Some companies choose to work with Excel in the management of their multi-year service contracts, at the risk of being rejected or, more seriously, losing the contract (we have seen some!).
Origin of the project: format imposed by the adjudicator
The SYDEV (Syndicat des Energies de Vendée) or SYDELA (Syndicat des Energies des Pays de la Loire), to name just a few, impose formalism on their service providers in the exchange of data in order to simplify their work at the daily. But simplification on one side sometimes leads to complexity on the business side.
Indeed, in the case of these unions that we know well, when a company responds for a given service: installation of a street lamp, repair of a sidewalk; it must produce files in “.csv” format which will then be integrated into the software used by the Union to trigger nothing more and nothing less than invoicing. If the company does not produce the file in the correct format, it is impossible to invoice. It's embarassing !
Excel for the quote, the worst solution!
Many construction companies, accustomed to operating on a tight budget, inevitably turn to Excel for costing and their exchange of information with unions.
What may appear to be an inexpensive solution from an investment point of view, quickly becomes catastrophic when 3 months of invoicing are rejected by the adjudicator because the conditions of the contract are not respected.
In our experience, we even had a recalcitrant company that lost the market after 5 months. She persisted in providing Excel extractions which did not comply with the contractual format.
In addition to the loss of earnings for the company, there is a real loss of trust with the customer.
Simplifying administrative tasks with QDV7
Faced with this situation, our customers benefit from a specific development in the QDV7 price study tool which allows them to produce the expected file(s) in one click while respecting the imposed format.
The files are extracted directly from the quote via the API according to the imposed protocol, then transmitted by email to the Union which validates the quote and the invoice via integration into their management software.
One of the advantages of this solution, other than the simplification it brings to both sides of the relationship, is that whatever the format imposed, it has no impact on the way in which the service provider operates.
Indeed, many companies working in Excel are forced to adapt to customer formalism. In the case of QDV7, this is not necessary and it is a comfort for the company which can thus manage its margins and costs in the way it wishes.
In the developments carried out for service companies on the SYDEV and SYDELA markets, QDV7 makes it possible to go as far as progress invoicing on percentage or quantities.
