Contractor Software
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3M 8210Plus Series Respirator Designed to help provide comfortable, reliable worker protection against certain non-oil based particles. Its lightweight construction helps promote greater worker acceptance and comfort and increased wear time. For workplace applications include grindin… |
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Cisco-Linksys Wireless-N Internet Home Monitoring Camera $139.99 Send live audio and video to a smartphone or web browser anywhere in the world! The Cisco-Linksys wireless-N internet home monitoring camera connects to your network wirelessly, and delivers a live audio/video stream to a smartphone or browser anywhere. Also captures video streams and sends email alerts with video clips upon motion detection…. |
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Uniden UDWC23 Wireless Video Surveillance Accessory Portable Indoor Camera, black, one camera $70.09 Sla 12v 18ahupg 85977/d5745 sealed lead acid batteries (12v; 18 ah; ub12180). Specs: used in ups backup systems, spotlights, flashlights, exit lighting & other equipment; 12v; 18 ah; ub12180. Refurb: n. Returnable: y. Warranty: one year……. |
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XM XPMP3H1 Portable Satellite Radio and MP3 Player (XMp3i) $145.00 Rechargeable lithium-ion battery – home dock & power adapter and indoor/outdoor antenna – includes usb cable and stereo audio cable – tuneselect and gameselect technologies – record up to 100 hours of programming – save feature with one-touch recording – song alerts – add up to 8gb of mp3 or wma files – microsd card slot (sd card not included) – xm satellite radio subscription required for xm sate… |
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Boss BV9555 7-Inch Double-DIN Motorized In-Dash Widescreen Touchscreen TFT Monitor/DVD/MP3/CD Combo Receiver $482.00 The double-DIN BV9555 from Boss Audio Systems is an affordable way to add DVD entertainment to your vehicle. Enjoy playback of DVDs, CDs, SVCDs and VCDs. Includes both a USB port and SD/MMC card slot for quick enjoyment of digital media (MP3/WMA/MP4) as well, along with an AM/FM radio with 30 presets. A side panel auxiliary input and rear A/V input let you connect external multimedia devices, and … |
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Xbox 360 Wireless Controller – Glossy Black $32.99 Microsoft NSF-00001 Gaming Pad NSF-00001 Video Game Controllers… |
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Kinect Sports Season Two $29.89 If you’ve always wanted to play golf, American football, or tennis but lack the time or opportunity to do so, then the Microsoft 45F-00001 Kinect Sports 2 Video Game is definitely the Kinect game you shouldn’t miss. Kinect Sports: Season Two offers you six new sports to experience on the Xbox 360, thanks to Kinect technology. Choose to play darts, golf, tennis, skiing, baseball, and American footb… |
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Xbox 360 Wired Controller – Black $29.06 Microsoft S9F-00001 Gaming Pad S9F-00001 Video Game Controllers… |
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QuickBooks Premier 2012 $227.99 Flexible small businessaccounting with the finance tools for your industryProductInformationQuickBooks Premier 2012 is designed for established and expandingbusinesses with industry-specific tools and reports as well as businessplanning tools for making better decisions. Premier includesallof the features of Pro and lets you choose one industry at startupincluding Contractor Manufacturing an… |
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QuickBooks Premier Industry Editions 2012 [Download] $204.99 New to QuickBooks? Find out why QuickBooks is the #1 best selling small business accounting software¹. Set up in minutes, easy to learn and use No accounting knowledge necessary Quickly import your data from a spreadsheet2 Step-by-step tutorials and industry-specific coaching tips show you how to create invoices, record expenses and more Try out sample files for you business type Special of… |
Don’t Simply be a Good Enough Contractor; Go for Greatness!
What constitutes a great contractor from a simply good contractor? Obviously, there are many factors that contribute to the success of any contractor, but unconditionally one of the most important factors in the success of a contractor is how well they analyze their businesses performance; and what they do about the data that they find.
Good contractors keep accurate records and manage cash flow. Contractors that want to achieve true greatness realize that they need to analyze and evaluate all of their corporate data continuously with careful insight, applying all of their construction knowledge to better recognize area where their business needs to improve performance.
When you are calculating and putting numbers into a table you cannot beat a computer for speed and accuracy. With a low-cost computer today, a contractor can manage and keep on top of more data today that his father could have ever hoped to keep track of just 20 years ago. Today job costing, estimating, and accounting can be done with an amazing degree of accuracy and detail.
Simply counting the dollars going out on a project and making sure that the dollars coming in are greater, is not all there is to managing you company’s financial needs to succeed. We need to be applying intelligent conclusions to our findings and making appropriate choices daily. That requires an understanding of financial statements and the ability to use that information to make better decisions, both short and long-term.
It is extremely important on a daily basis to evaluate your historical productivity against your actual productivity each and every day. When you include call-backs and reworks in performance, you might find it better to budget additional hours upfront to get the job done right the first time.
Also, along this line, how many times have you started into a job and realized that you had bid the job much lower than you should have bid to make a profit, but after realizing your error, jumped into the job on “all fours”, took the “bull by the horns” and managed to squeak out a meager profit? After getting by with the skin on your teeth, you vowed never to get yourself into that situation again only to find yourself there sometime in the future.
We have a tendency to finish the problem job and go right on to the next job without considering the consequences of failing to properly identify the problems and mistakes that we made with the last bid and correct them BEFORE we have to deal with them on the next bid.
We have all heard the saying, “Insanity is doing something the same way over and over again and expecting different results.Unfortunately, it would appear that many of us are pointing fingers at what someone else may or may not be doing, but are not closing our own barn door concerning the history of our own estimating bids versus our actual results on the job!
Forecasting is another key activity. It might be considered planning for future financial management. While no one can predict the company’s future with certainty, it’s important to make some thoughtful estimates from time to time. Those ‘best guesses,’ such as whether to buy or lease equipment or improve your internal computer software tools, can be factored into decisions made each day.
A truly great manager realizes and studies the factors that create successful construction projects, versus the shortcomings that lead to failures, and quickly find that “squeezing a dollar” too much today can be “penny wise and pound foolish” tomorrow when they have to spend far more to correct what they could have averted with better money management at the beginning of the project. By actively managing the company’s financial affairs rather than just keeping good books, contractors can build and maintain a strong foundation for future prosperity for both the company and its employees.
About the Author
Phillip P Gilliam is a devoted husband and father to three daughters. He has lived in Florida for over 20 years and originally comes from Dayton, Ohio. He has a passion for business management, marketing and finance and has been utilizing software and technology for over 37 years. He is currently the President and CEO of Discover Software Inc., which is a Construction Software company. http://www.easyestimating.com
Do I need to charge Connecticut Sales & Use Tax as an independent contractor?
I am an independent contractor doing Project Management tasks for a custom software project for a privately held company. When I invoice my time, do I need to charge the CT Sales & Use tax? If so, how much and how do I “pay” the state? I’ve read through the DRS stuff and its still not clear to me.
if this requires taxes in your state, if you have a resale number, yes, unless your customer has an exempt certificate
you need to register with your state tax revenue office, they will direct you how and when
Contractors finally join the Internet Age
In by gone days all a contractor had to do was give the customer good quality and good service and he/she would be set. Then set back and let your customers do your selling for you. They would tell a friend and then that friend would tell a friend. Your phone would be ringing off the hook. I remember as an Architectural designer some days I would have up to four people wanting to schedule appointments for designs. Those days are long gone! But Fear Not! Click Here For Help
