Material Cost Increase Impact on Contractor Profit: The Math
The material cost increase impact on contractor profit, in dollars: what 6% annual price drift costs a shop buying $40K a month, and what you get back.
By Jordan9 min read
The invoice desk, page 8
Same Company, Different Prices: Supply House Branches
One supply house, different prices at the same company for the same SKU. Here is why branch pricing splits, how to prove it, and how to get one rate loaded.
By Jordan9 min read
Electrical Supply House Price Increase: 5 Places It Hides
An electrical supply house price increase rarely lands on the big-ticket line. Here are the five line items where it actually hides on your monthly invoice.
By Jordan9 min read
Why Did Material Prices Go Up? Supplier Creep or Market
Why did material prices go up at your supplier? Part of it is a real market move and part of it is drift. Four tests that tell you which one hit your invoice.
By Jordan10 min read
Supply House Credit Request Time Limit: The 90-Day Rule
There is no published supply house credit request time limit for billing errors, but the clocks are real. Why fresh invoices get credited and old ones do not.
By Jordan9 min read
How to Track Material Price History From Your Invoices
The spreadsheet method to track material price history as a contractor: which columns to build from twelve months of supply-house invoices, and how to use it.
By Jordan13 min read
Scanning Paper Supply-House Invoices From the Truck
Your invoices are paper and they live in the truck. What actually works for capturing them, what OCR gets wrong, and how to stop losing price history.
By Emily11 min read
How to Negotiate With Your Supply House
Negotiating on personality gets you nowhere. Negotiating with twelve months of your own unit prices gets you a number. Here is how to run that conversation.
By Alex12 min read
Three-Way Match for Contractors, Without an AP Team
PO, packing slip, invoice. The AP control that catches most supply-house overcharges, rebuilt for a shop with one bookkeeper and a pile of paper tickets.
By Reena12 min read
Credit Request Email Template for Contractors
A short, polite credit request email your supply house will actually honor, plus what to attach, who to send it to, and how fast you need to send it.
By Reena12 min read
Supply House Restocking Fees: What They Can Charge
Published distributor policies set restocking minimums of 15% to 25%, and wire cuts and special orders usually cannot be returned at all. Know before you buy.
By Reena12 min read
Column Pricing: Which Column Is Your Shop In?
Column 3, end column, trade price, net price. What distributor column pricing means, which column you are probably in, and how to find out for certain.
By Alex11 min read