FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Questions about margin, billing and data
Straight answers for contractors, trades and growing businesses on where margin goes, how to check subcontractor billing, why reports disagree, and how follow-up wins work. If your question isn't here, ask an MIP consultant.
About MIP
What is Margin Intelligence Partners (MIP)?
Margin Intelligence Partners (MIP) is a consulting partner that helps businesses turn their data and operations into clear decisions that improve revenue and margin. MIP's work covers a business's data, through Data Intelligence, and its customer relationships, through Customer Intelligence.
Who does MIP work with?
MIP works with small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), trade businesses and contractors.
Do we have to replace our software to work with MIP?
No. Your software stays. MIP helps you reduce redundancies and bottlenecks between the systems you already use.
How does an engagement with MIP start?
Every engagement begins with a two-part audit. First, we meet with your business stakeholders to discuss the constraints holding the business back. Second, based on those constraints, we dig into your operational processes and report on our findings.
How will we know the work is paying off?
During discovery we agree on the success measures and KPIs to monitor, and your business approves them when it reviews the proposal. Progress is then reported against those approved measures.
Contractor billing and job costing
How do I stop subcontractors from billing ahead of the work?
Check every pay application before you approve it. MIP monitors billing variance by comparing each subcontractor's billed percentage with the progress percentage verified in the field, before the pay application is approved.
What is billing reconciliation for contractors?
Billing reconciliation for contractors means matching what was billed with what the field says is done, and suggesting what to hold. MIP's Billing Reconciliation does this every month, before pay applications are approved.
What are over-billing and under-billing in construction?
Over-billing is when a subcontractor bills ahead of the work, based on an estimate of field progress. Under-billing is when field progress exceeds what the approved pay applications cover.
Why does job margin fade between the estimate and closeout?
Job margin fades mostly through scope creep. Some change orders take a long time to be approved or denied, so the work they cover goes uncaptured between the estimate and closeout.
How do I make sure change orders get billed?
Track every approved change order until it is invoiced. MIP's contractor pack reads your change order log and reports two measures alongside job margin: the share of approved change-order value that has been billed, and the number and value of approved change orders not yet billed. With Billing Reconciliation, each approved change order also updates the subcontract's value and is recorded in the project log.
What is retainage, and how does it affect billing?
Retainage is an amount held back from each monthly pay request and then released in stages over the rest of the contract's billing. In MIP's Billing Reconciliation, retainage is shown on the report but is not counted as billing ahead of the work.
Does MIP work with Procore or other project management software?
Yes. MIP can work with any project management information system (PMIS), such as Procore, but only through exported data. There is no direct integration unless the client wants one.
Why does job costing matter for small contractors?
For contractors large and small, every penny counts. Larger general contractors have a bigger cushion for unexpected project costs; smaller contractors have less room, so knowing each job's margin early matters more.
Data, reports and systems
Why do our reports show different numbers for the same thing?
Usually because metrics are sourced from different tables with no clear definitions. MIP runs a report audit, part of our Data Intelligence work, to find where each metric comes from and agree on one definition.
How do we know which of our data we can trust?
MIP gives each table a trust score based on its known and unknown data quality issues, so you can see which numbers are safe to decide on.
We pay for too many software subscriptions. Where do we start?
Start with an integration map. MIP reviews which systems are used for your key operations and evaluates the bottlenecks between them.
How can I see my margin on each job before the month closes?
MIP reviews the KPIs tied directly to your key jobs in the Margin Control Tower. To see whether this is a gap for you, take the Margin Check: a quick questionnaire you can finish in under 60 seconds.
Customers and follow-up
Why do estimates go quiet, and how do I win more of them?
MIP's Customer Intelligence work repurposes key content from your business, such as your customers' stories and your own expertise, to help generate more estimates.
How can we respond to new inquiries faster?
MIP runs an intake coordinator that captures each customer inquiry and flags it, so your team can set the priority of its response.
How do we get more reviews and better customer proof?
MIP tags and measures customer proof from past visits to find where awareness of your business is lacking.
How do I connect marketing and sales effort to revenue?
MIP's value ledger connects your actual marketing and sales efforts to revenue using measured results, never estimates.
Our free checks and your data
What is the Margin Check?
The Margin Check is a quick questionnaire you can complete in under 60 seconds. It shows whether your business would benefit from a partnership with MIP. Take the Margin Check.
What is the Green Arrow Check?
The Green Arrow Check is a guide that adds business context to your data reporting, beyond charts and numbers. It has eight questions and gives you a score from 0 to 16 straight away. Take the Green Arrow Check.
What happens to the information I share with MIP?
The only information shared with MIP is aggregated totals and some key customer engagement details. None of it is stored with or sold to any third party.
Still deciding?
Three quick questions show whether an audit would help.