Category: Construction Industry Standards
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Using QuickBooks in Construction Accounting
The key to the software is to properly set up QuickBooks to meet your needs. You lay out a chart of accounting accounts, buckets to dump data into, then identify your classes of work, create the nine phases of costs (QuickBooks uses item numbers) and finally identify the projects.
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Construction Draw Schedule – Ranch Model Home
This is a basic draw schedule explanation for an A-frame ranch model home. This article details the draw schedule format illustrated below. It details the approximate percentages for the respective phases of construction and explains how the draw schedule is laid out and works.
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Implement Cost Accounting in Construction – Processing Documents
In construction there is little respect for processing paperwork. Contractors want to build projects, not deal with how paper is managed. But to gain a true understanding of what it costs to build a project and implement cost accounting, the contractor has to process documents in a meaningful way.
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Implement Cost Accounting in Construction – Document Flow System
This is the second article in a series of articles walking the small business contractor step by step in implementing cost accounting in construction. This article focuses on designing and developing a document flow system for use in cost accounting. The next step after creating a document flow system is learning how to sort and process the…
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Implement Cost Accounting in Construction – File Structure
Taking a small construction company to the next level of financial success requires implementation of cost accounting. This article is one in a series designed to illustrate how you implement cost accounting in a small construction business. The first step in this process is design a file structure.
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How to Calculate the Best Markup for a Construction Project
Every construction project has costs beyond the direct costs and the contractor wants to earn a profit. To cover these costs he must have an appropriate markup. The contractor must give consideration to many variables and circumstances to calculate the best markup for a construction project. To determine the best markup percentage on costs, the contractor…
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Percentage of Completion Method for Accounting in Construction
In construction accounting, the percentage of completion method is the preferred tool to account for revenues and direct costs of construction. If you are an owner of a contracting business, this is the best method of accounting.
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Completed Contract Method of Accounting in the Construction Industry
The completed contract method of accounting recognizes revenue and the associated costs once the project is complete. This is one of the two popular accounting methods used in the construction industry. For residential contractors, the completed contract method may have a slight tax advantage by deferring revenue recognition but is generally not considered the best method of…
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How to Use Class Accounting in Construction
Class accounting is a form of accounting whereby the revenues and direct costs are grouped into divisions within the company. It is a very effective form of accounting in construction. Learning how to use class accounting in construction is easy and works extremely well with phase accounting.
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The Definition of the Different Types of Residential Contractors
There are about a half a dozen types of residential contractors. Each has a different function and goal, this article describes the different types of residential contractors and provides guidance to the reader in understanding the corresponding definition.