Whether you’ve been in construction for weeks or decades, you know just how much paperwork you get. From the initial bid to the final bill, your business relies on paperwork as much as it relies on building materials to get your projects done. Digitizing your documents and turning to document management software (DMS) gets rid of the physical paperwork, makes it easier to manage, and allows you to focus on the important things, like creating a great finished product for your client. So here are our top 3 reasons why every construction company should be using DMS to manage their paperwork.
Faster Bids
When you bid on a job, it’s important that you’re able to put together your bid quickly and efficiently. You need all of the necessary information to be accurate, and you want your bid to be on the top of the pile when your potential client starts looking through them. Additionally, if the client calls with questions regarding your bid, you need to be able to find that bid quickly and easily, so that you can reference it while speaking to them.
When your paperwork is all kept in filing cabinets, it takes a lot of time to shuffle through everything and find the data you need to create the bid in the first place, much less to answer any questions about the bid in question. DMS, on the other hand, makes it easy to find anything you need just by searching for keywords. You can find all of the information you need to build your bid so that it is done much more quickly than you could do it by hand. Plus, you can send files electronically without compromising security, so you can get the bid to the client more quickly, putting your company at the top of the stack.
Better Subcontractor Relationships
On any given project, you can be working with a number of different subcontractors to get the job done. Each of these subcontractors is going to come with their own set of paperwork—bids, agreements, invoices, and so on. Keeping all of these subcontractors’ documents organized while ensuring they’re associated with the right projects can be a time-consuming chore, and it’s not uncommon for many construction companies to misfile or lose important subcontractor paperwork.
DMS allows you to build folders within folders, creating a custom filing flow that can be as in-depth as you need it to be. You can create a folder for each job, with a folder for each subcontractor’s documents inside of it, allowing you to easily find or file documents whenever you need to. Plus, with DMS like eFileCabinet, you can have subcontractor agreements signed electronically, allowing you to get the paperwork done more quickly so that work can continue without delays.
More Accurate Billing
Your company relies on accurate and efficient billing in order to run smoothly—and that includes billing your clients as well as paying the bills from subcontractors and suppliers. With so many invoices coming into and going out of your business, it can be a real juggling act to ensure that everything is paid on time.
DMS simplifies all of that so your office can be a little bit less of a circus, and your billing can be done more efficiently. eFileCabinet even integrates with your QuickBooks software so that you can easily associate all of the right invoices and payment receipts with the right projects. This allows for more accurate billing to your clients and faster payments to your subcontractors. For you, that means you will be able to recoup more cost on projects (because nothing will be missed) and you don’t have to worry about late fees on the bills you owe.
The construction industry has a reputation for running behind schedule. But if you eliminate the paperwork from your office and switch to DMS like eFileCabinet, then you can be more organized and efficient, allowing you to provide better service to your clients and get work done on schedule. Over time, this will naturally lead to growth and profits for your business. If you’re ready to make the switch and make your business that much better, just fill out the form on this page.