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Building Success Story

Our "Building Success Stories" profile how FOUNDATION for Windows construction accounting software has helped contractors to improve their accounting, job costing and overall financial management.

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Customer

Steel Erection Contractor Accounting Software

Corporate Profile

Headquarters
Toledo, Ohio

Type of Business
Steel/Concrete Erectors

Number of Employees
85

Annual Revenue
10 Million

System Profile

Foundation Software
Modules In Operation

Job Costing
Payroll
General Ledger
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
DataGenie Designers
Equipment
Time & Material

The Benefits

Competitive price compared to other construction-specific systems.

Time and Material Module saves time, improves accuracy for tracking outsourced labor.

DataGenie allows for customizable reports unique to our industry.

Training far exceeded expectations; support staff is top quality.

Large, union, Henry Gurtzweiler uses FOUNDATION to raise the bar

Erecting the structural steel for Westfield Shopping Town at Toledo's Franklin Park

The Henry Gurtzweiler, Inc. name has been associated with steel setting and ironwork in the Toledo, Ohio area since 1929. In a year that ushered in the Great Depression, Henry Gurtzweiler started a company that soon grew on his reputation for fair and honest work. In the 1950s, Henry's stepson, Robert Myers, took over day-to-day operations. The company has been Myers-owned since Henry's death, yet the recognizable Gurtzweiler name has remained. Robert's son, William Myers, is President today and grandson, Greg Myers, is Vice President.

Among the many outstanding firms in steel/concrete erection and related specialties, Henry Gurtzweiler Inc. stands out as uniquely qualified. With an impressive list of cranes and boom trucks in its fleet, along with expertise in steel, pre-cast concrete construction, and a crew of nearly 80 union ironworkers, Gurtzweiler is the company people call when no one else can do the job. The Gurtzweiler "stamp" can be found on major buildings and projects in the Toledo area as well as throughout northwestern Ohio, northeastern Indiana and southeastern Michigan.

Some of Gurtzweiler's most notable projects include The Toledo Convention Center, the Toledo Museum of Art, and Toledo's Portside Festival Marketplace. The company was also the contractor chosen to lay the steelwork for the Toledo Mud Hens new downtown stadium, which opened in 2002 and was since voted the best ball park in the Minor Leagues by Newsweek magazine.

Throughout the company's impressive history, adaptability has played a major role. They've learned to improve on strengths and make changes when needed. For more than 12 years, for example, a customized accounting system was used to track job costs and manage company financials. But by 1997 it had outlived its usefulness and was supported and maintained by just one person. In addition, cumbersome system backups could be completed just once weekly. The company felt vulnerable with their financials and decided it was time to make a change.

The Challenge

When it came time to consider new software, Bookkeeper Carol Allen said the criteria quickly narrowed to construction-specific accounting packages that could offer flexibility while improving efficiency. As a large, union employer in a three-state area, Gurtzweiler was also looking for a system that was capable of "taking the headache out of certified payroll and union reporting."

After considering several packages, Foundation Software's DOS program was chosen. "We were very impressed with the support and training Foundation offered," Allen said. "The price was also very competitive with other construction software packages."

Four years later, Gurtzweiler was ready to make a switch again - this time to FOUNDATION for Windows. Although hesitant at first to learn a new program, Allen was quickly convinced that the upgraded FOUNDATION software was not only similar in function but contained many added bonuses. Fellow bookkeeper Karan Roudebush welcomed the new user-friendly Windows environment and Controller Bob Thomason was looking forward to the powerful reporting capabilities of the Microsoft SQL Server database.

The financial staff at Gurtzweiler was most impressed with the level and depth of training they received during three days of on-site training. "The quality of training we received in FOUNDATION far exceeded our expectations," Thomason said. "The training/technical support staff worked around our schedules and responded to our questions and needs throughout the entire process of conversion."

The Solution

Not long after the conversion to FOUNDATION, Thomason and his staff realized the timesaving benefits of a Windows system that offers easier navigation. More importantly, they began to utilize the DataGenie report designers to create home-and-away union reporting, over/under billing reports, and their own customized job costing reports and profit-and-loss statements.

"We use the DataGenie a great deal and we've written several reports that are unique to our business," Thomason said. "In addition, it has been extremely easy to create a Genie report upon request."

Another useful accounting tool, Thomason said, is FOUNDATION's Time and Material Module. Having recently opened a subsidiary company to handle their growing rebar (reinforced steel) business, Gurtzweiler was experiencing a huge increase in outsourced labor. Over a one-year period, the company's time and material billings went from 400 to 7,000 hours.

"With that kind of volume," Thomason said, "we needed to have an automated procedure in place." With the Time and Material Module, the company has not only saved lots of time tracking labor-hours to specific jobs, but it now has an error-proof procedure for calculating markups and generating custom invoices, he said.

For companies looking to improve their own accounting procedures, Thomason offers several suggestions. "Make sure you choose software that fits the specific needs of your business and is flexible enough to handle changes and challenges," he said. "Get first-hand recommendations from customers using the software under consideration, and make sure the company offers extensive training and updates."

Want to see how Foundation construction accounting software can work for you? See a demo now!

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Building Success Story Our "Building Success Stories" profile how FOUNDATION for Windows construction accounting software has helped contractors to improve their accounting, job costing and overall financial management.