Small business accounting software for contractors was developed specifically to keep track of your cash flow by knowing exactly what you’re spending your money on. When you take a look at the numbers, having an effective accounting system in place can make all the difference when it comes to making smart financial decisions for your business.
Small business accounting software can be quite expensive, especially if you are just starting up. That’s why this article is here to help. We have compiled five small business accounting software for contractors that is easy to use and won’t break your budget!
Sage 100 Contractor
Best overall accounting software for construction companies.
Sage 100 Contractor is an ideal package for small contractors. This feature-rich, on-premises application provides the tools any construction firm requires to ensure a company completes projects profitably. The cost of Sage 100 Contractor is very reasonable, making profitability significantly more likely.
Key functionality:
For a small construction company, successfully estimating project cost is vital to the bottom line. Sage 100 Contractor is ideal as it can rapidly generate accurate bids for any size project. The estimating function provides various templates, formulas, and variables to expedite the estimate process needed to bid on projects rapidly. Furthermore, as a Microsoft Windows-based application, Windows functionality—such as cut and paste and Excel compatibility—greatly expand Sage 100 Contractor’s ease of use.
A valuable function for contractors to ensure a profit is the application’s import feature, which allows the construction company to import information from local suppliers, including updated lists of available materials and costs. If local suppliers do not provide import information, Sage 100 Contractor provides an updated list of prices from the Trade Service Corporation.
Sage 100 Contractor includes a robust general ledger feature ensuring additional accounting software is not needed to track project costs. The general ledger function provides the accounting insight a small company requires to track payroll, accounts receivable, and accounts payable. The application comes with a variety of standard reports and allows the creation of custom financial reports and a check reconciliation option to compare bank statements to current balances.
One of the most challenging aspects of running a small construction business is juggling an always shifting schedule. However, scheduling supplies, locations, and subcontractors is significantly less stressful using Sage 100 Contractor’s scheduling function. The schedule function is easily managed through a graphic user interface (GUI), which means moving tasks, dates, and inventory is simple. Additionally, Sage maintains the original schedule as well for reference.
Access & users:
Although Sage provides a cloud-based Field Operations component at an extra cost, the current offering is an on-premises Windows application. The Admin user can manage security in the Sage 100 Contractor application. The administrator can create Security User Groups based on user or employee position. Each group can have specific permissions based on a user’s job function, such as saving, deleting voided, or even printing checks. The admin console allows for granular permissions to be applied, but Sage documentation suggests caution when setting permission to avoid locking users out of the application.
Ease of use:
Ease of use is a primary goal of Sage 100 Contractor as small business owners do not have an abundance of free time to master a complicated software package. The application is a menu-driven application allowing a user to easily navigate, especially if the user has had only rudimentary computer experience. For users who need a little extra help getting started, Sage offers comprehensive and detailed documentation and a variety of webinars and videos on how to perform many of the Sage 100 Contractor functions. Sage also provides in-person training at a cost for larger companies and online support to assist if needed.
Cost:
Although Sage 100 Contractor does not offer a free trial period, a guided demo is available on the Sage website. If the demo meets a company’s needs, Sage 100 Contractor’s pricing is extremely reasonable, making the investment significantly less stressful than for other software. Sage 100 Contractor uses a subscription service. An initial subscription fee is required, and then there is a low monthly fee per user. The per-user fee means access to all the functionality at a minimal cost for small companies with few users. Thus, Sage is a financially feasible application to maintain as a company grows.
Things we liked:
- Low monthly cost ideal for contractors and small businesses
- Easy to use GUI and menu-driven functionality
- Ability to import local supplier price-lists
- Job estimating and general ledger functions
- Powerful project scheduling capabilities
Things we didn’t like:
- Rapidly growing companies may outgrow the software quickly
- Report templates may not cover all needs
- Costs increase as users added
Knowify
Websitewww.knowify.com
Best cloud-based accounting software for small to midsize contractors or companies.
Knowify is also a cloud-based option, making it an excellent choice for a small to midsize contractor or company needing access to the project or financial data on the go or the job site. While not a perfect fit for every company, it’s an excellent option for finance or project management staff to access data on any platform—from laptop to Android device.
Key functionality:
Because Knowify is cloud-based, it is an excellent fit for always on-the-go contractors in the construction, electrical, plumbing, and landscape trades. Knowify provides web-based estimation and bid generation tools as well as contract management, accounting, and invoicing. Using a laptop or tablet, contractors can easily track time, work orders, staff scheduling, or subcontractors without the overhead of a server-based application.
One of the key drawbacks of Knowify is that it isn’t a full-fledged double-entry accounting system; however, it is fully integrated with QuickBooks Online, making it a good choice for many smaller construction companies that have the flexibility to work with an accounting or bookkeeping partner.
Access & users:
Knowify offers a browser-based Administrator console for easy application management. The administrator can create users or groups and apply permissions as necessary. Knowify is also a secure solution, which means construction companies that choose it can trust that their personnel and financial data will be protected.
Ease of use:
Knowify provides an intuitive, easy to use browser-based interface. Customers familiar with Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge will have little trouble moving between functions. All the benefits of Knowify are available to any customer with access to a Wi-Fi or cellular network, allowing for easy onsite estimate generation. Phone and email support are available during business hours. Knowify also offers detailed documentation, video training, and webinars.
Cost:
Knowify offers a low-cost monthly subscription making it an attractive cloud-based option for individual contractors and small businesses. A slightly more expensive monthly subscription offering is available for “Enterprise” customers needing enhanced functions for approximately $100USD per month.
Things we liked:
- Multiple financial functions from job estimating to invoicing
- Inexpensive
- Intuitive interface
- Portal access available on any device with an Internet connection
- On-site estimating capabilities
Things we didn’t like:
- Easy to outgrow as a company expands
- Requires Internet connection for functionality
- Not a full-fledged accounting software
Jonas Premier
Jonas Premier is part of the Jonas Construction Software company, founded in Canada in 1990 as a way to build a better-integrated construction software solution and is now a division of Constellation Software, Inc. It’s used throughout North America by construction companies, land developers, home builders, and general contractors.
It’s cloud-based and the accounting software can be used by multiple companies and divisions to allocate revenue and expenses between jobs. It also includes a customizable management dashboard that can be used differently by various types of contractors such as HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and more.
Jonas Premier features include:
- Granular reporting
- Complete audit trails
- Multiple accounting periods open
- Multi division and multi-company accounting
- Accurate real-time reporting and tracking with general ledger accounts receivable and payable
- Automated workflow
- Job and dispatch scheduling
- Job costing
- Document, inventory, and equipment management
It also offers payroll and union reporting features including federal remittances and year-end reporting and can be integrated with apps including Plangrid, Contigo, Microsoft Project, and more.
No bookkeeping experience is required to use Jonas Premier and there is an unlimited free training, videos, webinars, and eBooks available to help you get set up.
Pricing for Jonas Premier is as follows:
- Implementation fee: Starts at $20,000 and includes one-on-one training sessions for six weeks, unlimited group training and unlimited support, designated account manager, and unlimited document storage
- Monthly: $199/concurrent user/month with month-to-month commitment
- Annually: $189/concurrent user/month with an annual commitment
- No hidden fees and everything is included
We chose Jonas Premier as our best overall construction accounting program because of its longevity in business, it specifically caters to the construction industry, and the accounting software is full of robust, easy-to-use features that are available on-the-go.
BuildSmart
BuildSmart is an enterprise accounting software that assists engineering and construction businesses with cost management, regulatory compliance, reporting, budget control and more. Professionals can use the subcontract management module to configure approval processes and track the due/release dates of certifications, retentions, setoffs or variation orders. Key features include work in progress (WIP) ledger, procurement management, user access control, bank reconciliation, inventory tracking, service scheduling and alerts/notifications. Enterprises can use BuildSmart to streamline the entire asset lifecycle, from plant availability and resource utilization to asset tracking and maintenance management. It allows administrators to manage accounts payables/receivables, maintain audit trails and secure critical data with encrypted password controls in compliance with GDPR standards. Using BuildSmart’s payroll module, businesses can monitor employees’ activities and working hours to generate payslips. Pricing is available on request and support is extended via an inquiry form.
Conclusion
Small business accounting for contractors has a lot of challenges and pitfalls when they set out to figure out how to handle paying their employees and tracking time. Since we operate our own small business we understand this, and we built an easy-to-use tool. It’s electronic timesheets and invoicing software that lets you manage estimates, invoice, assign tasks and track employee hours. Contact [email protected] if you’d like to know more about WaveApps’ Free Invoicing Software or learn more about stopwatch / stop clock apps for mobile devices.