After 30 years with a spreadsheet and pencil, here is my take on choosing software for my small general contracting company...

I was pretty well overwhelmed with what’s available.
· They are expensive.
· All take many hours of data entry to make it work for you.
· No single program does it all.
· Some look like they were designed before computers.
· No magic bullet you still need to know how to estimate and schedule a job.
· You get what you pay for. Anything under $500. You might as well just make a spreadsheet
· Online is OK but I preferred to own the software.
· Cost book databases are huge and 98% of the items I don’t use.
· Times are tough, salesmen will hound you.
· Some need a dedicated IT to just to administer them.

After downloading countless demos I decided on Smart Contractor. I found it easy to learn and you can start out small and add components later. Really what it came down to was I could afford it and the sales and support was excellent. I’m not a SC sales person it’s just my choice.

Kevin Hennel
Hennel Construction
Red Deer, Alberta

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