Project Accounting

Accounting systems form an integral part of any successful business. Proper accounting not only helps the organization know its monitory worth, but also works as leverage to climb the ladders of growth. A construction company is like any other company and has many responsibilities towards their employees, customers, vendors, investors and government. They are bound to answer questions or queries that are raised time to time. Unless, they maintain a sound accounting procedure and proper reporting systems they can not fulfill these requirements.

The construction industry has some specific accounting requirements. Apart from routine receivable and payable accounts, they need systems for project estimating, job costing, overhead expenses, project schedules and contracts, project billing, vendor tracking and invoicing, customer management, etc. A typical construction accounting system includes accounts payable, job cost management, accounts receivable, payroll, detailed job budgets, time and material billing, general ledger, AIA billing, subcontract status, custom job reports, certified payroll, over and under billings, purchase orders, union reports, inventory, equipment tracking, work in progress, etc.

In this computer age, there are many software packages available. Software specifically developed for the construction industry incorporates their specific requirements and are user-friendly and can be operated by the personnel with little computer knowledge. Apart from fulfilling statutory requirements such as balance sheets, profit and loss accounts for company and outside agencies like sales tax and customs departments, these packages generate innumerable reports which would be very helpful in company’s decision making process.

Most of this accounting software covers four major areas of construction industries. Accounting module covers, A/P, A/R, check writing, financial reports, inventory, job costs, payroll, project billing, cost estimating module covers assemblies, as well as unit costs, project management module includes change orders, contract writing, material takeoffs, punch lists, schedules. Business management module deals with appointments, customer relations, leads, property management, sales, etc.

Microsoft Dynamics GP is excellent fit for mid-size and large non for profit organization. Great Plains has special suit of non-for-profit modules, and among them Grant Management. This module enables functionality, when you on behalf of sponsors opening the grand for bidding and later on releasing the funds as project progresses. In this small article we will give you Grant Management module highlights:

1. Analytical Accounting is required. In fact, GM module deploys the functionality of Analytical Accounting: dimensions, Accounting Class (to enable Analytical Accounting tracking entries for GL, AP, RM, SOP, POP and Inventory transactions), Trees, Budgets, Budget Trees.

2. Grant object in GP is linked to Grant dimension code in Analytical Accounting. The reporting for Grant Management is done through Analytical Accounting queries, where you establish the query and send its result to Excel

3. Grant Sponsors. These are GP customers. If you don’t have them as customers, you can create them on the fly from Grand Sponsors screen. You specify the sponsored amount by each sponsor and grant fund will be increased respectively

4. Multicurrency. You should setup default currency in order to use Grand Management. It is also needed in Analytical Accounting

5. Beyond Grant Management in Analytical Accounting. GM only deploys alphanumeric dimension codes and so it is restricted. In GM you only need one dimension, unique code per grant and budget per grant dimension code. This is probably only ten percent of Analytical Accounting functionality. Analytical Accounting module in turn could be recommended to financial analysts in large corporations, where they can do real data mining, slicing and dicing analysis in Finance depar

Accounting is the vital part in any size of business. Since accounting is a tedious and time consuming job but it is very important that accounting is outsourced to offshore company. This decision helps the company to concentrate in their area of specialization and not worry about the accounting aspect of the business. Outsourcing has several advantages and these include the following:

• The services of experts are available at a fraction of what would have been paid to hire them on a full time or part-time basis.
• An offshore accounting outsourcing service provider provides reliable and competent services that are an asset to the company and simplify its working.
• Outsourcing relieves the company of the tedious and yet crucial process of accounting bookkeeping.
• When a company considers outsourcing not only does it not bother with recruitment of accounting professionals but also saves on office space and related expenditure.

Certain Tips

1. The total cost is always a factor in the company while off shoring a job. But the lowest bidder need not always be the best bet because accountancy job is a big risky job. So you should be careful while selecting a company.

2. Don’t feel shy to ask query to the vendor if your have any doubts. Also do ask them whether they have done any similar project or not. Its better to ask them for sample example.

3. Milestone should be created for the free flow of the project to completion. This not only save time for both the party but helps to make the payment in installations as and when completed.

4. Accounting is a very tough job. So this must be done from certified public accountants and in case of offshore outsourcing you need to confirm that the accountants are qualified to handle and provide accounting solutions. So check the offshore vendor is dependable or not. Don’t believe them blindly.

5. Start with a small project so that you can give the vendor a chance to prove their caliber.

6. Security issue must be discussed upfront to get clear about it. Accounting information is crucial to the success of every business and any leak of such information can have drastic consequences.

7. Clear your expectation from the vendor otherwise it creat problem. It is really a vital thing to specify your needs and expectation.

8. Communication with the accounting outsourcing firm is of utmost importance and you should be able to interact and communicate freely. Thus the service provider ought to have communication facilities that are satisfactory and should be easily contacted.

9. Reviewing previous projects that the vendor has done will give you a fair idea of the level and quality of accounting that they can deliver. So that you can judge their line of thinking and working. It is also recommended that you initially start with a pilot project that will assure you of the services that you have been promised.

10. A contract must be made before start of any project which clearly deals with your expectations, accuracy of work and deadline to complete the work. This contract must contain all information from major to minor details so that you don’t face any problem.

Property management accounting software is a computer program that streamlines the accounting process for a property management company. All property works are primarily planned through the application of software. They not only give the virtual image of the whole property, but also the errorless calculations and accounting works, cost factors, management planning and other works.

Although the best property management professionals are hired for the projects, computer software gives a detailed analysis of the plan, including calculations and statistical implications. There is even web-based software to manage and facilitate the handling of properties in terms of accounting. Property management accounting software solutions are helping people across the country in the newest and most innovative ways to perform real estate accounting management tasks more efficiently than ever.

Property management accounting software solutions alleviate many problems that residential property managers face every day. The accounting software has helped many companies get rid of independent property accounting systems, as these software solutions provide comprehensive accounting features within their web-based solution. Nonetheless, the modules of standard accounting software for properties can be summarized in the following ways:

a) Income Module: their basic features are calculating date wise reports of the rent received and due, including the late fees, and format-based tabulation of rental information of properties.

b) Expense Module: their basic features are concerned with the consolidated expenditure property expenses. And lists of expenses based on customized parameters.

c) Reports Module: their basic features are unit turnover, unit profit and unit loss, unit type listing, profit and loss, activity report and others.

When talking about the best business accounting software, you must first know the relationship between finance and accounting. Conceptually speaking, they are closely related to the extent that accounting is an important input in financial decision making and there are key differences in viewpoints between them. Accounting is a necessary input into finance. That is, accounting is a sub-function of finance.

Accounting generates information or data relating to the operations or activities of the firm. The end-product of accounting constitutes financial statements such as the balance sheet, the income statement (profit and loss account) and the statement of changes in financial position (sources and uses of funds statement). The information contained in these statements and reports assists financial managers in assessing the past performance and future directions of the firm and in meeting certain legal obligations, such as payment of taxes and so on. Thus, accounting and finance are functionally closely related.

But there are key differences between finance and accounting. The first difference relates to the treatment of funds while the second relates to decision making. The viewpoint of accounting relating to the funds of the firm is different from that of finance. The measurement of funds (income and expenses) in accounting is based on the accrual system. For instance, revenue is recognized at the point of sale and not when collected. Similarly, expenses are recognized when they are incurred rather than when actually paid. The accrual-based accounting data do not reflect fully the financial circumstances of the firm. The viewpoint of finance relating to the treatment of funds is based on cashflows. The revenues are recognized only when actually received in cash (i.e. cash inflow) and expenses are recognized on actual payment (i.e. cash outflow).

Finance and accounting also differ in respect to their purposes. The purpose of accounting is collection and presentation of financial data. It provides consistently developed and easily interpreted data on the past, present and future operations of the firm. On the other hand, financial manager’s major responsibility relates to financial planning, controlling and decision making. Thus, in a sense, finance begins where accounting ends.

CRM

CRM solutions are business strategies that assist in building a healthy relationship with customers. They have become a milestone in the marketing strategies of modern business organizations. Earlier, CRM solutions had been based on client-server architecture. A few draw backs of the client-server model CRM solutions led to the development of web based CRM solutions. Web based CRM solutions are business strategies intended mainly for e-commerce.

As the World Wide Web serves as the platform in web based CRM solutions, the software need be installed on a single server. The installed software can be accessed from any remote location, and any change made in the software will be reflected throughout the system. The client-server model CRM solutions do not support remote access or wireless devices. But, web based CRM solutions have facilities to access wireless devices like PDAs and WAP-enabled mobile phones.

In a web based CRM solution, only the central server has to be maintained. Thus, web based CRM solutions are very cost effective. When compared with client-server CRM solutions, web based CRM solutions are more flexible and easy to maintain. As the web based CRM solutions are based on Web, they can be distributed faster than the conventional CRM solutions and client-server CRM solutions. Also, adding of new clients in a web based CRM solution is very easy. The number of users in web based CRM solution is unlimited.

Netgain, Upshot, SAP, Clarify, ONYX, Trilogy, Oracle, Siebel Systems, and Firstwave Technologies, Inc. are some of the leading vendors in the web based CRM solutions.

CRM solutions providers are companies and individuals who provide solutions to build a good and profitable customer relationship. CRM is the abbreviation of Customer Relationship Management. In the present world, CRM has become a milestone in businesses strategies. It assists in building new business strategies which will not only improve relation with the customer and but also to enhance the prospects of overall business. Today, CRM has become equally important to small, large, and medium business organizations.

Increase in the demand of customer relationship management (CRM) has lead to the popularity of CRM solutions providers. CRM solutions providers are broadly classified into two - in-house CRM solutions providers and hosted CRM solutions providers.

In-house CRM solutions providers are also known as customized CRM solutions providers and on-demand solutions providers. Generally, in-house CRM solutions providers give solutions to meet the specific needs of a company or a customer. They give business solutions to all types and sizes of companies. Based on the size of the company or organization, in-house CRM solutions providers usually take three to twelve months for the complete implementation of their program. In-house CRM solutions providers have many added advantages when compared with hosted solutions providers. In-house CRM solutions providers generally have an intimate knowledge of the legacy systems in the organization. Thus, their programs are easy to install and maintain. Usually, in-house CRM solutions providers give solutions for sales, marketing, and other services. In-house CRM solutions providers are more costly, when compared with hosted CRM solutions providers. For example, an in-house CRM solutions provider will charge around $2,000 to $3,500 for a business service.

Hosted CRM solutions providers are better known as outsourced CMR solutions providers. This type of CRM solution providers simplifies the entire management process, and thus reduces the risk and increases the value of the businesses. Hosted CRM solutions providers have solutions for sales, marketing, and other major services.

When compared with in-house CRM solutions providers, hosted CRM solutions providers are more cost-effective. Generally, hosted CRM solutions providers will cost around $70 per month for a medium size business organization. Therefore, it is widely used by small and medium-sized business organizations.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

CRM (Customer Relationship management) is all about the theory used by companies to administer and manage their customers, partners, vendors and other stakeholders efficiently.

Features of CRM

CRM is made up of three key features, which are Operational CRM, Collaborative CRM and Analytical CRM.

• Collaborative CRM is to directly communicate with customers without inclusion of any sales or service representatives.
• Analytical CRM is to investigate customer data for a vast range of reasons and functions.
• Operational CRM deals with providing complete front office support to sales, marketing and similar services.

The communication with the customers is recorded and added to the customer’s contact history database and can be easily retrieved for future reference. The biggest benefit about maintaining this contact history is that the customers can easily contact with the service personnel without having to repeat any of the earlier communication or information.

That is why CRM software is used popularly in call centers or BPOs for supporting the call center staff.

Direct interaction is carried out with collaborative CRM that includes feedback from the customers and reporting of issues if any. This interaction can be carried out through a variety of channels like email, phone, SMS, etc. The main objective behind going in for collaborative CRM can be reducing the company costs and improving the services provided.

Analytical CRM finds multiple uses such as taking management decisions, predicting future trends, analyzing customer behavior, planning and executing marketing campaigns and much more.

Operational CRM is mainly concerned with automating customer processes and providing appropriate support to these services.

CRM is not just a mere technology; it is in fact the move towards handling your customers better and more efficiently. The top management should tap CRM’s complete potential to maximize the benefits for their respective organization.
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