12 minute read
In today’s tech-driven world, using software to run your residential construction business’ day-to-day operation is critical to be competitive and manage your business more efficiently. As a builder or trade, the choices may seem endless for you.
If you’re searching for the right construction management software or even assessing your current software solution, we’ve put together a thorough guide to help you make the right choice.
What is construction management software?
Construction management software is designed to simplify your residential construction business. It automates and connects all the parts of your business — like estimating, job management and accounting — allowing you to be more efficient and profitable.
For innovative builders, construction management software is key to growing your business.
Benefits of construction management software
If you’ve used or are still using Excel, paper plans, calculator, and ruler to create takeoffs and estimates, there’s a better way. You can start reducing the unnecessary stress of managing multiple jobs or not knowing if you’re making money.
Save time and frustration by using a construction management software solution that centralises manual, inefficient processes into a single automated platform.
Here are top five benefits of construction management software:
1. Ease of accessibility: look for cloud-based software, allowing you to store information from any device and anywhere. Cloud-based solutions offer expanded capabilities, including collaboration and security. The cost is generally more affordable than adding a local server.
2. Streamline your business systems: from the initial takeoff to the final invoice, construction management software solutions offer more than just automating tasks. It brings together your business systems into a single platform to run your business seamlessly, reduce errors, and improve efficiency. “I knew there had to be a better way, much like how I use the software in my personal life. I knew the same tool had to be available in my professional building life,” said Matthew McCrimmon, owner, Sabado Home
3. Know your numbers: make informed decisions in real-time with visual dashboards, which allows you to track and analyse your business from a broad level. Drill down on specific items quickly and easily without having to search through the paperwork. “My least favorite thing to do is having to go into the office and look for the information I needed — I knew it was going to be in a myriad of different places — and I knew there had to be a better and different way,” said Matthew.
4. Improved sharing of information: construction management software makes it easy to communicate with your employees and subbies as well as your customers, at the office or in the field, and nothing gets lost in translation. Instead of storing important information on your desk, in your truck, or in your head, construction project management software stores all of it in a central system for everyone to access. “The transfer of information is a lot easier, not as much data lost in translation when transferring from one person to another,” said Jeremy De Paz, owner of Waterloo City Construction.
5. Simplicity over complexity: many construction management software platforms are powerful yet overly complex and lack the features that residential builders actually need. Construction management software like Buildxact provides a single solution from the first takeoff to the final invoice. Because it’s designed specifically for the residential builder, it has the features you need and nothing you don’t. Opting for a simple solution means you can get started easily and start realising the value your new solution brings quickly. Rather than spending a huge amount of time getting your head around complex software, choose a solution that needs minimal training, so it’s easy for your team to learn the ropes.
Top construction management software features
While the benefits may have you sold, features can vary significantly from offering too many options to not enough features to justify the monthly subscription. An initial online search will show heaps of options, a daunting process when you have to keep managing your project load. It doesn’t make your job any easier.
Here are the top five features’ builders like look for when selecting a construction project management software to streamline their business.
1. Fast digital takeoffs: one of the most time-consuming pre-construction tasks is creating accurate takeoffs to estimate correctly and quickly. Today, you can swap paper plans for digital takeoffs, and the measuring and estimating are complete in just a few clicks. “A takeoff for a build, could take two, three days, up to a week. With Buildxact, I’m down to under a day to get all my takeoffs done and ready to quote, and also ready to order when the job comes through,” says Hagen Shaw of ShawCo Building.
2. Easy and accurate estimating: estimating is one of the most essential elements of the job but it can be a nightmare if you don’t have the most up to date pricing. Look for a solution that allows you to use your own pricelist or your supplier’s pricelist to save headaches later down the track. Construction management software, like Buildxact, allows you to streamline your entire estimating process using clever checklists so you never miss a thing. Another nifty way to streamline your estimating is by using recipes – a formula-based process where the calculations are automated, saving you tons of time. Recipe’s package all the components together to create the takeoff, and the quantities automatically calculate, speeding up the estimating process and your accuracy. Once you’ve completed the takeoff, you need to be able to source your material and overhead costs by sending them to your suppliers and subcontractors to complete your estimate. The total prices and quantities calculate automatically and more accurately, saving you time and your bottom line.
3. Impressive professional quotes: your quote is the first time your customer receives something tangible from you. It’s the first impression. Instead of building your quotes in Word or Excel or getting help from a graphic designer, construction management software will generate a professional-looking quote — 5x faster — using your company branding for a professional first impression. “I found Buildxact pretty easy to get started with. All it took was 45 minutes and I was already able to put together an estimate and produce a quote.” Jaye Ibrahim of Jetcon.
4. Stress-free project management: instead of finding yourself in your truck running from job site to job site, construction project management software, allows you to manage all aspects of each job like, scheduling, purchasing, delivery, and invoicing, saving time and money. It’ll give you the confidence that your projects will be delivered on time and budget.
5. Real-time financials: tracking your profitability is key to your business’s success, and if you’re doing your own invoicing, the data you get out is only as good as the data you put in. A construction management software solution tracks your line-by-line costs and integrates with your accounting software essential to your bottom line.
Choose the right solution, choose Buildxact
Whether you’ve been using Excel, paper and a ruler, or complex software, ask yourself if you’ve met your business goals or grown your business to where you want it to be today.
Save yourself the headache of looking online for the best construction management software and try Buildxact.
“Give it a shot. You’ve got a two-week free trial. Play around, watch the videos and see how quickly you will be able to work a lot of the features into your daily workflow,” said Matthew.
Are you ready for a better way to run your business?
Get started with a 14-day free trial, or book a demo with one of our team members today.
