Mike,
We are on the same page.
I started using Evernote quite a bit this year, but the BB process of viewing your online docs just stinks as it runs through the default BB browser and is clunky as all get out. Not to mention, I can't really see anything in a pic on my BB anyway. I mostly use it to take a snapshot of checks I am depositing so I have a record of them for entry into Quickbooks when I get home.
Now that I have the Netbook online, I can use the internet out on the road a little more efficiently. I am using my BB for data through tethering. It works great, but 3g is not that great via tether compared to good old WiFi.
Administration becomes an issue with any/all of this. We are now creating a LOT of new data daily and you have to make it a point to sort and organize it daily or else you have a mess.
This is where a VERY good document scanner comes into play. They all will scan anything you put in them, but the software is what makes it or breaks it.
You want to feed in a receipt from HD and have it automatically tag it and file it under "Home Depot" and "Building Supplies". If you have to manually do that, it's a major PITA. All the reviews I have read seem to have shortcomings in this area.
As far as proposals and contracts go, I am in pretty good shape. Last year, I built a killer spreadsheet with a database for deck estimating which lets me estimate a standard deck in about 10 minutes provided I have plans or I don't have to design the framing in my head.
I just revamped my standard remodeling estimating spreadsheet during the conversion into the cloud, but the problem with remodeling is that nothing is ever the same or repeatable (with deck building, it is). I don't think I am going to put the lookup database functionality into that spreadsheet because it's not really worth it considering the uniqueness.
One other issue with all these commonly used documents is version control. Inevitably, you create a document on day one that works. Then, next week, you are using it as a template for another job and you add or change something going forward. This is a HUGE PITA for me as the opportunity for errors becomes enormous.
For instance, I have a pretty standard deck proposal, but even that gets customized for every job every time. Take out a line, add a line, put in a clause, customize this, whatever. The problem I've run across is that I usually start my newest proposal by opening the last proposal I did that was similar and do a "save as". That similar proposal may have been MONTHS ago and in that time, I've added things into the document that should be there but weren't present when I wrote the initial one. Catch my drift.
The only option I can think of is to create a "Master Template" proposal that has every line item I'd ever want/need (or as many as I can think of) and then just open that and delete out the inapplicable lines or customize them and save THAT as the job proposal. Seems like a horror show to me though. Any ideas on how to do this efficiently?