HEAVY HIGHWAY CONTRACTORS

need more than accounting.

With millions of dollars of equipment on the line, special software is needed.

Heavy-Highway contractors have most of the software needs of any contractor. But with their major investment in equipment, an equipment cost and management system is required.

At a minimum, a software system should include:

Equipment cost per hour

[Equipment Management Center - Management Centers]

Accurate hourly equipment rates can make the difference in a heavy highway contractor making or losing money on a job. It is easy to prove. If a D-9 has an actual cost rate of $300 because of excessive major repair costs, and your estimator used $250 per hour in his bid, the job is losing money before it starts. Accurate hourly costs are needed to make buy-sell-rent decisions for each piece of equipment. ComputerEase handles equipment as its own profit and loss statement. The equipment cost system tracks each element of hourly cost. Fuel, major repairs, maintenance costs, depreciation and other costs are tracked through the accounting system. Payroll, accounts payable and inventory post to the equipment module with one entry.

Unit Costing for heavy highway contractors

Using unit costs is the best method of measuring job performance in an equipment oriented contractor. Since most Heavy Highway contractors estimate by the unit, job cost should track the actual unit cost against the estimate. Unit costs give the project manager better tools to manage their jobs. Throughout the job the project manager can compare the actual rate of unit production with estimated rate of production. Projecting revised estimates is a lot easier when the actual rate of unit productivity is known. For example if 50% of the units are complete and 40% of the costs are incurred, the project manager knows he is ahead of schedule. Scheduling is more accurate when past performance is used to predict future performance. The Job Cost Management Center has all the tools a heavy highway contractor needs to manage jobs.

Major Equipment Repair History

Major repair costs can be the largest component of the hourly cost for a piece of equipment. Tracking repair costs is very important to the equipment oriented contractor. The buy-sell-rent decision is difficult to make if major repair costs aren’t known. The ComputerEase equipment cost module is fully integrated with accounting. This means all costs are posted to the equipment’s major repair file. The mechanics payroll posts automatically to the equipment detail records-with one entry. Parts and supplies are posted from accounts payable and inventory systems. There is no extra work involved to keep accurate equipment costs. You can even print work orders from the accounting system to help control the shops workload. See The Equipment Management system for more.

Scheduled Maintenance for Equipment

ComputerEase has simplified preparing preventive maintenance equipment schedules. Preventive maintenance can save thousands of dollars of major repairs on heavy equipment. As equipment hours are posted the system is updated and notifies the mechanic of upcoming maintenance. For example if oil and lube is due each 200 hours, the system uses a message system to inform mechanics that the equipment has operated 200 hours. Not only are mechanics notified when to perform maintenance they also receive a work order with the required parts and a description of work to be done. The shop inventory is maintained to insure parts aren’t out of stock when work is due. See The Equipment Management system for more.

Unit Billing for heavy-highway contractors

ComputerEase has a full featured, easy to use unit billing system. Most contractors use an AIA or some other form of contract lump sum billing. Since heavy-highway contractors estimate by the unit, billings are also by the unit. This gives the contractor a clear picture of unit profits. The project manager easily enters the units completed for the week and posts them to the billing system. When it is time to do invoicing a pencil copy is produced to be emailed to their customer. Any changes are made and the invoice is automatically printed with the system. Job costs and accounts receivable are automatically updated. Accurate and timely invoices make a contractor more professional in the eyes of their customers. The Accounts Receivable Management Center has all the tools necessary for a heavy highway contractor to manage billing.

Payroll is different for heavy highway contractors

[Payroll Center - Management Centers]

ComputerEase makes preparing payroll for a heavy highway contractor a snap. Entering payroll for operators can be done at the same time equipment usage is entered. This saves duplicate key entries from another subsystem. It also makes it easy for the payroll operator to get their time entered on one screen. Units completed can also be entered on the same screen. Imagine in one operation, operator's time is entered for paychecks, equipment time to the job is entered and the units completed to update billing is complete at the same time.

The payroll system in ComputerEase is a full featured construction payroll system. Difficult tasks like multi state, multi local, different worker classes, prevailing wages, EEOC compliance and even union calculations are handled. The Payroll Management Center gives the electrician a central location to work on all their payroll needs.

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