The Importance of Planning

The success of a major construction project, or for any project for that matter, relies on how carefully the project was planned and executed. There are however, several aspects and factors that are inclusive in any construction project that should be taken into consideration to ensure the success of these undertakings. These include safety, material availability, logistics, compliance to laws, environmental considerations, and payroll and budgeting.

These aspects vary in complexity and intensiveness depending on the size of the business or the project. Whatever the size may be, doing all these processes manually will be cost prohibitive and time-consuming in the long run, not to mention the questionable accuracy of reports as well as the additional costs that an army of accountants would entail.

However, the advancements in modern technology have extended itself over to the construction industry, particularly in automation of certain management processes that have made the industry and the business much more productive and cost-effective. Such advances include the Timberline construction-specific accounting software that can provide construction businesses with web-based or PC-based accounting solutions.

Accounting Solutions from Timberline

Timberline was born as a powerful mainframe application during the early 1970s. When Sage acquired the application in 2003, it grew into the foremost financial and construction management solution for various home building, commercial, electrical, industrial, mechanical, plumbing, and other specialty construction services worldwide.

Sage Timberline Office is a comprehensive and integrated suite of project management and accounting software modules that are geared towards the needs of the construction industry. Through the solutions offered, project managers can make better and more accurate decisions to increase productivity, delivery and completion of projects.

The Sage Timberline software is structured in a modular basis. This is a good feature that enables project managers and companies select only the particular module that they need or what the project requires in particular. This is a more cost-effective and streamlined feature that would benefit most contractors as they pay only for the solutions they need and not the whole range of applications available.

The Various Modules Available from Timberline

The following describes in brief the various modules available from Sage Timberline:

* Accounting -- accounts payable/receivable, costing, payroll, billing, financial statements, general ledger

* Estimating -- includes available industry items, with options for addition of items and formulas

* Procurement -- purchase orders, receipts, change orders
* Production Management -- communication with team members and management of POs

* Project Management -- aid contractors in managing order, subcontracts, RFIs, and POs

* Property Management -- manage leases, interests, billing, rents, and credits

* Reporting Module -- address book, reports, and tasks

* Service Management -- field purchasing, service agreement, warranties and preventive maintenance