2008 Review of Contractor/Construction Accounting Systems

From the April/May 2008 Issue

Even though the real estate market has slowed down (or perhaps for that very reason), the construction industry remains strong. Construction professionals, including contractors and subcontractors, continue to thrive in this tough economy, perhaps because many people are choosing to enhance their existing home rather than search for a new one. Whatever the reason, there seems to be no shortage of work for construction
professionals.

As I’m sure you’re aware, the construction industry has its own unique set of features deemed as necessary. Those requirements include strong job cost functionality, the ability to track job cost expenses (including labor and overhead) and the need to keep a close eye on job budgets to ensure profitability. Every product reviewed here contains a job cost module or function in some capacity, with some being more comprehensive than others.

Other features and functionality a construction company may look for include an Inventory module to track materials, a scheduling board for sending out service technicians, the ability to track liability and workers’ compensation insurance, and an equipment module to track usage and maintenance.
The type of business your client runs — construction, contracting, home repair, HVAC, plumbing, etc. — will make a big difference in what program you should recommend. Smaller companies or those just starting out would do well on an entry-level product.

While such products may lack many of the features found in larger systems, they are often priced for companies that might not be in a position to make a large software investment, and the company usually doesn’t have a need for those advanced features anyway. Those with more established businesses would do well to search out a more sophisticated product that contains more of the features that will likely be needed down the road, even if they have no use for such features in the short term. This review considers the following six categories:

Learning Curve/Ease of Use -- When looking to implement new software, this may be the area that many business owners and managers will look at first, simply because excessive training time means loss of productivity. How quickly can they have the product up and running? Is it easy to navigate or is significant training time required? Is there a sample database included with the product?

Modules & Functionality -- While some of the products reviewed here are all-inclusive, the majority of them are modular in structure. What that means to your client is that they can actually add on modules as needed, which results in a more flexible product and eliminates the need for numerous third-party applications. However, third-party applications can prove to be important, as well, because they can significantly increase functionality in areas that may not be addressed by the core construction accounting product.