“I can just hit a button to sync with QuickBooks, and it pushes data to our GL exactly the way I want. Rho automates the process from end to end, dials down the time I spend on each transaction, and helps us close our book in half the time.”
K-CON Utility Services is a family-owned and -operated specialty contractor with a focus on water, sewer, and storm water services. Their hard work and reliability has made them a sought-after partner for developers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since they got their start in 2016.
Given the complexity of construction accounting—which includes job costing, progress billing, and long-term contracts—K-CON needed a card provider that truly understands their business and helps them earn as they spend.
K-CON’s office manager, Rachel Beck, explained how they previously had corporate cards through American Express. But an inflexible underwriting model and restrictively low credit limit meant they had trouble paying their sizable vendor bills with their corporate cards—despite solid growth.
“Most banks look at our books and don’t understand the financial forecasting,” she said. “Our jobs last up to 18 months, and we often pay all our vendors at once on net-90 terms, which can add up to millions of dollars."
Rho’s finance automation platform helps K-Con drive efficiencies in three ways:
K-CON had trouble finding a card provider that understands construction-based finances—let alone one offering the credit they need to keep up with large contracts. With the Rho Card, K-CON gets customized terms and controls and ramped-up rewards that benefit their vendors, their team, and their business.
As Beck recalls, Rho surprised K-CON right away with their accessibility and their willingness to adapt to clients’ needs. “Rho sold us on their ever-evolving ability to reshape processes on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
“With American Express, we were always met with a no. When we talk to Rho, even if they haven’t heard of something, they’ll look into it and come back with a solution they can use to help us.”
Better still, Rho’s commitment to learning about K-CON’s operations has translated to real business results. “Rho made the effort to understand our industry and created custom policies to accommodate our vendors and maximize our returns,” said Beck. “Now, we have the power not only to make larger payments but to receive massive monetary rewards.”
K-CON can easily issue a Rho Card to each of their foremen, designate specific cards for paying major vendors, set customized permissions and spending limits and automate key workflows—saving them over 20 hours of busywork each month.
Beck described how getting started with Rho’s platform was simple. “Rho is entirely user-friendly,” said Beck. “The ability to assign cards to recurring vendors has eliminated guesswork and provided a level of security I don’t know what I would do without. I can effortlessly manage limits and match receipts, and if anything goes wrong I can instantly turn a card off. I’ve created an entirely new system around the capabilities Rho provides.”
With Rho, K-CON has also ditched manual accounting workflows and decreased their time to close by 50%.
“I can just hit a button to sync with QuickBooks, and it pushes data to our GL exactly the way I want,” said Beck. “Rho automates the process from end to end, dials down the time I spend on each transaction, and helps us close our book in half the time.”
As K-CON scales their business across North Texas, they’re eager to see how Rho’s platform will continue to fuel their expansion. Beck is especially excited to introduce Rho’s upcoming app to on-site crews to further streamline expense management.
“Rho will be pivotal in providing us with the efficiency we need to achieve our goals,” she said. “Whatever comes up, we know that if Rho can’t accommodate us at first, they’ll quickly come up with a solution. Their adaptive approach is unparalleled.”