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James Frank Construction: "Detailed Perfection" With Sage Timberline Office

For more than 50 years, James Frank Construction, Inc., has maintained a reputation for quality craftsmanship, specializing in new construction, remodeling, historic restoration, and custom cabinet making. By committing to "detailed perfection," the company won an American Institute of Architects Honor Award, and was selected to build a prestigious HGTV Dream Home in 2000.

James Frank Construction expects nothing less than the same detailed perfection in their accounting software, which is why they felt it necessary to switch from their current solution to Sage Timberline Office.

"Our previous software wasn't doing the job for us," explains Thomas Frank, controller and grandson of the company's founder. "It was terrible when it came to job costing, and we couldn't use it for billing at all. Scalability was also a problem."

Billing Accuracy and Flexibility
Prior to making a decision to switch, Frank did research on the Internet to learn who the major players were in accounting software for the construction industry. "We needed a software package that could produce bills accurately and at the same time give us the ability to manipulate data," says Frank. "We looked carefully at several manufacturers. Then we found Sage Timberline Office."

Blueprint for Success
Sage Timberline Office had everything Frank wanted. "It met all the criteria I was looking for, including networkability, security, scalability, and job costing. But the biggest thing of all was seeing the billing capabilities in Sage Timberline Office."

Frank implemented Sage Timberline Office in 1998, and uses both the Accounting and Estimating applications. The software has automated all accounts payable, accounts receivable, job costing, general ledger, and payroll tasks.

"I've become the Sage Timberline Office point person for everyone within the company," Frank explains. "Fortunately, the software is very easy to use."

Delighted with Desktop
With the recent release Desktop, a Sage Timberline Office application, Frank discovered what a valuable resource the tool could be for him as a co-owner as well as for his employees. In particular, Frank enjoys the ability to view the financial summary immediately upon starting the program without opening numerous applications, inquiries, or reports.

"We like the Owner Financial Summary when opening Desktop to give us up-to-date, accurate, real-time information on the company," Frank says. "This is much better than having to open several reports or inquiries to dig out the same information. Having the data in one place helps us, as owners, look at the financial health of the company, and gives us the facts and figures we need to make faster financial decisions."

Fans of Favorites
Frank describes the Desktop interface as being smooth and effective, taking away the "database feel" of the software. He finds the use of "Favorites" to be a great benefit, allowing users to store only those applications or tasks that are necessary for day-to-day job functions and helps in avoiding desktop clutter.

"Project managers like to have their tasks placed in Favorites without having to search through menus," says Frank. "Since you encounter project managers with different levels of computer knowledge, it helps make their experience easier. This, in turn, means that they use the system more frequently. And when all users are accessing the same program for information and not looking through multiple programs, the company runs more efficiently."

The Favorites function in Desktop is also useful in training new employees. "When people put frequently used tasks in the Favorites category, they have an opportunity to title them whatever they want. This helps cut training time, and boost productivity after people are on the job."

Constructing Solid Benefits
The overall benefits of switching to Sage Timberline Office have been impressive. "It used to take me three entire days to do billing with spreadsheets," Frank says. "With Sage Timberline Office, I can get billing drafts to our project managers within four hours. Whether I'm doing cost plus, stipulated contracts or bids, it is a huge timesaver."

Similar efficiencies come in job costing. "Sage Timberline Office has cut 30 percent of the time I used to spend doing job costs," notes Frank. "Plus, it allows me to manage multiple projects for the same customer, something our previous software could not do. And it's incredibly accurate."

The software has also helped James Frank Construction achieve its goals of detailed perfection. "By implementing an efficient, cost-effective solution like Sage Timberline Office, we can focus on our real goal—to give customers premium custom work while keeping an eye on the bottom line."

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