How RBT Electrical & Automation cut out a full office salary by finally going paperless

RBT Electrical and Automation Services has been serving Southern Ontario since 1997, when founder Rob Timmerman started the business out of his garage. Over the years, RBT grew into a full electrical and automation contractor, handling service upgrades, design, maintenance, and construction projects across the region. But while the field operation expanded, the systems in the office lagged behind.

The Challenge: Growth outpacing paper and spreadsheets

As RBT added more technicians and more complex projects, the internal team was still relying on a patchwork of software tools, manual forms and spreadsheets. Some of the systems they used did not integrate cleanly with QuickBooks, which meant the team had to keep stacks of printed forms in circulation just to keep jobs moving and ensure accounting was accurate.

Rob recalls how this affected the team: "Some of the softwares we used still required us to keep paperwork because they didn't integrate properly with our QuickBooks," Rob says. The result was multiple disconnected systems and an increasing amount of office work for a small administrative staff. As Rob puts it, "Before BuildOps, things were becoming too cumbersome in the office — too much work for one or two people to handle."

The Solution: One system for office and field

RBT turned to BuildOps to consolidate its operations into a single, cloud-based platform. Instead of juggling several tools and paper workflows, the company moved scheduling, work orders, time capture, and invoicing into BuildOps.

Technicians now clock in and out directly from the mobile app, so their time is captured automatically as they move between jobs. Work orders are generated on site, signatures and purchase orders are completed in the field, and jobs are invoiced promptly, instead of days or weeks later.

Because BuildOps is cloud-based, the entire team can access the system from wherever they are working — the office, a service truck, or the jobsite.

Steven Neil, Vice President of Operations at RBT, highlights how closely the platform matches the company’s real-world processes: "They were able to customize it to our workflow, to our customers, to how our guys work." That alignment made it easier for the field and office to adopt the new system and get value from it quickly.

An entire office salary back

For RBT, the impact of going paperless and consolidating onto BuildOps is measured not just in time saved but in real dollars. As Rob explains, "With BuildOps, we were basically able to save an entire office salary."

By eliminating manual data entry, chasing down paper, and re-keying information between disconnected systems, the company removed a full load of admin work from the back office. What used to demand an additional hire can now be handled by the existing team, because the system does the heavy lifting.

Results: Paperless workflows and same-day invoicing

With BuildOps in place, RBT has:

• Eliminated paperwork from its day-to-day workflows, moving fully into a digital, paperless operation.
• Enabled technicians to track their time from the field ensuring accurate time capture with minimal friction.
• Started invoicing jobs at the end of each day, speeding up cash flow and reducing delays.

The field team feels the difference as well. Steven notes, "BuildOps has an excellent mobile app — our field techs thoroughly enjoy using it, and we get very good information back from the field." That two-way flow of accurate data means the office can trust what comes in from job sites and turn it into clean, timely billing.

Office Administrator Jackie Shoup sees the impact of streamlined time capture and invoicing every day: "With BuildOps, it allows the guys to clock in, clock out instantly, capturing their time. We're able to invoice jobs right at the end of the day."

Built for the next chapter

What started as a one-person operation in 1997 is now a full-service electrical and automation contractor covering all of Southern Ontario. By moving away from paper and spreadsheets and into a single system with BuildOps, RBT has created an operational foundation that can support the next stage of growth without adding back-office headcount.

Today, RBT runs its entire service operation through BuildOps — giving the team mission control for every project, from the first work order to the final invoice.

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