In considering the purchase of construction project management software, Here’s some steps that you have to go through to get a job and get it done:

Contact Management, Marketing, Sales, Construction Takeoff, Estimating, Bid Management, Legal, Customer Management, Scheduling, RFI’s, Transmittals, Change Directives, Submittals, Change Orders, Job Costing, Invoicing, Payments and Lien Releases, Accounting, Payroll, Subcontractor Control, Quality Control, Progress Tracking, Punch list, Service Management

Do you have to get a software package that does all this stuff?  Well, no, not necessarily one package, but you do need a management system that includes all of the above in one form or another.

What criteria do you use to determine how automated your company should be?

One criteria is the size and complexity of your business. A one-man shop has one easy access computer mounted between his ears. The trick is to keep that computer free for thoughty processes. You still want some automation so you keep your data on your laptop, not under you hat. This keeps your head clear.

On the other end of the scale is a big, complex construction company, where the guy in San Francisco needs to know if the Change Order in Kuwait was signed. Or, where cost data from one job needs to be available and integrated into a database for use in estimating other projects. Or where the home office wants to do the accounting on invoice input that was done in the field.  This is where the big dogs of the Project management software field weigh in.

So, You need to get an idea what the capability of the construction software you are going to incorporate into your company needs to be.

If you are a smaller operator, a collection of different inexpensive software packages might do the trick.

You might do your takeoffs using PlanSwift.  You export your takeoff to Excel, where you assemble your bid, integrate pricing, list your subcontractors, list the contract documents and plans, and spell out limitations/conditions.

Once you get the job, you convert the bid to a worksheet for use in the field.  Here you specify what you bid for each component of the job, who submitted what bid, names and phone numbers.

Depending on what software you use, you can input your bid information into your accounting system so you can track bid vs. cost and compute profitability.

Everything else you track with Excel spreadsheets, folders and file boxes with Standard filing procedures used to keep your paperwork organized.

This approach to management, gets the job done while minimizing the cost and complexity. It will work for companies and jobs that are not too complex. For larger companies, we’ll have to go to another blog post.