Menatwork

• In business since 1989
• A trusted name in Toronto’s home renovation scene
• Intuit products used: QuickBooks Online Advanced

For nearly four decades, Menatwork has been a trusted name in Toronto’s home renovation scene, blending heritage craftsmanship with modern innovation. Managing multiple home renovation projects across Toronto requires teamwork and consistent access to up-to-date information, so choosing the right tools was essential to keep teams in sync and projects running smoothly. Maxwell Gallop, managing director of Menatwork, shares, “Most construction managers or designers are on the road a lot. They’re jumping between projects. That’s the most fun—that really comes with the nature of what we do.” With so many moving parts, Menatwork needed an accounting and business management solution that could support their evolving needs as a growing business and keep everyone—on the jobsite or off—connected to the right information.

Laying the foundation for a successful future

With QuickBooks Online Advanced on the Intuit platform, Menatwork confidently managed their daily operations. “QuickBooks has really been a household name for us my whole life,” Maxwell tells us. Now, with integrated tools and around-the-clock access to real-time data, Menatwork empowers its team to make informed decisions and focus on what matters most: building strong relationships and delivering the best results for their clients.

“Other tools that we find helpful for field-related work can integrate with QuickBooks and leverage it in ways that equips our team with the information they need, and equips me with the information I need to make good decisions,” Maxwell explains.

Keeping the team connected with better collaboration

Collaboration is at the centre of every Menatwork project, bringing together a network of local trades and specialists to transform clients’ homes. “It’s not just our team or our company that’s fulfilling the commitment. We’re working with all these other local trades,” Maxwell explains.

From designers to on-site contractors, QuickBooks helps Menatwork ensure that everyone involved in a project stays informed and on the same page. By providing real-time updates and seamless integration with third party tools, QuickBooks keeps communication clear and workflows moving, because “when you’re pursuing a home renovation, you’re kind of supporting local business in a sense, because everyone has to come together,” Maxwell notes.

Connecting every team member, everywhere

In a business where project managers and designers are constantly on the go, flexibility is key. Whether at a jobsite, in the office, or meeting with clients, QuickBooks offers the Menatwork team seamless access to project data, financials, and collaboration anytime, anywhere.

Real-time updates mean everyone stays informed and connected, making it easy to track expenses, share information, and make decisions while on the move. Maxwell explains that “QuickBooks has really helped us. Especially when we migrated to QuickBooks Online—allowing us to work remotely or be flexible in that way.”

The right tools for sustained growth

As Menatwork sought to optimize its operations, selecting the right solution was a critical decision. The team explored traditional ERP solutions but found them overly complex for their needs. “We went through the process of evaluating more of the traditional ERP solutions out there and concluded that QuickBooks Online Advanced on its own, for our needs, would perfectly serve as the backbone or heart of our technology ecosystem,” says Maxwell.

Third-party app integrations, such as Dext and Kissflow, in QuickBooks Online, on the Intuit platform, made it hassle-free for the entire team to connect using essential tools, and created a uniquely tailored ecosystem that supports Menatwork’s growth—without the headache of using larger, complicated solutions like a traditional ERP.

Simplifying operations with more efficient accounting 

For a growing business like Menatwork, maximizing efficiency while minimizing complexity is crucial to continued growth. “The benefit with QuickBooks and its API and the integrations it offers has allowed us to have a very lean accounting or administrative function in the company,” notes Maxwell. “QuickBooks and its integrations allowed us to decentralize our admin work. We no longer need a big back office—the field team logs data on the fly, so everyone has up-to-date info,” Maxwell explains. 

Rather than relying on a handful of backoffice employees, Menatwork encourages the entire team to participate in the accounting process in real time— empowering them by providing the tools they need to work smarter, not harder. “We’ve decentralized the accounting requirements of our team by having everyone in the company contribute to it. Getting to use tools that are available on our team’s applications or phones allows them to do the data entry that we need to have up-to-date records,” Maxwell explains. This gives the Menatwork team clearer visibility into the company’s financial health and saves time on a broader scale. 

More flexibility, less complexity

As accounting tools continue to evolve and modernize, Menatwork seeks solutions that will optimize and empower their business to thrive. “Now, you can find the best tools for the different domains of your business and have them cooperate with one another, while also not needing an entire tech team to do that for you. So, the ERP approach felt unnecessarily expensive,” shares Maxwell.

QuickBooks’ robust ability to integrate with third-party tools means that Menatwork can steer clear of inflated costs and avoid the over-complexity of a traditional ERP. Instead, they can curate a suite of accounting and business management tools tailored to their business’ needs and have those tools adapt as the company grows and evolves. Maxwell emphasizes, “My general instinct is that with a lot of the flexible applications in general not being stubborn about being siloed, or cooperating with other tools, has changed the ecosystem for how you build your tech stack.” For Menatwork, this flexibility means that business operations can run more efficiently with fewer unnecessary costs. 

Empowering teams and creating lasting client relationships

There are countless ways to define success for a business. But for Maxwell, real success means “helping bring to life a client’s vision, or find a solution to a problem that our clients feel that they are experiencing. And when it comes to our team—that they're feeling inspired and motivated to show up every day.” He goes on to place added importance on “prioritizing these relationships over simply just making sure we build this thing correctly.” 

Project success goes beyond construction —it’s about building relationships and exceeding client expectations. Shannon Gallop, director of client engagement, adds, “The most rewarding aspect would be when a project comes to completion and knowing that was someone who had come through the website months ago, or had seen our Instagram, or had spoken with our renovation consultants.” By integrating QuickBooks into their daily workflow, Menatwork streamlines everything from client consultations to final invoicing, freeing up more time to focus on making their clients’ visions a reality.