The estimate shows substantial gross margin built into the price of the job. The balance sheet shows something else.
Crews tear into a soffit and discover wiring that needs to be moved, but no one bills for it.
But not so good at following up on unexpected situations that generate additional man hours. To remedy the problem, he says, the company's made it a point to identify those situations where extra work, and extra hours, eat into profit. And to bill accordingly. For Kelvin Pierce, co-owner of Commonwealth Home Remodelers in Vienna, Va., extra hours resulting from client demands or interference are the biggest source of slippage. He cites a recent job in which a client bombarded him with product information faxes and e-mails before anything even got underway and then proceeded to poke into every aspect of the job.