Looking for a job costing system can be a hard task. On the one hand, you’re overwhelmed with choice, but on the other, it feels impossible to sieve through the options and look for the perfect fit.
To help you save time and narrow down your options, we’ve created a checklist to find the best solution for your business. By following these points, you can narrow down a solution that works well for you and your business.
Why does your business want a new job costing system? What are your top priorities? By establishing this, you can more easily eliminate options that don’t fit your needs and are less likely to be swayed by persuasive sales patter.
Sit down with the key people in your business and decide what problems you are looking to solve. It might be that you want accurate visibility of your profit margins on every project, or you want to keep better track of your stock. Think about where you want your business to go in the future as well as your pain points right now.
Stay focused on what you want to achieve, rather than how you think it should be done. That way you don’t eliminate options that have a unique solution to the problem you are trying to solve.
Read more: Four Ways To Take Your Goal Setting To The Next Level
Armed with your list of priorities and objectives, now is the time you compare that to what’s available in the market. You might not be able to find something that solves all of your problems, but because you have a prioritised list, it’s easier to decide what’s worth sacrificing.
Tools like Google are effective for finding options but don’t forget to chat to your peers and check in with others that work within your industry to see their options. You may have some ideas already that you want to get their thoughts on. Check reviews to get honest feedback on the system.
When researching your options, you’ll naturally find the options that you have the best feeling about or that meet your needs best. From here, pick 1-3 to learn more about and reach out to.
Any more than this at one time can be overwhelming and you'll likely find yourself running out of time to try them or confusing one software’s features for another.
When you’ve picked 1 to 3 job costing options, it’s time to start out your free trial. Take a look at how the system operates and how well it matches your objectives. This is the best opportunity to see if the software matches up with how your team works. For example, it might have all the features you need, but is it accessible to your remote working team?
Work closely with your sales rep to find out the most you can during the trial and see how it can solve your problems. Find the limitations of the system and see how it will work for your business now, and where you see your business going in the future.