Best Way to Keep Track of Skus (Purchases)?

[Irene Chen]

Hi Everyone!

I recently just finished my first rehab and boy..it was a complete nightmare! My contractor was extremely dishonest and when we did catch him stealing, he would gaslight us and flip it back on us, threatening to quit, etc. I wanted advice on how you guys keep track of materials and purchases? Here's how my story went:

Since we were out of state, we paid the contractor for materials in multiple ways. For larger structural items, the contractor obviously ordered lumber, sheetrock, etc. on his own card and then we would zelle him. --Perfectly Fine

The issue was the small items and finishes. We usually tell him to buy whatever he needs, take a picture of the receipt, and we will zelle him back for the items OR he would get a quote for a list of items at Lowe's and we would call to give Lowe's our credit card. Now, as everyone knows, there are sometimes hundreds of skus needed for each phase. It is SO easy for the contractor to hide in certain items such as random power drills and tools that he wants to keep because he is banking on the fact that we aren't going to check through hundreds of sku item codes. He also returned some of the remaining items back to Lowe's and instead of Lowe's refunding it back to our card, he would get it back in the form of a "Gift Card" and keep if for himself.

What method do you guys need? I REALLY NEED ADVICE!!