Avoiding common financial mistakes

By Emma Peterson.

Get actionable advice and tips to avoid financial pitfalls in the contracting world.

In a recent episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Karen Edwards sat down with Kerry Cloyd to talk about the financial side of the roofing industry. Kerry is the vice president of Customer Financial Services (CFS) at ABC Supply and has been with the company for over 22 years. In that time, she noticed that one of the biggest challenges for contractors is the financial element of running a business. She explained, “A lot of our contractors do great work, but thriving as a contractor goes beyond doing great work. And effective financial management is the key to their business growth.”

Lack of effective financial management can lead to a variety of problems for roofing contractors. That’s why ABC is aiming to be more than just a supplier, they want to be a partner to help contractors avoid possible pitfalls. One example of these common pitfalls is lack of transparent communication and record-keeping. Kerry elaborated, “The biggest thing is getting your relationships all squared away with both your suppliers and your lending institution. You need to be transparent with your supplier about what's going on in your business so everyone has a good understanding of your cashflow. In line with that, you need to have an accounting system in place.”  

At its core, more transparency, both internally and with suppliers and lenders, means that you have more people on your team helping you manage things like your cash flow to avoid challenges before they become crisis points. But it can be a little overwhelming to step into this world if you do not have a background in it. That’s where ABC’s CFS program comes in. Kerry explained, “In the CFS program, we can offer contractors flexible credit lines and tailor the terms of our agreement along with that contract that they have signed. Our goal is to help them out so they can understand when their cash flow is arriving, when people are getting paid and what’s happening.”  

Read the transcript or Listen to the full episode to learn more about how ABC’s CFS program works!