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Success Stories

Don Chapin

Don Chapin Company is a private engineering construction firm in Salinas, Calif. The 30-year-old business performs a full range of projects from small homeowner jobs, to major new home developments and highway construction in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties. Their business approach is to provide customized, top-quality solutions for every customer.

“Every time you start a new project, it’s almost like starting from scratch. Each customer prefers things a little differently. StreetSmarts lets us be flexible enough to accommodate that, and improve our time efficiency in the process.”
–Terry Nelson, Controller, Don Chapin Company

Challenges

Don Chapin was using a simple Unix-based software program to manage its job costing, payroll, and accounting. But the process was time-consuming, and the software created hard-to-read invoices. Plus, it took the company a week to complete payroll.

Solution

Don Chapin implemented Maxwell Systems’ StreetSmarts® solution, which automates all of the job costing, payroll, and accounting processes. It also creates easy-to-read invoices formatted to each customer’s preferences.

Benefits

Don Chapin can now:

  • Increase time efficiency.
  • Process payroll faster.
  • Effortlessly accommodate customers’ billing preferences.
  • Create easy-to-read invoices.
  • View job statuses in real time.
  • Identify problems early.
  • Continue to provide customized service to clients.
  • Scale up to implement future management procedures.

The Situation

Don Chapin Company was using a simple, Unix-based software program to manage its job costing, payroll, and accounting. It was a time- consuming process to manually set up all projects and pay tables in the system. The company also took a week to process 250 payroll checks. Plus, the invoices created were confusing and hard to read. Don Chapin needed a flexible, timeefficient software solution to manage these tasks. Controller Terry Nelson found Maxwell Systems’ StreetSmarts solution at the 2003 CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas. He decided to try it because it appeared easy to use, and built to handle Don Chapin’s cost and accounting management.

Maxwell Systems Provides Heavy-Grade Business Flexibility

Don Chapin Company installed StreetSmarts on 12 workstations, and the staff at Don Chapin was trained on how to use the system. Maxwell Systems also helped Don Chapin integrate the technology into their business operations. The software now manages the company’s job costing, accounting, and payroll. Don Chapin sets up projects, corresponding cost and revenue budgets, and pay rates automatically. The company also uses the inquiry feature to drill down into project costs and revenue, which allows the company to quickly analyze the performance of each project. In addition, Don Chapin creates easy-to-read customer invoices that divide contract and extra work into separate line items on the same bill, or on a completely separate bill, depending on customer needs.

Benefits to Don Chapin Company

StreetSmarts lets Don Chapin be flexible enough to accommodate customers’ unique requests, while also improving time efficiency. Don Chapin saves a tremendous amount of time and legwork when setting up projects. Upper management can view job statuses in real-time and handle problems before they become crises. The company now effortlessly accommodates customers’ billing preferences with easy-to-read invoices. This helps Don Chapin uphold its mission of providing customized service to its clients. Plus, the company processes payroll faster and adjusts more quickly to change as needed. Finally, StreetSmarts provides Don Chapin scalability for implementing future accounting management procedures. For example, the company plans to implement electronic time cards from the field, which StreetSmarts supports.

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Sigfusson Northern LTD

Sigfusson Northern LTD uses Maxwell Systems StreetSmarts as its job cost accounting and project management software solution. With StreetSmarts, SNL manages all of the accounting practices and job costs for their seven entities across the U.S. and Canada; maintain information in one place, in one format; manage payroll in-house; track and bill equipment expenses; and streamline workflow between the office and job sites.

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Our Story of Complete Construction Software

Maxwell Systems provides construction software solutions that help contractors to streamline workflow, increase productivity, and improve profitability. Furthermore, we understand that today's contractors must optimize processes across all business areas to gain or maintain an increasingly important competitive edge and ensure a successful business. Critical, to that end, is timely and efficient communication and information access among estimating, job cost accounting, and project management teams.

By using a Maxwell Systems complete construction software solution, you'll be able to better operate your business with increased efficiency and streamlined operations, and confidently increase profitability on every project. You will have the tools you need to accomplish more in less time; taking the guesswork out of reaching true profit potential; and improving financial stability for long-term benefit.

Why Maxwell Systems?

Maxwell Systems is truly unique with its ability to offer contractors a complete, seamless software solution that allows:

  • A new level of continuity and productivity among estimating, job cost accounting, and project management
  • Better insight, analysis, and financial oversight for owners to make informed and timely decisions
  • Improved operational efficiencies, cost reductions, and increased profits

Contractors value having an end-to-end solution from one company:

  • All applications work together seamlessly
  • Efficient access to comprehensive support and services
  • A stable technology partner committed to customer success

How Your Business Benefits

A complete construction software solution from Maxwell Systems provides end-to-end control of your business so you can see a day's profit potential at a glance, identify and prevent potential financial losses, spot discrepancies and errors, and manage projects with accurate information in real-time.

With tailored features designed to fit each member on your team, construction company management software ultimately allows your business to:

  • Attain end-to-end control and increased visibility
  • Achieve easy and accurate reporting with real-time data
  • Optimize project execution for maximum profitability
  • Streamline operations with seamless workflow

The Bid-to-Cash Cycle Explained

Managing each of the key process areas of a construction business – Estimating, Construction Accounting, and Project Management – requires vastly different talents and areas of expertise. The reality is that each of these functional groups is related and dependent on one another.

For your organization to run in an optimal fashion, the groups much work together in an optimal fashion. Together, these functional areas compromise what we describe as the Bid-to-Cash Cycle. And our goal at Maxwell Systems is to provide software for construction so you can bridge the needs of the functional groups, better manage this cycle, and so maximize profitability.

When construction estimating software, construction accounting software, and construction project management software are working together in a seamless system as a complete construction business management software solution, then a contractor is truly poised for optimal profit and productivity.

How does a complete solution fit your part of the cycle? Here are a few examples:

  • Owner: It's all about reducing waste, uncovering lost opportunity, exposing shortcomings, and maximizing resources – all which impact profit and the bottom line. With end-to-end visibility of every project, executives can hone business strategy, improve control of cash flow, and keep financials in the black with accurate ROI.
  • Estimator: Beyond estimating projects, the estimator can access more accurate information in regards to how the project actually performs. This will allow the estimator to improve accuracy on future estimates with actual labor and production rates, updated material prices, and other resource related items.
  • Accounting: Not only a company's construction accounting system, a complete solution helps to streamline the procurement processes for optimal efficiencies and produces more accurate purchasing processes. Additionally, billing processes, inventory issuances, and many other processes are streamlined. Less data entry, better accuracy, and reliable audit trail allow convenience and peace of mind.
  • Project Manager: The seamless workflow from Estimating to Project Tracking allows for a streamlined method of creating the job and then tracking performance against the estimate. Within the complete solution, the construction project management programs also provide the detail required for the Project Manager to understand what the Estimator was thinking when the bid was put together. Plus, by accessing real-time information whether in the office or in the field, the project manager can track progress, be more agile, and better handle all aspects of jobs from beginning to end.

Bottom Line

To succeed in today's competitive marketplace, construction business owners must improve productivity and have end-to-end visibility to see how jobs perform (and turn profit) from start to finish. Maxwell Systems knows construction company software and can be your partner by offering truly unique products (as well as support and services) that address the entire construction project lifecycle – from digital takeoff through final cash payment. Our seamless system provides your company with all the capabilities you need for estimating, job cost accounting, and project management, and ultimately for superior insight and analysis of your business.

Imagine the flexibility and insight by having one solution for estimating projects, for construction accounting programs, and for construction project software! All that and more in one system will help your business be more competitive and profitable.

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