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(and how to reduce it)

In this month’s feature spotlight, we look at the important role that reporting has to play in Evolution M.

Every contractor knows that CIS verification is a vital administrative task that’s become routine since 2007.

As every construction company knows, building projects take time, planning and detailed resources. Constraints on time and budgets means that companies are under increasing pressure to find ways to deliver their projects leaner and faster.

2016 has certainly been a memorable year - few could have predicted a single one of its major events, let alone them occurring in combination! If we look back at our own predictions for 2016, you’ll see that we were a bit hit and miss, too!

Software scalability sounds incredibly dull. It sounds like a buzzword you’d hear at a meeting without actually understanding its meaning. Let’s try and make it a little more tangible.

As a company we’ve made significant progress in 2016 - not just in terms of our software, but behind-the-scenes, too. We’ve been delivering significant updates to all of our products, providing our customers with more value and ever-improving functionality.

Everyone in the UK construction industry knows that it faces a skills shortage. With the labour costs in your accounting software rising and it becoming ever more difficult to fill specialist roles, it’s likely you’ve experienced the effects of the skills shortage first-hand.

Construction accounting software such as Evolution M, comes packed with dozens of useful features that ease the day-to-day management of your business. Features like job costing, CVR and payroll have obvious benefits that you’ll certainly notice if you upgrade your accounting software.

Software for construction management comes in two forms: generic solutions that are designed for use by any business, and specialist solutions which are built from the ground up to work specifically for contractors and the construction industry.

If you find that your accounting software isn’t providing useful reports and insights, chances are the quality of data input is to blame. In particular, inaccurate data can result in reporting issues, or worse, cause them to present misleading results in job costing.

Software is as integral to your business as foundations are to your building projects, yet the bewildering array of options available to businesses makes choosing your ideal job costing system a nightmare! If you’re after an ‘entry level’ solution for your small business, the decision becomes even more complex. Do you opt for generic accounts systems that will meet most of your needs, or specialist software that might require a greater investment, but will contain every feature you could ask for?

If you consider almost any sector of the economy, it’s easy to see how technology has had a huge impact. For example, high street retailers now have to compete with online giants and use self-service checkouts. Twenty years ago, those two technologies barely existed. In the construction industry, we’ve been a little slower to adopt revolutionary technologies. Perhaps the biggest change in the industry is related to software – job costing systems are now the norm, even for SMEs.

Here on the Integrity Software blog, we’ve been talking about skills shortages in the construction industry for many years – yet the problem shows no sign of easing. In the past, we’ve discussed some ways to mitigate the effects of rising labour costs, particularly by utilising construction costing software. Today, we look at another potential solution to these rising costs: apprenticeships.

Each year, the UK government budget brings regulation and tax changes – some of which affect construction companies. With the recent result of the EU referendum signalling another period of uncertainty and rapid regulatory change, firms are faced with a struggle to remain compliant.

During the busiest time of year for your company, your construction accounting software will be working in overdrive. You might have a dozen staff using the system simultaneously, with hundreds of rows of data added to the system each day.

Deciding on the right accounting software package for your business isn't an easy task – although here at Integrity, we hope we make the decision a little easier for those in the construction industry.

In last year's autumn statement, Chancellor George Osborne announced a £3 billion 'tax' on big business – which went almost entirely unnoticed by the mainstream press.

Two-thirds of UK adults now own a smartphone. We spend twice as long using the internet on a smartphones as we do on our laptops and PCs. We're now just as 'connected' on the move as we are at home.

Despite government efforts to improve the payment situation in the construction industry and elsewhere in the economy, late payments rose by 27% in 2015. The construction industry is notorious for its payment issues along the whole supply chain.  We delve into the harrowing statistics and see if any lessons can be learnt from them.

There's no 'one size fits all' software package. For example, generic accounting systems don't work for everyone. In the construction industry, your payment structure is more complex than those used in typical business transactions. Additionally, those basic accounting systems won't offer construction-specific features such as allowing for retentions and applications.

There's plenty of variation in how your accounting software can be used.  In this article, we explore software 'worst practices'. If you don't want to receive a return on investment, or if you enjoy annoying staff, here's how you should use your new accounting system...

You didn’t take the decision to upgrade your accounting software lightly – but you’ve decided to take the plunge and upgrade your old system now that its begun to show signs of age.

It took you some time to search through your options and collect recommendations from friends in the industry, but you’ve finally chosen your new software provider and you’re looking forward to the upgrade.

However, there’s a final hurdle to overcome before you can start seeing your software’s benefits: the implementation stage. This crucial period defines how successful the switch is: will it go smoothly and without a hitch, or turn into a disaster that damages your business?

These tips will help you achieve the first outcome.

Plant and equipment are essential to the completion of every construction job. Plant is also one of the biggest costs in construction companies’ accounting systems, yet many businesses fail to manage plant efficiently.