Electrical contracting company increases operational accuracy 175% with Intuit Enterprise Suite
Results at a glance
- 50% time reduction in Accounts Payable by automating PO-to-invoice workflow.
- 133% projected revenue growth from $9M to $21M within two fiscal years.
- 175% increase in operational accuracy with project setup accuracy improving from 40% to 110% (tracking projected vs. actual costs).
CalData Communications
As a Northern California C7 low-voltage contractor (a specialized license to install, service, and maintain electrical systems that are energy-limited), CalData Communications was transitioning from a “mom-and-pop” operation founded on QuickBooks Online into a true mid-market leader. With revenue jumping from $9 million to a projected $21 million, the leadership team faced a critical choice: migrate to a rigid, high-cost traditional ERP or find a solution that could scale with their existing workflows. For Douglas Brown, Head of Accounting and Operations, the seamless transition and affordable price tag of Intuit Enterprise Suite made the move a simple choice.
Lack of true cost visibility
CalData’s biggest threat to growth wasn’t a lack of contracts. It was the “bare minimum” reporting and manual workarounds required by their previous systems. Brown, a seasoned leader with experience in Fortune 500 companies, found himself spending two hours every week manually reformatting Work in Progress (WIP) reports in Excel to meet bonding and bank requirements.
The company was managing over 1,000 open projects, yet they struggled to see their true cost in real time. Labor hours were being entered into payroll, but they weren't automatically flowing into project costs. “I don't get paid unless I have a true cost,” Brown noted, explaining that for CalData’s $1M+ projects, he was manually entering hourly rates based on 50 different union pay scales. High-value managers across the team were performing low-value data entry, and the business was “bleeding money” on inefficiencies that should have been automated.
We are now light years ahead of where we were a year ago. You would have no idea it’s the same company. Intuit Enterprise Suite is allowing us to enter projects correctly and know our true costs before the first cable is even pulled.
Douglas Brown, Head of Accounting and Operations
Building a construction-first ERP
CalData chose Intuit Enterprise Suite because it offered the “best of both worlds,” with the ease of auto-linked bank accounts and credit cards combined with deep construction-specific functionality. Unlike traditional systems like Sage or Foundation, which Brown felt required too complex a migration and an “unjustifiable” jump in cost, Intuit Enterprise Suite provided a “flip-of-a-switch” transition that integrated CalData’s entire QuickBooks tech stack. Key features CalData leveraged include:
- AIA-style progress billing & change orders: Intuit Enterprise Suite allowed CalData to move away from inefficient Time and Materials invoicing (T&M). Brown utilized the Project Estimate feature to bill progressively using AIA-style progress billing, ensuring change orders were linked directly to the original contract.
- Construction-specific reports: By transitioning to Intuit Enterprise Suite, CalData could finally pull project detail reports that reflected committed cost via Purchase Orders rather than just actual spend.
- Dimensions & payroll integration: To solve the “union pay scale nightmare,” Brown is leveraging Dimensions to track labor costs granularly across different jurisdictions (e.g., Sacramento vs. Oakland), ensuring that “whatever payroll is put on that project transfers over to the cost rate,” without manual recalculation.
Reactive reporting to proactive forecasting
Since implementing Intuit Enterprise Suite, CalData has transformed its financial visibility. The company now manages up to $3 million in monthly billing with a streamlined process that was previously an uphill battle.
By utilizing the PO-to-AP workflow, the team has cut 50% of their time on the back end. This efficiency has allowed Brown and his team to focus on data analysis they completely lacked bandwidth for prior. “The system is finally making people think and ask questions,” Brown states. If a WIP report shows a project incorrectly at 240% completion, he can now drill down into the Project Detail Report to identify if technicians clocked into the wrong job or if a change order is missing.
Project setup accuracy surged from a 40% reactive state to 110% predictive visibility by moving beyond just tracking actuals, to capturing committed costs (money that hasn’t been spent yet, but is locked in via POs and subcontracts). CalData now has the data needed to forecast performance accurately. This rigor was proven during a recent audit, where Brown successfully matched labor and cost allocations across 8 specific projects to the audited financials, a feat that would have been impossible under the old setup.
In our industry, ease of use is everything. Intuit Enterprise Suite gives us the ability to see things in real-time and make decisions quicker. That is the difference between a project that is profitable and one that goes under.
Douglas Brown, Head of Accounting and Operations
$40 million and beyond
With Intuit Enterprise Suite, CalData is prepared for its largest undertaking yet: a $40 million phased contract that will span five years. The company plans to leverage AI-driven Project Manager Agents and enhanced project planning capabilities within Intuit Enterprise Suite to manage this massive scope.
As CalData expands into Southern California and Nevada, the ability to maintain consistency and accuracy across state lines is the primary goal. “We are now officially a mid-market-sized contracting company,” Brown concluded. “Intuit Enterprise Suite isn’t just a tool for today; it’s the buffer we need to bid on larger projects and grow our revenue with confidence.”