Many roofing contractors are wondering whether it’s worth investing in software, and when indeed is the right time to invest in professional roofing software like the AppliCad Software’s Roof Wizard.
A lot of new clients we talk to are shy to invest in the software license costs plus the training time involved to learn the software. What many do not realise is the substantial positive cash-flow effect that can be reached in under one year’s time.
Here is how you know the right time to invest in professional roofing software:
AppliCad Software delivers positive ROI after only 8 months
Our first question back to a new client is “How many estimates per week do you do?”. We ask that because we know from experience and our calculations that AppliCad Software starts to deliver a positive ROI after around 8 months after purchase, based on a business that creates on average 2 residential estimates per day.
Cost savings happen across departments
Let’s look at the potential benefits to a roofing business, based on estimated costs and typical job situation in 2020. Estimation is only one area in which cash-positive benefits become visible. Once a job bid is successful, quantifiable benefits flow on to the inventory, accounting and installation departments. Let’s take a closer look.
- Estimating department
The estimating department is almost entirely a business cost. Saving $75 per day of your estimator’s time equates to $18,000 per year at $45 per hour. - Inventory department
These numbers do not include savings from material waste reduction which could be as much as 10%. Saving the Inventory department staff time needed for paperwork and cutting lists because they are generated automatically by AppliCad’s Roof Wizard will save at least $87.50 a day at $35 per hour which equates to saving $21,000 per year. - Accounting department
The savings in the accounting department usually come from reduced paper work and reduced errors from transcribing hand-written work orders and similar documents. The Accounting department can take the output directly from AppliCad via text files and save data entry time – a modest time saving that equates to $37.50 per day at $45 per hour resulting in annual savings of $9,000. - Installation department
These guys have the best potential to save time and money. The omission of such items as insulation, clips and screws can hold up a job for many hours or even days. With better documentation generated by AppliCad’s software, these errors are all but eliminated. Time savings on the job site through the quality of our installation reports and cutting lists–- modestly saving $120 per day at $30 per hour contribute $28,800 per year to the ROI. Using the example above, the total savings on time alone in one year amounts to $76,800.
Using the example above, the total savings on time alone in one year amounts to $76,800.
Add material savings and the reduced costs due to elimination of errors, and this number could easily double.
Investing in AppliCad Software
The actual investment goes beyond the purchase price. You must include implementation costs which include a training course and setup time. The enclosed graph shows the breakeven for all costs at around 8 months using the example here. This will vary with
- the number of quotes done per day
- the hourly charge rate for your staff and
- the number of licenses of software.
As with any investment, you will go backwards before you go forwards but as you go forward the rewards increase. Typical estimating departments are capable of completing anywhere from 5 to 25 bids a day. The results stated here are VERY conservative.
Beyond the license cost – What other cost factors to consider
Many business owners simply look at the capital cost of investing in technology without looking at the bigger picture and understanding where the benefits to the business can be quantified. The real cost is not the purchase price of a software license, but the cost to implement it properly from the start.
Here is what is involved:
- report customisation (once)
- material and labour definition set up (once)
- network setup (once)
- testing (once)
- quality training of staff (once)
- the lost productivity while staff learn (once)
- integration with other business systems (once).
While this may seem a lot of up-front investment, let’s look at how quickly the cost benefits from using the software roll in:
Crunch your own numbers
Use our Online ROI Calculator to see what YOU could achieve.