Integrating Accounting Software for Seamless Service Business Management
Service Business Software Simplifies Back Office Tasks
Software for service businesses has evolved a great deal in the past few years. There are affordable programs available that are catered to your specific industry. Whether you're in construction or consulting, there's a complete service business solution for you. These programs automate many of the tedious tasks that you do every day, freeing up valuable time for more important projects. Once you start using these tools, you'll wonder how you could have run your business any other way. So, what should you look for if you're considering implementing business management software? Pay attention to accounting tools. Accounting may not seem like the most important feature, but it's actually the basis for everything else these programs can offer. Without accounting software, you couldn't automate other aspects of your company like inventory management or staff assignment. Let's take a closer look at how these programs work and how their accounting features make everything else easy.
Automate Your Accounting
Step one is to fully automate your accounting process. This takes a bit of configuration since each company has unique services that they offer. You will need to create a list of services within your new software, along with price estimates for each. If your jobs have highly variable costs, you could simply determine an hourly rate for each service. If you also sell products, add those to the system along with the corresponding cost of goods sold.Once the software knows what your business offers to customers, you'll be able to create digital quotes for jobs. You can set up an online form for customers to generate their own quotes, or have your team create them on their mobile devices while visiting potential job sites. These digital quotes will do all the math for you and automatically update billing so that you know which customers are due (or overdue) for payment.
Turn Accounts Into Action
With your accounts receivable now fully automated, it's time to get to work! Your system can take a contract template and automatically generate one for each new customer. Once it's been approved and down payment has been received, your software will then help you get people on the job site. For this to work properly, you'll need to have each of your employees or independent contractors add some information to your system. This won't take more than a few minutes.All your workers need to do is list skills or jobs they're approved to handle and their availability. The company sets the pay rate for each individual as well. With this data, your software can quickly determine how many people to assign to a job to meet a deadline. From there, it'll choose people to assign to the job. This is much more efficient than trying to find the perfect combination of individuals with their various schedules by hand.
Automated Job Management Software Gets the Job Done
The key to complete automation in your business is to have comprehensive job management software that not only sets up the job, but helps you finish it on time and on budget. With the accounting in place, job management tools take over. As your team works on the job site, you'll get updated information about the work in progress. If unexpected tasks arise while on the job, your workers can send updates from their mobile devices to update work orders.By having all of your data processed in real time in the cloud, you can keep track of jobs in progress and make adjustments quickly. Your software will even give you suggestions. For instance, if a job is falling behind schedule, you could receive a notification that recommends assigning another person to the job to catch up. This improves your work quality, which is essential for growing your service business. Word of mouth is everything, so satisfied customers are vital.
Inventory Management
One of the most common setbacks for service jobs is running out of materials while on the job site. Every time a worker needs to make an emergency run to the hardware store, you've lost useful hours that could have gone to finishing a job and working on another. The best job management software comes with an inventory management system that is also tied to your accounting software.Your workers can add inventory requirements to quotes, or you can require that certain tasks always include specific inventory requirements. By keeping track of your current inventory, the system will know whether you've got enough material to complete the job, or if you need to make an order. If you routinely work with certain suppliers, you can even add their data to your system to automate purchase orders as jobs start to run out of material.
Payday Becomes a Holiday
Every administrator knows that payday is often a pain. But it doesn't have to be when your accounting tools are integrated into every other facet of your business. Your workers will "punch in" virtually when they arrive on the job site. With this data, your system will automatically calculate payments for each of your workers. You'll be able to pay everyone in minutes, rather than spending whole days tallying up hours and verifying numbers.Once you've configured your software properly and you get used to using it, you'll find that it saves you dozens of hours each month and improves the accuracy of your work, meaning less time fixing mistakes. For best results, get a complete suite of software designed for service businesses. Contact ServiceBox to get a free demo of our software for service businesses.
