Project Accounting Software

Archive for July, 2010

Some organizations and project managers tend to resort to simplistic view when it comes time to judge if the projects they are assigned to manage is a success. The tendency is more due to the most popular success criteria to measure the success from just the triple constraints of CTR or cost, time, and resource performance points of view.

In my view, there are really a lot of other success criteria or parameters on top of the triple constraints to measure success of a project and it has to be viewed from different stakeholders’ point of view.

Project is considered a Success when one is completed ahead of schedule or on time, within budget, which has been executed safely and has met or exceeded the many project performance parameters in technical, safety, quality, plant capacity, features, product specification, and in commercial sense or parameters from major stakeholders; and where the client is happy with what he has been given to the extent one can expect repeat order from the client; and other stakeholders share the success to the extent the project team is looking forward to working together as a team in an upcoming project.

I know and sort of agree this is a mouthful, and in fact it is; but it also reflects a project success in a more complete sense.

As we can see from above project success definition, it is perhaps easier to identify projects, which are generally recognized as unsuccessful if we are to identify where things have gone wrong, and hence what has to be done and how to prevent them to insure project success.

To my personal experience and some research that I have had opportunity to work on, project failures are primarily caused by one or more of the following:

ï‚© SCHEDULE OVERRUN

ï‚© MONATORY OVERRUN

ï‚© RESOURCE AND SKILLS UNAVAILABILITY

ï‚© CHANGING REQUIREMENTS

ï‚© POOR SCOPE OF WORK DEFINITION & SPECIFICATIONS CHANGES

ï‚© UNDERPERFORM ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS

ï‚© REGULATORY NON COMPLIANCE

 UNREALISTIC CUSTOMER’S EXPECTATIONS

ï‚© NO FUNCTIONAL INPUTS AT PLANNING STAGE

ï‚© RESOURCE ARE OVER COMMITTED OR STRETCHED TOO THIN,

ï‚© WRONG PERSON AS PROJECT MANAGER

ï‚© NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TOTAL PROJECT

ï‚© NO PROJECT ACCOUNTABILITY

ï‚© NO SYSTEMS IN PLACE; NONE ADOPTED

In most cases the root causes of project failures have been attributed to one or more of the following:

1. Poor resource planning and management

2. Poor project communication management

3. Poor project management and leadership issues

4. Poor scope of work definition and specifications

5. Poor cost estimating and control

6. Poor time/schedule planning and control

And believe or not, failures in any projects are most likely caused by people issues than technical issues.

Article by Herry Hendarto PMP,

A project management mentor and coach, promoting good project management practices through www.projectmanagement-mentoring.com at HEROLIAN International.

Herry has over 25 years of working experience in the capacity as president, vice president, technical resource management, and in project management roles in a number of multi national companies in engineering, procurement, and construction of oil & gas, petrochemicals, chemicals, and refineries in the Asia Pacific region.

Email: herolian@projectmanagement-mentoring.com

Offshore Software Development company India: Custom Software Solutions Provider: Tandoninfo.com

 

 Tandon Information Solutions is a recognized leader in Custom Software development and consulting services. With a vision of creating a competitive advantage with Software, and becoming our clients’ most valued partner, we deliver concrete business solutions.

 

 Tandon Group commenced operations in California in late 1975. In the two decades since those start-up days, the Group has grown with the industry.

 

 TIS is a technology intensive software development company. It offers customized software development for document management & workflow process such as Account payable/receivable, health care form processing, Claims processing or any other customized document management requirement. It offers these at savings of 50% w.r.t. market prices and with a committed quality of deliverables.

 

Business Services

Tandoninfo provides complete business & Software outsourcing solutions worldwide. Being a Offshore Software development company, we offer Project Management, Outsourcing Services, BPO Services, Deliverables and Application Management, Testing & QC Services. We also provide technical support for customer’s Software Products or Applications over the Internet. We are SAP Business one consultant. We offer SAP B1 implementation, Customization, add-on product development and support.

 

Tandon Information Solutions (TIS) is a recognized leader in Information Technology and Software Development industry. With a vision of creating a competitive advantage with Software and becoming the most valued partner of our clients, we deliver high quality Business Management Solutions, Custom Software Development Solutions, Custom Software Development Services & SAP Business one solutions. It offers customized software development for document management & workflow process such as Account payable/receivable, health care form processing, Claims processing or any other customized document management requirement. It offers these at savings of 50% w.r.t. market prices and with a committed quality of deliverables. TIS, Software Outsourcing Company is pioneer in Workflow & ERP Solutions, Custom Software Application Development, Project Management, Software Testing and Quality Assurance. We provide Offshore Software Development services & solutions. Our engineers / QA / MCA teams specialize in developing applications on various platforms with the latest technologies & GUI front-end tools. We offer Offshore Software development containing full cycle custom Software programming services.

 

Expertise

 

We have expertise in all Software areas like C, C++, Java, VB & other major languages and RDBMS. Our consultants are skilled in multiple platforms, languages and applications and receive continual cross-training in our world-class development facilities to ensure that TIS stays at the leading edge of technology.

TIS emerged in response to growing demand for intelligent software design, development and implementation of new, fully integrated business software systems. We have grown steadily since our inception by providing a comprehensive range of software consultancy services to industry and commerce worldwide.

To know further about our Software Outsourcing and business services please visit us at http://www.web-services.tandoninfo.com

 

Now this is a very serious question as the wrong advice or decision can give rise to dire consequences.  The following actions are guidelines only, much of the information needed to make such a decision, however, is not readily available.  Research has shown that the biggest problem with all of accounting software is inferior providers. Presented below are my suggested actions to take when choosing a reseller.

10 Actions to Take When Choosing an accounting system provider

1. Understand the consequences.

 

The software provider – customer relationship is often likened to marriage; your chosen software providerr is probably going to be with you for a long time.  You will rely on the software provider for updates, additional functionality, training, support, advice and troubleshooting.  As when taking your car to a garage, a trust between the two must exist.  I would advise evaluating several providers closely.

 

Use specific software provider selection criteria and apply it to all candidates.

 

Our criteria for selecting a software provider includes:

 

At least three experienced consultants on staff, with at least five years of experience each.
All consultants trained and accredited and in good standing with the software house.
All consultants receive ongoing training - ask to see certificates.
At least one locally based support person dedicated full time.
Staff should have at least 35 customer implementations under their belt.
At least three customer references – be sure to check.
Software house reference – be sure to check.
Evidence of a continued marketing program.
Regular attendance to software house conferences.
Check out their offices in person, this is usually a very good indicator of the business partner.
Check with Companies House that accounts are filed and in order.
Background check with your accountant, is positive.
Always Check with credit bureau such as CreditSafe for a positive rating.
Software provider is able to meet your required deadline for installation.

 

2. Don’t blindly trust Software House referrals.
Software provider referrals from the software author are not necessarily your best option. Some software houses simply rotate referrals among all resellers in a given territory. If you simply go with what the software house gives you you may not necessarily receive the best referral in your area. 
Also, pay careful attention when using Web referral sources. Some of them will refer you to the highest bidding reseller, which could be a poor performing software provider.The best referral sites are those that ‘vet’ the providers they include and list all of the resellers available.

 

3. Evaluate the software provider.
As you meet with resellers evaluating potential accounting systems, you should be asking certain questions in order to evaluate the reseller as well, an example would be to discuss some of the points listed in item 2. above. You should also note the level of professionalism shown and respect for you and your staff.  Quite often the case may be that the product is great but you have reservations about the reseller.  The answer here is simply find another provider for the product.

 

4. Assess the software providers ethics and professionalism.
As a general rule, the better business partners would appear to have higher standards of ethics and professionalism. They generally do not talk poorly of their competition, they do not pressure you into a decision, and all dealings appear to be above board. You should avoid any software providers whose sales pitch revolves around rubbishing the competition, or who constantly sets deadlines in an attempt to close you.

 

5. Contracts
Before signing an order ask to see specific contract terms and conditions, some unethical software providers have quite lengthy notice periods and other penalty clauses that they apply should you wish to terminate the contract.  If in doubt ask the software provider to explain the clauses or get the terms and conditions checked by a solicitor.

 

6. Ask about availability and personnel.
Before you enter into a contract, you should get your software provider to provide (in writing if necessary) a proposed start date and estimated completion date.  Do not be afraid to ask for a list of key employees who will deal with your project or even meet with them.  Staff assignment is important as you would want your project to be allocated with seasoned employees who know what they are doing, not inexperienced staff who bring little benefit to your job. Make sure that you cross-check the assigned staff with your competency levels in item two.

 

7. Get details of services.
Before you sign ask the software provider for a confirmed time/price for install.  A seasoned business partner will know exactly how much work is involved, if they are reluctant you may be right to question the professionalism of the provider. This document will help you make sure the software provider delivers all of the services included in your agreement.

 

8. Check references.
Always always check references. You should ask for at least three recent install references. Be sure to question the reference site on the product and the software provider staff.  If they can’t meet this simple requirement, then things don’t add up – Continue your search elsewhere.

 

Key questions to ask include:
Did the provider install your system on time and on budget?
Were you happy with the business partner? Would you use them again?
Which staff members were involved on your job, and what were they like?
Are you pleased with the software?

 

9. Make sure they’re good listeners.
Good providers will listen to your requirements and make a concerted effort to understand your business, your needs, and your goals. They will then attempt to achieve the goals, designing a system around them.

 

10. Conclusion
Getting the right software provider is crucial to a successful implementation. The skill set needed to install software or a printer is not necessarily the same skill set needed to design and implement a system. The bulk of time spent implementing will be training your staff, look for a software provider that shows patience, is personable, and respectful of you and your staff. In addition they should demonstrate a clear understanding of your requirements and know what they are talking about. Do your homework and always check references. Secure dates and anticipated milestones in writing before signing on the line. Pay for services at agreed milestones; do not pay too far in advance and be wary of software providers who insist on full payment in advance.

 

Give the Angel Team a call to discuss your requirements on 01923 470899 or email them

mailbox@angeltech.it

can anyone help me ?

Trading up from a small business bookkeeping package to a full construction system is going to ask a lot from you in terms of time and expense. The issue comes down to: do you want to go from simply recording job data into your accounting system or do you want to proactively manage jobs, deadlines, and costs using software specifically designed for your industry?

Here are some questions to ponder before you take the leap.

In addition to the capital expenditure required to purchase mid-market construction software, are you committed to providing the resources required to be properly trained on the new software? That means spending the money and having staff who have the right attitude and skills to learn the new system.

Furthermore, are you committed to getting all the requisite job information into the system to give you the output needed to better manage your jobs?

What is driving your initial interest in construction specific software? Is just because you think you need it? Or do you have job experiences that went bad because you did not track your estimated costs to your committed costs? Or have you just been lucky so far? Does your current job costing system not recognize costs at the time of commitment but only when you receive the bills or when you pay your labor?

How do you handle your Progress Billings? Do you create your Progress Billings separately from your accounting system? Where do you maintain your schedule of values? What system do you have in place to ensure that all costs incurred are actually billed?

What type of job purchasing controls are in place to ensure that committed costs do not deviate from your estimated costs? Is your purchase order and subcontract system allowing you to job cost at the time of commitment?

How does your estimating process work? Is it all spreadsheet based and very specialized? Do you have a handle on tracking estimating costs and revisions against your job ledger?

Where do you store all of your job file information and documents? Do you see any advantage in maintaining all of this in a construction software package? What is your litigation exposure for incomplete job files?

Has new management been added? One of the key drivers for seeking out new software is new management. A new CFO or Controller may recognize the need for better information systems and may even have been brought in for that purpose.

Is your company growing? Growing companies will stretch and eventually break the boundaries of a small business package in terms of transaction volumes and functionality. A classic example is the need for integrated project management and document control. What needs to be in place for you to manage the performance of your projects?

Finally, and perhaps most important for many, is the surety issue for performance bonds. Surety coverage demands detailed metrics for job costs and job progress. In many cases, this type of detail simply cannot be provided without a robust industry package.

How much can you justify spending? Some metrics suggest that you can afford 2-3% of net revenues. But if you are struggling to manage your business due to the lack of real-time information, you may be able to justify more.

How will you find the most appropriate options? If you surf the Web you may identify dozens of products that look like they might work for you. You now have a two step challenge; identifying who to put on your shortlist and then making a final choice between them. This is not a simple task. Often, users actually become more confused as they go through their research instead of less due to all the claims and counterclaims of competing vendors. That means you need someone on staff that has the time to invest and knows how to navigate the muddy waters.

Who is in charge of the search? Sometimes the person tasked to find the new system may be selected simply because they are the most convenient, least cost choice. A bookkeeper/accountant or office manager usually does not have the breath of experience to handle a major project like software evaluation and selection.

The best choice to lead the project is someone who understands all the operational and accounting aspects of the business, has strong communication skills and who has the full confidence of the decision makers.

In today’s world, it is fairly common to come across a contractor that also manufactures some or all of the products that they install for their customers. Custom cabinets are a common example, as are some structural steel and low voltage products. Companies that fall in to this category that are looking for new software often have assembly job shops that design custom pieces and a separate installation department that installs the products at a customer’s site. These companies especially can benefit from new construction software that allows for the most accurate estimating and quoting capabilities.

Unfortunately, finding a piece of construction accounting software that covers both sides of the business is not as easily done as it is said. Although both sides of the business deal with job cost, there are several issues that arise when trying to integrate the two sides with one piece of software.

For example, manufacturing jobs involve a separate set of constraints than construction jobs. In manufacturing, you often deal with work centers, machinery, and individuals that carry out the manufacturing process. These job shops often have to rush jobs, change schedules, or make other changes on the fly based on priority shifts. Having software that is flexible enough to deal with these sudden changes is imperative in a manufacturing situation. However, this is not the case with construction jobs. Construction projects generally involve longer lead times and have to consider variables such as subcontractor scheduling that make quick and extreme changes in plans very difficult, if not impossible to pull off.

Second, manufacturing and construction differ in the way that cost accounting works. Manufacturing projects track direct labor, materials, and a set overhead allocation when calculating job cost. These job costs are accumulated as the project moves forward from one work center to another. These costs are tracked on the balance sheet as assets until the job is shipped off, meaning that inventory costs constantly change as projects move along. Manufacturers also need to know the current progress of a job to tell customers when the project will be complete and delivered.

Construction projects, on the other hand, recognize revenue and costs on a percentage complete or job complete basis.

Most contractors do not record costs until they are actually billed for them, regardless of whether or not the labor has been completed. They are concerned with the cost to date of a project in relation to the estimated budget for the project and monitor under or over billing based on the percentage of the job complete and the percentage of the estimated cost incurred to date. This kind of cost break down simply does not work in a manufacturing environment.

Construction software will record costs in a linear fashion as the job moves along. These costs can be captured and tracked in real time with the right combination of software and processes.

Another difference between construction and manufacturing sides of a business is that the construction side often has to deal with project management issues such as RFIs, change orders, and submittals. These things are simply not relevant in manufacturing but must be accounted for in a construction accounting package. Construction software also allows for progress billing, which is not necessary in manufacturing.

Last of all, manufacturing jobs require quotes that involve a bill of materials which is not usually done in a construction job. Manufacturers like to use software to keep track of things such as change orders, revision histories, and drawings that are not covered by construction software.

Therefore, although manufacturing and construction companies both deal with ‘job cost,’ the term refers to different things in the two companies. As a result, it is necessary to separate construction software and manufacturing software.

Employee Planner Software

Employee shift scheduling software is handy tool for all business organization that easily manages employee shift records, attendance details, staff leaves records along with complete payroll information.

Monday, February 22, 2010;

Staff management software has an intuitive interface that addresses employee management tasks and processes including tracking attendance and time, employee tours/travels, events, enterprise resources, salary information, trainings, leaves, business, in/out timing, projects, shift timings, vacations, meetings and daily work performance and other activities in proper manner.

Employee planner software generates reports of company details, employee details and minimizes staff planning processes that allows management to concentrate on business goals. Employees attendance software provides advance features including password protected payroll slips, extensive reporting capabilities and data connectivity for efficient employee record management. Employee attendance calendar automatically sums up total working hours, calculate overtime, time off, shift pays that helps in generating payroll slips of employees.

You can download free trial version of software directly by visiting following URL:

http://www.smart-accountant.com/smart-accountant/employee-planner.html

Employee time and attendance software helps to keep track of employee leave details (Casual leave, Sick leave, Marital leave etc) and tour/training records and efficiently maintains accurate details.

Smart-accountant.com is the standard excellence in the software industry by constantly providing premium and pioneering accounting and financial services for all business firms. Employee time scheduling software proves to be a perfect solution for organization including call center and helpdesk, Fire department, IT firms, hotel and hospitality, transport and many more.

For any product related inquiry or free online technical support,

Please contact:

Accounting software (Customer Representative)

Send e-mail @:- accpromo@smart-accountant.com

For more detail and information logon to following website link URL:

http://www.smart-accountant.com

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MetaViewer and Microsoft Dynamics Integration Means True Paperless Accounting Automation
ROCHESTER, Minn., July 27 /PRNewswire/ — Metafile Information Systems (http://www.metaviewer.com) is answering the cross-industry call for true accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) process automation through the integration of its MetaViewer product with Microsoft Dynamics. All MetaViewer functionality easily integrates with Microsoft Dynamics GP, AX, SL …

Read more on redOrbit

There are many benefits to be had for companies engaged in projects if they can update their projects with the latest labour charges at the same time as their payroll manager prepares the company’s pay-run.

Project Timesheets

A One-Pass Payroll Solution will have project timesheets designed to ensure all required data is input once without the need for additional keying or reprocessing by the payroll manager. As part of the design, the computerised employee timesheets would superimpose their matching project scheduling calendar that would clearly show the non-working days, approved Rostered Days Off (RDOs) and public holidays.

Project timesheets should make use of pre-filled data such as the details of the projects being worked on and the Pay Sequences covering allowances and other entitlements for the employee.

The provision of the correct calendars and pre-filling will assist in reducing data entry errors.

A project orientated employee timesheet is more likely to be completed on-site where posting to the cost allocation codes will be the most accurate. This also minimises any delay in preparing the progress claims for labour, supervision or professional services.

Labour Cost Forecasting

Another by-product of a One-Pass Payroll Solution is the assistance it provides to the process of Labour Cost Forecasting. As employee timesheets are processed in a project payroll system they can be forced to be matched with labour orders that relate to the cost allocation codes.

These payroll solutions would then be able to track the hours and cost; and so calculate an achieved rate per hour. The software is then in a position to forecast hours and the implied rate to arrive at a final forecast cost. This enables project managers to look at both the elements that make up the total cost – resulting in more predicable outcomes for the projects.

Payroll Accounting

The Payroll Solutions employed by a company provide a conduit for key information to flow – not just for the results of the pay-run calculations to generate direct deposits for the staff.

Payroll Accounting should provide a holistic solution. The information flowing from the timesheets should update the cost obligations for leave, superannuation payments and long service leave within the corporate accounts in addition to updating project costs and pay calculations.

This will help companies make realistic provisions and survive future demands on cash reserves.

Construction Payroll Software

Construction companies’ payrolls would particularly benefit from a One-Pass Payroll Solution to ensure that their projects are being charged a fully loaded rate for the people working on them.    The Payroll Solutions they use need an appropriate mechanism to calculate their labour charge out rates otherwise management will be forced to rely upon estimates revised periodically on a spreadsheet. Such averages do not provide the required accuracy.

Consider the following scenario:

A construction company has two projects, one in the city, the other at a suburban location. Employees at the major city project, working longer hours, are being compared with the suburban project where they work normal hours.

The cost per hour for the city project can be almost double the suburban project – but the difference is not obvious unless you do the analysis.

The approach should be to ensure every individual is being charged at a real cost per hour which includes the on-cost provisions. We believe that this method produces the most accurate results for costing a project – especially a construction project.

Payroll solutions should also have a mechanism to ensure that construction projects that consume all the company’s labour do not distort the overall average cost per hour for other projects. For  example, if all the company’s labour resources were used over a weekend on a single project then there should be a loading factor in employee timesheet entry to grossly load up the cost per hour for that particular weekend project. It should not be allowed to be applied as an average increase in cost over all the work that the individuals are doing.

All of these examples highlight the benefits of using a Payroll Solution that is integrated with the project accounting software so that Payroll and Job Costs are updated in the one-pass.