# Good filing systems



## 22rifle

For a scanner... look at the Fujitsu ScanSnap S510

LOVE mine.


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## orson

Wackman,

One of the best books I've read regarding most aspects of starting a construction company is David Gerstel's "Running a Successful Construction Company" published by Taunton Press. This book, imho, far outstrips the often mentioned 'Markup and Profit' by Michael Stone, but I digress....

Gerstel has a fairly detailed section on setting up a home office which includes suggestions for physicaly laying out your office and your workflow in your office.


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## LaurieC

Sarah- Do you teach QB, or QB online? I have QB online and am so lost I've told our accountant to go in and fix my mistakes and get back to me. If it's QB online...I'm there!


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## BigLou

One of the key things I have found is the need for a good filing system for work in progress.

I have a separate binder for every large job, with tabs:
Tab 1) Homeowner Info, Job Schedule, Project Startup Checklist
Tab 2) Contract, Change Orders, Payment Schedule
Tab 3) Building Permit Info, Inspections
Tab 4) Meeting Notes
Tab 5) RFQs, Quotes
Tab 6) Material Orders
Tab 7) Underground Locates
Tab 8) Currently empty

I used to use folders to hold this info, and found they were an inch think by the end of the job, and I couldn't find anything. The binder, along with a few key checklists, has really helped in my production management role.

Smaller jobs (ie: those that don't involve permits) still continue to sit in a folder.


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## BigLou

We also organize work into 5 phases:

1) Estimate/Proposal
2) Design
3) Pre-Construction (includes working drawings, permits, product selection)
4) Construction
5) Warranty

We keep a board and list all work in progress under one of the 5 headings, which keeps us from losing track of the work we are doing. Currently there are 14 names on the board, gotta keep good track when there are a lot of things going on.


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## Sarah9910

Yes I do. The on-line classes didn't draw a crowd, but I work with people one on one on-line. But then my son just moved to Newport Beach, CA and my new grandbaby is in Austin Texas so I'm always open to going places!!!! Hope to go see both soon.


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## Sarah9910

22rifle said:


> For a scanner... look at the Fujitsu ScanSnap S510
> 
> LOVE mine.


I've been looking at new scanners that are small like that. They are pretty expensive, but you feel they are worth the investment?


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## Sarah9910

22rifle said:


> For a scanner... look at the Fujitsu ScanSnap S510
> 
> LOVE mine.


Have you tried the OCR feature of this scanner? I noticed that the HP offers the full version of OCR software whereas the Futijsi offers a partial version, but the Futijsi rates better on scan quality of the image.

I'm not even sure that any software handles OCR well yet anyway, but just curious.


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## anneken

*Filing System Advice*

Hi Canaan and everyone out there on Contractor Talk

After googling 'filing sytems for builders' I stumbled upon this thread and Canaan's advice. Which is just perfect! Thanks so much Canaan your post not only had me clearly set out my aims for my new filing system but also gave me the desire to get a great system in place.

Hope I can be of assistance to anyone out there who maybe setting up their builders/contractors office.

Cheers everyone


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