Financial Management with Archdesk:

Have you ever heard the expression to be like a Saint Graal: everybody wants it, but nobody knows how to find it? Carrying this analogy to the construction world, financial management is a Saint Graal for many companies. Why? Because these companies want to have construction finances organised, simple and under control, but in most cases, they completely do not know how to achieve that.

Are you such a company? If yes, let us show you how Archdesk can support your needs and challenges and provide you with solutions! But to do that, we first need to focus on the mundane matters: the financial management challenges.

Pain Points in The Construction Finance Management

Even without any external factors influencing your company’s activities, financial management is not easy. After all, you have to control your costs, keep an eye on the budget, perform procurement activities, communicate externally & internally, and much more. Expect that there are external issues, which have a strong financial impact on the whole construction market:

• Delayed Payments

  Delayed payments and low margins have always been present in the industry. However, the coronavirus pandemic worsened the situation. Now, only 1 in 10 construction companies gets paid in full, which means even a 75% drop compared to before the pandemic. Such a harsh reality creates a real challenge to perform typical activities without losing financial liquidity.

• Growing Material Cost

  With the prices of metal going up by 75% in only six months, the situation on the construction material market is difficult. However, a more threatening factor for construction companies is the pace of changes, as construction budgets are often estimated and signed a few years in advance.

  For a more in-depth analysis of the construction cost crisis, take a look here.

• Inflation

  Another current challenge for the whole economy is inflation. The declining value of money leads to a lot of stress in the construction companies. It is because they base their projects on extremely low margins, often on the verge of profitability. The challenge, combined with delayed payments, finally results in serious difficulties for SMEs in surviving on the market.

Luckily, you can prepare for and overcome those challenges with proper management tools!

How Can Archdesk Help with Your Company Finances?

There is one indispensable thing that you need in order to find your Saint Graal in construction financial management: information.

Why?

Only with the complete data about your cash flow, estimated costs or planned deliveries can you clearly see your company’s financial situation (with all chances for improvement and its weak points). Only with the properly gathered, organised, and managed data can you plan the following steps. And this is where Archdesk’s Project Finance feature can come in handy!

The Project Finance tool's primary goal is to manage the entire process from a single platform with a seamless information flow. All information is shown in clear, easy-to-read dashboards, allowing you to respond swiftly to any project changes. The software enables you to plan, track and manage your project’s costs as the situation in the financial dashboard updates automatically whenever a new expense is added.

And here’s how you can manage the project finance with the use of Archdesk:

• 01

  Budget Plan

  Budget is a core for any project. That is why Archdesk offers you a financial dashboard with a view of the most crucial indicators. You can check the project's financial health within a few clicks and see up-to-date how the situation is changing. Thanks to that, you can always plan and perform new actions having crucial data in front of you!

  
• 02

  Quotes/ BOQ (Bill of Quantities)

  You can create quotes straight from the budget to save time and eliminate the risk of making mistakes when entering data once again. The quotations provide a clear picture of project profitability, so no matter how the process looks like in your company, Archdesk can customise the solutions to your needs.

  Learn more: Estimation And Proposal with Archdesk: Streamline Your Pricing Document Preparation.

• 03

  Tendering Process

  Archdesk can support you also with the first stages of the project before the actual work begins. You can set the assessment criteria in the program, personalise template invites and wait for the software to evaluate tenders and automatically pick the best subcontractor depending on your budgetary constraints.

• 04

  Purchase Orders

  You can create a new procurement order based on a BOQ or a tender, which shortens the procedure as there is no need to enter the data twice. All purchases are visible in a separate dashboard, together with the order's status, amount and related financial papers. Thanks to that, you can quickly clarify what has been ordered, which parts still need to be purchased and take the necessary steps.

  Discover more: How Does Archdesk Streamline Your Procurement Process?

• 05

  Reports

  Reporting is a must for an efficient and quick information exchange in and outside the company. You can build reports from the financial sections in the software automatically without risking any data loss. You can customise and create dashboards for reports to present only the most essential data depending on your company’s current needs.

• 06

  Payments

  Finally, Archdesk assists you in keeping track of your payments. It displays the project's claims and liabilities on the financial dashboard. Once the necessary payments have been made, you can save the records under a specific project and access them at any time.

Financial Management on The Project Level Is Not Enough

So far, we have focused mostly on project finance during the execution. However, project management might not be enough if you really want to control your finances! Without an overview of your company's indicators, you might lose your financial liquidity and eventually fail even if your projects are doing fine.

That is why, Archdesk construction management platform provides solutions on the project and the company level. You can execute your project on time and within the budget while checking the indicators for the whole company’s financial stability and profitability with only a few clicks. One platform that enables you to manage it all.

Benefits of Organised Finances with Archdesk

• Complete control over the budget at each financial stage of the project

• Possibility of integrations with external tools (like Xero or Quickbooks)

• Organised financial documentation stored inside the software, accessible at anytime

• Simpler processes thanks to the software’s automated features

• Streamlined external & internal communication

• Reduced risk of mistakes or data duplication thanks to the eliminated need of introducing the same information twice

• Cloud-based, secured data storage with restricted access rights

As you can see, having organised and streamlined financial management is not a mysterious treasure that no company can have. However, in order to achieve it, you need to have a solid core with all information gathered in one place, which shows you the actual company’s situation. Only then will you be able to feel the real benefits of streamlined construction finance.

If you want to improve the management of your company finances, do not hesitate to contact us! During the meeting, we will be able to focus fully on your needs and challenges, and provide you with the best solutions for your business!

I want to improve my financial management!