New Generation Builders and Contractors Are Finally Waking Up!
One of our long time clients said something to us recently that enlightened us to what we’ve known for years.
“The processes and procedures of running a successful construction company haven’t changed. What’s changed is no one wants to talk to one another.”
The First Generation: Builders Who Built Their Companies on Accountability
Early in his career, he invested in a single entry, all in one, construction specific job cost accounting system. It handled everything:
- Job costing – CO Management, Actual vs Budget Cost Analysis and Work-in- Process Reporting
- Accounts Receivable – T&M, Cost Plus and Draw Request, Progress Billings
- Accounts Payable – Bill paying, 1099’s, Workers Comp and General Liability reporting
- Payroll – Processing payroll, tracking labor costs, government reporting and workers comp reporting
- General Ledger – Financial reporting, Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet
For over 40 years, his company ran on actual vs. revised budgeted cost analysis and work in process (WIP) reporting — all produced by the bookkeeper/accountant, not the owner or project managers. He understood something many still miss today: Project Managers are builders, schedulers, and production leaders — not accountants.
If he wanted to scale, the job costing and financial statements had to be accurate, accountable, and owned by accounting. And for that to happen, the job costing had to live inside the accounting system, not scattered across:
- Excel
- Third party apps
- QuickBooks add-ons
- Random spreadsheets
The Next Generation: The QuickBooks Era (and the Hangover)
Today, many younger builders and contractors start with:
- Generic accounting systems like QuickBooks
- Spreadsheets
- Third party apps for job costing and billing
And here’s what they’re discovering:
They don’t use their financial statements to run the business.
Because without WIP reporting, a QuickBooks P&L is worthless for construction.
Excel doesn’t scale.
Owners who used Excel personally are realizing they and their PMs can’t — and shouldn’t — do job costing. They’re not bookkeepers.
Third party job cost apps aren’t truly integrated
Third party job cost apps aren’t truly integrated.The reconciliation is messy, time consuming, and often inaccurate. And the confusion is real:
Do we enter this transaction in the App or in QuickBooks?
Many switch apps hoping for a “better QuickBooks integration,” only to discover… it isn’t.
The Awakening: The Realization They Could Have Avoided All of This
After years of bouncing between:
- QuickBooks
- Excel
- “Integrated” Job Cost/Billing apps that really don’t talk well with each other
…many owners are waking up to a hard truth:
If they had invested in a construction specific job cost accounting system from the start, they wouldn’t have gone through multiple failed implementations.
The next generation is finally realizing what the previous generation already knew:
You can’t run a construction company on disconnected tools. You can’t scale on spreadsheets. And you can’t manage profitability without true job costing inside the accounting system.
If you’re ready to stop juggling disconnected tools and start running your company on accountable, accurate job costing, CSG’s construction specific job cost accounting systems are built for you. One platform. One entry. One source of truth. For more information goto: https://contractorssoftwaregroup.com/job-cost-accounting-software/
and Request a Demo today! You’ll be glad you did!
