“Thanks to mobile data collection devices and services provided by True Wireless, we know where our workers are and what they are doing at all times, enabling us to pay and invoice more accurately, route and dispatch more efficiently, and to more successfully control costs. Simply put, True Wireless gives us a tremendous competitive advantage.” Paula Wiens, Controller at R&J Construction

R&J Construction realizes significant cost savings while improving productivity and customer service by deploying integrated mobile data collection and payroll technologies from True Wireless.

Situation
R&J Construction is an award-winning custom building company, well known for providing superior service and high-quality craftsmanship at a competitive price. Key to maintaining this reputation is R&J’s ability to automate critical business processes, such as mobile worker management and payroll administration.

Challenge
Improve the time-intensive and inexact process of recording worker timesheet, project status and vehicle mileage information. Also, gain the ability to respond to emergency situations by knowing the whereabouts of field workers at all times.

Solution
R&J deployed a GPS mobile workforce management solution from True Wireless, along with the ezLaborManager payroll solution from ADP. GPS time and tracking information is transmitted wirelessly and automatically to the ADP ezLaborManager system.

As a result, R&J knows in real-time precisely how many hours each worker is on a job and what projects he is performing. Workers choose a customer job number, then select the type of work they are doing such as framing a wall or interior trim work and can also enter job details. Both the GPS and ezLabor-Manager are web-based hosted solutions providing anywhere anytime access and minimizing maintenance costs. The GPS application and ezLaborManager work together “out-of-the-box,” so deploying the solutions was fast and easy for R&J.

Benefits

Billable Time Increased by 12 Hours per Week
Elimination of paper-based timesheet and project status recording processes creates an additional 12 hours of billable time each week per worker.

Mileage Reimbursement Costs Cut $6,000 per Month
Improved vehicle mileage tracking, job-costing and worker performance reporting has reduced R&J’s vehicle mileage reimbursement costs by $6,000 per month.

More Precise Job Estimates
More accurate Job-costing allows for more precise job estimates.

Improved Customer Service
Enhanced mobile worker location tracking has improved customer service.

What has been your experience with mobile data collection devices?

Underestimating a project or losing bids by overestimating can seriously erode profits. Too often these problems are caused by errors in spreadsheets. A 2004 PricewaterhouseCoopers study shows that up to 91 percent of sophisticated spreadsheets contain errors. A 2007 study concludes the error rate is 94%.

That sounds about right considering how often I find errors in my own spreadsheets. We’d all like to be error free. Knowing the sources of spreadsheet errors may be helpful in eliminating them.

Ten common errors or problems with estimating spreadsheets:

1. Hardcoding your values in the spreadsheet formulas resulting in right this month and wrong forever
2. Adding rows or columns that don’t get included in the range of the sum, subtotal and average functions
3. Losing unsaved changes due to interruptions
4. Data entry errors such as skipped entries or transposed numbers
5. Saving “what if” changes over the Excel worksheet you want to keep
6. Formula errors like parentheses errors in a mathematical formula; formulas pasted over with constants; or formulas no longer calculating properly when you delete an item
7. A bad query copied into a spreadsheet
8. A bad sort that destroys the integrity of a row
9. Old spreadsheet errors copied over and over again
10. Maintaining a number of templates for specific types of projects, which multiplies the risks of data entry errors, omissions, transposed numbers, and outdated pricing

One way to reduce the number of spreadsheet errors is to limit access to files or locking certain cells. You may also want to implement quality-control procedures for catching data entry errors in spreadsheets, including input controls, validation, and cross-footing.

An example of an input control is reconciling the data entered into the spreadsheet to the source records. A common sense suggestion is to separate the data entry and formula areas on a spreadsheet.

Finally, it’s a good idea to have the logic of the formulas within the spreadsheet inspected by someone other than the user or developer of the spreadsheet.

What do you do in your company to prevent spreadsheet errors?

Call Ledgerwood Associates today for a free consultation on how to improve your estimating speed and accuracy. 877-918-8301

Here’s a discussion of why keeping estimating processes consistent across multiple estimators is beneficial, from Sage CRE.

Impact
INCONSISTENCY:  Our estimators take great pride in their work and like to do things their own way.  Unfortunately, when everyone is using different tools and methods for estimating, it makes final review and the ability to reuse historical estimates for new projects we’re bidding difficult – not to mention risky.

LOSS OF EXPERTISE, KNOWLEDGE:  If we were to lose an estimator, the loss of their expertise and knowledge would put us at a considerable risk because we have no method for capturing and documenting what they know and use in their estimating processes.

Capabilities
Adopting a construction-specific estimating tool will streamline and automate the entire process and also help to build historical information that can be used again and again in future estimates.   

Solution
By having all your estimators using the same tool, you will have consistency across your estimating team.

What is your experience with estimators using their own preferred tools?

For additional information about this and other topics visit www.ledgerwoodassociatesusa.com

WOC made me feel like a kid again, tugging at my Dad’s hand at the state fair, eager for a chance to climb up on a big tractor or truck.

There were lots of big (I mean “How did they get that through the door?” big) trucks and concrete pumpers; and some really mean-looking pieces of heavy equipment like this 5,000 lb. demo rig attachment (one of their smaller units):

I particularly enjoyed the outdoor lot where several vendors were demonstrating the ride-on troweling machines like they were one-man military hovercraft. One vendor’s “booth” consisted of a mock 4-story construction site.

Besides touring the cool exhibits, I got to meet some great people in the Construction Technology section. Field access and input to accounting systems was a big theme.

Recently announced and demonstrated for the first time at World of Concrete was “Sage Construction Anywhere”. This cloud offering from Sage will provide exciting field access reporting functionality for Sage Timberline and Master Builder users as well as any other parties involved in a project with a need to know. Sage Construction Anywhere will be rolled out in stages with more functionality to come in release 2 later this year.

What’s YOUR favorite trade show?

For more information on this and other topics, visit www.ledgerwoodassociatesusa.com.

Does this sound like you?

“We are having a hard time winning bids that result in profitable jobs.  We can win short-term business by low-balling it, but we cannot survive this way.”

Here’s a great discussion of the issue from Sage CRE.

Impact
ERRORS, LOSS OF PROFIT:  The cost data that our estimators use is inconsistent and sometimes out of date.  Too high and we miss the opportunity.  Too low and we leave money on the table and run the risk of being awarded the job with no chance for profitability.

INCONSISTENCY:  Our estimators take great pride in their work and like to do things their own way.  Unfortunately, when everyone is using different tools and methods for estimating, it makes final review and the ability to reuse historical estimates for new projects we’re bidding difficult-not to mention risky.

REPUTATION:  Relationship building is key in the construction industry.  If we continually low ball bids to get work in the door and rely on expensive change orders to make jobs profitable, we run the risk of tarnishing our reputation and jeopardize future opportunities.  We recognize the shortcomings of doing estimating using a generic spreadsheet.  We’re required to double check all our work and run the risk of making errors that would give us a bad reputation. Adopting a construction-specific estimating tool will streamline/automate the entire estimating process and also help build historical information that can be used again and again in future estimates.

Capabilities
Estimating databases come in a variety of flavors depending upon the user’s specific needs and trade.  Select from a shell to build your own or choose from a number of “out-of-the-box,” databases requiring a minimal amount of refinement.

Solution
Integration of Sage Timberline Estimating with Sage Accounting (Specifically Job Cost) Timberline Office, Master Builder or Timberline Enterprise helps eliminate the need for duplicate data entry and helps track job profitability at all stages of the project. By having all of your estimators using the same tool and collectively building a database of costs and information that you can access for future estimates, your estimates will be accurate and ensure the projects you bid on will be profitable.

Hope this was helpful. I’ll have more on estimating next week.

Do you agree that low-balling bids will tarnish a contractor’s reputation and jeopardize future opportunities?

Estimating Speed and Accuracy Needed

With fierce competition, Coyote Development needed to improve bid accuracy and increase win rates. Coyote’s controller, owner, project managers and estimators were already working extra hours. Errors on spreadsheets took precious time to track down. Differences in their estimators’ methods and a lack of cost coding made it difficult to track historical performance.

Sage Timberline Estimating

In September, 2010 Coyote Development worked with Ledgerwood Associates to install Sage Timberline Estimating and Sage Timberline Office. Ledgerwood Associates was involved with every aspect of the set up and conversion, including Coyote’s jobs listing (100 jobs), account structure, and beginning balances. The owner and lead estimator were trained on using cost databases and how to transfer their estimates into job costing.

Rapid Bid Turnaround Gets Coyote a Key Contract

A senior Ledgerwood consultant showed Coyote’s estimators how they could produce estimates in less than half the time they were spending before; and Coyote’s bid-to-win ratio has improved. Coyote recently had 48 hours to bid on their portion of a large Las Vegas resort project.

Coyote put a bid together quickly and got the job. And, since they were right on the mark, they ended up with a good margin. Project managers were able to see where they stood all along the way and make adjustments quickly.

Company Profile

Coyote Development, a project oriented Arizona general contractor, builds a variety of government and commercial projects in Arizona, Nevada and the Southwest. Focusing on technology improvement and streamlining the bid process has helped Coyote put together a string of successful projects resulting in consistent growth in a difficult economy.

Would faster, more accurate estimating help you be more competitive?

Scottsdale, AZ – January 9, 2012 – Ledgerwood Associates, Inc., a Sage North America business partner specializing in the sales, installation, and support of Sage Timberline and Sage Master Builder, has been named to the Sage America President’s Circle for the 2011 business year. President’s Circle award winners are the top performing business partners for Sage products. Sage recognizes Ledgerwood Associates and all President’s Circle winners for their outstanding contributions in 2011.

The Sage North America President’s Circle is awarded to the leading performers among Sage business partners representing a host of segment-leading brands, including Sage ERP Accpac, Sage ERP X3, Sage Timberline, Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200, Sage SalesLogix, Sage Fund Accounting, Sage Abra HRMS (human resource management system), Sage FAS Fixed Assets and others.

“We honor Ledgerwood Associates for their hard work and their focus on our mutual customers, which has earned them the Sage North America President’s Circle Award,” said Tom Miller, VP of Channel Management for Sage. “Congratulations to the entire team Ledgerwood Associates for this accomplishment, and we wish them continued success in the coming years.”

President’s Circle award recipients for 2011 will receive further recognition from Sage at an exclusive executive retreat to be held in Nashville, Tennessee in August, in conjunction with the 2012 Sage Summit conference, where they will be celebrated among thousands of their peers and Sage customers attending the event.

“We are pleased to represent Sage to the construction industry here in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and the West,” said Ed Ledgerwood, President, Ledgerwood Associates. “We’d like to thank our customers who made this achievement possible.”

About Ledgerwood Associates, Inc.
Ledgerwood Associates, Inc. (LAI) provides construction cost management services to over 1,000 construction and real estate industry customers throughout the western United States.  LAI’s experienced professionals apply best practices in finance, workflow management and software to improve business performance.  LAI is one of the largest Value Added Resellers of Sage Construction and Real Estate software products and services. www.ledgerwoodassociatesusa.com

The Reconciliation Tool is an additional tool available from your Sage Desktop. This tool can help you reconcile your sub-ledgers to themselves, and then to the General Ledger. The Reconciliation Tool steps you through posting, running verification reports, and directs you as needed to Knowledgebase articles.

Where is the Reconciliation Tool?

Start – Programs- Sage Software – Sage Desktop

• In the Desktop from the View menu verify that Tasks is selected.
• In the Tasks pane, select Sage Timberline Office – Additional Tools
• Double-click Reconciliation to open the Reconciliation Tool.

How do you balance Cash Management to General Ledger after Reconciliation of your Bank Account?

• Print your Bank Reconciliation report after completing the reconcile task.

o Cash Management – Reports – Reports – Bank Reconciliation

Verify that the Adjusted Bank Balance and the Register Balance as of the Statement Date totals at the bottom of the report are the same.

• In the General Ledger from the Reports menu, select Year-to-date Ledger.

o General Ledger – Reports – Year-to-date Ledger

• Select the modify date range check box.

• Type the first day of the month you are reconciling in the Start date box, and type the Statement Date you used on your bank reconciliation in the End Date Box.

• Click Ranges
• Select the cash account you are reconciling.
• Click Print Preview.

• Verify the ending balance agrees with the Adjusted Bank Balance from your Cash Management Bank Reconciliation above.

How are the Cash Management bank account balances derived?

It might be helpful to understand where the balances are stored in Cash Management.

Cash Management – Setup – Bank Accounts

• Register balance on the General Tab. The register balance is the total of all transactions entered into CM.
• Bank Balance on the General Tab. Reflects the balance based on all cleared and reconciled entries.
• Last reconciled balance on General Tab. This displays the last balance from completed bank reconciliation. 

• Posted CM Balance – Posted CM balance on the Totals Tab. The Posted CM balance reflects the balance based on all posted transactions. The Posted CM Balance should always equal the sum of the Cash Account totals.

• Cash Account Totals – Totals by GL Cash Account Tab. The cash account totals are the amounts posted to the cash accounts in GL. The sum of the cash account totals should match the posted CM balance. If everything is posted in the GL the cash account totals should match the balance of the corresponding cash accounts in GL.

Common Out of Balance Scenario

Change in Voided Accounting Date in Accounts Payable will affect the Cash Management reconcilation to General Ledger. When you void checks in Accounts Payable, you can use the original date or specify a date for the reversing entries. Cash Management always uses the original check date. This can cause reconcilation issues when you compare Cash Management with the General Ledger.

You can record entries in Cash Management Edit Register task to correct the out of balance voided check amounts.

• Go to CM – Tasks – Edit Register
• Select the appropriate Bank Account

• Type a description for the transaction and in the subtraction column type the original amount of your voided check.

• Verify the Date and Accounting Date is the same as your original check date. Select your cash account as both the GL debit and GL credit, this creates a washing entry to the GL that does not change your account balances

Withdrawal

Now you need to create an additon adjustment to effectively place the void in the correct period.

• Go to Tasks – Edit Register
• Type the void date you used for your voided check in AP.
• Use the Adjustment for your Type in the column.
• In the addition column type the amount of voided check, verify the date and accounting date are the same.
• Select the cash account as both the GL debit and the GL Credit. Again this creates a washing entry to the General Ledger and does not change your account balances.

• Make sure you Post in CM and GL, go through the reconcilation process to verify the GL to CM is balanced.

For more information on this topic contact Ledgerwood Associates, the #1 Sage Timberline Business Partner in the Southwest!

I’m the kind of person who frequently gets into trouble when following instructions. Assembling household items rarely goes right for me the first time. Often it’s because I fail to clarify a vague or confusing instruction. Other times I simply assume that I know what I’m doing and find out later that I don’t.

Even though I’m not an expert on Sage Timberline Office, I’d like to help you avoid unnecessary pain and suffering. Judging by the complexity of the “9.8.0 Update 2” instructions, here’s what I would probably do wrong:

Make an incorrect assumption - I assume that Update 1 is a prerequisite to Update 2. Later I read the “Release Notes for 9.8 Updates” and find out that I could have skipped Update 1. That’s a few hours of my life that I will never get back.

Do it the hard way - After spending 7 hours updating the 14 workstations in the office, I go back and read the “Notes” near the top of the page and find: “you can use Sage Installation Manager to streamline the installation of updates on your Accounting server and workstations.” Arrrgh!

Misinterpret the big warning - Instruction 4 clearly states “Double-click 980AccUpdate2.exe only once.” In spite of the warning, I start the update application twice, either because the server is set to use single-click, or by realizing too late that the note to instruction 6 is a repeat of the instruction 4 warning.

Not allow enough time - Things would go wrong then I wouldn’t get the software back up before it’s needed by others.

No one likes to experience problems with an update. Here are three things you can do to avoid making mistakes like the above:

1. Read all of the instructions and notes before you begin. Just like in the sixth grade exercise where the last instruction tells you to do only the first of several complex instructions, reading everything is probably the best way to avoid pain and embarrassment.
2. Ask for clarification of vague instructions (even if you are male).
3. Don’t blindly follow someone else. Ask why a colleague or support person’s directions differ from the written instructions and be sure you are doing it correctly before proceeding.

If you still get into trouble, call Sage Support or one of Ledgerwood’s excellent consultants
who have many years of experience with the software behind them.

Good luck with the Update.

What do you do to avoid these kinds of problems with an update?

Last week I traveled the 120 miles from Phoenix to Tucson to attend the CFMA 2011 Tax Update presented by Beach Fleischman, a Tucson accounting firm. Although taxes are important, I have to admit I wasn’t crazy about the topic.  Tax seminars are comically used as an example of dull and uninteresting, but to my liking, the session was engaging and informative.  I was amazed by the volumes of information construction companies are expected to know about taxes.

Kim Paskal, the presenter from Beach Fleischman, covered more than 60 changes in the tax code including tax credits for employees hired in 2010; 2011 expense rules for SUV’s, Trucks and Vans; and an increase in the Social Security wage base for 2012; all of which  could impact a construction company’s bottom line.

Personally, I found the lengthy discussion on cancellation of real property business debt to be very helpful, having experienced my share of real estate investments gone south.

Ms. Paskal was well prepared and knowledgeable.   Having been a business owner myself, I know that relying on a tax expert like Kim is essential, especially if you are in a complex industry like construction.  It could mean real savings in your tax bill.

Talk to your tax advisor to get more details about how recent tax law changes might affect your business. If you need a good tax accountant I recommend calling Beach Fleischman.

For more information on this topic contact Ledgerwood Associates, the #1 Sage Timberline Business Partner in the Southwest!