Modernizing Operations with Sage Intacct Construction

How we helped a 100-year-old commercial construction company modernize its accounting and payroll systems, providing more visibility into operations and helping leadership continue the organization’s legacy.

Client

Potts & Callahan, Inc., is a family-run commercial construction company based in Baltimore, Maryland. Specializing in bulk excavation, grading, paving, site utility, demolition, materials, and truck/equipment rental services, Potts & Callahan has been serving the greater Baltimore area for over a century. Their mission is to provide their clients with excellent service while emphasizing quality workmanship and a deep commitment to their community.

Challenge

When Travis Holub’s father, the former owner of Potts and Callahan, passed away, Travis inherited the company, along with a DOS-based accounting system created in 1982 that offered limited visibility and delayed reporting. The system couldn’t produce any type of exported reports, including PDFs. This meant the team could only access information directly on the screen or a paper printout. Staff had to conduct complete audits while physically present in the office, which made them costly and took months to complete.

As a fourth-generation owner, Travis was determined to revitalize his family’s century-old company, and he knew that meant updated accounting software and processes were essential. He initially investigated Microsoft Dynamics; however, upon inquiring about this solution, he discovered that his current accounting firm couldn’t assist with the implementation process.

On the recommendation of his attorney, Travis engaged EisnerAmper for tax consulting and business advisory services to aid his company’s ownership transition. At the recommendation of his EisnerAmper advisor and his own research into our other services, Travis engaged our EisnerAmper Sage Intacct team to update Potts & Callahan’s accounting systems.

"There was no way to pull the old data out of the system because it was that outdated, and [EisnerAmper] basically had to rearrange how they built the system for us; it was that bad. I know it wasn't the most orthodox way of doing it, but everybody in EisnerAmper has helped to get us to this point. It's been fantastic."

Travis Holub

President, Potts & Callahan

Approach

Once our Sage Intacct team began conversations with Potts & Callahan, we took time to understand the company’s goals and requirements for the forward-thinking journey they were embarking on. Our Sage Intacct team met with Potts & Callahan several times to review their needs, provide a tailored demo, and help them evaluate if Sage Intacct was the right fit for their organization. This thorough sales process confirmed that the leadership at Potts & Callahan understood the product capabilities, our service options for the implementation, and the ongoing partnership they would receive with EisnerAmper.

Following Potts & Callahan’s decision to pursue Sage Intacct, our team quickly began the implementation process by conducting even more thorough business process review meetings, where we had in-depth conversations to review goals, current pain points, and the main workflows Potts & Callahan would like to have in a new system. Based on their needs, our team determined that Sage Intacct Construction and Sage Intacct Payroll, powered by ADP, would be an ideal solution to create a fully integrated system and achieve Pott’s & Callahan’s long-term goals.

Sage Intacct Construction and Payroll Implementation and Integration

After gaining a comprehensive understanding of the breadth and depth of Potts & Callahan’s accounting needs, our Sage Intacct team began configuring Sage Intacct to meet the agreed-upon requirements. During this phase, the EisnerAmper Sage Intacct implementation team worked closely with the client to extract and organize their existing financial data.

In Potts & Callahan’s case, this process proved to be more complex than expected due to challenges with accessing and structuring the data from their legacy system. This added an extra layer to the implementation timeline; however, through ongoing communication, our team worked closely with the client to remain engaged and develop updated project schedules that aligned with the new timelines and the previous systems’ restraints.

Training and Testing

With the guidance of our Sage Intacct implementation team, the Potts & Callahan accounting team successfully tested their daily tasks and workflows within an implementation environment prior to their established go-live date. This allowed the team to enhance their knowledge beyond the learning courses and receive guidance and suggestions from our professionals on how users can align the new processes within the system with their daily workflows.

Our team also spent time with the operations department to make sure they understood how to create new projects, construction contracts, estimates, and other daily required tasks. An additional area of focus during the training phase was the integrated fixed assets solution. The fixed asset solution would enable Potts & Callahan’s controller to have more control over the depreciation recording process.

Lastly, even though the integrated payroll solution was implemented by ADP, our EisnerAmper Sage Intacct team remained closely connected to the payroll implementation, verifying that the project as a whole was progressing as expected and that all parties were meeting outlined requirements. Throughout this training and testing phase, our team collaborated with their leaders to educate all impacted employees, making sure they were comfortable and confident in their new system.

“Sage [Intacct] is intuitive; it's been pretty easy for people to learn, which has made the change easier to handle […] We couldn't have gotten to where we are without the guidance from [the Sage Intacct] team.”

Jennifer Tobin

Controller, Potts & Callahan

Results

Enhanced Visibility — Anytime, Anywhere

With their payroll, fixed assets, and accounting systems now fully integrated, Potts & Callahan leaders have a robust integrated tech stack, streamlining processes and enhancing their visibility into the business. Rather than relying solely on paper-based accounting processes and reporting, the Potts & Callahan team can access their cloud-based platform at any time, from anywhere. This allows colleagues to work off-site and from home with ease. The team has real-time visibility into all transactions within the systems in one place. With the integration of payroll, fixed assets, operations, and accounting, Potts and Callahan have created an enhanced process for managing accounts payable, accounts receivable, job costs, work-in-progress reporting, and financial reports.

Streamlining Processes to Save Time and Money

Time savings are already evident in multiple areas of the business. Before working with our Sage Intacct team, Potts & Callahan leaders were hand-delivering weekly paychecks to employees at job sites, a timely and costly endeavor. With Sage Intacct Payroll, powered by ADP, the payroll process has moved to direct deposit, saving leadership time and money.

Since our partnership, Potts & Callahan has gained tremendous time and resources with the ability to view financial reports and dashboards at any time and print or email them directly from within Sage Intacct. Prior to this implementation, they were waiting weeks for paper reports to be manually prepared, resulting in a significant delay in business operations and visibility of their financial standing. Lastly, but not least, auditors will now have view-only access to the accounting system and its attached backup, greatly decreasing the fees and time required for the audit.

One Partnership, Multiple Solutions

Potts & Callahan leaders have now shifted their business forward and are positioning themselves for accelerated growth to take on the next 100 years of operations. Our Sage Intacct team continues to work closely with Potts & Callahan leadership as we support and optimize their system to evolve with their needs. Our Sage Intacct team builds long-lasting partnerships with our clients and looks forward to the years to come with Potts & Callahan’s continued advancements.

From tax and accounting to business restructuring, Travis and the team rely on our EisnerAmper advisors for a full range of services tailored to Potts & Callahan’s unique needs, allowing Travis and his leadership to focus on what matters: continuing the legacy of his family’s business.

“We are at the very beginning of getting the system up and running, and I already see so much more information than I ever had access to before. I think it brought a lot more communication in the office; the office is more of a team now.”

Travis Holub

President, Potts & Callahan

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