Frequently Asked Questions

We have included some questions we often get asked by Financial Directors, Accountants & IT managers who are looking to implement a new accounting system for their construction business.

Can the software help us understand the cash position and at what point our contracts become “Cash Positive”?

Yes, the Contract Ledger not only provides a detailed analysis of costs, broken down by resources and optionally operations, but all costs are identified as being outstanding or paid. We are therefore able to see in both enquiries and reports the detail of costs and cash paid per contract. This combined with cash received can immediately provide cash flow information.

Can the system alert us with information based on specific parameters?

Yes, our construction accounting software has a built-in information monitor, anything from account maintenance creation or modification through to monitoring bank balances can generate messages that appear as either onscreen prompts or they can be sent to the user via email or text message if away from the office.

Does the software allows us to consolidate information for a number of companies within our group?

Yes, our built in report writer allows for the consolidation of multiple companies even if they have differing nominal account structures.

Our group includes companies in Eire, does the system handle Euro currency and Southern Irish legislation?

Yes, the system is able to handle multiple currencies with reporting either in a base or local currency, additionally full Southern Irish VAT reporting and Subcontractor legislation is catered for.

Management reporting is a major issue, are the formats for management accounts able to be user defined?

All reports within the system can be run at anytime. The standard reports such as aged creditors and debtors are able to be run retrospectively. Reports from the system's report formatter are easy to create with all formatting being designed within an Excel environment.

Can the system be accessed remotely by staff working from home or on site?

If a user has access to a broadband connection they can use the system. Our Evolution systems have been designed specifically to allow for this type of environment. We recognise the need for company information to be protected, so all transmitted data is encrypted for security.

In a drive to reduce our carbon footprint we are implementing a policy to use paper as little as possible, what facilities does the product provide to help us achieve our aims?

Our solution has a full Document Management module that allows for the storage of all reports and forms, there is no longer a need to print and file documents for internal use such as invoices, remittance advices, payslips, subcontractor certificates etc. A copy of the document is stored and available should a hard copy be required. In addition any document that is to be sent to a creditor, client, subcontractor, etc… can be emailed as an adobe© PDF file thereby avoiding printing and postage costs whilst protecting the environment.

Within our group, each company operates autonomously however our employees are paid from the parent company. Can employees be charged to different companies?

Our Construction Accounting Payroll module allows for any payroll (weekly, monthly, directors) to be centralised. Any employee can be charged to multiple companies within the group for a period and where an employee is costed to contracts their costs including employers costs would be charged to the appropriate contract / company. Of course all the appropriate intercompany accounts are updated.

Is the system fully compliant with the new CIS rules and can Subcontractors be verified online as well as the monthly returns?

Yes, our construction software enables businesses to submit their returns to the HMRC for online verification and monthly report filing avoiding the need for lengthy telephone calls and reporting. 

Can a Surveyor input a payment certificate for a subcontractor with an appropriate approval process before it is passed to the accounts department for payment?

Yes, the Subcontractor Ledger has a full authorisation of payment routine which allows for the recording of a Subcontractors Payment Certificate by a Surveyor or Contract Manager. This is passed to a manager for authorisation or rejection. If authorised the certificate passes to the accounts department for payment.

Can all payments from the system be made via BACS including sundry payments from the Cash Book?

Yes, any Payment made from the system can be made via the BACS process, all payments from various sources can be grouped to form a single payment run.

Does the Cash Book allow for automatic bank reconciliation against a downloaded bank statement?

Yes, providing your on-line banking allows for the downloading of a statement file, the system's reconciliation process can automatically match transactions of the same values with same reference, eg cheque number and with the transaction being within a specific date range. This greatly speeds up the reconciliation process leaving only sundry items for manual matching.

Can purchase invoices be matched to a purchase order even though a delivery ticket hasn’t been recorded?

Yes, where an invoice is received and during processing it is found that no Goods Received Note (GRN) has been entered, the invoice can be processed as a “combined entry”. This has the effect of recording both the invoice and the delivery at the same time. The invoice can also be given a held status until delivery of the goods has been confirmed.

Can purchase invoices be part paid during a standard payment routine?

Yes, the Purchase Ledger payment routine is both simple and efficient. Firstly the system will prompt with all items that are due for payment to a due date. The operator can then either accept the values shown or drill down to each transaction choosing whether or not to pay or part pay. If the system's document management system is in use the operator can also see an image of the original transaction during the payment process.

Does the system force the integrity between the Job Contract Ledger and the Nominal Ledger?

As part of the original specification of the system the Nominal and Contract Ledgers were seen to be the hub of the financial systems. With any transaction being costed to a contract the Nominal code to be updated is deduced from a combination of the Contract and the costing analysis. The Nominal Accounts that are updated from the Contract Ledger are marked as “Cost Only” preventing any entry that has not originated from the Contract Ledger. This ensures total integrity of the two ledgers.

Is the Sales Ledger flexible to allow for user defined sales transactions for contract sale documents i.e. Application, Certificate, Invoice, Payment etc?

All Contract Sales transactions are defined and created to an individual company’s requirements. The flexible configuration tools enable the system to cater for all types of transactions not only Application, Certificate, Invoice and Payment but also transactions such as Internal Valuation, WIP etc. Transactions are created as tax point invoice or tax point cash with input being cumulative or movement.

Is the product database dependent?

The system was designed from the outset to operate with any industry standard ODBC standard database (SQL Server, Oracle, MySql etc). This design means that the application needs no knowledge of the database being used; this is all performed by the data tier. Different tables can even reside in multiple databases. The system provides standard data handling functionality independent of the database being used, this includes comprehensive record locking, individual company restores and XML data import/export.

What requirements are needed from the Web and Broadband connection?

Our product has been created to use wide area network (WAN) environments, meaning it operates over standard Internet broadband connections saving large sums in network costs. The system will run remotely via a secure RDP connection. All data passing over the network is automatically encrypted and compressed, meaning that your information is safe.

Are there any restrictions on the screen size which the system can run on?

All windows can be sized to meet the resolution of your screen. With today's ever increasing screen resolutions this is an essential feature in modern software to ensure user comfort and efficiency. Each user’s preferences are stored at their desktop.

Does the system integrate with Microsoft Office?

Our Evolution packages a true windows based application. The user interface has been designed specifically to integrate with the latest Microsoft Suite including Excel, Word and Outlook.

Can the product integrate with 3rd party software?

Our Evolution M product is designed with an XML Interface to all Posting Routines which allows for integration with 3rd party packages including most estimating solutions (Conquest, Estimate, Causeway etc…) and Workspace from Union Square.

Is it possible to migrate data from our current software?

Yes, we have developed tools that can be used for the transfer of data from other systems or allow integration with estimating and other third party products

Can Evolution M integrate with 3rd Party software

Evolution M is designed with an XML Interface to all Posting Routines which allows for integration with 3rd party packages including most estimating solutions.