We’ve all been there at some point in our careers, witnessing an error that led to major financial consequences.
When something goes wrong that was easily preventable; it stings the most.
In the aftermath, the answer seems so obvious. It might even have been a solution we considered at some point but failed to act on, and now we’re left dealing with the aftermath. When important milestones are missed, unexpected costs can arise.
Asset managers with strong tools and software systems stand a much better chance of avoiding costly errors and having operations run smoothly.
PowerHub can help ensure you’re not left feeling the burn of a preventable error with major consequences, whether in solar, wind, hydro, or any other business.
If you’re still on the fence about whether or not energy asset management software is essential, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we break down the four most common preventable errors and clarify how intuitive software solutions can help mitigate business risks.
1. Technical Defaults Lead to Hidden Costs.
There can be severe hidden costs associated with missing payments. Having proper financial records is key to running a successful business.
When you miss payments, they generally tend to incur interest, and although it can seem like a low rate for a one-time missed payment, after four, five, or six missed payments, the interest adds up!
Asset management software can track all your upcoming fees, property taxes and other payments to help you stay on track.
You’ll never miss a deadline again.
With PowerHub, you’ll know exactly what’s due, and when-whether upcoming payments are weeks, months, or even years away.
Our software allows asset managers to track all of their finances in one place. Our clients can set reminders for upcoming payments and link them to corresponding tasks. It makes planning ahead incredibly simple.
By inputting your financial records into a central system, it’ll not only help ensure you never miss a payment-you’ll hopefully never be surprised by a large bill again.
2. Poor Maintenance Records Lead to Poor Warranty Enforcement.
Keeping proper records of your projects helps ensure your site is working at full capacity, but it’s even more important when something breaks down. Keeping proper maintenance records somewhere easy to find and thoroughly tracked helps your team swiftly check when a site was last inspected and confirm whether there were any issues expected or if there is an immediate problem requiring attention.
PowerHub clients report these maintenance records have been beneficial when they needed to claim a warranty on a product.
Without proper records of maintenance, your warranty will likely be considered void. This could incur additional costs to repair or replace the broken part.
Using PowerHub’s asset management software to track maintenance records lets our clients stay organized with all of the information for a project in one place, ensuring everything is in good working order, and they won’t be surprised by additional costs.
3. It’s a Slippery Slope-Missed Milestones Lead to Extra Time Costs.
Let’s face it: everyone gets busy in their roles, and it can sometimes be hard to keep track of everything, especially when juggling multiple projects for multiple sites with multiple stakeholders.
Important goals or milestones are missed…
Perhaps it’s an important SREC hedge that was forgotten; an item was not delivered because it was not appropriately scheduled, or there are overtime costs because a project was not tracked correctly and has begun running over the allotted time period.
Some of these costly mistakes can be avoided by simply using asset management software to track your project’s goals and milestones in one place.
With PowerHub, scheduled tasks can be set to deliver assigned team members reminders and allow managers to keep track of progress. By imputing important dates and tasks into one platform and sharing them with your team members, you can ensure the job is done by the right person, on budget, and on time.
4. Rigid Project Plans Lead to Inaccuracies.
Every stage of an energy project depends on many people, many tasks, and many key dates. Your project’s plan and its goals should reflect that. You’re limiting yourself by using Excel or another rigid system to lay out your project plan. The result is either having to constantly update your plan as things change or, worse, letting the plan get dated and inaccurate.
PowerHub helps our clients automate this entire process.
With software as fluid as the ebbs and flows of your project, you’ll be able to create tasks with automatic reminders, connect deadlines to other dates and tasks, so they carry over as plans shift, and outline how these tasks feed into a larger project strategy.
Asset management is key to any business. Although software can’t prevent all the issues that might arise, it can help you avoid some of the costly mistakes we outlined here and mitigate risks to ensure your project runs smoothly.
Want to learn more about asset management software?
Click here to request a one-on-one demo session.
