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COMPUTEREASE CONSTRUCTION ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE REVIEW

When Empire Roofing found that Peachtree couldn't give it the detailed information it needed, the company migrated to ComputerEase. They purchased the software from Nextsystems in Austin, Texas, and spent about $20,000.

Controller and IT manager Jay Wallis reviewed a number of products, and, while they all had some good features, "most seemed very complex, or at least that's how the presentations made them seem. I didn't feel that we would have to completely revise our processes to get the benefits from ComputerEase construction software. In the end, the ease of learning this software and the people I dealt with sold me, as well as the competitive price for this type of product."

"We use it for everything -- job costing, PO's, payables, receivables, etc. It handles it all quickly and we had no problems with it technically or otherwise. It produces accurate information and reports. Our jobs are not usually complex and therefore we don't use some of the functionality that is available."

Over the past five years, the software has enabled Empire Roofing to greatly reduce errors and process orders with greater speed, while also expanding beyond their expectations. "The best that I can say is that we struggled to do $14m in 2002 and thought we might have hit the wall. This year we will do approximately $24m and are continuing to grow."

Wallis would like to see the ability to export to Excel, and import more easily. Occasionally, it can be difficult to find a report or specific function, as the program isn't always as intuitive as he had hoped. "In retrospect, we probably should have set up some things differently and planned to use some functions that we currently do not, but hindsight is 20-20. We could get more detail on job cost, for example, but are the additional steps worth it?"

Users need only average computer experience to effectively use ComputerEase, after receiving the initial training. Getting comfortable with the new system took about two weeks, during which time Wallis admits that things were "tense," but since everything got up and running there have been no major problems and Nextsystems' support has been very good. "Their staff is friendly and helpful, and best of all they don't make us feel stupid when we ask something painfully obvious."

Wallis would recommend ComputerEase to contractors of all sizes, and feels that it does as good of a job as the more expensive programs. He is currently reviewing v6.0 to see if upgrading will be worth the "hassle/benefit" ratio. Overall, Wallis rated ComputerEase 5.0 an 8 out of 10.

What kinds of construction projects do you mostly work on?
 
How long have you been using this tool?
 
Where did you obtain it?
 
How much did you pay?
 
How are you using this product?
 
Why did you pick this product?
 
Did you look at other tools on the market before picking this one? What was it you didn't like about them (or made    this product better)?
 
Comparing the way you work now with the way you worked before you bought this tool, what has changed?
 
Can you give us an example of a job where this tool really made a difference?
 
Can you estimate how much time or money you saved or other measurable benefits your firm realized using this    tool?
 
What are the best features (for your business) in this tool?
 
Do you think it's a fair value for the price you paid?
 
What would you change about the product if you could?
 
Are there features that you don't use? Why not?
 
Who would you recommend use this tool?
 
How much computer experience do you think someone needs to use this tool effectively?
 
Did it take much training (or studying) to learn to use this tool?
 
Have you ever called the company's support lines and asked for help? What was your experience like?
 
How would you rate the user documentation? Is it helpful?
 
When the next version of this software comes out, will you upgrade to it?
 
Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this tool?

What kinds of construction projects do you mostly work on?
Re-roofing is the bulk of our work. We work all across the country on every type of building and with many different roofing systems.

How long have you been using this tool?
We have been on ComputerEase since late 2002. We migrated from Peachtree accounting software, which just did not give us the informational detail we wanted.

We purchased through Nextsystems in Austin. The company is easy to work with and has some great people on staff.

If I remember correctly it was around $20,000.

How are you using this product?
We use it for everything -- job costing, PO's, payables, receivables, etc. It handles it all quickly and we had no problems with it technically or otherwise. It produces accurate information and reports. Our jobs are not usually complex and, therefore, we really do not use some functionality that is available.

Why did you pick this product?
I reviewed a number of products, many very good, but in the end the ease of learning this construction software and the people I dealt with sold me, as well as a competitive price for this type of product.

I looked at several in depth. Most seemed very complex, or at least that's how the presentations made it seem. I think that Nextsystems took the time to find out what we do and how and help us feel comfortable with using, or not using, all the features. I didn't feel that we would have to completely revise our processes to get the benefits from ComputerEase.

We have been able to eliminate some of the steps we had developed to follow orders and verify job costs. We now can process a lot more orders with less effort, for instance during a heavy weather event. We can rely more on the system to provide information and we print much less paper than we used to.

Accuracy is what really has helped us. We used to spend a lot of time verifying that all the costs were attributed to the correct jobs and tracking material orders and delivery dates.

The best that I can say is that we struggled to do $14 million in 2002 and thought we might have hit the wall. This year we will do approximately $24 million and are continuing to grow.

Job costing and accurate reporting.

I could have spent a lot more but I am not sure we would have used it differently or gotten any benefits that we do not have now. For the way we do things ComputerEase is cost effective.

I would like the ability to export to Microsoft Excel and import easier. Sometimes finding a report or function is not as intuitive or as obvious as I would like.

I think almost all software has features we could use but do not. In retrospect we probably should have set up some things differently and planned to use some functions that we do not but hindsight is 20-20. We could get more detail on job cost, for example, but are the additional steps worth it?

ComputerEase works well for us (and we try to keep it simple) but has the same capabilities of much more expensive software. This works well for a small operation or a giant general contractor.

Most of my users are probably average in computer skills, but anyone can learn this. Due to some situations beyond our control, we only received two hours of initial instruction at the conversion/go live date but managed to pick it up and go with it. This can work for anyone of any skill level.

Did it take much training (or studying) to learn to use this tool?
Nextsystems personnel met with various staffers for a couple of weeks before implementation to train and plan. For the first two weeks it was tense but after that we were off and running and have been going ever since.

Yes, but not as often as you might expect. We have never had a technical issue like lost data or system crash. The company staff is friendly and helpful and, best of all, doesn't make us feel stupid when we ask something painfully obvious.

Documentation? Basically we adapted the system to how we wanted to do things and wrote our own. We did not want to have to conform our business to the software but the software to how we do business.

When the next version of this software comes out, will you upgrade to it?
Probably, right now I am reviewing the changes and potential benefits. I may wait for a subsequent version if the "hassle/benefit" ratio is not favorable.

Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this tool?
8