Construction Accouting Software

[JimNeu]

Joe: After 5 years finally seeing signs that the construction market might be improving. Thinking about getting a spec home going. The last several years I was using Master Builder software, for the most part it did a reasonably good job of accounting for my construction biz. Recently on another thread the poster mentioned that Sage had upgraded MB software, but that it was not much of an upgrade.

I have an accounting background, but have not been keeping up on the accounting software. A few things that MB did right is the job costing module was not to bad. I did like the construction draw feature, in that it would let me make loan draws while keeping all the accounting under that particular construction loan. Bankers are certainly happy when they know a builder is keeping good accounting records. Joe Stoddard on the other forum mentioned that "supervision" was locked into indirect costs (or direct costs, I'm not sure) and hardcoded into the software, I never cared for that situation either. These sorts of issues just lead me to the conclusion that MB is very rigid and as Joe Stoddard says "long in the tooth". Not what I am looking for in today's construction tech environment.

And MB is a very inflexible program, for instance there is little opportunity for analysis, I'd like to take certain numbers, totals or reports and tweak them in different ways to my own liking, but almost no way to do that in MB. If I have to buy Crystal Reports to pull the number out of the accounting program, which at one time I was thinking of doing, then I'd say that the accounting software has failed. Which is where I think MB is at.

Oh, and the year end accounting in MB a complete and utter nightmare. Hated the year end cleanup with a passion.

And the upgrades were costly, if I recall over $1,000 for an occasional upgrade. And like all upgrades nowadays, they change the font color and size and then pass it off as an upgrade (I guess they think we're stupid). I get so tired on being nickled and dimed by Sage.

Also, with many of the accounting software packages on the market. For instance Peachtree, says on the box it has "Job cost reporting". No, I don't wand job cost reporting, I want job cost accounting, there is a big difference. I think Quicken does the same: job cost reporting and not job cost accounting.

What the market didn't wipe out, the bankers did and now I am starting completely over, I just don't have much of a budget to work with. Anyone know of a accounting software program for under $500, that might serve as a good program for a small construction business? Thanks Jim N

[Allan Edwards]

Jim:

I've been using CHS (Custom Home Builders Solutions) for 5-6 years, and it is great. I think the cost is a bit higher than $500, I think she (Carol King, Owner) now only sells it as a remote connection platform. But for contractors it is extremely solid in accounting and job costing. i can't enough good things about it.

http://chsbuildersoftware.com/

[parkwest]

At $750 sign up fee and $50/month subscription fee plus $40/month/user fee, CHS might be out of Jim's budget.

I did a search and found this site:

http://www.capterra.com/construction...FeZaMgod9ggAAQ

There is a ton of software out there. Good Luck!

[TWhite]

You should look at MYOB AccountEdge.I'vebeen usingit for 20+ years. I believe it is under $300.

[Jef@FDB]

Allan,

Thanks for posting. Can you share why you moved to CHS from your previous system? how long did your transition take? Was there any nice surprises you discovered in the process? Or disappointments?

We have been working with QB for last 15 years and have been modestly satisfied with the job cost reporting, but tired of the continual cross checking between estimate and report. The WIP is also a huge pain. I have been looking at different ways to utilize PO's....but it always seem to include some type of double entry in a different system.

I have gone thru the videos on the CHS Web site and had a very nice conversation with Carol. I'm excited about the program, and thinks she's on the right track with the web service. I can see this type of system being morphed with a service like Buildertrend, Buildtools....Certainly the future.

What really grabbed my attention was the instant comparison to the estimate and the alert if over, and then how to proceed.....regardless if using a PO.

For your business, which aspect of CHS is the most valuable?

Thank you...

[Allan Edwards]

Jef:
CHS is very solid in accounting and job costing. I switched from Buildsoft 6 years ago because it was on shaky ground and I felt I needed to make a move. As to the transition, the first thing was entering all of my vendor and job information, it had to be done manually and took a week or so. I customized the Cost Codes, another day or so. The hardest thing is having good General Ledger balances from your previous system and making the switch.

The best thing about CHS is the job costing and Estimated Cost of Completion worksheet, it gives me all of the information about each job, money spent, balance of budget, PO’s, etc. And as I said, the accounting is very strong, based on NAHB chart of accounts and standard accounting. I have to provide financial statements to my banks a couple of times a year and it is easy with CHS.

For job cost control, CHS gives you several options. You can do a simple budget, and get alerts when costs exceed the budget, you actually get that alert at invoice entry. Or you can get alerts if costs exceed your PO’s (committed budget). It is very flexible, and another great thing is all of the reports, there are dozens and they can all be exported to Excel where you can manipulate the data as needed.

I really can’t say enough good things about it. There is no comparison between Quickbooks and CHS.

To answer your question "which aspect of CHS is most valuable", I would say the excellent Job Cost system and reports and the accounting reports.

[Stacey]

I'm going to stick up for MB. The annual renewal is $830 for 2 seats. I'm not sure how much it is for only 1 seat, probably $500. That entitles you to all the program and tax updates.
What kinds of problems were you having with year end? The newest version creates anything you want into a pdf, word or excel document. I have no problems getting what I need from MB.
The custom reporting function is quite good. I would contact Sage and find out when they are having classes in your area and find out how to create your own custom reports. If you aren't interested in the classes, then they will put you in touch with someone who can create individual custom reports for you without having to buy the Crystal package. I have a local MB seller that creates any reports I need very easily.
You can also import excel spreadsheets into MB. I use that for budgets for jobs. Copy and paste the information.
The newest version of MB is quite a bit different than in the past. I'll stick with it.

[Jef@FDB]

Allan, thank you.....I am setting up a session with Carol and my office manager. Your input has been very helpful. I like the ability to define the type of qaunity in the estimate, being a turnkey number, or labor only. Can't wait to see the percent worksheet in action.....

The estimate entry feature seems to be really strong too, allowing you to define the units of that trade, which will help eliminate the back and forth to our estimates sheets. Being able to reference past cost for a trade/sub compared to a defineable qaunity to see consistent over or under numbers has me shaking my head...seems so very basic and logical, our QB just won't do that.....

Stacey.....how are you? Cody still building and flying planes? I'm interested in MB but only remember hearing (from RA members) things like "necessary evil" or "It's good, but takes a huge investment in time". I know anything worth while takes work, so I need to keep an open mind for MB. I'm not a big fan of Sage, especially considering what happened to ACT. We are in eval mode, so I am going to take a look and see if it can meet our list of needs. Do you mind if I give a call later this week and discuss MB and catch up...

[rocket]

Allan
Would CHS work for a remodeler?

[JimNeu]

All:

"At $750 sign up fee and $50/month subscription fee plus $40/month/user fee, CHS might be out of Jim's budget."


This is to steep for me. I remember years ago when Allan changed to CHS. And ever since then he has commented how well it works. I am sure is is good software, but beyond my budget. Also, I dont care for the programs with a monthly fee attached. Some have the revenues and staff and are happy to pay CHS, I don't think it will work for me at this point.

Maybe I'll recheck MB, I used it for many years and know it well, and maybe they have made significant changes? I need to take the path of least resistance and wont have the time to get bogged down looking for accounting software. I would much rather spend my time working on drawings in Softplan, as that is where the money is made. I'll look at MYOB and a couple of others. With accounting software changing in the high tech enviro, I would think there would be a package for just a few hundred.
Thanks Jim N

[Allan Edwards]

Allan
Would CHS work for a remodeler?

Yes, it will absolutely work for remodeling. The accounting is basically the same as home building, you probably recognize revenue at completion of your job. That is, whatever profit you make on a job you acknowledge on your books ("recognize") that profit when the job is completed. As opposed to recognizing it on a % basis as the job progresses. So from that viewpoint it is the same.

I do a bit of remodeling and it's the same process using CHS as new homes.

[aptbldr]

... newest version creates anything you want into a pdf, word or excel document. ...

Yes-but: it only exports into Office 2007 versions now.

[swbuilder]

Jef,
I was a happy QB user for some years and switched to CHS about 4 years ago on Allan's recommendation and I could not have been more happy for doing it. I guarantee that even after a couple of years using CHS there will be some feature or report that had never caught your attention before that will impress you.

Has QB's ever got around to tracking committed costs (PO's) in their job costs reports? Like Allan said the estimated costs at completion report is light years ahead of what QB's could ever do. I'm way more confident in my numbers now than with QB's and I thought QB was doing an alright job at the time. I just didn't know any better.
One thing CHS isn't is QB's on steriods. It would be like comparing a motorola phone with a camera to an iPhone. Just no comparison. There are so many things it does to save me time or keep me organized that QB's never could do. Too many things to list. I wouldn't even know where to start.

[Joe Adams]

I think this situation is like so many things in life - "You get what you pay for".

Bookkeeping systems like Quickbooks and Peachtree are designed to serve a broad range of industries and even specialized versions for contractors are too generic to meet every need. However, this broader customer base helps them spread out development costs for a lower price point.

CHS and MB are far more refined to homebuilding but they sell to a narrow market of users and the software is priced accordingly.

[swbuilder]

By the way. What is the yearly cost of the Quickbooks payroll service these days? Add that to the cost of yearly upgrades of QB's contractor edition and the difference might not be that much?