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The Business Advisory Blog

Insight, news and updates from Alliott NZ Chartered Accountants, Auckland New Zealand. The views expressed here are the views of the author and should be discussed in further detail should an article be relevant to your individual circumstances.

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Anthony McIlroy
Published on

Working with businesses in the NZ trades sector not only providing accounting advice but also business support.


we understand tradies-104 One area I’m seeing a lot is the need to get systems in place that:
 
  1. Allow you to grow
  2. De-risk you if there is ever a dispute
  3. Meet the growing compliance obligations (health & safety, LBP etc)
  4. Increase the quality of information - financial and non-financial - to make better decisions on the job and for future jobs
To make a system work you need to enter good information into it. As you may know Xero, is not a construction management system (CMS) - yet it is a very effective accounting system for tracking invoices, is easy to use and good for communicating between you and your accountant. Outside of this, you need to manage your work projects and there are some online systems that do the following:
 
  • Manage and track leads
  • Quoting/estimating
  • Scheduling
  • Jobsite logs
  • Client communication
  • Subbie communication
  • Electronic timesheets
  • Variation management
  • Retention management
  • Budgeting & Financial Analysis
  • Progress billing
In the past a typical CMS would cost tens of thousands of dollars but, much like what Xero has done for accounting, these online solutions are doing the same for project management. You can get a CMS from $50 per month and, better still, the invoicing data you enter into it can be sent across to Xero so there is no double entry, therefore saving you time.

(If you already enter invoices into Xero then the amount of additional input required is relatively small compared the vastly increased quality of information you get.)
 

Setting up a CMS does need professional input at the start

I work with like-minded professionals to get a CMS up and running, and then with the trade business owner to unlock the value of the system to address key questions like how to grow the business, increase cash flow, etc.
 
Let me know if you would like to explore having a CMS in your business. The lead time to get one fully operational and understanding how it works is only is 3-6 months, depending on your business.
Act now before another year rolls by! It starts with an initial chat with me on 09 520 9200.

Topics: business performance construction Construction management system (CMS) project management trade businesses Xero