Big commercial construction projects are like starting a small war. You need to include everything from shovels to lunch breaks to scaffolding to manpower to billings and more when preparing your project budget and schedule.
Just the process of monitoring accounts receivable and payables can keep a project manager busy all day. This is why it behooves you to hire an outside accountant like District Advisory, a CPA services firm in Washington, DC, to handle the very sensitive money portion of your construction project. They will also keep on eye on the tax implications of every payment you receive.
However, most CPAs would agree that their job becomes a heck of a lot easier when the right project management software is being utilized to monitor the commercial project. It can mean the difference between keeping a job on schedule and under budget or behind schedule and over budget. It can also protect you in case of a lawsuit.
According to a new construction report, money and time become of the utmost importance if you’re a commercial contractor who finds yourself in legal hot water. Before the advent of construction management software, lawyers would have to spend hours digging through bank boxes to reconstruct a bad construction project. Even then a lawyer or lawyers would rarely develop a sufficient and complete case.
Add to this the fact that people’s memory changes over time, which could result in a lawyer looking for a document that might not even exist. In the end, a lot of time and money would get wasted preparing a contractor’s case; even then, there was no guarantee the case would be won.
Construction Management Software Solves the Disorganization Problem
Disorganized files can be a real problem for a construction business. Say the experts, it’s a hinderance for your bookkeeper, accountant, project manager, onsite supervisor, administration team, and your legal counsel. This is precisely why modern construction management software tech can be a time and cost-saving benefit to construction business owners in the U.S. and the world over.
According to building and design professionals, construction management software is one of the most rapidly growing tools for commercial and residential construction companies across the globe. Numerous apps for storing and filing your documents, project management capabilities like updating daily logs and milestones, and even virtual signature ability for the entire construction team are now available on your smartphone, laptop, and/or tablets.
Every important document regarding the project is not only stored on the cloud software, but they can be searched using names, addresses, and keywords to review them in a matter of seconds. No more sifting through banker’s boxes for documents that might not even exist.
Ease of Access
State the experts, the ease of access construction management software provides is simply “priceless.” It not only saves precious time, but it can save money by “providing a consistent paper trail for the duration of the project” from groundbreaking to project closeout.
You have access to both the project timeline and all the paper documentation that supports it, including change orders and blueprint disputes that might otherwise be swept under the rug, so to speak.
Today’s project management software even comes with a client’s portals where you and the entire project management team, including the client’s representative, can discuss the work at hand. This correspondence will be recorded for legal clarity. This is an invaluable asset for your bookkeeper and accountants allowing them to track invoices and to keep up with payment statuses and tax implications.
One major advantage to construction management software is that your project team and your company administration can easily locate contact addresses, information, and just about any other important details regarding the project from start to finish. Your field team can track their progress daily including updating material and supplier lists at the click of a button.
This allows onsite project supervisors to get a more detailed grip on what needs to be done and when. They can input daily reports making accurate assessments of accomplishments or delays for the legal record.
Should you find yourself in a legal dispute with either the client or one of the construction trades, project management software will allow your legal team to quickly locate files, daily reports, and more to better support you in a court of law. It will give you the edge you need to win your case.
