Good financial management is crucial to the success and longevity of any business. Strategically planning how you organize your firm financially and setting short and long-term financial goals determines whether it will sink or swim in a highly competitive industry.
Often, businesses make decisions without proper financial insights to guide them. Is it still the right time to take on that new staff member you've been recruiting for the past six months? Is it time to tweak flat fees or change your pricing model to represent better the time and energy put into projects?
You can’t quite answer these questions assuredly without proper financial analytics informing them. However, with the right business management software in place, keeping your firm on a profitable trajectory is made all the more possible. So, let's take a look at five ways DesignDocs’ financial management supports your interior design firm.
1. ACCURATE TIME TRACKING & EASY PAYMENT COLLECTION
A consistent, reliable cash flow should be the number one priority for any firm, regardless of size. Therefore, it’s crucial to invest in invoicing tools that ensure easy client payment and accuracy for all time accrued.
DesignDocs strives to make accurate invoicing a breeze. Whether you choose to bill clients on a flat fee approach or for tracked time, you can rest assured the system is in your corner and working to make the whole process easy and efficient.
"Our time tracking is also more accurate; therefore billable hours have increased, and with the click of a button, invoices are generated easily, and we are able to remain up to date on all invoicing," says Nyla Free, Principal of Nyla Free Designs Inc., based in Calgary, Alberta.
Our software’s integration with Stripe makes the payment process for your clients effortless and straightforward. A clickable link within a client's invoice simplifies online payment, directly depositing funds into your bank account. There's no need to worry about pesky credit card fees impacting your bottom line either, as DesignDocs allows you to add them at the bottom of your invoice, automatically passing them onto your clients.
2. SALES & PROFIT REPORTS
Your sales and profit report serves as a powerhouse of insightful information that helps you better manage your design firm's finances. However, suppose you're using different systems to manage your firm's projects and accounting (for example, Excel and Quickbooks). In that case, you'll miss out on gaining an in-depth understanding of profitability project by project, or even by product category, vendor, or area.
DesignDocs acts as both your project management and accounting software all in one. Within each project, you can generate a sales and profit report with the click of a few buttons. The report reflects various data points such as cost price, selling price, margin, and budget variances. This information gives you a deeper understanding of where you're making money, and more importantly, where you're not - putting the power in your hands to adjust a mark-up here or add a little more margin there.
Before sending any client proposal, a quick check of this report will ensure your interior design firm runs as profitably and fairly as possible.
3. BUDGET REPORTS
One of the most important things to consider when working on a client's project is their budget. While you always aim to stay within their ballpark figure, sometimes it's just not possible. However, keeping them up to date with where things stand as the project progresses will help guarantee that this variance does not damage your long-term working relationship.
DesignDocs' built-in budget reports make it easy for you to see how the project is tracking in relation to these predefined numbers at any point. You'll be able to keep your client updated so they know they can continually rely on your transparency and trust.
Plus, seeing the time your team spends on a specific project versus what was budgeted allows you to manage your team effectively and efficiently to avoid overworking or burnout.
4. GROSS MARGIN REPORTS
How many designers out there can confidently say they know where their firm makes the most money? Or similarly, what area of their business has the most significant effect on their bottom line? Gross margin reports provide this information, and analyzing them is crucial when adjusting your firm’s costs or setting financial goals.
DesignDocs’ gross margin reports give you this insight by providing clear and accurate information whenever you need it. Group gross margins by project, client, vendor, item category, or element category and discover necessary adjustments to improve your firm's financial health.
5. CUSTOMER SUPPORT FROM FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT EXPERTS
When trusting in a system to manage your design firm’s finances and project management, you want to know that it's been tried, tested, and can handle the heat.
The beauty of DesignDocs is that its inception many years ago comes from a need in the industry for software that tackled the complex workflows of modern interior design firms. By providing intelligent financial insight, DesignDocs works to give firms greater control over their day-to-day operations while supporting their future goals and opportunities for growth.
As you navigate our software, remember that you're not alone. We value providing support to our clients and their financial management, and our team has helped numerous companies increase their profitability and gain insight into their firm's overall effectiveness. So, whether it's a monthly training session or a one-on-one call, you can rest assured that customer support is a primary component of DesignDocs' business management software.
