The number of emails I receive about continuing education that reference employees are increasing. The topics you are sharing include wages, access to company funds, providing employee warm and fuzzies and you want to know what is the true cost including payroll taxes of having a Construction Worker on your payroll.
More of your emails make references on How To Protect Your Construction Company from your employees.
Protection comes from knowing the rules, putting systems in place, and dealing with the money.
Each state has no shortage of rules in place about the rate of pay, schedules and number of hours worked, time off and how it is classified.
Every Contractor worth his or her salt wants to be fair to their employees and still be fair to the company.
Other concerns are the “Rogue Employee” in either the office or the field who takes advantage of the “Good Nature” of the owners. Owners trust their employees and most of the time employees trust their owners. Review the concept of leveling. It will help your Contracting firm grow and attract the right office and field staff.
Your Thinking Patterns - and what you think about the most is why you are where you are now. It is worth noting there is no profit in chaos and the sooner you understand that, the better off you will be including your mental and physical health.
It May Be Too Late - To recoup past losses from chaos, but it is not too late to stop it from happening again. To begin with getting a clear understanding of What Ten Minutes Costs Your Contracting Company and begin implementing a Business Strategy to eliminate chaos.
When You Have - A Business Strategy everything changes in your life and your construction company because you will see everything in different light
You May Find - Yourself with a different caliber of friends because of the leveling up process.
Birds And People - Flock together with others like themselves because it is comfortable. It only makes sense to soar with eagles rather than keeping your head down pecking on the ground with the chickens.
Your Income - Is typically within 20% of the average of the six people you spend the most time with.
Leveling Down - If you spend most of your time at the “Contractors Business Round Table”, this is a little round table in a tavern with a pitcher of beer and several contractors all earning $40,000 a year or less telling each other how to run their businesses then your income will hover between $32,000 and $48,000 (20% plus or minus $40,000).
Leveling Up - As you develop your Business Strategy for your construction company your income is likely to increase. The impact on your friends will not be pleasant as you will be proving that good people can win in the construction game by playing it with high moral and ethical standards and the willingness to try something different.
You Will Attempt To - Share your discoveries with your existing friends, and you will quickly discover they are not interested! After a while, your constant attempts to change their paradigms will irritate them, and you will drift away or be asked to leave.
The Next Thing - That normally happens is you will be drawn into a different circle of construction business owners who already know what you now know.
Since The Six People - You spend the most time with now are earning $100,000+ a year what do you suppose your income? There is a good chance it will grow, and you could have a million dollars of wealth someday.
Einstein Has Proven - Energy and matter are the same things in different forms; therefore you will become what you think about. And what you think about will influence your thoughts, which will influence your actions which will influence your wealth, which you will use to raise everyone's standard of living because the Rising Tide Raises All Ships.
This Applies To Your Employees - As well as you. Top notch construction companies are always on the lookout for the best and the brightest staff to add to their team.
Hiring employees is like letting your kids go visit their friends alone for the first time.
Or a teenage driving the car the first time. Parents know that the process of a teenager can lead to a few dents, several curbs being run over and a branch or two missing from a few trees. Most also parents know if they are teaching their kids to drive with a “stick shift” that a new clutch may be in the near future. Why, because it comes with the territory when teaching someone how to drive.
For business owners giving an employee the keys to a vehicle, loaded with tools and equipment can cause those same anxious moments. Every new hire causes a certain amount of breath holding, first hour, two hours, will they come back from lunch, make it to the end of the day. Come back the next day.
At the same time, owners are evaluating the work performed, is it too much, too little, good training, not enough training. Is it the new employee a “good fit” for the company and the existing employees?
No one feels worse about a bad fit than the contractor when any employee needs to be let go gently or immediately fired. Other times anger is the first emotion when Fraud, Side Jobs or other forms of theft has occurred.
Feeling bad is quickly lost if the State Agency feels that the theft wasn’t really theft, but it was a “victimless crime, ” and the Contractor needed to have provided the employee in question with better-written coaching reports.
For The Contractor, the work must go on. Schedules need to be kept, and the additional workload falls on someone. That someone is The Contractor, spouse and or both (who are already overloaded with tasks). Frustration comes from trying to discover quickly and easily what was left undone, what is the most critical, when can it get done, how to get it done and who is the best person to do it (yesterday).
We have all had employees we wonder why we hired them. We have all had employees who were a key member who went above and beyond, and we are sorry to see them go. Really, if we could keep them until they are too feeble to get around and we would figure out how to make their job easier. They are someone we would classify as a friend and part of the family. All those same experiences can happen when hiring actual family members. Employing family, both the good and the bad can happen.
Some contractors are happy never hiring employees. They work well with a group of Trade Contractors and complete the work seamless as a team effort. Many small contractors have friends who are in the same trade. Solution to having employees is that they work for each other.
On any particular job, a different Trade Contractor may be the lead (general contractor). This can be a great way to have quality tradesman doing the work but as subcontractors instead of employees.
Contractors understand quality, scope and time. They are willing to work efficiently.
We work with Construction Contractors all across the USA including Alaska and Hawaii.
Process payroll using Intuit’s Online Payroll for Accountants on a case by case basis.
With or without employees we are happy to be of assistance.
You have a story, and I want to hear it.
Call me 206-361-3950 and let’s chat.
Sincerely,
Sharie DeHart
About The Author:
Sharie DeHart, QPA is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood Washington. She is the leading expert in managing outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services companies and cash management accounting for small construction companies across the USA. She encourages Contractors and Construction Company Owners to stay current on their tax obligations and offers insights on how to manage the remaining cash flow to operate and grow their construction company sales and profits so they can put more money in the bank. http://www.fasteasyaccounting.com/sharie-dehart/ 206-361-3950 or sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com
When You Become A Client - Then we can tap into our resources of knowledge and strategy banks. We use the reports hidden in your QuickBooks in order to diagnose and understand your construction business and develop plans and help you implement a path to success for you and you alone because every contractor has unique Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (S.W.O.T. Analysis) that when understood can lead to a Strategic Roadmap which cannot help but make a lot of money.
For Construction Company Owners who do not need the full power of a QuickBooks for contractors and want 24/7 online access we offer Xero Accounting Online, and we have a 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!
Thank You For Reading This Far, And I Hope You Understand we really do care about you and all contractors regardless of whether or not you ever hire our services.
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.
#1 EZ Step Interview inside QuickBooks Setup
#2 Asked Their Tax Accountant To Setup QuickBooks
#3 They Attended A How To Setup QuickBooks Class Or Seminar