# Managing and knowing your opperating cost



## welovepainting (May 13, 2007)

Hey everyone I recently purchases this software that I was recommened to by a close friend... made by a painting contractor for painting contractors (yourcostcenter.com) The software in a nutshell is for* cost control*. For each employee or sub you plug in their labor rates, insurance and worker comp rates, vacation pay, holiday pay, and other stuff like gas, equiptment, tools and it culculates how much you need to charge per hour and how much you can charge. 

It has worked out great for us and can work for any service business that marks up the labor of its employees. The reason YourCostCenter.com is such a great product is because it was literally built by small business owners for small business owners. It is field tested and proven effective. If you are using labor in your business, you owe it to yourself to see how the software can help you be more profitable.


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## ProWallGuy (Apr 7, 2007)

I've seen it, and it looked pretty good. But I was under the assumption you couldn't 'buy' the software; that you had to use (log in) their website and pay a monthly subscription fee to use the software. Am I wrong?


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## Brushslingers (Apr 11, 2007)

<waves a brush around wildly>

We dun need no stinking cost control!


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## Brian (Apr 10, 2007)

I've spoken with the owner a couple of times and think he has a great tool. If you don't know your costs, there is no way you can make a profit or succeed in business. The knowledge that such a tool can provide will more than pay for the cost.

A spray rig is an investment-- iti s a tool that will help you produce income. Software, training, memberships, and a lot of other things can do the same. There are 2 ways to spend money-- as an expense or as an investment. 

Expenses are uses of money that provide only short term benefits. Investments provide ongoing and long term benefits. The more you invest in your business, the better your business (and you) will be.

A bunch of cliches come to mind, but 2 seem most appropriate:
Penny wise and pound foolish.
You've got to spend money to make money.

Brian Phillips


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## Wolverine (Apr 17, 2007)

> I've spoken with the owner a couple of times


Who is the owner?


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## KellyRose (Sep 30, 2007)

ProWallGuy said:


> I've seen it, and it looked pretty good. But I was under the assumption you couldn't 'buy' the software; that you had to use (log in) their website and pay a monthly subscription fee to use the software. Am I wrong?


I checked it out too and from what I could see, there were two different subsciption plans depending on how many employees you have.


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## Humble Abode (Apr 11, 2007)

ProWallGuy said:


> I've seen it, and it looked pretty good. But I was under the assumption you couldn't 'buy' the software; that you had to use (log in) their website and pay a monthly subscription fee to use the software. Am I wrong?


It's a yearly subscription and a web based application. I subscribe and I really like it. I have found that working through it is very eye opening. If you have Quick Books you can just import your QB data into it.

I think you can also get a discount if you are a NAPP member. Mark Havens sent an eLetter out about it a while back. I don't know if it expired or not...

I think the service is great and also cheap at around $200 per year.



Wolverine said:


> Who is the owner?


Brian Drucks. I think he is located in New Jersey.


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## Tmrrptr (May 4, 2007)

I've seen Mil-spec laptops before...Does anyone make a painter -proof laptop?
r


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

quickbooks is the way yo go you got it all, job cost, pl statement, billing, reports.


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## bikerboy (Sep 16, 2007)

It sounds like this software from Ben Moore.

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal?_nfpb=true&_windowLabel=contentrenderer_1_12&contentrenderer_1_12_actionOverride=%2Fbm%2Fcms%2FContentRenderer%2FrenderContent&contentrenderer_1_12currentNodeUUID=%2FBEA+Repository%2F48087&contentrenderer_1_12NodeUUID=%2FBEA+Repository%2F156003&_pageLabel=fc_home


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