Providing your contractor base with some basic accounting concepts can help them be better customers.
I just got off the phone after talking to an old friend in the HVACR supply-house business, Steve Bellar of IM/Thrifty Supply in Bellevue, Wash. He read my article in this magazine (May 2000 issue, page 69) on how to avoid bankruptcy losses.
Bellar says this concern is one of the main headaches of supply houses in his area. His company has paid a lot of attention to it. He told of the steps his company's management has taken in the past to be sure their customers are in good financial shape and how they have spent hundreds of hours trying to develop plans to minimize their exposure to losses.