You, as an owner of a construction business, whether you are self-employed or have your co-workers help you out, are building our future. So it is extremely important nothing is in your way when you are doing your job. And unfortunately accounting is something that could take away your precious time. Choose an online accounting solution, and you can easily invoice various clients, plan and manage many projects at the same time, track your work hours and create your invoices based thereon, record your expenses and quickly pay your co-workers and file employee related taxes in minutes with the payroll feature. And, if you want to, you can also work from your phone and integrate your software with others, thus turning your accounting solution your right hand. No matter which solution you pick, remember: there is no bad choice here.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
FreshBooks was founded in 2003 in Canada as an invoicing, billing and time tracking software, but over the past years it became a full-fledged online accounting solution ideal for sole proprietors and smaller businesses. With this neat cloud-based software, which underwent a thorough overhaul in 2016, you can easily and quickly create and customize invoices (whether using the desktop account or the Android/iPhone apps), record expenses, plan and realize projects, and track your time. You can integrate a decent amount of third party applications and services, and check reports FreshBooks automatically creates for you. You also have the option to enable fast online payments, set up recurring invoices, and even customize your account. Regardless of your chosen plan, almost all features remain available during and after the 30-day trial period. Furthermore, you also get unlimited customer support with your subscription, which can be as low as $15 per month. So if you need an accounting solution that includes all major functions and you work with a small number of clients and employees/contractors, then FreshBooks is your choice.
Xero is a progressive and innovative online accounting solution that enables you to manage your accounts more effectively and make your accounting hassle-free. Some of its features include invoicing and quotes, bank reconciliation, inventory, mobile capability, third-party apps, purchase orders and payroll. The mobile version of the software, Xero Touch, makes it possible to access all your accounting data instantly from wherever you may be. Xero integrates and works well with many other third-party applications (such as advanced solutions for CRM, point-of-sale, e-commerce and more). You have a choice of three pricing plans – Starter, Standard and Premium – all of which have slightly different features and a reduced price for the first six months. Xero also provides a 30-day free trial. Customers enjoy efficient and reliable support from Xero online teams. Xero’s US headquarters is in San Francisco, but this publicly listed company’s products are used in over 180 countries. The company has garnered impressive experience in the area of cloud computing and accounting and has continued to innovate and create new products for the market.
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