I’ve got 220 hours, which we allocate at $75/hr, into the project with about as many to go. Literally it is the most pleasurable thing I’m doing all year as we see all the opportunities that we have. Now, six months into the project I have to say I am thrilled with that decision. We thought everything through carefully and saw some great opportunities using the features as they’re supposed to be used. So anyhow in June I decided to reinstall Buildsoft for data starting 7-1, using all its features as they’re supposed to be used knowing it would be a major proposition, as would any installation – including QuickBooks if you really set up all its features (but still you’d only have accounting).
I really think that the person that designed Buildsoft (I really think it was Keith Brown's brother, or a group of guys) was a genius. – But, it is by far the most tightly integrated system, with all (most all) the core processes that are needed, packaged in a manageable way. It’s not a great accounting system, not a great scheduling system, PO system, Calendar, Reporting, etc.
Buildsoft pro software#
I looked at CHS which looks like a great choice and the others that looked promising with an open mind, including a couple long talks with the guys at Contractors Software Group, and I didn’t find that there was anything that could do what we’re doing with Buildsoft, with so little effort if it could do it at all. You may remember me asking you if you knew of anything that could do 90% of what Buildsoft does, in response to your stating that it looked like Buildsoft did 75% of what CHS does. I wasn’t able to find anything that did what Buildsoft does. As you may remember I was doing a lot of looking in April and May. The decision to change these things, and coming up to our 6-30-06 fiscal year end meant that it was time to take the plunge and go with something new starting 7-1-06. I also changed my theory about DCC accounts, now believing that the 30-40 I now have are sufficient and preferable (although I have tremendous detail now because we’ve added many more work stages to the planning part of the system). Ours had become out of hand, adding too many new accounts led to inconsistent coding, difficult comparisons, etc. Last year I decided to revise our cost codes to match the new NAHB chart of accounts.
And up until that time I felt there was no compelling reason to switch from Buildsoft, for us. Up until about a year ago I could tell you a lot about every company offering their solutions. I am seeing that there’s a ton of new software and companies flooding the market in the last year, something we waited a long time for. As you know I have a strong affinity for Buildsoft.