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Pricing Too Low

By Michael Stone

It is a fact of life that when you sell construction-related services, you’ll have clients tell you that your price is too high. Bless their hearts. They have no idea what would be a fair price for the work they want done, they just know that your price is too high.


Your Labor Rate and Your Markup

By Michael Stone

Using the wrong labor rate, or using someone else’s markup when you don’t know their assumptions, is one of the biggest mistakes we see and the difference can be thousands of dollars.


Job Costs and Overhead

By Michael Stone

I’ve seen contractors try to apportion overhead on a daily, weekly, monthly or per job basis when compiling their estimates. I don’t recommend any of those approaches.


Construction Business Safeguards: Fraud and Embezzlement

By Michael Stone

We hear many stories from business owners who have had to recover from the theft of funds by their own employees. Today we’re sharing a list of things you can do to protect yourself and your business.


Calculating for Taxes

By Michael Stone

Taxes are the price you pay for being profitable. It’s a good thing when your business is in the black and you need to pay taxes on it. It’s not good when you’re taken by surprise.


Profit and Loss and Markup

By Michael Stone

When your books are set up properly, it’s easy to calculate your markup, and it’s also easy to compare your actual results to your estimates.


What Should You Do With Your Profit?

By Michael Stone

The best way to avoid paying taxes is to not make a profit at all, but it’s a rough way to live. 


Estimating, Labor Burden, Cost of Goods Sold

By Michael Stone

When you own a small business you wear a lot of hats. Understanding the numbers might not be your favorite hat, but numbers are important because they show where you stand financially.


Know Your Numbers: Current Ratio

By Michael Stone

There is a measure you can use to determine how financially solid your company is at any given point in time. It’s called the current ratio, and it’s a good idea to check it regularly.


Taxes and Profit and Markup

By Michael Stone

Michael addresses a few different questions we’ve heard recently, primarily dealing with taxes and profit and calculating your markup.


Definition of Terms – Construction Accounting

By Michael Stone

Time for a quick review of some terms: gross profit, net profit, owner’s salary, owner’s wages. Owner’s salary is overhead, owner’s wages are a job cost.


Overhead Differences: New Homes and Remodeling

By Michael Stone

A construction company building both new homes and remodeling needs to calculate a separate markup for each type of work.


Overhead Expenses in Accounting Software

By Michael Stone

I was reminded again this week by a dear friend who is an expert in the use of QuickBooks of the necessary care that needs to be taken when you set up your accounting.


How Do You Measure Success in Construction?

By Michael Stone

Our goal is to help contractors build more profitable businesses, but how do you measure success? How do you know your pricing will result in a profit?


Paying Yourself

By Michael Stone

You’re in business to provide a service and make a profit doing it. Having the financial info you need to make decisions is critical for your business success.


Like breathing, being profitable isn’t an option

By Michael Stone

If your construction business isn’t profitable, it won’t survive. You have an option of being competitive in construction. You don’t have the option of being profitable.


Accounting – Keeping Track of Your Jobs

By Michael Stone

It’s easy to know if you’ve made a profit when every transaction is complete in a day. It isn’t as easy in construction, where a job might take a week, a month, or even more than a year to complete.


Bookkeeping, Markup, Taxes, Advertising

By Michael Stone

This week I want to catch up on a few things that have been bothering me.


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