Methodology
How the Index works
The Index measures how well a contractor's information moves: from estimate to job, from site to office, from job to accounts. It does not measure how much software a company owns.
The four axes
Coverage
Whether the core work — money, jobs, estimates — is run on systems at all.
Connectivity
Whether those systems share one job reference and pass data on their own.
Reporting
How quickly the business can see month-end numbers and live job margin.
Site
How structured site information is, and how fast it reaches the office.
The ten questions
Each answer scores 0 to 3. The questions are published in full so any company can see exactly how its tier is arrived at.
- 01
Coverage
How do you run the money side (invoicing, accounts)?
- 0Spreadsheets or paper
- 1Accounting software, standalone
- 2Accounting software plus job costing
- 3Fully integrated finance and operations
- 02
Coverage
How do you run jobs and field service?
- 0Whiteboard, phone, memory
- 1Spreadsheets
- 2A dedicated job or field-service system
- 3A system connected to finance
- 03
Coverage
How do you produce estimates?
- 0Gut feel or paper
- 1Spreadsheets
- 2Estimating software
- 3Estimating linked to budgets and job tracking
- 04
Connectivity
Does one job have the same reference number across all your systems?
- 0We don't use references consistently
- 1Different numbers in different places
- 2Mostly consistent
- 3One job ID everywhere
- 05
Connectivity
How does information move between your systems?
- 0Retyped by hand
- 1Exported and imported files
- 2Some automatic links
- 3Flows automatically
- 06
Connectivity
How often is the same information typed in more than once?
- 0Constantly
- 1Often
- 2Occasionally
- 3Practically never
- 07
Reporting
How many working days does your month-end take?
- 0More than 10
- 16–10
- 23–5
- 31–2
- 08
Reporting
Can you see the margin on a live job before it finishes?
- 0No, only after
- 1Roughly, if someone works it out
- 2Yes, updated weekly-ish
- 3Yes, live
- 09
Site
How does site report back to the office?
- 0Phone calls and memory
- 1WhatsApp photos and messages
- 2Forms or apps, partly structured
- 3Structured digital capture
- 10
Site
How long from something happening on site to it appearing in a report?
- 0Weeks
- 1Days
- 2Next day
- 3Same day
Scoring bands
Total score 0–30 across 4 axes: 0–8 Basic · 9–16 Developing · 17–24 Advanced · 25–30 Leading.
Paper, spreadsheets and memory carry the business.
Software is in place, but the parts do not talk to each other.
Jobs, finance and site data share one thread.
One job ID everywhere, live margin, same-day site reporting.
Estimated and verified
An estimated tier is our reading from public signals: company size, published services, job adverts, and public documents. A verified tier comes from the company itself completing the ten questions. Verification is valid for twelve months, after which the company is asked to confirm again.
The red line
Tiers cannot be bought. A company's tier does not depend on which software vendors it uses, or on whether it is a Tellum client. Sponsorship, advertising or any commercial relationship has no effect on the Index.