HI! My father-in-law owns a GC firm, and I worked as a project manager for him. I am also building a home, and we are going to be doing the pay-outs, etc. I was checking out the ideas here and am sending him the UDA Suite 2009 suggested by Big Kahuna for his review. I am thinking that will be what I will use. You should pick your package based on your needs. If you are fully handling the project, you will most definitely want easy to use contracts/change order/purchase order formats...something I cannot fabricate from excel. especially if you can have a list of subs plugged into the suite and cut and paste a lot of the forms. I am thinking that program has it all, but am downloading the 30 day free trial now to check it out. Also, I will let you know what my fahter-in-law says or if he has any suggestions. I want a good program even if it is a little pricey, because I want to enjoy the management side of the project and do not personally love starting from scratch. I also love the timeline and risk features on that program. Talk to you soon...

This is like asking "where did I leave my door key?". I don't think there's any way to help from afar. The good news is that if this spreadsheet was an analysis of a checking account, nothing was really lost except the time spent doing the spreadsheet. The information is still available from the bank, however that's accessed. An easy way to replicate the spreadsheet analysis would be to download the transactions from the bank's website. Most every bank site has this feature, to download a file of account transactions that can easily read by a spreadsheet program. Easier to move around, reformat and structure transactions already in the spreadsheet than to input each transaction manually. I also agree that using a program like Libre Office is probably a better way to do it. The more important a file is, the more places a backup/duplicate copy should be kept. For my really important files, I have them in at least 4 physically different places, including a copy in a bank vault. Less important, 3. SD cards and thumb drives are cheap insurance. Free programs can automate the backup task. Good luck.

Example: I get a call that the backsplash guy has an unexpected opening and can get in earlier than I thought. That's great because we're ahead of schedule and ready for him. Did the customer want 1/2 bond or 1/3 bond on the tile layout???? I can't remember for sure and my 3x5's are back at the office. Looks like I'm dropping what I'm doing to go for a drive so I can get the correct answer and take advantage of this situation. Or I can just look on my phone.... I admit it can be tasking to have to input into the app at times, but I've found once I got used to it things got quicker. Being able to quickly search for the answers I'm looking for is SO helpful. Much faster than even looking up old emails. Full disclosure, crusty old tradespersons are the absolute best people to hire in most situations. Best of luck.

I use Rugs USA or eSale rugs for rugs (other vendors may have visualization tools, those are the ones I'm familiar with). For paint I use the Benjamin Moore Personal Color viewer. For everything else I use Word. Yes, Microsoft Word. You need to be able to insert pictures, remove backgrounds (Picture tools/format/remove background), float images so you can layer them (right click/wrap text/in front of text), and change the order of the layering (Picture tools/format bring forward/send backward/send to back/send to front). You can go a long way with just those. I generally do the paint and/or rug first in the vendor tools, then pull the resulting image into Word for furniture and art.