If you are a contractor, you know what to look for when you need to hire skilled construction workers. The longer you have been in construction the more experience you have including a sixth sense about who is likely to be a good fit for your team and who is not.
You can spot wanna-bees, clowns, and firebrands in an instant, and you know that if you are thinking about firing someone; you are already fifteen minutes too late!
99.99% of Construction is "Tangible" which means you can judge it using your five senses. You can See, Hear, Touch, Smell and Taste it and you know when it is good or bad.
99.99% of construction accounting is "Not-Tangible" including financing, taxes, payroll processing, payment applications, financial statements, cash management which means you may have to rely on your gut-feeling to know when someone perhaps is not a good fit.
I have a deep background both in construction, having owned and operated successful construction companies and construction accounting.
Just so we are clear, if you suspect I want the opportunity to work with you, you are 100% right! But, I know what you need is proof that I know what I am doing so let me condense several decades of experience into these twelve warning signs you hired the wrong contractor bookkeeping service.
If none of these twelve warning signs applies, you do not need me; however, I trust you will still find value in our website, other publications that host my articles, YouTube videos, Linked In, Google+ and dozens of other social media sites.
Your contractor's bookkeeping services is not a contractors bookkeeping services firm. They are general bookkeepers who accept all types of businesses and cannot do right by any of them because nobody can keep track of all the subtle differences and nuances of multiple industries let alone the specialties within a given industry. In the construction industry, they are known as a "Jack of all Trades and Master of None."
Chances are they are very cheap, just like buying "cheap tools." Every successful contractor knows "cheap tools" are the most expensive ones in the short-run and worse in the long run.
Cheap tools and cheap bookkeepers appear to be a real bargain, until you use them for a short while and discover how expensive they really are. That is when the costs start adding up and you suddenly realize you need to replace them with someone who understands construction, knows what they are doing, has a contractors accounting and bookkeeping system, software, hardware, infrastructure and staff that are trained in construction accounting so they know how to provide the contractors accounting and bookkeeping services you need.
Your contractors bookkeeping services firm is defensive or argumentative when you ask for a flat-rate cost for all your contractor bookkeeping services needs.
There are situations when a contractor is better served with a flexible rate schedule including pre-determined hourly rates depending on the skill level required, but only if there are complex construction accounting needs or if the construction company owner and/or managers want direct command and control of the contractor bookkeeping services.
We can serve 99.99% of construction and contracting companies in the USA including Alaska and Hawaii with annual sales volume from $0 start up to $5,000,000 with a flat rate weekly or monthly fee that does not change unless your needs change.
Our construction accounting services system takes the guesswork out of contractors bookkeeping services and leaves good solid, repeatable bookkeeping processes that workday in and day out.
Warning Sign #03Your contractors bookkeeping services firm talks down to you, uses "accounting speak" and makes you feel stupid when you ask questions. Yes construction accounting is complex; however, you don't want to know how it is done or sausage is made for that matter; you just how to read the financial and job costing reports to help you operate and grow your construction company. The true professional in any field makes everything they do look easy I invite you to look at The Five Key Performance Indicators For Contractors. Then you decide if what I say is true or not, you are the judge.
Your contractors bookkeeping services firm is always late getting the work done, rushed, and misses deadlines without any explanation or apology. Bless their little pea-picking hearts! There is no profit in operating a chaotic bookkeeping service or any other company for that matter.
Contractor bookkeeping services is among the most predictable, foreseeable, boring, tedious, mundane, repetitive, monotonous, dull businesses in the world and people either love it or hate it and thank Heaven we here at Fast Easy Accounting love it, eat it, sleep it, dream about it and are generally fascinated with it!
The reason we love it so much is our Contractors Bookkeeping System reverses the typical 95% / 5% ratio. In most bookkeeping services, 95% of the time they don't know what to do most of the paperwork they encounter so they try to remember what we did with the last one just like it and they hope the financial and job costing reports don't get screwed up. And only 5% of the transactions are simple and easy.
Even something as simple as knowing where to classify fuel or food can be a nightmare for the bookkeeping services staff without at least 10,000 hours in construction accounting.
Fuel Costs Could Go Into Any One Of A Dozen Accounts For Example:
Construction vehicles for use on streets and roads
Construction vehicles for off road use
Generators
Cut-off saws
Air compressors
Other power tools
Admin vehicle company owned
Field employee vehicle as reimbursement
Admin employee vehicle as reimbursement
Sales employee vehicle as reimbursement
Operations employee vehicle as reimbursement
Officer or Owner vehicle as reimbursement
Food Costs Could Go Into Any One Of A Half-Dozen Accounts For Example:
Field employee meals (different tax deduction than straight meals)
Meals for office employees
Entertainment
Office meetings
Charitable donations
Gifts for clients
If a transaction is put into the wrong account the financial statements will present a vastly different picture to the contractor regarding which jobs are profitable and which ones are not. In the end, it could mean the difference between success and failure because if you rely on Profit And Loss By Job Reports to know which jobs to bid on and which ones to ignore.
Year over year and regardless of the economy one thing never changes; 20% of the contractors earn and keep 80% of the profits because they have a Business Process Management Strategy like our Contractors Success M.A.P. that tells them how, what, when, where and why to focus their limited resources on the M.A.P. = Marketing / Accounting / Production.
Your contractors bookkeeping services firm works out of their home. Home based businesses are great for many people and they make a lot of sense; except when it comes to dealing with your construction company's sensitive financial data.
The last thing you want is for your contracting company records to be sitting on someone's kitchen table open and inviting for anyone and everyone to see, touch, read and spy on you construction company. It happens more than you could imagine or could believe unless it has happened to you or someone you know and trust.
Just as bad is when your cheap bookkeeper has little kids with sticky fingers and they get peanut butter and jelly on your construction company receipts.
By far, the most scary cheap bookkeeping services are the ones run by the wife, girlfriend or office worker of your competitor who likes to share your client list, estimates and financial records...OUCH! That happens more than you could possibly imagine or believe.
Your contractors bookkeeping services firm internet presence appears sloppy or disheveled or their website has fewer than 50 pages. Even worse, they do not have a website or any other presence on the internet.
A website is no longer a luxury and at minimum to be taken seriously your contractors bookkeeping services should be found in at least 20 different social media sites including a presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, twitter and Google+ to name a few.
The best way to know if your contractors bookkeeping services firm has an internet presence is simply do a google search on them. Google FastEasyAccounting.com and you will find over 9,000 results as of 10-17-14. Google our Co-Founder Randal DeHart and you will find over 58,000 results as of 10-17-14.
Warning Sign #07Your contractors bookkeeping services firm uses high pressure or scare tactics to get you to buy. Bad bookkeeping service! We do not close sales; we open relationships. Hiring a Contractors Bookkeeping service is something we take rather slowly and deliberately.
We are a small privately held contractors bookkeeping services firm with a process to invite new contractors like you into our family of clients. It starts with a No Charge Consultation and mutual interview to determine if there is a basis to build a mutually beneficial relationship.
Next, we review your QuickBooks file to determine how and if we can meet your construction accounting needs.
Lastly, Sharie contacts you to present one of more custom solutions that we put together to fit your construction company's individual needs because no two contractors are the same. Sharie reviews it with you and you decide to engage our services when you are ready.
Sharie will not attempt to close you because as I said before, "we do not close sales; we open relationships" so if we are not a good fit simply say so and we will leave you alone. In the future if you change your mind, you are always welcome to contact us again.
Your contractors bookkeeping services firm doesn't explain your bookkeeping options; it's basically their way or the highway.
We can serve 99.99% of construction and contracting companies in the USA including Alaska and Hawaii with annual sales volume from $0 start up to $5,000,000 with a flat rate weekly or monthly fee that does not change unless your needs change.
Our construction accounting services system takes the guesswork out of contractors bookkeeping services and leaves good solid, repeatable bookkeeping processes that workday in and day out.
However, some contractors want control over their construction accounting services including what, when, where and how their Contractor Bookkeeping and Accounting services are being done. If this describes you then rest assured we have you covered.
You can have access to the same secure, Intuit Approved Cloud Based Hosting Service, which includes the same QuickBooks desktop as all of our contractor clients and instead of our construction accounting services system.
In these cases, we can design a reasonable hourly contractor accounting service package to fit your needs and allow you reasonable command and control on how QuickBooks is setup and maintained.
Your contractors bookkeeping services firm doesn't follow up regularly to make sure you are very satisfied with the services you are receiving. We have a simple answer, we keep in contact with you as much or as little as you desire and more importantly we earn your business every month. No long-term contracts, you vote with your dollars to keep us or let us go.
That my friend is what keeps our feet to the fire. We do everything we can, within reason, to keep you, improve our services, innovate and add value every day. Don't take my word for it see what our clients say Click Here.
Your contractors bookkeeping services firm has no QuickBooks ProAdvisors on staff. This is only one of the very basic certifications they need to have to even be considered a viable bookkeeping services for small business firm.
Yes, it costs money, $549 per year and the ProAdvisor has to take a test and recertify on the new QuickBooks edition every year.
Your contractors bookkeeping services firm never takes a proactive approach to supporting your construction company needs outside of simply providing the bookkeeping services and doesn't offer recommendations to help you get more from their services, save money, or improve your construction company profit and productivity.
We have entire sections of our website devoted to helping your construction company become more profitable, streamline your operations and become more productive. For example, check out the strategy and construction psychology sections.
Your contractors bookkeeping services firm doesn't offer you a way to access your QuickBooks desktop version 24/7/365 from any web enabled device. That is just wrong! Does it cost them money? Yes, many thousands of dollars annually! And it is so worthwhile!
Want to learn how to hire an honest, competent, and reliable contractors bookkeeping services firm? Download our FREE Business Advisory Guide at Contractors-bookkeeping-services-guide-for-construction-accounting-and-bookkeeping/
For Construction Company Owners who do not need the full power of QuickBooks for contractors and want 24/7 online access we offer Xero Accounting Online and we have custom setup for construction companies. Click Here For More.
This Is One More Example of how Fast Easy Accounting is helping construction company owners all across the USA including Alaska and Hawaii put more money in the bank to operate and grow your construction company. Construction accounting is not rocket science; it is a lot harder than that and a lot more valuable to people like you so stop missing out! Call Sharie 206-361-3950 or sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com and schedule your no charge one-hour consultation.
Profitable Contractors and Construction Company owners have known about the value of outsourced bookkeeping services and contractor coaching services like ours for a long time and now you know about it too!
We Scan Your Receipts And Invoices link the appropriate transactions to QuickBooks or Xero Accounting Online depending on the construction accounting service you are using and provide ongoing Cloud Based Contractors Bookkeeping Services by accountants who understand construction.
About The Author:
Our Co-Founder Randal DeHart - Is a Certified PMP (Project Management Professional) with several years of construction project management experience. His expertise is construction accounting systems engineering and process development. His exhaustive study of several leading experts including the work of Dr. W. Edward Deming, Michael Gerber, Walter A. Shewhart, James Lewis and dozens of others was the foundation upon which our Construction Bookkeeping System is based and continues to evolve and improve. Check out our Contractor Success Map Podcast on iTunes and Follow Randal on Google+