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When it comes to construction contract management there are a lot of variables to keep on top of. These include – but are not limited to - planning schedules, allocating resources, staying within budget and meeting deadlines.  This can make managing even just 1 contract extremely complex, so when managing multiple contracts at the same time it can become quite a challenge.

When it comes to running a profitable construction business, having a positive cash flow is essential. This post will discuss the fundamentals of cash flow before highlighting how you can ensure your construction business is maintaining a positive cash flow.

Invoice processing is the way a company manages receiving and paying incoming invoices. Due to the nature of the construction industry the number of monthly invoices that need processing can be very high.

A Goods Received Note (GRN) is a two-way document that is a record of goods received from a supplier and shows proof that the ordered goods have been received. They are mainly used by the buyer, to compare the amount of goods ordered with what was received.  GRNs can help a business get a better overview of their input and output as well as helping them check they’ve received all the products they have ordered.  If any items are missing, the customer can contact the supplier, using the GRN as proof, allowing the issues to be resolved quickly and efficiently. GRNs are vital for construction company, as they are used for stock updates and o authorise payment of goods received. 

As a contractor in the construction industry, it is important to be aware of the Construction Industry Scheme if you use subcontractors, as you are required to use it and comply with the rules. In this post, we discuss 4 thing contractors need to understand about CIS and how construction-specific accounting software can help you improve your CIS accounting process.

With postage costs on the rise again, it might be time to consider switching to email payslips – to save your company on both time and money.

Payroll is one of the most important aspects within the construction industry and as such it needs to be managed effectively. In construction, payroll can be a complex process especially with the size of construction projects, tax regulations and having a large workforce working on different projects.

With the UK reporting 1.6 million cases of work-related ill health annually, it is important to ensure you are continually improving your company’s health and safety processes.  In the construction industry it is particularly important to monitor the safety, wellbeing, and happiness of your workforce, given the challenge the industry presents.  In addition to this, health and safety is also about ensuring you are compliant with regulations, to avoid legal fees and insurance issues which could cause problems for your organisation as a whole. If you are considering re-evaluating your health and safety process, then digitisation may the next best step and you can do this with the help of our construction-specific accounting and management software, Evolution Mx. Our Mobile Forms module allows construction companies to digitise all their on-site paperwork and forms, meaning they can be filled out using smartphones and tablets. This information is then stored within the Evolution Mx system.  This can be used for Risk Assessments, Incident Report Forms and any other health and safety form your company may use, as it’s all customizable. Benefits of using Mobile Forms include: •    Workers can report incidents immediately from any location •    Incident reports can be attributed to particular contracts •    Digital trail for audits and to ensure compliance •    No more lost paperwork as everything is saved into one system •    Easier reporting and identification of high-risk areas Another feature of our Mobile Forms module is that you can set up an approval workflow. This means that once a form is submitted - like an Incident Report - this can then be sent for approval to a manager before being uploaded into the system or attributed to a particular job/contract.  Digitising health and safety not only demonstrates to your employees that you value their wellbeing and encourages your workforce to engage in safety culture, but in the long run this can lead to a reduction in accidents, along with boosting efficiency and most importantly complying with health and safety legislation.   With so many fatalities occurring in the construction industry every year, it’s vital you ensure you’re abiding by all health and safety regulations to look after your on-site teams and minimise the risk of injuries and you can do this with the help of our software. For more information watch our Mobile Forms webinar here: https://youtu.be/fsaY4XOIp_0  If you would like a 1-to-1 demonstration you can book a free no-obligation session here, where we’d be happy to show you how Mobile Forms can help update your construction business’ health and safety processes. 

Dashboards are a valuable business tool, offering an ‘at-a-glance’ view of your construction business’ performance. Not only do they ensure that you and your team have access to real-time information, but they have multiple other benefits as well. Read on to find out the top 5 reasons why you should be using dashboards in your construction business. 1.    Monitor performance in real-time Dashboards allow you to easily measure and monitor your businesses performance in real-time.  Being able to monitor performance in real-time is useful for a number of different reasons. Firstly, this helps you to discover weak spots in your business. If your business dashboards alert you to a sudden drop in performance – like an overspend on a job for example - you have the opportunity to address the problem quickly. By having all your data available instantly through a dashboard, this means you no longer have to export data to do your reporting, meaning no more using data that is instantly out-of-date.  2.    Timesaving Having a well-designed dashboard can be a great time-saver. Having all the information you need on one screen; you no longer need to spend time searching for data from multiple sources and generating reports every time.  3.    Better decision making By having quicker and easier access to this real-time data allows you to make key business decisions quicker. By having all the information you need in one place, you can focus on specific metrics that are the most important to your business, allowing you to have a clearer understanding of the big picture and your business’ performance. This again, can help with making those key business decisions, quickly and efficiently. 4.    Can be used company-wide Dashboards can be a great way for any member of your team to access the real-time information that they need. By having customisable dashboard functionality, each person can have a specifically designed dashboard, whether they are on the Senior Management Team, working in accounts or even a stakeholder that just wants to see a top-level overview of the company’s performance. This again makes it so much easier to share this information with your team and cuts out the need for report generating. 5.    Drill down features The drill down feature of dashboards allows you to effectively find more in-depth information and records relevant to a particular dashboard tile. For example, an invoicing dashboard may show you how many invoices need to be processed and by drilling-down you will then be able to see the individual invoices.  This can be really helpful for finding key information quickly and can be especially useful when it does come time to generate more in-depth reports. Conclusion  There are many benefits to using dashboards for you construction business, but fundamentally they give you access to real-time information that you can use to make better business decisions, ultimately improving efficiency, competitiveness, and profitability. Our construction-specific accounting software, Evolution Mx makes use of innovative dashboard technology, allowing you to create custom dashboards from data already stored in our fully integrated system. If you would like to find out more about how our Dashboards work, then book your complimentary demo today.

What is Construction Software? Construction projects today are becoming increasingly more complex to manage, and this is where construction software comes in. Construction software is management software designed specifically for the niche requirements of the construction industry, to help plan and control your projects from start to finish. The need for modern construction software has continued to grow, particularly due to the construction industry’s move towards digital transformation as well as the need for more remote working. Using the right construction software can help businesses improve both productivity and profitability. Benefits of Construction Software Construction software has the potential to increase sales and efficiency, whilst decreasing costs and keeping teams better connected with managed workflows. 

Reverse Charge VAT came into force in March, after being delayed twice before, and means that customers pay VAT directly to HMRC instead of with their usual bill. This has left a lot of construction contractors paying VAT to suppliers whilst not receiving it from their customers. 

Accounting is one of the most important elements of running a successful construction business, but as the industry has a lot of niche requirements, so does construction accounting.

Accurate job costing is essential for construction businesses to ensure that projects not only complete within budget, but to ensure healthy cash flow, too. 

With the news that a Civil Engineering company has been fined £40,000 after multiple employees were diagnosed with Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), construction companies are evaluating the processes they have in place to ensure their on-site teams are remaining compliant with health and safety regulations.

Following Sage’s announcement that they will no longer support Sage Job Costing from October 2021, many construction companies are now looking for a new job costing alternative. 

In the construction industry, the majority of projects include the hiring and managing of subcontractors. Subcontractors have always played an important role in helping construction companies complete projects, by providing the skills they need to get the job done, without having to directly employ people.

The construction industry has typically lagged behind other sectors when it comes to the adoption of new technologies, but it seems that could finally be changing. Many construction companies are going through the process of digital transformation in a bid to boost productivity and efficiency, but there are still many barriers to overcome that are stopping many others from following suit. 

Our construction accounting software is built specifically for the needs of the construction industry and is designed to improve efficiency throughout all areas of the business. Based on the specialist requirements of a construction business, it becomes difficult to use generic accounting software. Your construction business needs accounting software that is tailored to these specific needs, including the CIS scheme, subcontractors, retentions and more.  Read on to discover the 5 key reasons your business should be using construction accounting software:

The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) is a HMRC tax requirement for both contractors and subcontractors. 

After several construction firms were suspended from the Prompt Payment Code after failing to pay their suppliers on time, the scheme has been cut from 60 days to 30 days.

Whilst the financial investment required by a construction business to change accounting systems remains a key consideration, it’s the perceived disruption caused by the change which is now the largest reason businesses avoid a change to their construction accounting system.

Accurately recording job costs can be the difference between a profitable construction business and a failing one. That’s why it’s important that construction companies use job costing software to see all job costs in real time.

Waiting for delivery notes to make their way back to the office from your sites slows down the payment of supplier invoices, but there is a more efficient way to process goods received notes. Our bestselling module, Mobile GRN, eliminates time spent waiting for delivery notes to get back to the office from site.

There’s no doubt that the Coronavirus outbreak has been a huge disruptor of business across the world, perhaps most obviously in the construction industry. And whilst it’s not possible for your site staff to work from home, with the right tools your back office staff certainly can; enter web-based construction accounting software.