CLIP's Tips

In addition to the End of Year projects we are working on, there are a few settings in CLIP which should be reset at the start of a new year.

Built into CLIP is the ability to reset these automatically.  To learn more about these features, please check out our newly updated manual for End of Year Functions.

Manual – End of Year Functions – Revised 12/21/2009

There is also a video tutorial available here.

Application Action: Check out the manual and/or the tutorial to make sure you are setting up CLIP optimally for 2010.

Stay tuned for the rest of the End of Year Projects.

Whether you were connecting with relatives or just enjoying some downtime, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday.

Now that you have had time to digest that Thanksgiving meal, we are on to Project #2 in my recommended End or Year Projects.  This project will give you a customer by customer, job by job analysis of your revenues per hour—one of you most important metrics for profitability.

This project will set the stage for knowing how to price our contracts for next year.  This can be used for any type of job for any period of time.  The example below, however, will be for our mowing contracts in 2009.

Here’s the step by step:

1.  On the top menu in the main screen of CLIP go to Reports > Job Reports > Job Costing

2.  Select which crews you want to run the report for (in our case, we want to see all of the crews so we select 0-999).

3.  Select customer range (we want to see everyone so we select 0-9999).

4.  Choose the job numbers that you want to analyze.  Keep in mind here that you may want to analyze the profitability of one type of job or multiple jobs grouped together.

For example, you may have a maintenance contract where you do not profit much from the mowing, but you make up for it in mulching and leaf removal.  In this example you would want to include all three jobs in the report and the report would show you an average $ per man hour for all of the jobs combined.  (In our example, we will use only job 1 – Mowing).  To type a combination of jobs, separate the numbers with commas.

5.  Choose the dates you want to report.  (I want all of 2009 year to date so I choose 01/01/09 – 11/30/09.)

6.  Choose which options you want on the right hand side of the screen (Show History, Contract Jobs Only, Only jobs under or over projected time, Include Jobs on Hold, Active Customers Only).  The only boxes I want checked off are Show History and Include Jobs on Hold.

7.  Click Prepare Files.  Wait for CLIP to prepare the files.

8.  Choose Sort Options.  I recommend sorting by Dollars/Hr Including Travel Time because this is the most important piece of information about these customers.

9.  Choose Detail as your print option.

10.  Print the report or preview it on your screen.

11.  Unless you are certain that your time entries in CLIP are 100% accurate, you should go through this report customer by customer to look for any data entry errors.   Two areas that I recommend you double check are “Actual Time” and “Travel Time.”  This is where most data entry errors will be seen.  Look for anything out of the ordinary.

In the example below, most of the travel times are under 1/2 hour.  In the circled time, it is over two hours.  I need to check to see if this was a mistake or not and then correct it if necessary.  (To correct the mistake, go into customer history, click the line item, then click edit.)

12.  After you have corrected any mistakes, repeat steps 1-8.

13.  This time choose “Summary” instead of “Detail” as your print option.

14.  Instead of choosing to print the report, click “To Excel” to export as a spreadsheet.  Save the file as “2009 Job Costing Report.”

You will now have an excel spreadsheet containing all of the job costing data, sorted by Dollars/Hr. including travel time.  The benefit of having this in spreadsheet form is the ability to sort, use and manipulate the data for any purpose.

Stay tuned for the next post on how to use the Job Costing Report to analyze the profitability of your customers in order to discern whose prices to raise and by how much.

Application Action: Follow the steps above to get your report ready, then try running the report with different options to get familiar with how it works.  I cannot emphasize enough how important this report is for running a profitable business.

End of Year Projects Overview:

1.  Revise our dollar-per-hour goal to account for any changes in the upcoming year.

Part 1 & Part 2

2.  Use CLIP to create a job costing report for this year.

3.  Analyze profitability of customers.  Adjust prices as necessary.

4.  Create and send renewal contracts.

5.  Survey customers for feedback from this year.

6.  Follow up in order to maximize contract renewals.

Photo credit: shutterberrry

Last week, while you were organizing leaf cleanups or snow removal jobs, some of our customers were enjoying the warm sands of Cozumel and Belize, cave tubing, snorkling, and ATVing through the jungle while—at the same time networking with other green industry professionals and learning how to run their businesses more efficiently.

Photo credit: jarnocan

Here is what some of our customers had to say about our 2009 CLIP on a Ship Conference:

How was your experience on the cruise?

We had a blast!

– Mark – Anderson Seed and Garden, Logan UT

Good!  Would like to do it again!

– David – CLIPPINGS, Inc, Marietta, GA

Training

Although it may have been hard to break people away from the exhilarating cruise activities, CLIP users found some time to hone their skills at the on board training sessions.

So what were people excited about learning?

• CLIPxe (for those still using CLIP Desktop)
• CMS (Contact Management System) and how to use it effectively.
• Programs and Rounds – this was a big hit.
• CLIP2GO
• Projects

Networking

As always with our conferences, networking was a key component of this year’s conference.  Attendees were able to get ideas from one another, share their company woes, and exchange contact information to keep in touch.

Liz from Ben Lomond Landscape in Pleasant View, UT and Amber from The Lawn Barber in Hampton, VA both said they really liked the networking. Now, they feel comfortable with cruise contacts to call them up to bounce ideas back and forth or simply to ask some questions.

Fun

Photo: captpiper

What kind of fun did they have?  You mean besides the warm weather, white sands, crystal water, cave tubing, snorkeling, ATVing, and all you can eat buffets?  C’mon!

David Mathias of CLIP Software said his highlight was the jungle excursion with VP Glenn Zior  to a remote beach in Cozumel. His only request is that next time the ATVs have more seat padding and the roads have fewer pot holes. Ouch!

Not able to make it to the conference this year?  There’s always next year.  In the meantime, winter is a great time to sign up for a CLIP class, Online training, or an on-site.

Hope to see you at CLIP Conference 2010!

Click here for pictures.

Winter is good for two things:  Pushing snow (if you get it ) and improving your business systems and strategies.  The winter season provides a time for many companies to sit back and ask themselves, what needs improving?

Could you use help getting your business systems and strategies streamlined?  Have a CLIP consultant visit your company this winter.

If you are interested in learning more about on-sites or would like to set one up, email us by clicking here.