Wellness is an important aspect of life for everyone, especially construction contractors like you. Given the physically demanding nature of the work, contractors must prioritize their physical and mental health. Proper nutrition, exercise, and adequate rest are all necessary for maintaining a healthy body and mind. Additionally, taking breaks and managing stress can help prevent burnout and promote well-being. By prioritizing your health, contractors can feel better and perform better on the job.
However, maintaining a healthy work-life balance can be difficult for a small construction business owner, as most know. You may work long hours, sacrificing personal time and family obligations to keep your business running smoothly. The duties and responsibilities of running your own business often take priority, no matter how personal pursuits are essential for your well-being.
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Topics:
Contractor Tips,
Construction Systems And Processes,
Year End Tips For Construction Contractors,
Work-Life Balance
As the year comes to a close, it's important to start thinking about your bookkeeping tasks to ensure a smooth transition into the new year. Deadlines are fast approaching, but it doesn't have to be stressful.
Have you given your bookkeeper, wife, partner, accountant, or tax accountant the information needed to complete your reports? Accountants need good information to create detailed reports and save money on your taxes.
Here is where the expression "Garbage In Equals Garbage Out" comes into play. It is impossible to create Job Costing Reports when all anyone knows is the deposit amount on the bank statement.
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Topics:
QuickBooks Year End Closing Tips For Contractors,
Contractor Tips,
Construction Systems And Processes,
Year End Tips For Construction Contractors
If you feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of technological gadgets, never mind apps and other digital "solutions,"; you're not alone. Technology sprawl and the rabbit hole of more and more information available all the time makes productivity—and healthy downtime—a real challenge for many of us.
Although we may be quicker at completing redundant tasks, more time is wasted managing all our different apps and technologies—and more of us live in a near-constant state of distraction.
An epidemic of distracted workers
Maintaining focus on the job is increasingly difficult in the era of social media, chat apps, games, and the ability to search for anything at any time—whether related to the task at hand or not.
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Topics:
Project Management,
Construction Productivity,
Construction Systems And Processes,
Boost Construction Profitability
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.
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Topics:
Construction Cash Flow,
Cash Flow,
Construction Bookkeeping And Accounting,
Increase Cash Flow,
Construction Systems And Processes,
Contractor Guidance
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.
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Topics:
Technology For Your Construction Company,
Automated Data Entry,
Construction Systems And Processes,
Contractor Guidance,
Construction Business Budget
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 time waster 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.
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Topics:
Bookkeeping Services,
Construction Bookkeeping And Accounting,
Technology For Your Construction Company,
Construction Systems And Processes,
Contractor Guidance
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.
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Topics:
Construction Bookkeeping And Accounting,
Technology For Your Construction Company,
Automated Data Entry,
Construction Systems And Processes,
Contractor Guidance,
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.
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Topics:
Construction Bookkeeping And Accounting,
Technology For Your Construction Company,
Automated Data Entry,
Construction Systems And Processes,
Contractor Guidance,
Construction Business Budget
The tax season is here. This is when most construction company owners think about getting their construction bookkeeping system in order, so they can file their annual tax return for the previous year.
Keep in mind that each branch of accounting serves a different function similar to how it works in construction. There are framers, rough carpenters, and finish carpenters, and all three works with lumber, yet in most cases, the skill sets to do everything are rarely found in the same person.
If you're like many construction business owners, you may not be exactly sure of the differences between a construction bookkeeper, a construction accountant, and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - and whether you should hire one, or all.
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Topics:
Accountant,
Construction Accounting,
Contractor,
Contractor Tips,
Contractor Operating Tips,
Construction Systems And Processes
Being open to new possibilities is a positive trait shared by most construction company owners —but saying yes to all the people you meet and opportunities that come your way can get you into trouble.
When we over-commit—especially when we take on projects that don't benefit our business—our stress can hit the roof. It's much hard to be productive when we're feeling burned out and resentful.
One of the most impactful changes you can make in your construction business is to form one simple habit: give yourself time to weigh the cost and benefit before making any decision, and politely decline any opportunity that doesn't align with your goals.
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Topics:
Business Planning For contractors,
Contractor,
Contractor Tips,
Contractor Operating Tips,
Construction Systems And Processes