Job Costing and Project Management
Job Costing and Project Management
For client-oriented service businesses, Project Management can be a very time consuming but extremely important task. Industry specific Project Management software can be quite expensive and difficult to learn, so many businesses rely heavily on Excel worksheets to manually track projects.
When information isn’t integrated with the accounting system, it becomes difficult to reconcile project information. This limits the ability of a business to fully analyze client projects, since essential information may be spread out within several reporting systems. It can also result in omissions and delays in invoicing, and makes it difficult to confirm amounts due vendors and subcontractors.
Basic job costing can be managed within Xero using Tracking Categories and Billable Expenses.
The new Expense and Project features included in the Xero ESTABLISHED subscription are designed to handle slightly more advanced job costing and invoicing needs. Both features include their own mobile Apps that facilitate the tracking of project information.
If your business uses time billing, there are several time tracking and invoicing apps that integrate well with Xero.
Progressive businesses require more serious job costing and project management systems. Here are some options that we recommend:
WorkFlow Max
WorkFlow Max is Xero’s own Project Management System. This is a mature system that can manage clients and projects from start to finish: from Leads and Proposals to Progress Billing and detailed Reporting. It’s a great way to store and share staff notes and status regarding a client or project, and it includes an extensive document management system. With a mobile app and an excellent time tracking module, this is a great system for service oriented businesses.
Time sheets from Deputy can also be integrated.
There are many industry specific Apps on the market. Over the past few years we’ve researched a lot of them, and here are a few of the ones that we feel best meet the needs our clients:
CoreCon
- Specifically designed for building contractors
Jobber
- Developed with the needs of tradies and landscapers in mind, perfect for short-term and recurring jobs
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