This Podcast Is Episode Number 0189 And It Will Be About Office Manager Becomes Overworked Contractor's Bookkeeper Who Cuts Corners You are a small contractor and needs someone to answer the phone. You hire someone for the office. Calls are coming in and the Admin Assistant has some free time between calls you want to make use of that famous Standby Time so you ask them to do a little more. Being nice; you now give them the new title of Office Manager.  As the Office Manager; that person is in control of the bookkeeping, customer invoices, vendor payments and more. As the contractor, you are excited because you are handing off responsibility of the day to day activities. From your side; you have checked off the box called Office Manger DONE, phones DONE, bookkeeping DONE and material pickup and delivery person DONE. Everything is solved. Good now you can go back to work and start doing the work. This is the part you are good at and like to do.  Are you expecting Too Much from your Office Manager? Does the Office Manager understand Bookkeeping or is just trying to keep the checkbook balanced? Now add employees; are you expecting the Office Manager to understand the payroll? How about the differences between Construction Accounting and Regular Accounting?  Have you ever heard your Office Manager say: Don’t worry about it. I have everything under control. Great everything is working and you go back to work. Life is good and I am making money now.  Surprise – Surprise Now it’s November.  Did you remember to pay The Quarterly Payroll Taxes were due on Halloween. It’s another form of Trick or Treat. If they have been paid and you have money left over it is a treat. The Trick is if you forgot, or didn’t know about them – Do you have enough money to pay? Even the best of bookkeepers are not comfortable writing checks that they know will not clear the bank. Everything is going smoothly. Business is good and growing. More and more jobs are coming in.  Office Manager is handling everything until you ask. How much money did I make on the “XYZ” Job? Then you discover that the accounting reports are missing details.  Is the Problem the person sitting in the Chair (Office Manager | Bookkeeper | Delivery Person). Do they have enough time to do everything. What is the priority? Delivery of Material because it’s needed on the job RIGHT NOW - DROP Everything and go get “stuff” from the supplier and take it to the job. Is the Problem the receipts turned in and are not marked with the job name or never turned in at all? Is the Problem that the time cards are not real time cards for filled out with fiction and guess word days after the fact.  Are the time cards holding up payroll, billing customers (time and material) generally unreadable and show up five minutes before the employees expects their paycheck.  In other words – the Office Manager needs to STOP EVERYTHING to fix, chase down, find something or solve an issue FIRST before the next thing on their list can happen. List is always longer than time needed.     Is the Problem that the phone rings in the middle of something else and the Office Manager can only do two things at once but has ten things to be completed before going home. Ever heard of the old fashion phrase “Just Give It A Lick and A Promise” In other words a quick wipe verses a deep clean edge to edge. Solution for an Overworked Bookkeeper is that something slips. Usually it begins with something that not critical but then it is.    Usually the first to go is Job Costing.  After all the Job Costing is impacting a report that the owner never looks at.  Extra work for when the Office Manager is wearing the Bookkeeper hat.  Just get the transaction into QuickBooks and get the bill paid.  After all that’s what is important. Now is the slide into what I call the Office Manager | Bookkeeper is being...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0188 And It Will Be About The Top Marketing Tactics Every Contractor Should Be Utilizing If you are on our present blog post, you’ll find that today’s guest Hannah West of Home Improvement Leads.com offered a few essential pieces of advice for how to be more visible to potential customers, how to strengthen your brand, and how to garner more business. If you haven’t been to our site yet, it’s fasteasyaccounting dot com forward slash blog and the latest post is right on the top. She mentioned about Using Social Media Platforms that Make Sense. And I couldn’t agree more! Today, I will talk about three fast and easy marketing platforms that I think every construction company owner should sign up for. All you need is a smartphone and three social media accounts. Keep your credit and debit cards away because creating business profiles for these platforms doesn’t cost a thing. You heard that right, I said three. In doing this, consistency is key. I promise to be less technical. Let’s start with building your business presence in Google by creating a Google My Business page. You can set up your business hours, add your phone number and if you have a physical location, add directions using Google Search and Maps to help visitors and prospects find your office. Since Google Search is the most popular search engine, it only makes sense to provide Google your information so clients can find you wherever they are, whenever they need your services through their computer or most likely on their smartphone. Make sure your business details are correct, you can edit it anytime to keep your information up to date. Connect with your customers by staying on top of reviews and responding to them as the business owner. Second, set up a Facebook business page. About 800 million people are actively using Facebook every day and it has become an important tool for practically any marketing strategy for almost any business – online or brick and mortar, retail or services. With a Facebook Page (and I’m reading this from their site), you can easily show customers what you’re all about. Keep new and existing customers engaged by Listing details – like hours and contact information, adding big, beautiful photos and images, posting updates to let people know the latest about your business, and add call-to-action buttons to let people take action directly on your website. As I’ve said earlier, consistency is key. Make sure you provide good content whether it’s once a day or twice a week. Once you get comfortable creating posts and maintaining your business page, you can create advertisements to Facebook users in your area within a specific age bracket and interests, to let them know about your company and the services you offer. Last but not the least, is to create an Instagram page. Yes, construction contractors are all over this photo sharing app, too. It’s time you should be posting “before and after” photos of your work, quick tips, and tricks to your followers and possible clients, and get to know people in your area through photos. The best thing about Instagram is that you can connect it to your Facebook account and have the option to post a photo in both platforms in one go. Perhaps, most of you are used to marketing locally, posting fliers and door hangers, and other traditional way of letting your company known. But having your presence in these social media sites adds credibility to your company, makes you an authority in your field, and builds trust in the community you’re in, as people nowadays often search for answers in their smartphone. Why not build your storefront right where they can see you and offer solutions to their problems, whether it’s their leaking faucet or backyard fence? Remember how Randal puts it, Marketing first, Accounting second, Production last. If you are listening to our podcast on your smartphone right now, I take it you are tech savvy enough to...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0187 And It Will Be About Construction Contractors Mad Dash To The Year End Mad Dash To The End Of The Year And I Can’t Remember Last Week Let Alone January, April, July’s Stuff! The year is almost over. It is now the (4th) Quarter and year end deadlines are approaching. Have you given your bookkeeper, wife, partner), accountant or tax accountant the information need to complete your reports. Accountants need good information to be able to create detailed reports and save money on your taxes. Here is truly where the expression “Garbage In Equals Garbage Out” comes into play.  It is impossible to create QuickBooks Job Costing Reports when all anyone knows is the amount of a deposit on the bank statement.      It’s the Mad Dash To The End Of The Year as a contractor recently described their Year End Madness to get his documents ready for the Tax Accountant. Are You In This Cycle Of Chaos Too? It’s Preventable! Paper, Paper, and More Paper Bookkeepers and Accountants are unable to create good reports without paperwork, documents, receipts, customer invoices, customer payments, bank statements, credit card statements, payments made using a personal checking account instead of your business account (it was easier because that was where the money was), personal credit cards (I used whichever one was handy in my wallet) and all the cash receipts. Client to the Accountant: Why do I have to give you all this stuff?      Every Missed Receipt That Is A Business Expense Is A Missed Deduction Bookkeeping is all about Tracking The Money. Money In, Money Out is just tracking the checkbooks. Accounting is entering into an Accounting System which creates a Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet for the Tax Accountant to do the Annual Taxes. (Every successful contractor should have a Tax Accountant do their annual tax return) Construction Accounting Is That Next Step To Growing Your Company In Construction Accounting not everything is an expense. Not every item, tool, material or customer goes into the Chart of Accounts. In some case Class Tracking is useful, but most of the time it is used to make up for a poor Chart of Accounts or using it as a “workaround” for an accounting product not designed to have Job Costing Reports or Cost Of Good Sold. Giving your bookkeeper only your bank statements and saying “Fix It” – I Want Job Costing Reports, I Want To Know Details is not enough. Doing It The Way You Have Always Done It – Then Expecting A Different Result isn’t the way it works. Success Is Doing A Few Things Right  And  Repeating and Adding Improvements One At A Time. To grow and improve a company needs to be able to adapt to the changes, be open to new ideas. At Fast Easy Accounting we have and entire department, The Project Management Department, that questions every bit of our Contractors Bookkeeping System everyday and continually finds new and better ways to improve it and make it more valuable to Contractors like you no matter where you are in the USA Including Alaska and Hawaii. Our website www.fasteasyaccounting.com features more video, podcasts, and blogs with more places where podcasts can be accessed, including FREE Forms and new ways for contractors like you to connect with us and get the help you need.     For Clients, we added a Document Management System that links with many of the banks and credit card companies across the country (adding more all the time).  We still use our original Document Management System behind the scenes.  The two companies have figured out a way to work together for the benefit of us and our clients.  Change is not always an easy thing, but we are so glad we did. The same applies to you “The Contractor” As you figure out ways to be more efficient, better pricing, prove a better product and service your cash flow and profits will increase massively which means...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0185 And It Will Be About Handyman Marketing Machine With Dan Perry Today's podcast guest is Dan Perry, founder of HandymanStartup.com Tell us about your background and how you came to be where you are now. I started my handyman business back in 2011 and was a complete novice when it came to business. But, I was determined to learn because I didn’t want to have to go back and get another 9-5. So, I invested in learning sales and marketing from other industries since the stuff for handyman and contractors seemed outdated. I applied and tested these strategies in my own handyman business, and got great results and quickly had a full schedule while charging a premium. Since, I’ve continued to learn, but I’ve turned a lot of my focus to helping other handymen and contractors through online training, so they can apply these strategies to grow their profits. What are some differences between you and your competitors? There are very few people doing what I’m doing for the handyman industry, but the major thing that differentiates me is the quality and depth of my trainings. There just isn’t anything else out there (that I know of) that walks people through online marketing and pricing in a comprehensive, step-by-step fashion. My competitors are more focused on selling leads or marketing services. I’m empowering them to do it themselves and not only save money but get better results. Basically, my competitors are selling fish and I’m teaching people how to fish. What problem or issue does your product or service solve? I have several programs available that solve various problems - from getting started, to pricing and marketing. But, there are two big problems my latest training Handyman Marketing Machine solves. The first is the problem of contractors being treated like a commodity. The second is the problem of having gaps in their schedule or not having enough customers. Three things a contractor should consider when hiring your services? 1) Do they offer a quality service 2) Are they willing to put in the work to get the results 3) I have a 90-day guarantee, so there is no risk. How can you tell if someone is a good fit for your company? If they are currently averaging less than $75/hr for their labor. If their schedule isn’t full consistently. If they are motivated and ready to learn. What types of advice do you give a contractor? One simple tip to generate more leads online is to focus on online reviews. Basically, choose a website (Yelp is usually a good one), and focus on soliciting reviews for JUST that directory. The goal is to have the most 5-star reviews in your category. This will give a tremendous boost in leads on its own. In closing, tell the listeners how they can contact you The best place to learn more would be to go the HandymanStartup.com/getcustomers. There they can get some free video training to learn more about my marketing strategy and who they can fill their schedules with profitable jobs. To sign up and learn more about Dan Perry's Handyman Marketing Machine, please click the link below: Handyman Marketing Machine About Dan Perry: Dan Perry is a professional handyman and the founder of HandymanStartup.com - an online training resource dedicated to helping handymen, plumbers, electricians, and contractors understand business and marketing so they can get more customers, make more money, and enjoy their businesses. He's also the author of "The $100K Handyman," a complete guide to pricing your services for maximum profit.  Connect with him at www.handymanstartup.com or on twitter @bigdhandyman. I trust this podcast helps you understand that outsourcing your contractors bookkeeping services to us is about more than just “doing the bookkeeping”; it is about taking holistic approach to your entire construction company and helping support you as a contractor and as a person. We Remove Contractor's Unique Paperwork Frustrations We...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0184 And It Will Be About Unique Tips To Avoid Bookkeepers Who Will Destroy Your Construction Company This podcast was recorded in late September 2016 in response to a trend we see all across the USA including Alaska and Hawaii. It is likely happening everywhere in the world. When the world economy collapsed beginning in 2008, a lot of companies went out of business, and one of the hardest hit sectors was construction. Thousands of bookkeepers were suddenly out of a job, and many of them began to freelance taking on a few clients in order to pay rent and keep food on the table. As the economy continues to improve a lot of them are finding jobs with contractors like you because of the security that comes with having a stable income. The problem is they have been accustomed to having lots of free time during office hours to chat on their cell phones, surf the web, spend time on Facebook and other social media sites; not buckling down and getting work done, right and on time. In addition, most of them have not kept up with the advances in Construction Accounting Technology let alone keeping the construction bookkeeping skills updated. What happens when he or she realizes they were earning $30 an hour as a freelance bookkeeper and now they are slaving away in your cramped office with no snacks, beverages, using outdated hardware and software for $10 an hour? Psychologists refer to it as mental stress or "Cognitive Dissonance" or "Mental Noise" or "The Chattering Monkeys of the Mind." Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance focuses on how humans strive for internal consistency. An individual who experiences inconsistency (dissonance) tends to become psychologically uncomfortable and is motivated to try to reduce this dissonance—as well as actively avoid situations and information likely to increase it.[1] Perception Is Reality Freelance bookkeepers average approximately 4 hours of paid work a day. In their minds, they are worth $30 an hour, and you are ripping them off by paying them 1/3 of what they perceive are worth.This thinking begins to consume them, and in since most bookkeepers have a Driver Personality it means they are confronted with the primal fear of all Driver Personalities “You Are Taking Advantage Of Me And I Am Going To Get Even!” There are several ways this plays out and the two most common are embezzlement and becoming a Bad Bookkeeper A Google Search - Of Construction Bookkeeper Embezzlement will generate thousands of hits, and most of it could have been avoided if the construction owner had known about and followed a few simple guidelines. #01 - Don't Hire A Bad Bookkeeper Click Here For More... #02 - Understand The Employee Theft 10-10-80 Rule - Discovered over many years of experience and first-hand observation by auditors, accountants, fraud examiners, anyone involved in detecting employee theft. Ten Percent - Of all employees including bookkeepers will steal in a variety of ways from office supplies, petty cash, graft, kickbacks, and payoffs from your suppliers, vendors and sub-contractors and even hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. They will do it regardless of how many security systems are in place because they lack integrity and have a "taker's" entitlement paradigm that states: "It Is Better To Take Than To Make". They cannot be stopped, only caught! And only then if you have systems in place and if you can convince the criminal justice system to take action, good luck with that! Ten Percent - Of all employees including bookkeepers will never steal because they have integrity and a "Producer's" paradigm that states: "It Is Better To Make Than To Take". In the end, these are the people who will add so much value to your company you cannot help but reward them with more money, benefits and recognition. Because if you do not they will be recruited by your competitors. This is another example of Leveling, click here to learn more. Eighty...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0183 And It Will Be About The Truth Behind Our Live Chat With Construction Contractors   I have been working as a Webmaster at Fast Easy Accounting for over a year now and I can truthfully say, I enjoy my job. I have been exposed to researching and reading all about the construction industry and were given the right tools and resources to expand my skillset. You, our visitors coming from this trade, must be thinking what do I know about this profession considering I am a web developer (if you haven't listened to Randal's podcast with me or would like to read my pilot blog post, please click here). Since my working hours are primarily dedicated to our online business presence - mainly website and social media, I took over our live online help for a couple of months. This experience, although not new to me, is something I look forward to and appreciate doing. It made me realized the purpose of my work in maintaining the website. I welcomed visitors and established a firsthand relationship with construction professionals in different parts of the world by responding to their queries or concerns in the chat box. Would you be interested to know what is the most recurring question in my everyday quick conversations I had with them? It’s about pricing, price quote, and the cost of our services. Of course, that is acceptable. It makes sense for you to take cautionary steps before diving in. We should all value our hard-earned money and if you prefer to look for better deals in order to save, by all means, do it. Here is where I want you to keep an open mind. Prospective clients think that construction accounting is just like a walk in the park. What's so difficult about punching numbers and entering receipts? I can outsource a bookkeeper in Southeast Asia for a fraction of the cost. Or maybe my wife can handle that for free. Well, let me tell you a secret, that park is actually Jurassic Park. Yes, even for small business owners. You’d realize that soon enough when your kitchen island or dining table is filled with piles of paper while you’re screaming from overwhelming administrative work. We can’t emphasize it enough; Construction Accounting is different from Regular Accounting (as I've explained in my video below): We understand that you are managing your own business and most of you work in the field as well. In doing so, you look for quick solutions and specific tools that are made for your trade and fits in your industry. Likewise, we would like to offer you services particular to what your company needs in consideration to your budget. Simply put, it would be hard for me to answer you right off the bat with overall cost or bookkeeping service charge. I won’t be able to give you a specific number. That is the reason why we always say you only need to contact Sharie. You can set up a phone consultation with her to talk about your bookkeeping and accounting needs – at no cost. There you go, my answer is IT’S FREE! It’s free to chat with Sharie. Most of you have been in this trade long enough to identify tire-kickers from the real deal, I get that it’s hard to decide and think straight when your mind is already occupied with other important company matters. But keep in mind, this is the financial department of your business, construction accounting is the heart of your organization. Your next best step is to call Sharie at (206) 361-3950 or email [email protected] to schedule your no-charge consultation. I hope this podcast helps you understand that outsourcing your contractors bookkeeping services to us is about more than just “doing the bookkeeping”; it is about taking a holistic approach to your entire construction company and helping support you as a contractor and as a person.   - Norhalma Verzosa Webmaster, Fast Easy Accounting   ...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0181 And It Will Be About Annual Taxes and Job Costing from the view of The Contractor The first question is why doesn’t the tax accountant help me with Job Costing? The reason is they are Tax Accountants, not Construction Accountants. If you say "I want to go to ONE Place to all my answers. Have a dedicated person be available whenever I call." You are not likely to find what you are looking for because someone with those skills will cost you several hundred dollars an hour. Maybe you think they are The Accountants and they should know the answers. They are just keeping it a secret. Maybe they don’t know what they are doing, and I need to get a new tax accountant. My Advice is Stop, take a deep breath. Is your tax accountant doing a good job with your annual taxes? If the answer is YES. Please keep them, they are doing what they are supposed to do. Annual taxes is like a job site at the end of the project. The Tax Accountant has a “Punch List” with loose ends everywhere, final cleanup of the job site needs to be done everywhere. Think of it as a Residential Project with the Homeowner living there. Everything needs to be gently picked up, clean up, tidied up and look way better than before you came (or better yet; nicer than when the house was brand new) The same thing applies to your taxes. All the numbers are placed on your tax return in a specific order. Think Proposals which can be a summary of what you are doing. Detailed Estimate is the nuts and bolts with subtotals. Nuts and bolts are part of job costing reports, subtotals and totals move to the tax return. Not all of the items you spent money on are actual tax deductions. The tax accountant must be up to date on the latest changes made by Congress and implemented by the Internal Revenue Service. Remember a few years ago when Congress made changes went they met in January. Then next the Internal Revenue Service had to determine how those changes applied to the individual pages on the tax return. Those changes then had to be sent to the software engineers to update all of the tax software. The rule is the first two pages of the annual 1040 are the summary of your, mine and everyone else’s tax return. The balance of the many pages of your tax return is supporting documents and worksheets. Congress in a single bill can make decisions that are for the current year (today), future years (tomorrow), and yesterday (as in the example of the year changes were made in January that impacted the prior year’s taxes).   Most tax accountants are “Generalists” which means they have every combination of family structure, with and without children, elderly parents, grown children that moved back home, and friends they are helping out. Do you have health insurance, a qualified plan, non-qualified, State-run plan, or hoping for the best and will pay the No Insurance penalty. Do you own your home, have a second home, RV or Travel Trailer that qualifies as a second home. What about IRA’s, 401k’s, changed jobs, someone was ill; had to or chose to take an early distribution. What is a tax deduction and What is Not a tax deduction? Now add a business to the mix. Is the business a Sole Proprietor, LLC, Sub-Chapter S-Corp, C-Corp, Partnership. Did you take a payroll, Loans to Owner, Loans to Members, Loans to Shareholder (makes a difference when preparing the tax return? If you are a Sole Prop, LLC being treated as a Sole Prop or a Partnership, then there is an additional form “Self-Employment Tax” which leads to paying quarterly estimated taxes Quarterly to the Internal Revenue Service. Your Tax returns of today with a business are many pages long; gone are the days of the Easy File. They were the “Good Old Days” when you had a W-2 job, no house, and no to a zillion and one other questions that lead to a tax deduction. Every missing receipt could be a loss of a tax deduction.   Asking your tax accountant to...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0180 And It Will Be About Annual Taxes And Job Costing From The View Of The Wife Of A Contractor The First Question You May Ask Yourself Is Why Doesn’t My Tax Accountant Help Me With Job Costing? They are Tax Accountants, not Construction Accountants and may not know the answers. You may think they are just keeping it a secret. Sometimes you may think they don’t know what they are doing, and maybe I need to get a new tax accountant. My Advice is Stop, take a deep breath. Is your tax accountant doing a good job with your annual taxes? If the answer is YES. Please keep them, they are doing what they are supposed to do. Annual taxes is like the game of “Pick Up Sticks” Details are everywhere, and all need to be gently picked up and placed on your tax return in a specific order. Not all of the items on the table are actual tax deductions. Your tax accountant must be up to date on the latest changes made by Congress and implemented by the Internal Revenue Service. Remember a few years ago when Congress made changes went they met in January. Then next the Internal Revenue Service had to determine how those changes applied to the individual pages on the tax return. Those changes then had to be sent to the software engineers to update all of the tax software. The rule is the first two pages of the annual 1040 are the summary of your tax return. The balance of the pages is supporting documents and worksheets. Congress in a single bill can make decisions that are for the current year (today), future years (tomorrow), and yesterday (as in the example of the year changes were made in January that impacted the prior year’s taxes). Most tax accountants are “Generalists” which means they have every combination of family structure, with and without children, elderly parents, grown children that moved back home, and friends they are helping out. Do you have health insurance, a qualified plan, non-qualified, State-run plan, or hoping for the best and will pay the No Insurance penalty.  Do you own your home, have a second home, RV or Travel Trailer that qualifies as a second home. What about IRA’s, 401k’s, changed jobs, someone was ill; had to or chose to take an early distribution. What is a tax deduction and What is Not a tax deduction? Now add your Construction Company to the mix. Is the business a Sole Proprietor, LLC, Sub-Chapter S-Corp, C-Corp, Partnership. Did you take a payroll, Loans to Owner, Loans to Members, Loans to Shareholder (makes a difference when preparing the tax return?  If you are a Sole Prop, LLC being treated as a Sole Prop or a Partnership, then there is an additional form “Self-Employment Tax” which leads to paying quarterly estimated taxes Quarterly to the Internal Revenue Service. Tax returns are many pages long; gone are the days of the Easy File. They were the “Good Old Days” when you had a W-2 job, no house, and no to a zillion and one other questions. Asking your tax accountant to focus on the details of your business is just TOO Much. By the time your information gets to the tax accountant; their focus in on picking up all the pickup sticks and put them in the proper order to save you money on your taxes. Job Costing and job profitability is a question about details and good record keeping on the part of the contractor. A wife, spouse, partner, friend with the help of a construction accountant provide Job Costing reports. Without the proper tools, it is a frustrating activity for everyone involved. The contractor, if you don’t know what job you are on and unable to unwilling to slow down long enough to put a job name on the receipt. Then expecting your others in your life to be able to EASILY (anything can be done) figure out the Job Costing with limited information is unreasonable.  CONCLUSION: So when the tax accountant tries to keep their expression blank, without rolling their eyes, and gently fobs off your wife,...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0179 And It Will Be About Start-Up Your Contracting Company With Equipment Auctions You Started Your Cоnѕtruсtіоn Company, And Now You Need Tools, Equipment, Trucks, And Vans And You Are Dismayed By What Everything Costs The соѕt of ѕtаrtіng a Cоnѕtruсtіоn business саn be daunting and scary, tо ѕау thе least. Nо mаttеr whісh part of this wide wonderful іnduѕtrу you choose or hоw profitable іt may bе, еvery Contractor fасеѕ the same оbѕtасlеѕ fоr асԛuіrіng hand tools, power tools, truсkѕ, vans and heavy equipment. The bіggеѕt оbѕtасlе you will face is getting the money to buу what you need. So еԛuірmеnt аuсtіоnѕ can bе a grеаt hеlр to a Contractor like you. Considering the retail cost of properly outfitting one work van with the tools and equipment to open a skilled trade business like Plumber, Electrician, HVAC, Carpenter, Framer, Drywaller, Flooring, Roofer or any of the other dozens of skilled trades can cost over $25,000 then wouldn't it make sense to save money where you can? Auctions Offer Massive Sеlесtіоn And Deep Dіѕсоuntѕ It is a sad fact Construction Companies suffer from high failure rates because they insist on running their business using P.A.M. instead of M.A.P. and not taking full advantage of their Board Of Advisors which they are paying for most of the services anyway. Their loss can be your gain; however, be forewarned we work with a lot of Contractors who have failed at least once and they can become your most formidable competitor. Nothing clears out the "Cobwebs of the Mind" like crashing a company someone worked long and hard to build. In all cases, the failed Construction Contractor believed they had the drive, guts, stamina and ability to "Power Through" any and all situations with "Brute Force" because in Construction that is how 99.999% of all problems are solved! "If The Grand Strategy Is Correct The Enterprise Will Prove Successful; However, Efficient Operations Cannot Overcome Bad Strategy" - Paraphrased from Sun Tzu Every failed Contractor worth his or her salt will begin to understand the VALUE of a Construction Success System we call M.A.P. after their business has failed and they have time to reflect and think. Make A Wish List Of Tools And Equipment You know what your company needs to make it more efficient and to reduce The Ten Minutes Of Waste Every Day That Is Killing Cash Flow And Profits so surf the internet, visit trade shows and browse the aisles of your local Home Depot, Lowes and other material and tool suppliers and keep updated about what is available. Two of my favorite sites for tool reviews are realtoolreviews on Instagram and protoolreviews on Instagram. Setup Google Alerts To Stay Informed About Auctions Another Secret of Successful Contractors is they know of еquipment auctions ahead of time. They setup Google Alerts to send them emails about upcoming equipment auctions. In some cases, they have a skilled foreman or Project Manager setup their own Google Alerts and spend a few minutes every day reviewing what is being offered at upcoming auctions to see if any of it matches the company wish list. The main disadvantage of auctions is the аbіlіtу to find a wіdе variety оf trucks and tо рurсhаѕе it аt uѕеd рrісеѕ. Evеn іf thеrе іѕ nо real роѕtеd discount, thе tools, equipment, trucks, and vans are ѕеllіng fоr an estimated аррrаіѕеd vаluе which is usually much lоwеr thаn buуіng the ѕаmе stuff brаnd nеw. Sреndіng less money on uѕеd items can bе a hugе hеlр to Contractors like you if who are looking to get the most value for your dollar. Fіnаnсіng and Inѕurаnсe Anоthеr bеnеfіt fоr your ѕtаrt-uр Construction Company is some auction sites have lenders in the audience to help you with fіnаnсіng tо pay fоr your рurсhаѕеѕ. Lеndіng оrgаnіzаtіоnѕ and insurance...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0178 And It Will Be About Are You Trying to Find a Bookkeeper for Your Contractor Company? Construction Contractors Have Experienced The Worst Economic Times In The Past 100 Years And Now That You Are Getting Busy You Cannot Find A Decent Reliable Bookkeeper Four Things Contractors Are Saying About Bookkeepers: #1 I've been trying to hire a bookkeeper for my contracting company for a while and none of them are worth a darn! #2 I Tell Them "Your Job Is Make QuickBooks Give Me Reports I Need To Make Informed Business Decisions!" #3 I've hired four of them in the past few years and none of them have a clue about what I do as a contractor! #4 I am getting ready to hire bookkeeper number five, and I just can't take it anymore, and I am near meltdown! The Next Set Of Problems Is Related To Cash Flow #1 Now I am way behind on Invoicing for the work we have done, and I am having a hard time collecting the money. #2 I want to grow my company, do the stuff I am good at and see the money come rolling into my bank account. #3 I want a few days off to spend with friends and  family without having to constantly think about the business! #4 Is there any hope for a brighter future and will I be part of the American Dream, is that too much to ask? If This Describes You And Your Situation Let Me Share A Randalism "If You Know The Answers The Questions Will Not Bother You" In school when you sat for an exam or a test, and you knew the material forward, and backward it was fast and easy. The exams and tests for the classes you struggled with were the opposite. Having a Business Process Management Plan provided you with the answers to the questions about how to run your business because it is something you developed. Not something someone else did and handed to you. Click Here For Contractors Bookkeeper Hiring Guide The Answer Is Get A Professional Construction Bookkeeper With These Traits ·  Someone who has invested the minimum of 10,000 hours that it takes to master construction accounting ·  Someone who continues learning, practicing and growing their knowledge and skills ·  Someone who arrives to work on time and leaves work on time ·  Someone who cheerfully greets your customers and clients with a smile ·  Someone who understands their job description is serving you and your customers ·  Someone who cares about you as a person ·  Someone who cares about your company ·  Someone who cares about your staff ·  Someone who cares about your suppliers ·  Someone who is a cheerful, thinking, responsible adult not a drama King or Queen ·  Someone who focuses 100% of their attention on their job while at work ·  Someone who leaves home issues at home and work issues at work ·  Someone who continually adds new skill sets because they take pride in their work ·  Someone who embraces processes and procedures that allow everyone to succeed ·  Someone who consistently produces useful, reliable reports ·  Someone who takes a lunch break away from the office to recharge their minds and bodies ·  Someone who takes reasonable breaks during the day to clear their mind ·  Someone who is a team player and works hard to maintain the integrity of your QuickBooks What Is Required To Find And Keep A Professional Construction Bookkeeper? ·  A living wage with benefits ·  Air Conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter ·  Company paid training to continually update their skill sets ·  Do not expect them to ANSWER THE PHONE ·  Good lighting in their office and the building in general ·  Kitchenette with free beverages, snacks, frozen foods, and a microwave ·  Library of online knowledge base available only to qualified Bookkeepers ·  Lots of room to spread out paper and assorted files ·  Private office with a door so they can work in quiet and think · ...