{"id":7186,"date":"2017-06-21T11:53:31","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T15:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foundationsoft.com\/?p=7186"},"modified":"2024-05-15T12:10:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T16:10:29","slug":"utility-contractor-works-smarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foundationsoft.com\/learn\/utility-contractor-works-smarter\/","title":{"rendered":"A Utility Contractor Works Smarter, Not Larger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"gdlr-button medium without-border\" href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/foundation_in_action\/FOUNDATION-in-Action-14.pdf\" target=\"_self\"  style=\"color:#ffffff; background-color:#000000; \"  >Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe try to think of ourselves on the leading edge of technology.\u201d Jeff is the CFO at Teal Construction, a Delaware utility contractor about to celebrate 50 years in business. \u201cAnd we try to utilize that. It\u2019s what differentiates us. It makes us more productive.\u201d So why did a thriving Teal Construction switch from a major ERP system to a smaller <a href=\"\/software\/job-costing\/\">job cost accounting package<\/a>?<\/p>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/job-costing-ultimate-guide\/\" class=\"blog-cta-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/FSL-blog-post-ad-ultimate-guide.png\" alt=\"UG to Job Costing\" title=\"UG to Job Costing\"><\/a>\n<p>\u201cThe system was way too expensive and elaborate for what we do,\u201d Jeff remembers. Teal Construction does tens of millions in revenue, plus <a href=\"\/software\/payroll\/\">prevailing wage payroll<\/a> from state and municipal contracts, so small business software and spreadsheets weren\u2019t going to cut it either. Still, Jeff estimates, they weren\u2019t using more than 5% of what their software could do, and it wasn\u2019t helping them leverage their other technology, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hcss.com\/products\/construction-estimating-software\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HeavyBid<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hcss.com\/products\/construction-project-management-software\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HeavyJob<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It just wasn\u2019t a good fit. And despite its innumerable features and broad range of capabilities, it was also using out-of-date technology, which the vendor was slow to update. \u201cThe last straw,\u201d Jeff laughs, \u201cwas me getting hired.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CI_Was_Definitely_Hesitant%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cI Was Definitely Hesitant\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Shortly after he started at Teal Construction, Jeff launched into a search for something that would work better for their business and interface with their other construction management applications. He even spoke with other CFOs in the area to get their recommendations. \u201cFOUNDATION\u00ae was the most user-friendly and cost-effective software for what we were doing,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p>The first test, however, would be just getting up and running. Companies often <a href=\"\/learn\/change-accounting-software\/\">transition accounting software on January 1<\/a>, but the cumbersome year-end process on their old one already had Teal Construction\u2019s staff maxed out. With all they had to run manually just to close out the year on the old system, there was no way they could take on an implementation too.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Teal Construction opted to switch over in July, while their season was in full swing. \u201cI was definitely hesitant. It\u2019s risky any time you do that in the middle of the year.\u201d A trainer from Foundation flew to their offices in Delaware, however, to walk them through the process. \u201cHe was instrumental. We barely missed a beat. It was definitely a process, but I don\u2019t think it could have been any smoother. He taught me more about accounting software than I ever knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was early on we realized we definitely made the right decision,\u201d Jeff recalls. \u201cFOUNDATION is so user-friendly, any hesitation we had was gone in the first week or two after we converted.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CTheres_Little_Things_Theyre_a_Big_Deal_to_Us%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cThere\u2019s Little Things . . . They\u2019re a Big Deal to Us\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Of course the ultimate test of anything in construction is time. Almost 10 years later, there\u2019s no hesitation for Jeff in recommending FOUNDATION. Part of that is that it\u2019s helped them better realize the value they place on technology. \u201cThe interface with <a href=\"\/software\/mobile\/\">mobile timecard apps<\/a> is huge,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe went from paper timesheets to having our foremen submit time on tablets. I\u2019m certain that\u2019s saving us five-figures-plus a year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeff also enjoys greater job cost control than they were seeing with their big ERP system. \u201cThe fact you can go very easily into a job at any point and see how it\u2019s performing is a world of difference.\u201d He looks forward to really sitting down and playing with the popular <a href=\"\/software\/construction-reports\/\">DataGenie\u2122 report designer<\/a> one day, but, he cheerily admits for now, with all of the system\u2019s excellent preloaded job cost reports, \u201cI just haven\u2019t needed it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet Jeff insists it\u2019s more than this \u2014 it\u2019s smaller. \u201cFor example, our workers\u2019 comp auditor used to come in, and we\u2019d have to give him a bunch of paper reports, and he\u2019d perform his audit on-site. Now, I simply run the reports, download the files and send them off. There\u2019s no more visit involved. Now it\u2019s just an electronic review. It saves time for him, and it saves time for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/demo-video-player\/\" class=\"blog-cta-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/FSL-blog-post-ad-fsl-in-action.png\" alt=\"Watch a Demo\" title=\"Watch a Demo\"><\/a>\n<p>\u201cOur payroll,\u201d he continues, \u201calso went from a very manual process to more of a review function. Or with our depreciation, now that we can have it set up by equipment item, I just email that to our shop foreman, and he adds it into his budget. If we didn\u2019t have that, we would have to have some other system. There\u2019s little things like that,\u201d Jeff says, \u201cthey\u2019re a big deal to us.\u201d That means they\u2019re a big deal to Foundation too.<\/p>\n<div id=\"for-more-box\"><a class=\"gdlr-button medium\" href=\"\/learn\/category\/case-study\/\" target=\"_self\"  style=\"color:#ffffff; background-color:#000000; border-color:#999999; \"  >Read more construction software case studies \u00bb<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a class=\"gdlr-button medium without-border\" href=\"#watch-demo-video\" target=\"_self\"  style=\"color:#ffffff; background-color:#000000; \"  >Preview FOUNDATION accounting online<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWe try to think of ourselves on the leading edge of technology.\u201d Jeff is the CFO at Teal Construction, a Delaware utility contractor about to celebrate 50 years in business. \u201cAnd we try to utilize that. It\u2019s what differentiates us. It makes us more productive.\u201d So why did a thriving Teal Construction switch from a major ERP system to a smaller job cost accounting package?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":21607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5],"tags":[22,21],"class_list":["post-7186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-case-study","tag-abc-contractor","tag-case-study"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Smaller Job Cost Accounting System for Utility Contractor | FOUNDATION<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out why a thriving utility contractor like Teal Construction switch from a major ERP system to a 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