file is clean, the Tax Accountant can easily find the reports needed to file your tax return. Because the QuickBooks file is clean, the Tax Accountant can focus on saving you money. You are the Happiest because taking a trip to the Dentist for many contractors is less painful than going to the Tax Accountant. Once a Tax Accountant is "Broke In," you hate to change them. It shouldn't have to be that way. Like a new pair of shoes – All is well and a Happier Experience, once the Tax Accountant and The Contractor understan