It’s no secret that the construction industry has been feeling the pressure. We’re dealing with an industry that has always managed ridiculously small margins, coupled with longer lead times, supplier price hikes and demanding customers – many would argue the industry state has been almost inevitable.

? For decades, perhaps centuries, construction businesses have been relying on their bank balance to tell them the state of their financial affairs. Of course, cash is king, so when the bank account has a few extra zeros, there’s always a reason to smile. But that pendulum tends to swing pretty far back the other way too and all of a sudden, that decimal point is definitely in the wrong spot. What’s going wrong?

The construction industry survives on claiming as much as possible up front, knowing their final claims are going to be far smaller. Generally, this isn’t an issue, with the next project lined up and the first project claim well and truly issued. However, lately that hasn’t been so easy. The next project isn’t as close. The first claim isn’t sufficient. The last claim isn’t even close. The big question, could this have been avoided? The short answer, to a degree, absolutely.

The bank balance, nor the accounting package predict what is ABOUT to happen… it only shows you WHAT has happened, by which case, it’s too late. By changing the way you manage your projects, you should have true visibility over:

  • Your over / under claim position (at that exact point in time)
  • Your expected cost to complete – properly tracking supplier costs and delivery times
  • Your gain / loss position by the day – so you have time to correct it
  • Your Project Managers performance

There are many ways you can track this, but of course, PCMD has made it seamless. If you would like to see how you can be better prepared reach out to our team today.