Are These Admin Mistakes Cutting Into Your Profits?
Admin work might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of building homes—but behind every profitable project is a well-organized back office. When admin tasks are rushed, skipped, or mismanaged, the financial fallout can be massive.These are some of the most common mistakes I see behind the scenes—and how they quietly chip away at your time, your margins, and your sanity.
1. Missed Bills That Aren’t Entered in QuickBooks Online
If a bill never makes it into your books, it’s like it never happened—until the vendor calls asking where their payment is. Unentered bills throw off your financials, understate your costs, and create serious cash flow surprises.Real cost: You think you’re in the clear financially, but you’ve got thousands in unpaid expenses lurking off the books. If you’re running cost-plus jobs? You likely didn’t draw for that cost either—which means you’re eating the expense instead of passing it through to the client.
2. Missing Bill Payments
Even when a bill is properly entered, that doesn’t guarantee it gets paid. Without a clear system to track due dates and approvals, bills can fall through the cracks—leading to late fees, strained vendor relationships, or even work stoppages.Real cost: Late payments can lead to penalties, hold up your project schedule, and damage trust with trades and suppliers.
3. Costing to the Wrong Project
One wrong click or unclear labeling, and suddenly your HVAC invoice for Project A ends up under Project B. When it's time to look at profitability or pull reports for draws, your numbers won’t be accurate—and the consequences can be bigger than you think.Real cost: You might think one job is more profitable than it really is—or worse, underprice future work based on inaccurate data. On cost-plus jobs? You could end up over-billing one client and under-billing another, which creates serious trust issues and cash flow headaches.
4. Duplicate Bill Entry
This happens more often than you’d think. A bill gets entered when it’s emailed, then again when it’s scanned or resent. If no one’s paying attention, you either overpay the vendor or record higher costs than you actually incurred.Real cost: You lose money through duplicate payments—or confuse your financials by overstating your project expenses.
5. Coding to the Wrong Cost Code
Sometimes a bill gets assigned to the wrong phase of the project or a cost category that sounds close but isn’t quite right. It might not seem like a big deal—but over time, this creates confusion about where your money is actually going.Real cost: Your reports don’t reflect reality, which makes it harder to see what each job (or phase) truly costs—and even harder to plan better next time. If you're running cost-plus jobs? You might think you're under budget in one area and decide to shift extra funds somewhere else—only to blow the budget later when you find the costs sitting in another line and finally correct your actuals.
What to Do About It
These administrative mistakes might seem minor, but they can accumulate and significantly impact your business. The good news is that you can address them effectively with the right guidance.If these challenges resonate with you, consider enrolling your administrative team in our upcoming course:Turquant Homebuilder Playbook: Admin to Ops Coordinator This program is tailored to help your administrative staff evolve into proficient operations coordinators, equipped to manage and prevent costly administrative errors.