JOB COST

Accurate Job Cost accounting can be of critical importance in managing a successful construction company (or in other companies that are job related). The primary benefits are in three areas. The first benefit is that accurate job cost accounting allows a construction company to compare their actual job costs to their estimated job costs. Accomplishing this task during a job and also being able to use these figures to adjust future job estimates are significant aids to profitability. The second benefit is that accurate job cost accounting allows a company to track payments that have been made to subcontractors on a job-by-job basis. If this tracking is not available, there can be confusion and misunderstandings, which can hamper or destroy a good working relationship between the contractor and the subcontractors. The third primary benefit results from the fact that accurate accounting records are essential for accurate financial statements and also for accurate tax preparation. Because there are so many different types of construction costs and the money is often spent by many different individuals, it is difficult to keep an accurate record of those costs. To make things even more challenging, it is of key importance which jobs are closed and which jobs are still open at the time that financial statements or tax returns are being prepared. However, if an accurate accounting record of construction costs is not kept, and some costs are not recorded, or if there is confusion between receipts and costs on closed and unclosed jobs, then the contractor could easily end up not getting necessary financing or perhaps paying more taxes than they should have to pay, or both.

P.C. Software offers two very inexpensive job cost accounting options that will produce excellent job costing reports and accounting records. The first option is designed to be used by a construction company and the second is designed to be used by an accounting firm. The construction company uses its option in conjunction with Computer Checkbook. The construction company would enter their daily transactions and write any checks and make any payments using the job cost option of Computer Checkbook. This would allow them to keep day-by-day records of each job and manage their jobs throughout the job processing and job closing cycle. They would always have an accurate picture of each job and an accurate picture of the cumulative effect of all jobs. They could then provide this information to an accounting firm, which brings us to the second job costing option. The accounting firm uses its option in conjunction with Client Write Up. The accounting firm could keep the job costing information for a single company or for multiple construction companies on an after-the-fact basis based on information supplied by the construction company or companies. The accounting firm could more efficiently use their job costing option if the construction firm processed their job costing information using the P.C. Software Computer Checkbook System and had sent their information to the accounting firm. In this case, the accounting firm could quickly access the job costing information that the construction company had kept. The firm could then correct entries in conjunction with the construction company, and it could also close appropriate jobs from an accounting basis, in order to produce accurate financial statements and tax returns.

We would be happy to give you an online demonstration of our job costing option to show you how easy it is to use and how full-functioned it is. While we are doing this, you can explain your particular job costing needs, and we can show you how your particular situation would be handled. Just call us at 800-237-9234 and ask for an online demonstration.