The pandemic made things difficult for many companies. But for Bulldog Contractors of Jefferson, Texas, it also spurred a beneficial change in business operations: the adoption of digital invoicing.
“We went digital during COVID,” says Jeff Keller, general manager. “It seemed like everyone was scared of even touching a piece of paper.”
The solution? Invoice2go, an app-based service that makes it easy for contractors to create professional-looking estimates and invoices; enables fast and efficient online payments via credit cards, debit cards, bank-account transfers or PayPal; stores customer work histories; and tracks the status of invoices.
A subscription-based service, Invoice2go also integrates with QuickBooks accounting software from Intuit.
“I didn’t really want to go digital, but what a difference it makes,” Keller says. “It eliminates so many hassles.”
Kellers says he uses the app to quickly create invoices on job sites, then send them to customers via text or email, along with a link they can download and use to pay with a credit card via their cellphones. That capability meshes well with the company’s policy of requiring payment upon job completion, he notes.
Moreover, the system is easy to use, he says.
“I didn’t want anything complicated and this fits the bill,” Keller says.
Gone are the days when technicians used credit card readers that had to be connected to cellphones, then required swiping customers’ credit cards and emailing them receipts.
“We don’t have to do any of that anymore,” he says. “It saves maybe five minutes on every job, but that adds up to a lot of hours during the course of a year.”
Invoice2go also helps the company create a nearly paperless system that improves efficiency.
“I don’t have to keep up with all kinds of paperwork and I don’t have to call the office anymore for customer information because it’s all stored in the app,” Keller says. “We have a separate folder for each customer, so their work histories are easy to find. Everything I need is right there in my hand.
“It’s insane how much time it saves. If I would’ve known years ago what I know now, I would’ve done it much sooner. I guess sometimes we just don’t like change.”
Read more about Bulldog Contractors in the December 2023 issue of Cleaner magazine.
