Many construction company owners buy accounting software and, even if the installation goes well, quickly grow frustrated when they don’t get the return on investment they’d expected. From an accounting perspective, two of the primary implementation risks that contractors face are bad data and missed opportunities.
Cleaning up
You’ve probably heard that old tech adage, “garbage in, garbage out.” The “garbage” referred to is bad data. If inaccurate or garbled information goes into your system, the reports coming out of it will be flawed. And this is a particular danger when transitioning from an older software platform to a newer one.
For example, you may be working off of inaccurate inventory counts or struggling with duplicate vendor entries. On a more serious level, your database may store information that reflects improperly closed quarters, unbalanced accounts because of data entry errors or outstanding retainage on old jobs.
A methodical, analytical implementation should uncover some or, one hopes, all of such problems. You can then clean up the bad data and adjust entries to tighten the accuracy of your accounting records and, thereby, improve your financial reporting.
Seizing opportunities
Another major risk to construction accounting software implementation is imprecise or incomplete job-costing data. Contractors face a distinctive challenge in integrating not only general business accounting data, but also the details of multiple, ongoing projects. A typical approach is to move job-costing info from the old system to the new one as quickly as possible, using whatever on-the-fly method seems most expedient.
Naturally, doing so can lead to data transfer errors. But, again, there’s also a risk of missed opportunity here. When upgrading to a new system, you’ll have the chance to improve your job costing. You may be able to, for instance, add new phases or cost code groups that allow you to manage project expenses much more efficiently and closely.
Beyond job costing, other opportunities for improvement include optimizing your chart of accounts and improving your internal controls. Again, to obtain these benefits, you’ll need to take a slow, patient approach to the software implementation.
Getting a leg up
Just thinking about what could go wrong will give you a leg up on avoiding the biggest disasters. To further increase your chances for success, involve the WW&D team in the implementation.
We welcome the opportunity to put our construction industry expertise to work for you. To learn more about how our firm can help advance your success, please contact Dave Wolfenden at (302) 254-8240.
