Asset

Our company is a full-service landscape contracting company with a residential design/build focus. Annual revenues are $3-5 million. We were/are searching for an all-inclusive software system to handle our complex projects from new lead through to AR/AP. We chose Asset because all other industry specific programs (BossLM, Dynascape, RealGreen, etc) require ancillary accounting software and most did not include any kind of inventory/catalog system.

Since I wrote this initial review, the team at Include has worked hard to improve their implementation and support services. As we begin our third season using Asset, we have been able to continue to work closely with Include and continue to better understand how Asset can work with and improve our business. While Asset remains a very robust and sometimes intimidating system, if you are dedicated to the success of your company, there is no other software that is as all-inclusive or as capable as Asset. The best part? Asset grows seamlessly with our business and is endlessly adaptable to the ever-changing needs of a growing business.

After eight years on another platform we switched our $5MM+ landscape services business (construction & maintenance) to Asset this spring. We have found Asset to be extremely powerful, flexible, thorough and forgiving (making corrections/fixing user errors is integrated into every phase of the software).

There are many incredible features and not enough space on this review. The most impressive aspect about the software is its ability to help answer business questions in real time without having to search for the details. The information, all of the information, is easily available thanks to the smart integration of the entire business process. The data analysis capabilities are staggering and easy to use. The software has incredible filtering capabilities that allows information to be appropriately grouped, reviewed and analyzed in a multitude of ways. Identifying problems to fix and successes to replicate has never been easier.

The software is robust yet the user interface is simple and targeted based on each User's position in the organization. Our teammates did not get into this industry to sit behind a computer and they certainly didn't want to become accountants or data analysts ' the software ensures they don't have to be.

Commitment to the implementation plan and accepting that this is change are two keys to success. Include (Asset) provides substantial training resources including a highly structured implementation plan, weekly 1-on-1 training (180+ hours), homework exercises, testing, 85+ on demand training videos, a superb help menu and a test system to let you explore/practice in the software before your system is ready. However, the company must have a champion who has the authority to manage the multi-month implementation/training process.

This software is amazing but it requires the organization to commit to understanding how to best implement it into their business, dedicate the resources necessary, and most importantly be open and committed to changing aspects of its business. If your organization doesn't want to change - don't waste your time this software is not for you.

As a company who has recently gone Live, we can attest that the hard work was more than worth the effort. Each day we are becoming a better run company in all phases of our business rather than just achieving incremental improvements in the problem areas that demanded the most attention. I wish we did it sooner.

· We are a medium sized landscape company in the Midwest. We were looking for software that would tie our systems together, so we could get rid of double entry into different programs and that our data would 'talk' well through the business process.
· Starting out we were SOLD that Asset was a one stop shop. It was supposed to do everything from taking a new lead all the way through recording the payment from a sold project. While it does do that to some degree, it is extremely difficult to navigate, not intuitive, and overall it is not worth using.
· We were told we could not really demo the software because it required a great deal of training to operate properly, this should be a RED FLAG in your mind when you are looking for software. Nowadays if you cannot do a trial run and find how it works for you, then you should be very cautious about moving forward with that software. It is like going to test drive a car, but the salesperson tells you that they need to drive in order to show you how it works.
· The software package is expensive. Asset Software, Software Network License, User server, Annual Maintenance, Support Pro Unlimited, Include Learning Management System. It adds up to a lot.
· We invested over 18 months of time with our office staff to try and get the software ready to be used. This time investment was sizeable and is not to be taken lightly as it probably exceeded the initial purchase price of the software. It works so poorly that we are going to take the loss of the time and money spent so that it does not completely cripple our business.
· We may have continued to limp through the software IF customer support had been adequate, but due to the lack of willingness to change and an incredibly long response time, we decided to cut our losses and move back to our old systems.
· We are currently moving back to QuickBooks and we are looking at LMN - Landscape Management Software.

Pros: the software is very flexible so that a company can use the features that best meat their needs. With all of the modules integrated, it allows us to create the proposal in the system and then never have to add additional information through the life cycle of the job, all the way through the billing! With the iCREWtek tool, our managers in the field have the tasks for the day on their smartphones allowing them to monitor work, attach photos and update the tasks when done. This saves an amazing amount of administrative work for our office. We track many details on each of our jobs and use the system to automate mass mailings to clients. With the job user fields, we are able to track all needed data right in the system and we have eliminated all outside spreadsheets. We also track all trucks, trailers and equipment in the system along with the maintenance of these items. All employee data for HR are also tracked in the HR module and we do extensive reporting. Closing the accounting books at the end of the month takes less than a day! This is due to the integration of all modules in the system with the culmination in the GL. There are also automated customer email alerts to keep them posted on their job progress. This can be controlled at the job or task level, and it can be overwritten for exceptions.. The customer service is always there to help you with your questions and issues. They have good turnaround and are knowledgeable about the system. There are also videos that you can view when looking into adding a new feature of the system. It allows for training just when you need it.
Cons: the software is very flexible. Yes this can be a con because it requires someone to take the time to understand the system to take advantage of the features. However, Include has a great implementation plan for the software and they use videos to introduce you to the base features (minimum setup) and then they use one-on-one time to consult on any features you may need that the basic configuration may not address. The system does job costing at the job level and not at the task level. This may not be an issue for many customers but we do a lot of small tasks that we like to Job cost. With that said, we have created a way to use the system for extracting the data and report this in an excel spreadsheet.

We are a large commercial landscape firm based in Dallas, and have been using Asset since 2002. We selected it after evaluating several other products. We looked at several listed here but the problem is integration! One competitor to Asset doesn't do payroll, another one has to be customized and oh by the way that is another $25,000, another made you run your business like they set it up NOT FLEXIBLE!!! Asset has several ways to look at things, bid projects, etc., it is a tool. The mobile device used for time cards was huge, that saved us one person that was doing data entry alone.
Asset is the perfect software tool for running a landscape business. It is flexible, powerful, and like I said, fully integrated. We don't need to add third party products to manage any of our core operations. Before we used Asset, we filled the gaps using Excel spreadsheets. Eliminating those spreadsheets has saved us many thousands of dollars every year. We find that Asset is easy to use, and has functions that are missing altogether in other tools. There is definitely a learning curve, but it is well worth climbing. Include focuses on the landscape industry, and that focus is reflected in its product development. The product continues to evolve, and does it gracefully. Our data has continuity. For instance, we can easily review detailed client history from any point in time. Include is innovative. They were integrating mobile components when we started with them in 2012, having them long before an iPhone was even around. And to this day, that innovation continues. It is nice to know that our investment can survive the test of time. Reporting is powerful and configurable. Asset has project based financials that roll up into branch and profit center financials. All of these tie to our corporate financials, giving us real insight into what is happening in our business. In real time.

Bottom line, Asset is a product that we build our business with, that will not grow obsolete over time, and that we will never outgrow. We love it. It's been a great investment. We have added several team members in sales as well as office staff that have used other software products and they can't believe how easy it is for them to learn and use over what they use to struggle with.