Growth & Development

Here at COBRA, we’ve spent a great deal of time and energy to understand one thing: It takes specialized software for the Electrical Contractor to instantly, accurately and effortlessly processes T&M jobs.

The Mobile Field Sheet – Old School Comfort designed for the Digital Age.

Field techs are used to filling out Paper Forms to record their labor hours, materials, job notes, etc.  Filling out a Mobile Field Sheet is quite similar in nature.  In fact, field technicians in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s are using Mobile Field Sheets daily at job sites throughout the U.S.  Of course, their productivity is off the charts…..here’s why:

• Mobile Field Sheets don’t get lost. Unlike paper forms, Mobile Field Sheets are tracked internally at the office, monitoring the date the MFS was sent to the technician and the date the technician sent it back to the office.
• Auto Notification. Each Technician can be notified when they are late sending in their mobile field sheet(s).
• Saves time. Technicians spend 20 – 30 % less time filling out job information on a Mobile Field Sheet vs. a paper form.
• Includes Service History.  Taking care of your customer includes having the ability to share past job information with them.  Technicians are more productive too, making less phone calls and trips to the office.
• Eliminates handwriting. Techs use ‘voice to text’ to record their job notes. With the custom material Pricebook the technician only enters the Qty used - fast and easy! The Office People no longer struggle trying to read the technicians handwriting.

“The Mobile Field Sheet has made it much easier for our men on the job to record their job notes, materials used and hours.  They don’t have to look for a pen, paper or an inventory book to look up parts anymore.  Everything they need is on the Mobile Field Sheet.  Most times, their helper can either fill out the work ticket as they’re readying to leave the job.  Or, when the tech is solitary, he can use the microphone feature to input his work ticket. 

Along with the picture option, it makes it easier for those of us in the office to order required parts and save important pictures as all of the information comes into ‘Job Center’.  We no longer have to search through emails and save it to an email folder. 

We’re also able to send the bills out much faster than before; a large percentage of them every day.  And, from a billing perspective, it’s nice not having to be a hieroglyphics expert, trying to decipher each technician’s handwriting”.   Penny -Harold McMahon, Inc. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MOBILE FIELD SHEET VIDEO 

In the Office – Less stress 

Can you afford to wait days or even weeks to process your T&M jobs and billings?  Few can.

People want their work-life to be better both in the field and in the office.  Syncing the Field and Office together is beautiful:

• Billings go out faster, cash flow improves
• Processes are simplified, office people are less-stressed

For example, people in the office no longer have to spend time manually costing and pricing materials and labor.  The costing and pricing for each job is calculated when the technician sends the mobile field sheet back to the office.

And here’s best part……the technicians don’t do any costing or pricing either, it’s all done automatically!  So, when they send in the Mobile Field Sheet the job is finished.  The office people simply do the ‘higher value work’ - review and edit any job items prior to billing.

Profit Preview – Catching mistakes before you bill the customer    

How many times have you questioned whether or not the customer invoice you are about to send is accurate?

If you’ve ever asked yourself, are we charging too much, too little, did we forget anything… then you need ‘Profit Preview’.

Profit Preview provides both a detail and summary look at the Job.  All material, labor and direct costs, charges, markups, margins and profits are shown before you print the customer invoice. Simply click the Profit Preview button.

The on-screen Profit Preview itemizes and summarizes the job data:

• Use the itemized list to spot typical mistakes such as wrong quantities, missing items, incorrect markups and the dollars & margins you’re making on each item.
• Use the summarize list to quickly check your overall costs & margins for each of the categories – materials, labor, & direct.

“We really like how COBRA Mobile syncs the field and office together.  It’s all but eliminated the time we use to spend manually keyboarding the job data.  Our technicians take pride in having the latest technology available to them, and this has become an employment recruitment tools for us.  We’re getting a 9 to 1 return on our COBRA Mobile investment”. Shari Kronschnabel, Controller, Stiegler Company, WI      

The Time & Material Bill – Have it your way

• No more typing T&M Bills
• 500 Formats
• Billing more than once on the same T&M Job

Tired of typing T&M bills?  Many contractors spend hours typing their T&M Bills.  And while a T&M bill that lists all materials, labor and direct charges can preserve customer loyalty, it should only take minutes instead of hours to create.

Flexible T&M Formats.  Everyone wants to please their customers. Creating the perfect T&M Bill tells your customer how much you care about them. With over 500 different Format Codes to choose from, it’s easy to create T&M billings that meet the unique needs of the customers you serve:

Billing more than once on the same T&M Job.  For longer T&M jobs it’s advisable to bill customers periodically. Doing so helps improve your cash flow.

You can bill as often as you like during a T&M job.  COBRA knows what you’ve billed previously and limits the next T&M bill to include only items that haven’t been billed to date.  This guarantees each T&M Bill is accurate. In addition, COBRA keeps a running tab on all costs, charges and billed amounts throughout the entire life of the T&M job – from inception to end.  You'll have peace of mind knowing your costs, charges and profits are available for review at anytime.

Request a Cobra Software demo today.