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Success Stories

DeSantis Commercial, Inc

For the past 35 years, DeSantis Commercial, Inc. has been a full-service commercial realtor located on Florida’s Treasure Coast. Operating throughout the state of Florida, DeSantis Commercial handles all facets of commercial real estate including Buyer/Tenant Representation, Consulting, Sales and Leasing, and Property Management.

Karen McCormick, Finance Manager, tells the story of how she chose Maxwell Systems™ Colonial™ as the software solution for DeSantis, how quickly they implemented the system, and how she’s using it to streamline document management for the company.

Challenges

DeSantis needed a system that offered reporting flexibility and one that could help control the numerous documents of multi-unit commercial properties.

Solution

For its robust, customizable reporting and complete document management capabilities, DeSantis Commercial chose Colonial.

Results

Colonial helps DeSantis maximize profits for every unit of every property. Customizable reports give company owners the information they need to manage their business, and document management provides tools for improved organization and efficiency.

Flexibility: Driving Force Behind Change at DeSantis

When Karen McCormick started looking for software to help manage properties for DeSantis, she was looking for one thing in particular: flexibility. In fact, the whole decision boiled down to being able to generate financial statements needed by the company’s owners.

“We chose Colonial because it was affordable and flexible,” McCormick said. “Our previous software did not give me the ability to run reports the way the owners wanted to see them. It had canned reports that couldn’t be changed.” With Colonial, McCormick can provide the owners of DeSantis with the financial statements that they need. And with the ability to customize reports, McCormick can easily modify reports to display what’s important to DeSantis’ owners.

Extreme Implementation: “0-60” Meant “Days” for DeSantis

Once DeSantis decided to go with Colonial in early 2006, McCormick didn’t waste any time implementing the new system. Within two months, McCormick had the program up and running with two years’ trial balances and all tenant information.

After a few working weekends and running their then-current software system in tandem for one month, DeSantis went live on Colonial and never looked back. “When we finished implementing Colonial,” McCormick recalls, “Our accountant said that this was the smoothest transition from one product to another that he’s ever seen.”

Better Organization through Document Management

In addition to handing all outgoing correspondence through Colonial memorandum templates and Document Management, McCormick uses Document Management to track three-day notices and letters for required certificates (insurance, pest control, HVAC). She processes documents every Monday with tickler notifications so she never misses a beat.

McCormick scans in the received documents and attaches them to tenant records. By doing so, the owner can view documentation as desired.

“This allows the owner to look at leases without having to dig,” McCormick said. “He can pull up records on his screen and see if the tenant has sent in the required documents.”

McCormick believes that Colonial Document Management will allow DeSantis to go paperless—sooner rather than later. In fact, McCormick will soon begin attaching invoices to vendor records and implementing the routing/approval processes for invoices and purchase orders. And if the initial implementation is any indication, McCormick will have this done in no time.

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Conquering Property Manager Wish List

Learn how you can improve accuracy, organization, tracking, and reporting with property management software. 

Luken Holdings

With 50 holdings and more than 400 tenants, Luken uses Maxwell Systems Colonial to streamline unique processing requirements with efficient invoice processing, and integrated accounting, reporting, and forecasting tools.

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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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