This month in Tips & Tricks we show you how to work with the simPRO contractor module and how you can use that to work collaboratively with sub contractors.
Contractor Portal and RCTI’s
If you work with sub contractors and find it difficult to keep track of what they are doing for you with any level of decent transparency, simPRO has a solution with the contractor module.
As part of our vision to allow all simPRO users to work together collaboratively using simPRO we also see it as important to allow you to work with people that don’t use simPRO. So instead of simply dispatching a job out to their system directly through simPRO, we have developed a dash board you can use for your sub contractors jobs to allow them to login see which jobs you have assigned to them and what stage they are up to. Remember if you are working with subbies that have up to 6 staff, you can always refer them to simPRO lite for free for the first 6 months. Here subbies can use the built in job dispatch features as well as everything else simPRO Lite can do.
The first thing you need to do to start using this module is to give your contractors a username and password to log onto the system with, this is done in the contractors card under the `Profile’ tab – Admin > Contractors > View. Once you have done that, get your sub contractor to login to the contractor module by going to your simPRO system. They need to point their browser to https://your.address/contractor (your normal simPRO address but use /contractor instead of /staff).
Once the contractor has logged on they can see all the jobs you have assigned (or scheduled) to them that they have not yet been completed. From here they can tick off those jobs completed to pass through to you that they have been completed or they can switch over to the schedule tab and schedule the date & time they will be there to complete the job. This is then reflected back in your main system so you can see when the job is scheduled for, giving you greater clarity about the jobs being undertaken.
Once the job is completed and they have marked it off, they can then send you the invoice for the job which you can then attach in using the standard methods built into simPRO.
Alternatively at this stage you have the opportunity to create a Recipient Created Tax Invoice (RCTI) on the job. These are great when you have a number of sub contractors that don’t take care of their paper work very well, allowing you to take control and dictate the payment’s, invoices and terms. All the sub contractor need to do is check for any outstanding RCTIs on the RCTI Invoices tab (which will only show if there have been any RCTIs created) then approve them or decline them. You will be alerted to any action taken on these within your system under the Contractor Tab in the Projects Screen.
At this stage you also have the opportunity to add any variances to the RCTI’s, for example deduct $500 for a job that had to be rectified, deduct money for lost materials or add $200 for materials that were purchased for the job. 
Contractors can then also log into this module to pull down all invoices they have had with you and can also maintain their own calendars, staff and job register in relation to work they have done with you. If you would like they can also print off the job cards and return information to you electronically. If you wish you can also interface simPRO mobile and digital pens with your contractors to bring the information back to your system live from the field, just as you would with your own staff.
This is just another way that simPRO can streamline your operations and help you leverage more out of your busy trade service business. It will also provide a level of accountability and organisation that can sometimes be a struggle when dealing with sub contractors.
If you would like more information on the contractor module or any other benefits simPRO can deliver for you or for some further training on these or any other modules, please feel free to contact us anytime.
Tags: Contractors, RCTI, sub contractors
[...] CIS integration only available for the subcontractor roles. This feature combined with the RCTI (recipient created tax invoice) feature means that you can now get into full control of your paperwork and the paperwork of your [...]