Posted on October 18, 2011
Protecting your plumbing business from any financial downturn has to become a priority if you are a small plumbing business today. There are some ways to do this and if you are to survive, you will need to carry out some of these suggestions early. The earlier you install and prepare your business, the better you will survive it.
Without ranting too much about the shortcomings of our western Governments and their addiction to corporate capitalism, as a small business owner/operator, there are some things that you can start in your business early that can act as a 'buffer' against some of the looming cash flow problems.
Every plumber loves a cash job. That is, they get a call-out to a job and the customer pays them in cash money. Cash is not the usual payment method these days as the majority of jobs are done on a credit card or for good or frequent customers, it is an invoice.
A good Reason to avoid invoicing customers:
Invoicing clients means that it costs you a bookkeeper's wages or your own time to do up the books every month. When a customer insists on an invoice but doesn't pay you for three months, this is costing you a great deal of money not to mention time and postage stamps. If you used that outstanding money in your own bank account, you could be earning interest on it.
So now (I hope) you have realised that you are a plumbing business and not a banking business you will realize that if you continue to allow your customers to have outstanding accounts that they are using your money to do their repairs and maintenance.
If you absolutely, positively have to invoice a customer, please use online systems that allow you to send the invoice by email. At least this way you won't have to pay for the postage costs which in Australia is $0.55 cents per letter, mounts up really fast. Snail-mail is fast becoming prohibitively expensive and is one cost that can very easily be cut-out. Read more...
Posted on August 3, 2011
It has been said that the average construction project suffers cost overruns and completion often takes longer than expected. Thanks to Pegasus this should never have to be a problem again.
By using the right industry software you will always be able to complete projects on the scheduled time and within your budget. The industry software that I am referring to is Construction Industry Solutions. With this software you will have complete management control over contracts and sub-contractors as well as effective cash management.
Businesses need to track the costs of purchases and may have sub-contractors who require payment under HMRC's construction industry scheme regulations. You need to keep on top of payments and always remember that effective cash management is key to making a profit. Construction Industry Solutions was written for SME contractors in the construction and allied industries. It was designed to give instant up-to-date information so that you know exactly what is owed and to who as well as knowing when different payments are due.
Cash management is an essential feature of the construction industry and can make a serious difference to the profit of a contract. Construction Industry Solutions captures all of the relevant contract information across all stages of a job so that the statuses of contracts are immediately available. Read more...