Which QuickBooks Version Is Right For You?

QuickBooks Pro - Is great for contractors acting as Sole Proprietor with annual sales under  $100,000 who simply need a way to keep track of basic income and expenses. You can set it up really basic and simple to do most everything in the check register. When you spend money record it in the check register as an expense and when you receive money record it as income. When it is time to file the taxes you generate a Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet and give it to whomever does your tax return.

QuickBooks Premier Contractors Edition - Is designed for serious contractors with annual sales above $100,000 because those companies are usually setup as a corporation, Sub-S or LLC in order to reduce the high income tax they would pay if they were a Sole Proprietor. In addition to the fact that having a corporation can help protect your personal assets, home, car, savings.

QuickBooks - Is a tool like any other tool in the hands of a Master Construction Accountant it can do marvelous things that will amaze even the toughest contractor, their banker and performance bonding agent. However, in the hands of the average bookkeeper it can cause severe and long lasting damage. In the hands of an accountant or C.P.A. it can destroy your construction company. Construction accounting is not something that can be learned; it must be experienced, first hand, as a construction worker on the jobsite before it can be understood. Then and only then is someone prepared to learn it. A Master Construction Accountant can develop a construction bookkeeping and accounting firm with a comprehensive bookkeeping system like an assembly line and hire Professional Bookkeepers to run it.

The Most Important - Use for QuickBooks Premier Contractors Edition is helping contractors understand the financial health of their construction company. QuickBooks Premier Contractors Edition provides a running scorecard of Key Performance Reports and when used with Business Process Management Tools like what 10 minutes of waste costs their company.

Five Types Of Construction Firms Use QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition Effectively:

New Construction Speculative - Land developers, home builders and light commercial builders. These are the contractors who build something in hopes a buyer will emerge during or shortly after the building is built

1. You use QuickBooks to track all your construction and overhead costs and generate Bank Draws and Work-In-Progress (WIP) reports against budgeted estimates to monitor progress which we have in our QuickBooks Setup.

2. Your Chart of Accounts needs to be focused WIP Assets with a few Cost of Goods Sold Accounts (COGS) to allocate the sale of the building

3. You need the Five Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to monitor the financial health of your business

4. You need QuickBooks setup to have between 200 and 6,000 Items setup to track all the costs of the construction process from the ground up through the roof and final cleanup

5. This is the most difficult QuickBooks setup is the Premier Contractor Edition because there is a mix of Direct, Indirect, Asset, WIP and COGS accounts

6. The day to day input is also the most difficult and needs to be handled by construction accounting staff with specialized training in construction accounting

7. Your income can be sporadic and extremely sensitive to the ups and downs of the new construction market which is why you need a strategy with an external focus on the global housing market. 

8. In order for your Spec Builder Company to reach its full potential you will need an overall strategy including a Business Plan for Contractors

9. We believe a lot of speculative builders go bankrupt because they do not have accurate QuickBooks reports to base decisions on and that is as direct result of trying to save money with Cheap Bookkeeping

New Construction Custom - Builders of residential and light commercial buildings who build something specific for a client

1. You have QuickBooks setup to track all the costs and generate Complex Payment Applications, Item Estimates vs. Actuals, Job Profitability Summary and Job Profitability Detail Reports to monitor progress.

2. Your QuickBooks setup needs to have Chart of Accounts wiith proper Goods Sold Accounts (COGS) to allocate project costs.

3. You will benefit from the Five Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to monitor the financial health of your business

4. Your QuickBooks setup will have between 500 to 2,500 Items to track all the costs of the construction process from the ground up through the roof and final cleanup

5. This is the second most difficult QuickBooks setup, the Premier Contractor Edition because there is a mix of Direct, Indirect, COGS and only a few WIP accounts

6. The day to day accounting and bookkeeping input is the second most difficult and to be done properly requires accounting staff with specialized training in construction accounting

7. Our experience has been your group generates a relatively unstable income and is somewhat sensitive to the ups and downs of the new construction custom built market

8. In order for your Custom Home Building Company to reach its full potential you need a Construction Business Strategy including a Business Plan for Contractors

9. We believe a lot of custom builders go bankrupt because they do not have accurate reports to base decisions on and that is as direct result of trying to save money with Cheap Bookkeeping

Remodel - Residential And Light Commercial Tenant Improvement Contractors

1. You use QuickBooks to track all the costs and generate Complex Payment Applications Item Estimates vs. Actuals, Job Profitability Summary and Job Profitability Detail Reports to monitor progress.

2. Your QuickBooks setup Chart of Accounts is focused Goods Sold Accounts (COGS) to allocate project costs.

3. You need the Five Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to monitor the financial health of the business

4. Your QuickBooks setup will need 1,000 to 5,000 Items to properly track all the costs of the construction process from beginning to end in order to get the reports you need

5. This is the third most difficult QuickBooks setup is the Premier Contractor Edition because there is a mix of Direct, Indirect, COGS and only a few WIP accounts

6. The day to day input is also the second most difficult and to be done properly requires accounting staff with specialized training in construction accounting

7. Our experience has been your group generates a stable income and is not as sensitive to the ups and downs of the new construction market

8. In order for you to reach their full potential of your business you will need an overall strategy including a Business Plan for Contractors

9. And of course Cheap Bookkeeping is the one area where short term savings is overwhelmed by making bad decisions based upon inaccurate QuickBooks reports

Trade contractors - Plumbers, Electricians, HVAC, Flooring, Sheetrock, Painters, Landscapers and others.

1. You use QuickBooks to track all the costs and generate Simple Invoices which can then be input into QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition

2. Your QuickBooks setup Chart of Accounts is usually focused Goods Sold Accounts (COGS) to allocate project costs

3. You will need to pay close attention to the Five Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to monitor the financial health of the business because your sales cycle is so short

4. You will need QuickBooks setup to have between 500 to 2,500 Items to track all the costs of the construction process from beginning to end

5. This is the fourth most difficult QuickBooks setup the Premier Contractor Edition to because there is a mix of Direct, Indirect, COGS accounts

6. You day to day input is also the third most difficult and to be done properly requires accounting staff with specialized training in construction accounting

7. Our experience has been your group generates the most stable income and you are not as sensitive to the ups and downs of the new construction market

8. In order to reach their full potential of your Trade Construction Business you will need an overall strategy including a Business Plan for Contractors

9. And of course Cheap Bookkeeping is the one area where short term savings is overwhelmed by making bad decisions based upon inaccurate QuickBooks reports

Service and Repair - companies like drain cleaners, emergency service electricians etc.

1. You use QuickBooks to track all the costs and generate Simple Invoices which can then be input into QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition

2. Your QuickBooks setup Chart of Accounts is usually focused Goods Sold Accounts (COGS) to allocate project costs

3. You will need to closely monitor the daily changes in the Five Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to understand the financial health of your business

4. You will need QuickBooks setup to have between 500 to 2,500 Items to properly track all the costs of the construction process from beginning to end

5. This is the fourth most difficult QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition to setup because there is a mix of Direct, Indirect, COGS accounts

6. The day to day input is also the third most difficult and to be done properly requires accounting staff with specialized training in construction accounting

7. Our experience has been your generates a very stable income because you are not as sensitive to the ups and downs of the new construction market

8. In order to reach your full business potential you need an strategy including a Business Plan for Contractors

9. And of course Cheap Bookkeeping is the one area where short term savings is overwhelmed by making bad decisions based upon inaccurate QuickBooks reports

Having Used - A number of accounting programs over the years we believe QuickBooks is the best, hands down, no contest! For construction company owners the tiny amount of money difference between QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition is worth the investment for the additional a Contractor Reports alone. Upgrading every year is a “no brainer” because of all the new features and if a contractor’s construction accounting staff only saves only 10 minutes a day the savings will more than pay for the program.

Our mission is to “Help Contractors Achieve Their Definition Of Success”. Which means we work with them and support them no matter what version of QuickBooks they use. We have observed contractors who use QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition simply make more money. One of the questions we ask our clients is “Do you want to Right or Rich?”

Right Is Focusing - On cutting costs wherever possible even if it means skimping on labor, material, sub-contractors, tools and equipment which in the end affects their customer’s projects in a negative way and good customer communications. Eventually those construction companies disappear into the night like wisps of smoke.

Rich Is Focusing - On offering good quality products and services by investing wisely in on labor, material, sub-contractors, tools and equipment, customer communications and outsourcing the bookkeeping. These companies seem to grow and prosper.

We Contract - With An Intuit Authorized Commercial Host company that allows us to access QuickBooks Desktop Version Online. The good news is they are great at providing 24/7 access to client QuickBooks files and nightly backup. The other news is that we need staff that is skilled in construction bookkeeping and accounting and other staff that is very experienced with Microsoft Windows Explorer File Structure because we have to upload, setup, monitor and maintain the QuickBooks data, paperless documents and internal file folders for each client. The great news is that from our client’s point of view everything just works fast and easy so they love it!

It Is Like - Having a red carpet lease for your car. The manufacturer (Intuit) makes and sells the product and the contractor buys it (QuickBooks) parks it in our garage (Hosting Service) where our mechanics keep it tuned up and running smoothly (Microsoft Windows Explorer Specialists) and the chauffeurs (construction bookkeepers and accountants) drive the transactions and paperwork into it so the contractor can enjoy the ride (passenger) and generate useful KPI Reports anytime day or night and we help them understand and use the KPI Reports

Click Here For Phase Three Of Your Business Process Management Strategy

Profitable Construction - Companies have known about the value of outsourced bookkeeping services for a long time and now you know about it too!

 

We Scan Your Receipts And Invoices link the appropriate transactions to QuickBooks or Xero Accounting Online depending on the construction accounting service you are using and provide ongoing Cloud Based Contractors Bookkeeping Services by accountants who understand construction.

Business Process Management (BPM) For Contractors

Thinking About Outsourcing Your Contractors Bookkeeping Services?

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Need Help Now?

Call Sharie 206-361-3950

sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com

 

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QuickBooks Outsourced Construction Bookkeeping Services

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About The Author:

Randal DeHart, PMP, QPA is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood Washington. He is the leading expert in outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services for small construction companies across the USA. He is experienced as a Contractor, Project Management Professional, Construction Accountant, Intuit ProAdvisor, QuickBooks For Contractors Expert and Xero Accounting Specialist and Bill.Com Certified Guru. This combination of experience and skill sets provides a unique perspective which allows him to see the world through the eyes of a contractor, Project Manager, Accountant and construction accountant. This quadruple understanding is what sets him apart from other Intuit ProAdvisors and Xero accountants to the benefit of all of the construction contractors he serves across the USA. Visit http://www.fasteasyaccounting.com/randal-dehart/ to learn more.

Our Co-Founder Randal DeHart - Is a Certified PMP (Project Management Professional) with several years of construction project management experience. His expertise is construction accounting systems engineering and process development. His exhaustive study of several leading experts including the work of Dr. W. Edward Deming, Michael Gerber, Walter A. Shewhart, James Lewis and dozens of others was the foundation upon which our Construction Bookkeeping System is based and continues to evolve and improve. Follow Randal on Google+