Construction Software

Posts Tagged ‘Internally’

If you’ve recently decided that your company needs new construction or manufacturing software, one of the many things you’ll need to consider before beginning your search is whether or not you need a system that will handle your payroll internally or if you’re going to use an external service for payroll.

Taking matters into your own hands

Payroll management modules allows you to easily keep track of all of the myriad details associated with payroll.  Reports can be generated for the required year end government reporting.  You can print out all the time associated with a specific client, project or employee.  Most programs have a variety of template reports to get you started, and can be customized to include only the details that matter to you.  Want to see a concise printout of all the hours that were spent on the Hamilton Street project?  No problem.  How about a list of all the hours worked by Joe Smith for the past month, and a breakdown of the type of job he spent the most time on?  Easy, since there are multiple job codes to select from when time is entered.

Using your own software to do payroll also has the advantage of eliminating the need for double data entry.  Since the entire system will be integrated, as soon as an entry is made for Mr. Davis in Project X’s job cost, the same data is automatically entered on his individual payroll statement as well as in every other relevant area (the client’s labor statement, time spend on the task over all jobs, etc.).  This improved efficiency results in less time spent on data input and monitoring, leaving more time for value-added activities throughout the entire organization.

Getting Help from the Pros

On the other hand, sending payroll data to an accountant or payroll service and leaving the details up to them is relatively easy.  They can be responsible for preparing the forms, reports, etc that you need for formal reporting purposes as well as make sure you’re setting aside the proper amounts for taxes.  These services generally require very little oversight from you, allowing you to focus on your area of expertise.

When using an outside payroll service, you are often required to use accounting software that is compatible with their system’s interface.  If you currently use a less-popular program, the change-over to a compatible program could be time-consuming.  However, chances are that the accounting program that came with your productivity software pack or that you purchased at your neighborhood computer center will be compatible.

To Each His Own

In the end, the choice you make will depend on your personal preferences.  If you prefer to have hands on access to all the information in real time, then handling payroll internally is probably the way to go.  On the other hand, if you want to simplify your day to day operations by not having to worry about payroll, then outsourcing is probably your best choice.  You will need to decide which provides the most value to your company, and each company will be unique in that manner.  There is no right or wrong answer that can be applied to all companies.

Many companies that are thinking of implementing new construction accounting software wonder if it is better to use an external service to collect payroll data and input it to their system or do the input internally. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and the bottom line is that both can be completely effective so long as the data is accurate.

Since there is no general consensus about the best way to handle payroll feeds, every company must consider their unique situation and needs when making this important decision. The decision that you make will likely be a result of a combination of (but not limited to) the following factors:

* The size of your company, including the number of departments and employees.
* Your overall budget
* The ability of your management and employees to handle payroll internally without compromising accuracy.
* The impact of federal, state, and local regulations
* The availability of local or easy to access and integrate external resources

All companies in the construction industry must keep a close eye on the influence that payroll has on project profits. If accurate, real-time data cannot be found on a project level, companies increase their risk of mismanaging projects, making uniformed decisions, and dealing with profit losses as a result.

To put it another way, the more accurate and up to date your construction software is, the more able your organization will be to make the best possible decisions at any given point in time regarding project level decisions.

However, we all know that no business, project, or even software system runs without any problems. That is not to say that companies shouldn’t strive for perfection. The goal is to find the optimal solution that will enable your company to operate as close to perfection as possible, given your budget and other constraints.

In the end, a good construction software package should provide you with the ability to make changes on the fly aimed at improving your overall operational effectiveness. Whether your payroll data comes from an external source or an internal one may not necessarily have an impact on that ability. External services may be a bit slower, but could also be more accurate. The opposite can be said about handling payroll internally, although not necessarily. If you do handle the payroll internally, the most important factor in your software’s ability to provide you with the data you need is the level of training and competence that your end users have in using and inputting data.

Therefore, training should never be underestimated, cut short, or completely ignored. Users need to understand how to input data in to the construction accounting system as well as how the data that they input impacts the overall system and “high level” view that the software can provide for decision makers.

Finally, regardless of how you decide to handle payroll data, it is always a good idea to ensure that company practices, policies, and procedures are up to date with current best practices before changing your software. Taking these steps up front will save time and money down the road and will make the initial implementation of new construction management software much easier and painless.

If your company is searching for new construction accounting software, one of the big decisions that you’ll need to make is whether or not you want to use the software to handle your payroll functions or if you will be outsourcing your payroll to an external service provider. This article will provide some tips and advice about the pros and cons of each option.

Handling Payroll Internally

Modules that are built in to some construction software packages enable you to easily track all of the details associated with your organization’s payroll. The software can be made to run reports that make it easy to complete year end government reporting as well as tracking time and labor costs on the client, project, or employee level. These software packages generally begin with some generic templates that can then be modified to show the data that your company is most concerned about seeing. This ease of use will allow you to quickly see things like how many hours were spent the the Tiger Boulevard project in the past 3 months or how much time Mike Davis has spent on projects X, Y, and Z since June. This kind of data can be very powerful in showing how efficiently your labor force is being utilized and can shed light on areas to make improvements.

Using your own software to do payroll also has the advantage of eliminating the need for double data entry. Since the entire system will be integrated, as soon as an entry is made for Mr. Davis in Project X’s job cost, the same data is automatically entered on his individual payroll statement as well as in every other relevant area (the client’s labor statement, time spend on the task over all jobs, etc.). This improved efficiency results in less time spent on data input and monitoring, leaving more time for value-added activities throughout the entire organization.

Outsourcing Payroll Tasks

If you prefer the ease of sending payroll information to an external payroll service and having them handle the details you can obviously still continue to do so. External payroll services are nice because they specialize in that area, so their accuracy when it comes to report generation, tax reporting, and so on will be top notch. They allow payroll and tax reporting to get done properly with minimal oversight from the construction company, which is preferable to some companies that do not have the necessary level of expertise on staff to ensure everything is done properly.

If you decide to use a payroll service, you will probably still need to have an accounting system that is compatible with the system that they use, which is something to consider when you’re looking for new construction accounting software. Before making any new investments, check with your payroll service provider to ensure that the system you are considering will be compatible with their system to prevent a huge, and costly, headache down the road.

To Each His Own

In the end, the choice you make will depend on your personal preferences. If you prefer to have hands on access to all the information in real time, then handling payroll internally is probably the way to go. On the other hand, if you want to simplify your day to day operations by not having to worry about payroll, then outsourcing is probably your best choice. You will need to decide which provides the most value to your company, and each company will be unique in that manner. There is no right or wrong answer that can be applied to all companies.