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Full archive of Balance & Build articles for commercial GCs: field documentation, financial clarity, payroll, and BalanceBuild Pro.

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Consultants reviewing a construction business plan during a funding strategy meeting

From Scratch Series

From Scratch: Building a Commercial GC in Louisiana

Start a commercial GC plan by doing your own research, then format it. Do not copy a sample company, skip the attorney, or let software invent your market. This series teaches the work. Plan Builder formats your answers. A premium consult is for people who want Casy in the room. BalanceBuild Pro is for live commercial jobs.

General contractor in a jobsite office trailer reviewing a laptop and printed payment application, with palletized stored materials outside beside a building under construction

Construction Operations

AIA G702 and G703 Pay Application Instructions (From the SOV, Not Excel)

To fill out an AIA G702 pay application, keep the schedule of values honest (including approved change orders), update schedule percent complete from the Gantt, post Stored materials when product is delivered but not installed, generate the G702/G703-style draft from that same record, then attach daily-log and photo backup. This is operational guidance, not a free Excel template download.

Superintendent on a commercial jobsite capturing a same-day daily log on a tablet after an owner field directive for extra work

Construction Operations

Change Orders That Never Get Paid: Turn Field Directives into Defensible CORs

To get paid for field extras, capture the directive the same day in your daily log, quantify labor and materials, record schedule impact, submit the COR before the lag tax, and approve the change into your SOV so the next pay app stays honest.

Superintendent documenting standing water and muddy grade on a tablet after overnight rain on a commercial construction jobsite

Construction Risk

How to Document Construction Weather Delays for Liquidated Damages Defense

To defend liquidated damages after weather, capture the delay the same day, keep proof tied to the job, link schedule impact, communicate with dates, and keep billing aligned with field reality.

Small contractor presenting a tablet schedule and WIP report to large GC project managers beside an industrial Louisiana construction site

Construction Business

How Small Contractors Win Work on Louisiana Megaprojects

Louisiana's industrial boom creates room for capable specialty contractors. Big GCs award packages to small companies that look organized: live schedules, clear communication, documented delays, and coherent WIP.

Mid-size commercial GC project manager reviewing a construction daily log and weather delay timeline on a laptop in a bright project office

Construction Software

BalanceBuild Pro vs Procore for Mid-Size Commercial GCs

BalanceBuild Pro fits commercial GCs who need AI daily logs, Project Historian, weather delay defense, and a simpler operating cadence. Procore is a broader enterprise project management platform for firms that need a wide construction software suite.

Commercial GC searching Project Historian for a rain delay entry across sealed daily logs

Construction Risk & Liability

Project Historian for Construction: Searchable Daily Logs That Hold Up

Capturing a daily log is only half the job. The other half is finding the right entry when an owner, attorney, or insurer asks a pointed question weeks later.

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Superintendent in a hard hat holding a tablet outside a job trailer, with staged pallets and crews working on a commercial building at sunrise

For Project Managers

What Project Managers Should Receive from the Superintendent

If you are the project manager, ask for a superintendent dashboard that sends you the plan they are running: who is on site, which materials are late, which tasks sit on bad weather, and which delay is waiting on your decision. You should not need another office hire to reconstruct that from texts.

From Scratch Series

How to Choose a Louisiana Commercial GC Name That Attracts Quality Clients

Pick a commercial GC name for the client you want in year ten, then prove it is available before you print it on a truck. Search the Louisiana Commercial Database without LLC or Inc in the box, check domain and handles, run a preliminary USPTO Class 37 search, and treat a logo as presentation, not a trademark. Do not compete on price as a brand.

Advisors reviewing construction plans and documents at a conference table

From Scratch Series

Hire an Attorney and CPA Before You Form a Construction LLC

Form a construction company by retaining an attorney and a construction-aware CPA at initiation, then let counsel file. Do not walk yourself through Articles of Organization or geauxBIZ payment screens because a YouTube video made it look easy. An LLC is not a contractor license. Louisiana commercial contracting has its own board, net worth, and qualifying-party rules.

Contractor reviewing plans on a tablet on a commercial jobsite

From Scratch Series

How to Choose a Commercial GC Niche in Louisiana

Choose a commercial GC niche by deciding who you will not chase, then proving year-one demand with documents you opened this year. Public commercial can train the company. Private commercial is the quality brand. Industrial in Southwest Louisiana is a later stage, not a slogan. If you bid everything, you win the worst jobs.

Commercial general contractor in a jobsite office reviewing a printed schedule of values beside a laptop showing CSI phase line items and Gantt percent complete

Construction Operations

AIA Schedule of Values for G703 Pay Applications: How GCs Set Up SOV Lines Without Rebuilding Excel

To set up an AIA schedule of values for a G703 pay application, break the contract sum into CSI phase lines that stay consistent all job, type the scheduled value on each line, add approved change orders as their own rows, bill progress from Gantt percent complete, post Stored materials when product is on site, then complete G703 columns from that same record before you roll totals to G702. This is operational guidance, not a free Excel SOV template download.

Jobsite trailer desk comparing messy spreadsheet printouts and email threads with a clean construction daily log dashboard on a laptop

Construction Operations

BalanceBuild Pro vs Spreadsheets for Daily Logs and Pay Apps

Spreadsheets and email can track a small job. They break when commercial GCs need searchable daily logs, weather delay proof, schedule links, and CSI pay apps that survive owner and counsel questions.

Superintendent documenting rain delay and crew stand-down on a tablet for liquidated damages defense

Construction Risk & Liability

Subcontractor Liability Protection: Defend Liquidated Damages With Field Proof

Owners rarely dispute your craftsmanship. They dispute your paper trail. Same-day field proof for rain, heat, and Monday mud is how commercial GCs stop funding owner schedule recovery out of margin.

Contractor reviewing job profitability by project in QuickBooks Online on a laptop

Job Costing

5 Job Costing Mistakes That Kill Contractor Profits

Winning the bid and losing the profit usually traces back to sloppy job costing. Here are five common mistakes contractors make and how to fix them in QuickBooks Online before the next bid walk.

Construction payroll checklist covering classification, overtime, and certified payroll

Contractor Payroll

Contractor Payroll Challenges: Misclassification, OT, and Certified Jobs

Payroll mistakes do not just create paperwork. For contractors they create fines, wage claims, and jobs that looked profitable until burden and compliance caught up. Here are five challenges worth fixing now.

Contractor organizing financial systems and cash flow tracking on a laptop

Financial Clarity

Control Contractor Finances: Get Organized Before Tax Season

Tax-season scrambles are usually a systems problem. Organize your business computer, cash habits, and bookkeeping support year-round so deadlines stop becoming emergencies.

Contractor and advisor reviewing business plan financial projections on a desk

Business Planning

Business Plan Financial Projections Investors Actually Trust

Investors and lenders do not fund stories alone. They fund numbers they can trust: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow, sources and uses, and clear return measures.

Contractor using a laptop on a jobsite trailer desk to track job costs and cash flow

Construction Management

Make Your Laptop a Profitable Tool for Contracting

Paperwork and scattered spreadsheets quietly tax every job. Used well, your laptop becomes a profit tool for job costs, cash flow, and payroll visibility.

Contractor reviewing a strategic business plan roadmap on a laptop in a project office

Business Planning

Contractor Business Planning: From Idea to Operating Roadmap

A contractor business plan should do more than unlock a loan. Used well, it becomes the operating roadmap for growth, risk, staffing, and cash decisions.

Contractor reviewing equipment depreciation and fixed asset tracking in QuickBooks

Tax Strategy Education

Contractor Depreciation and Full Expensing: Reclaim Cash Carefully

Full expensing can put cash back in a contractor's pocket today. Used without a plan, it can create tax surprises later when equipment or the company is sold.

Contractor comparing cash purchase versus equipment financing options on a laptop

Funding & Growth

Using Other People's Money to Grow a Contracting Business

Paying cash for every machine feels safe. For many contractors, smart financing preserves liquidity so you can bid, buy materials, and take the next job without emptying reserves.

Construction project manager reviewing lien waiver and subcontractor payment checklist

Compliance

Subcontractor Payments: Lien Waivers, 1099s, and Payment Protection

Paying a subcontractor invoice is easy. Paying it safely means lien waivers, clear agreements, and 1099 discipline so unpaid lower tiers and misclassification issues do not land on your project.