Contents of CPA Practice Advisor - MAR 2012

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.

Page 21 of 38

CONSTRUCTION/CONTRACTOR ACCOUNTING Reviews For Your Clients
Intuit, Inc. – QuickBooks Premier Contractor 2012 2012 OVERALL RATING
BEST FIT QuickBooks Premier Contractor 2012 is well suited for small or start-up construction com- panies that need an easy to use soſt ware product that fi ts into their budget.
STRENGTHS • Aff ordable for most budgets and easy to use • Limited time/expertise needed for installa- tion and setup
• Solid accounting capability with industry specifi c chart of accounts
• Good integration with third-party soſt ware and a wide range of add-ons
POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • Limited ability for product expansion • Limited customization capability As in previous years, Intuit continues to
update its popular QuickBooks business management soſt ware with new features and product enhancements. QuickBooks Premier Contractor 2012 provides tools to manage and track jobs for most small and mid-sized construction companies.
BASIC SYSTEM FUNCTIONS QuickBooks continues to provide users with a customizable, easy to navigate user interface screen. The application uses transaction cycle-based Home Page as the main navigation point. All controls are navigated by using a drop down menu at the top of the screen, as well as workfl ow diagrams that display the available options for each area of the business (customers, vendors, employees, banking etc). Data entry screens are consistent with earlier versions, and all screens include look up options for quicker data entry. T e new Calendar View provides bet er calendar management functions and users can scan documents and add to-dos to further improve functionality. Company Snapshots provide users with comprehensive views of selected reports such as payment status and company aging reports. A QuickBooks add-on provides remote personnel with easy system access. Data entry screens are consistent throughout QuickBooks and contain the necessary look up options. Although there is a Mac OS version of QuickBooks Pro, as well as a separate Online Edition of the application, the Premier Contractor Edition is available only for computers running Microsoſt Windows. Job costing and some other features needed by construction companies are not supported on
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either the Mac OS or the Online edition of the program.
CORE ACCOUNTING CAPABILITIES QuickBooks Premier Contractor 2012 contains solid core accounting functionality including GL, AP, AR, and Payroll functions. New in 2012 is the Inventory Center, which allows users to manage inventory transactions from a single location. Users can utilize batch transaction processing when invoicing the same item or service. Recurring billings and invoices can be automated, and users can set the intervals between processing. T e Premier Contractor edition uses construction related vocabulary and the chart of accounts that installs with this edition includes construction specifi c accounts. QuickBooks also offers numerous Payroll options, where users can either process payroll in-house, or utilize an outside payroll service. Solid banking functionality simplifi es the import, tracking, and reconciliation of bank accounts and credit cards. QuickBooks contains a transaction audit trail, with an audit trail report available on demand. Managers can assign varying levels of access to QuickBooks, including full or specifi ed access to each transaction cycle, and system areas can be made accessible or off limits as desired.
CONSTRUCTION/CONTRACTOR- SPECIFIC FEATURES QuickBooks Premier Contractor 2012 contains solid estimation tools, allowing users to create custom estimates and estimate templates which can be used in future jobs. Quotes can be easily modifi ed if necessary, and users have the ability to create multiple quotes for each job in the system. Good reporting ability allows users to track all job related costs, and project managers can easily track job estimates against actual results. Change orders are easily entered, and can be added to an existing estimate. Subcon- tractor time and expenses can be tracked and paid directly from the system. QuickBooks centers easily track all customer, vendor, and employee information, allowing users to create new items, search for existing data, or print lists or reports as needed. T e new Leads Center provides users with the ability to bet er track any potential sales leads and can easily convert those leads to sales. The Inventory Center provides users with a centralized area to manage inventory transactions which include entering part numbers, units of measure, and re-order
points. T ere are also a number of user-defi ned fi elds available for additional tracking. Users can create purchase order templates for future use, and add new vendor information as needed. Remote employees can easily access QuickBooks through a remote access subscription to the QuickBooks Remote Access Service, or have their instance of QuickBooks hosted by a third party hosting provider.
REPORTING & MANAGEMENT TOOLS T e Contractor Edition off ers a good selection of construction specifi c reports including the comprehensive Job Profi tability Detail, which allows managers to determine how profi table a job is, and where the profi t is originating. T e Profi t & Loss by Job provides management with income and expense information, and can also compare actual results with amounts estimated. T e QuickBooks Report Center makes it easy to run reports from a central location, with all available system reports categorized for quick access. Reports can be easily customized as needed, and exported to Excel directly from the print screen. Quick- Books incorporates templates throughout the application, so users can quickly create and save billing, invoicing, reporting, or other recurring transactions for future usage. QuickBooks users can now also access industry specifi c report templates created by other users. T e application can create groups of reports as well as customer invoices and statements. All reports can be published as a PDF fi le. QuickBooks allows users to maintain complete control over all documents by at aching relevant documents such as blue- prints, contracts, and reports to transactions / items / customers / vendors / employees within the soſt ware for free – the documents are stored locally next to the data fi le. An online document storage service is no longer off ered with the 2012 version of QuickBooks.
INTEGRATION/IMPORT/EXPORT Standing data can be imported and exported using a text fi le format, and third party tools are available to simplify the transaction import process. Users can also import data using a .csv format, and fi les can be exported to Excel as needed. All data imported into QuickBooks will need to be modifi ed prior to importing into existing data fi les. QuickBooks works with a long list of third-party software
applications, as well as existing Intuit add-ons such as Intuit Sync Manager, which helps to keep fi les accurate.
HELP/SUPPORT All QuickBooks products are truly designed for the new system user, and as such, contain a wide range of learning tools and training options. Learning tutorials guide new users through basic system functions and the Windows 'help' function allows users to quickly access informa- tion about any topic. Setup wizards can be implemented during installation and business setup, simplifying the confi guration process. QuickBooks also off ers excellent online help, as well as the availability of local QuickBooks experts for those who need onsite assistance. Periodic system updates can be downloaded and installed automatically, or downloaded manually. Many training options are also available to new users, and a popular user community can assist new users and answer questions as needed. Support options are available, with users able to choose the level of support they will need. While routine support calls are frequently routed overseas, all payroll related questions are handled by U.S. personnel only. A word of caution: if utilizing local 'experts,' look for certifi cation and construction industry experience and references. Many consultants call themselves QuickBooks experts. T e true experts will be able to document their capa- bilities and expertise.
SUMMARY & PRICING QuickBooks Premier 2012 is a reliable, consis- tent application. A single user system is $399.95, with the 2012 upgrade version priced at $359.95. A 3-user version has a list price of will run $999.95, with suggested upgrade pricing of $899.95. An excellent entry level product, Quick-
Books is ideal for the smaller construction company looking for an aff ordable product that just about anyone can use.
www.intuit.com