In this article, we aim to help finance teams of construction companies come up with a solution for how to make working with contractors smoother. The focus is on digital tools that help smoothen the experience of contractor management and where to find them.
In the past couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about how utilising contractors can make a huge difference to construction projects. However, this also brings a set of challenges like differentiating rates. We have also expanded on ways to make this approach easier and more intuitive. If you read the earlier pieces, you know that we are vouching for the digital approach to contractor management. Chances are, you’ve even been inspired to start researching your options… But now you hit the wall.
While the market is filled with solutions, an industry as niche as construction isn’t as densely populated. In fact, the specialised solutions don’t always make a cut. So, what now? Don’t give up just yet. This blog article is going to walk you through the process of getting the tools that work for you in the smartest way possible.
Why Is It Important to Manage Contractors?
From a financial standpoint, contractor management is mainly important to ensure the workers are fairly compensated for the time, work and the results they deliver. Given many contractors charge different rates than those of permanent staff, they need to be calculated separately. Additionally, the rates may also be different depending on the task, deliverables, weekdays and other factors.
Staying on top of contractor-related expenses also allows you to keep a close eye on your project’s budget, as well as forecast future ones with better accuracy. To keep it short, efficient contractor management helps with not just the project on hand but also future endeavours.
The Right Tools for Construction
Since the digitisation of the construction sector is far behind, there aren’t many ‘industry best practices’ per se. However, some tools are vital to kickstart the process for they will be at the core of your processes.
Customisable Timesheets
If you read our previous articles on how to effectively pay contractors without worrying about differentiating rates, you must know that customisable timesheets are irreplaceable. Unlike traditional time tracking which focuses merely on recording the time spent on tasks, a digital approach serves to more purposes. Namely, it helps with calculating the compensation quickly even when riddled with intricate conditions.
Every vendor will offer a different degree of customisation and features to build the process. While every company’s needs and priorities depend on its goals and factors such as internal structure, it’s always best to aim for a solution that gives you the most freedom. At Timesheet Portal, we have a unique system of timesheet rules, allowing our users to take full control of how their timesheets are structured and how they function. You can either customise one of the pre-built templates we offer, use it as it is, or build an entirely new thing from scratch.
Centralised View of Everything
Understandably, you won’t be utilising just one tool. Speaking strictly from the finance team standpoint, you will, at the very least, be using an accounting package and will have some visibility of the project management tool. Naturally, each of these solutions will be offering different insights and it’s your job to put them together to paint the full picture you can analyse. Alas, it’s time-consuming to constantly click through various tabs to extract numbers and it’s very easy for them to go missing in the process, leading to data errors.
To avoid the threat of skewed data, bad decisions and time wasted on fishing the numbers out of your tools, prioritise getting a centralised view. It’s easy when all your software is coming from the same provider, but that’s rarely the case. However, through integrations and custom APIs, you can link them with one another. This way, different solutions you utilise will be automatically feeding data to each other, making it easy for you to access in a singular location with just a couple of clicks. Not to mention, this may lead to unlocking new insights you had no prior access to.
Navigating the Market
Even with a defined idea of what type of tool you need, finding what will truly bring you success is not an easy task. Not when the software market is huge and continuously growing with each passing second. You need a tailored approach.
List of Requirements
Just like projects don’t run without a plan, you shouldn’t dive into software hunting without one. Simply put, the market is incredibly saturated and unless you have a clear idea of what you’re looking for, you’re likely to invest in software that might be the right fit for you, but not a perfect one. It is not helping that sales teams and copywriters are very skilled in dazzling their audience, so it’s important you have your list of requirements actually written down. Even if you think you will remember it - you won’t. And you need to strictly adhere to it.
Write down the features that are a deal breaker to you first. Then, list the ones you need. And finally categorise the wants and nice-to-haves. It’s also a wise idea to summarise the capacity that will be needed for each of the features as some vendors charge per number of users rather than per module. Keep this list in front of yourself through the entirety of the journey - during the research, demo and implementation.
Don’t Rely on Obvious Keywords
Naturally, since you are in a niche industry, you are likely to start looking by including its name in your search query. But this is arguably not the best approach when looking for the right software. Simply put, you’re on a mission to find a tool that does the job for you, not the one that is marketed for you. Just because a tool is described to be aimed at construction firms doesn’t mean it’s the best one for you. Yet another reason to keep that list of features near.
Since digital transformation is heavily delayed in the construction sector, most solutions don’t list they’re catering to it. However, this doesn’t mean they aren’t suitable for you. In terms of contractor management, you definitely don’t need a solution that is specifically labelled as a tool for the construction firm. Simply put, in their essence, all solutions of the kind function in a more or less similar way. It is very rare for them to be sector-bound. That said, instead of industry keywords, prioritise features and compatibility with your already owned software.
Kickstart the Change
The best time to start digitally transforming the construction industry is now. Not many companies have embraced the innovation yet, therefore being an early adopter will give you an upper hand moving forward. So, why not begin today?
Construction Firms Thrive with Timesheet Portal
Our software goes a long way with construction firms specifically. They make up the biggest chunk of our Project edition clientele. This goes to show we have a deep understanding and the right toolset for the construction companies to tackle their challenges and achieve their goals. But even with the years of expertise backing up everything we do, we keep our ear to the ground at all times and adapt to the ever-changing market.
To ease your existing and future collaborations with clients, Timesheet Portal comes equipped with a variety of modules. We offer highly customisable timesheets, an extensive functionality of timesheet rules, in-depth reports, an onboarding system, a holiday management platform that calculates holiday accrual and many more. Instead of simply helping you with smooth communication with the contractors, Timesheet Portal takes ownership of most of the manual operations, allowing you to focus on things that matter. No more wasting time on tedious admin tasks - we enable you to use it for forging meaningful relationships.
Summary
Contractor management in construction comes with a plethora of challenges, but there’s a relatively easy solution to them all - digital tools. On the other hand, finding the right ones is a challenge of its own. As always, your company’s goals should always be the key factor in deciding what features you should prioritise. However, you most certainly need customisable timesheets to shoulder differentiating rates and a centralised platform to stay on track with all the numbers at all times.
When looking for a solution, don’t limit yourself by going after industry-related keywords only. Instead, prepare a list of features you need and handpick tools for trial based on their closeness to your requirements. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter who the software is marketed for - it matters whether it can do the job you need it to do.
Not to mention, you may not even need to look far. Chances are, you’re already at the right place. So, let’s talk.
