Study Finds Contractors Undercharge

According to the Intuit Construction Business Solutions industry study, 50 percent of contractors report they commonly omit general conditions costs (supervision, phone calls and temporary power from their job estimates), depriving themselves of deserved revenue. Ironically, respondents cited the need for greater profitability (65 percent) and more accurate estimating (57 percent) as areas of their business needing the most improvement.

The contractors estimate their gross profitability per job at 15.5 percent and anticipate about 12 percent growth over the next five years.

Intuit (Nasdaq:INTU), a provider of business and financial management, used the research firm, Decipher, to survey more than 500 commercial and residential contractors and subcontractors in the United States. The results were announced Jan. 14, 2005 at the International Builders' Show.

For more information, visit www.intuit.com.