I’ve been critical of QuickBooks for construction accounting. It captures transactions well, but getting those transactions into useful job reports and a WIP schedule has often required a lot of spreadsheet work.
Recently, I attended a live demo of Intuit Enterprise Suite for Construction. I asked to spend most of the time on job costing and WIP reporting. Those are the areas where I wanted to see what had changed.
Three things stood out: a WIP report generated within the system, job budgets with revision history, and committed-cost reporting. Those are meaningful capabilities for a contractor. Here’s why.
WIP reporting inside the accounting system
The WIP report we reviewed included original contract value, change orders, revised contract value, estimated costs, actual costs to date, percentage complete, earned revenue, billings, overbillings and underbillings, and backlog.
That matters because preparing a WIP from accounting exports can involve a fair amount of work before you even get to reviewing the jobs. You’re gathering costs and billings, bringing in contract amounts and estimates, and maintaining the calculations in a separate file.
Having those elements together in the system reduces the amount you have to assemble elsewhere. It also gives the accountant and the project manager a common place to review the numbers.
I did ask about reconciling the WIP to the P&L for jobs that cross year-end. A WIP needs job-to-date costs and revenue, while the P&L shows activity for a particular period. You need a way to isolate the current-year amounts. We didn’t resolve that workflow during the demo, and Intuit agreed to follow up.
I’d want to work through that reconciliation with a contractor’s actual reporting requirements before relying on the report for month-end.
Job budgets you can update without losing the history
A job’s estimated cost needs to change as you learn more about the work. Leaving the original estimate in place for the entire job can give you an outdated view of expected profit.
But replacing the original number creates another problem. You lose the ability to see where you started and how the estimate changed.
In the demo, Intuit showed how published job budgets retain a version history. Changes can be tracked, including who made them, and reporting can distinguish original budget amounts from changes.
That was one of the most useful parts of the demo for me. The current forecast tells you what you expect to spend. The history helps you understand how that expectation developed. Both are useful when you’re reviewing a job with a PM.
The team still has to review and update the forecast. Having a place to record those updates, with the earlier versions preserved, makes that process easier to manage.
Committed costs alongside actual costs
Actual costs tell you what has reached the books. They don’t tell you everything you’ve already agreed to spend.
Open purchase orders and subcontract commitments matter when you’re evaluating the work remaining. If you only review posted costs, you’re missing part of the job’s financial position.
The committed-cost report demonstrated in IES brought open purchase orders into the project reporting alongside actual costs. That gives the person reviewing the job more information than a report of costs incurred alone.
You still need an estimate for work that hasn’t been bought out or otherwise committed. Committed costs are part of that review, and having them available in the system is useful.
My take on IES for Construction
I came away from the demo with a different view of Intuit’s construction offering. WIP reporting, budget revision history, and committed costs address real gaps I’ve dealt with when working in contractors’ books.
For a contractor evaluating construction accounting software, Intuit Enterprise Suite for Construction deserves a look. Bring a job that spans year-end, a revised budget, and open commitments to the demo. Have them show you how those items flow through the reports your team uses.
You can learn more about Intuit Enterprise Suite for Construction here.
Have the accounting software but still struggle to get reliable job costs and a WIP report that ties to your books? Levvigo’s outsourced construction controller services can help you get the month closed, review the estimates, and understand where your jobs stand.
