Features
Online accounting software comes with many features from invoicing, billing, estimating etc. to payroll, fast payment and projects. But before you consider purchasing a software with less features, consider this: it is better to have an accounting solution with features you do not use (but probably will in the future) than subscribing to one without features you might need sometime.
We cannot decide in your place, but we can give you our advice on the most important features your software should include:
Projecting and time tracking
Most accounting software have this feature which allows you to plan and manage several projects at the same time. You can manually add your work time to these projects, but many accounting solutions are also equipped with clever apps with which you can actually track how many hours you have worked in real time. Either way you will be able to invoice billable and unbillable work times to your customers.
Estimates, quotes
This is an important feature your software should have; clients want to know how much your work will cost them and by sending an estimate to him/her so he/she can see in advance the approximate work hours and the cost of your work could easily mean that the work will be yours. Furthermore, if your client is satisfied with the price you can turn your estimates/quotes into invoices with just a few clicks.
Expenses
Track and record your expenses easily with an online accounting solution; take a snapshot of a receipt and the software processes it for you. If the expense is to be refunded, just attach it to an invoice and let the client pay it for you.
Payroll
This (extra) feature not only lets your co-workers log their work time on their own, but it also automatically creates neat reports for tax purposes. Furthermore, you can pay your employees easier by choosing direct deposit or check.
Integrating other software and services
Another great feature of a decent cloud accounting solution is its capability of being integrated with various third-party software—if the company of your chosen solution offers and supports an API. If it does, than you only have to give the necessary permissions to your accounting software and all your data from the other software will be synced from then on. Moreover, there are plenty types of software that could be integrated into an accounting solution: invoicing tools, inventory management software, time tracking add-ons and many more.
Such a third-party service is WorkflowMax, an all-in-one workflow software for quotes, time sheets, job management invoices and many more. Or there is Co-construct, which is intended for constructors like you to manage and change orders, scheduling, budgets, communication and so on. Hungry for more? You could also integrate GeoOp which has a GPS tracking feature, TinyBuild and BuilderTREND which perfectly work as project management tools, Fleetmatics WORK (formerly Connect2Field) which dispatches jobs to your employees via a mobile app, Corecon, simPRO and the list goes on.
Online accounting solutions recommended for you
Choosing the right accounting solution is not easy for business owners, and it is true for those working in the construction business as well. However, as hard it might seem at first, please take into consideration our recommendations for construction businesses: Freshbooks and Xero. Remember: you can choose another software, but with any of these two we guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Zoltán G.
Sander D.
