Now Is The Time To Invest In Professional Roofing Software

By Ray Smith, Managing Director, AppliCad USA

We get asked, "What's the right time to invest in professional roofing software?" It's a good question. Many roofing contractors are wondering whether it’s worth investing in software, and when indeed is the right time to invest in a professional roofing software like 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 realize is the substantial positive cash-flow effect that can be reached in under one year’s time when using a program like Roof Wizard.

Speaking only for our product, here's how you know it's the right time to invest in professional roofing software:

Roof Wizard delivers positive ROI after only 8 months

Our first question back to a prospective client is, “How many estimates per week do you do?” We ask that because we know from experience and our calculations that the Roof Wizard starts to deliver a positive Return On Investment (ROI) after around 8 months after purchase, based on a business that creates, on average, two 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 2018. 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 the Roof Wizard 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 contributing $28,800 per year to the ROI.

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 Roof Wizard Software

Positive Return On Investment with Roof Wizard typically begins after 8 months.

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 backward before you go forward but as you go forward the rewards increase. Typical estimating departments are capable of completing anywhere from five to 25 bids a day. The results stated here are VERY conservative.

Beyond the license cost – What 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 customization (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, the cost benefits of using the system will eventually show it to have been money well spent.

Roof Wizard can do in 30 minutes what it typically takes three hours to accomplish.

Crunch your own numbers

Use AppliCad’s unique Online ROI Calculator to see what YOU could achieve.

About AppliCad

AppliCad USA Inc. is a specialty CAD applications software development company focused on the needs of the roofing, cladding and solar industries. To learn more,visit  www.applicad-usa.com.