Thousands of years ago, early man picked up a rock and used it as a tool. Our journey over the centuries saw us learn and slowly refine our methods. We got better at building and constructing. We developed hammers, saws, cranes, and drills – and evolved with the times.
So, it’s important to ask yourself, what’s next? How do I ensure my business stays ahead of the curve and isn’t left behind? How do I become the man (or woman) who decided to pick up that rock instead of the one staring on in awe and disbelief?
In recent decades, computers have helped revolutionise the construction industry, allowing for better planning, project management, and record-keeping. Sage Intacct for Construction is incredibly useful cloud-based financial management software that takes that progress a step further.
Read on to discover five clever ways it could benefit your firm – and keep you ahead of the competition.
1. It could help you gain greater oversight and real-time visibility across your business
The construction industry is modernising and utilising new technology. It is vital that you don’t get left in the dark ages and embrace tech-savvy solutions.
Offline systems can slow down data and stop true, real-time reporting. Meanwhile, the information on Sage’s cloud-based software can be accessed securely through any device with internet access, anytime, and anywhere.
Sage Intacct for Construction is an end-to-end suite specifically designed for the industry with features, such as:
Customisable dashboards and reports that can be set up to highlight the data you need.
Real-time data that can be viewed across multiple (and/or legally separate) entities within your business.
Work-in-progress (WIP) live tracking and reporting that allows you to view key project financials and reports on an ongoing basis.
A dimensional general ledger that allows you to break down costs based on various elements, such as by location or department.
These features, and many others, will help you produce more accurate and comprehensive Cost-Value Reconciliation (CVR) reporting and ultimately make more informed decisions for your business.
2. It allows you to make beneficial cost- and time-savings while increasing efficiency
According to Construction News, almost 7,000 UK construction firms are currently at risk of bankruptcy.
The time- and cost-savings a cloud-based financial management system can bring are immense and could be the solution to any financial concerns. These benefits can be even greater with Sage Intacct for Construction.
Cloud computing allows you to make valuable savings by reducing:
- Hardware purchases
- Software licensing costs
- IT infrastructure maintenance and upgrades
- Associated staff costs.
Switching to Sage Intacct for Construction allows you to increase efficiency, reduce errors, and boost your bottom line by:
Accurately logging and categorising inventory, reducing potential losses.
Automating time-consuming tasks relating to Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable (AR), and bank reconciliations, reducing the amount of time spent on manual data entry and the potential for human error.
Controlling spending with rules to deny transactions that would exceed budgets or set system warnings to alert relevant parties.
Linking purchase orders directly to project budgets, streamlining the process and reducing inefficiencies.
Helping you to budget, plan, and forecast accurately across multiple ongoing projects, each with its own differing challenges and financial implications.
Remember: Don’t let technology hold your business back! Ensure your firm has the right tools at its disposal to grow and scale up in-line with your ambitions.
3. It might be the key to increasing accountability and transparency at your firm
Government initiatives and schemes make the need for accountability, transparency, and overall compliance greater than ever before.
You may be looking to ensure you are acting in accordance with:
- Making Tax Digital (MTD)
- The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards.
Sage Intacct for Construction has a wide range of prebuilt financial statements and reports, and specialist modules, that can help you ensure your firm is keeping accurate records and is compliant.
At Solutions, we have built an add-on – the Sage Intacct CIS module – available in the Sage marketplace, that is specifically designed to help with compliance for CIS. This module helps you to automate tax calculations, verify subcontractors, and submit digital returns to HMRC, so that compliance becomes one less thing to worry about.
Sage Intacct for Construction allows you to be more accurate and comprehensive with your record-keeping across your business. It ensures that all project-related financial documents are accessible through a secure, centralised system.
The boost to your firm’s overall accountability and transparency is priceless (and will likely help reduce any stress building up in your shoulders).
4. It will assist you with improving your team’s communication and collaborative efforts
The comedian, Tim Vine, once joked: “So, I rang up a local building firm and said ‘I want a skip outside my house.’ He said ‘I’m not stopping you’.”
The point: Clear communication is key (perhaps even more so in construction).
On-site it might involve ensuring jobs are being done correctly and on time, or that safety is being monitored, but across an entire business communication can become more complex.
Sage Intacct for Construction allows for the seamless consolidation of different entities with its multi-entity management systems.
It can assist you in simplifying and streamlining transactions, record-keeping, and decision-making across complex business structures.
It can also be integrated with Sage Construction Management so that your field and office teams are aligned and can easily collaborate.
The combination provides you with a full, comprehensive, and simplified business overview that should allow clear and consistent communication across your business with all key decision-making.
5. It could grant you the level of control over your business that you need to succeed
Sage Intacct for Construction returns a degree of power and control to you that may have been lost as your business rapidly grew and expanded. We don’t want to sound like your personal trainer and bang on about ‘gains’, but simply put, you:
- Gain time
- Gain knowledge
- Gain oversight
The system allows you to assert control over your business and its processes end to end from planning through to WIP and ultimately completion.
It will help guide you towards making smarter, more well-informed decisions for your business (and avoid any unnecessary headaches).
The UK government’s ‘Get Britain Building Again’ initiative aims to build 1.5 million homes within the next five years. According to the BBC, some councils have been ordered to increase home building by up to 400%.
There are huge opportunities on the horizon for construction firms that are set up to succeed and can bid for new projects with confidence.
Don’t wait to start your journey with us; get in touch today
Any major decision for your business will take time, and we understand that. You’ll need to weigh up the pros and cons and try to decide if it’s the right move for you.
However, time is money, so don’t wait to get the ball rolling. Start the conversation with one of our specialists today and gain a better understanding of how Sage Intacct for Construction works and why it could be the choice that sets your company apart from the competition.
Get in touch with us by emailing us at enquiries@solutionscloud.uk or calling 0115 840 5075.
We’re in this for the long haul and hope to be by your side meeting by meeting, brick by brick, as your business thrives and grows over the long term.
