The San Diego Airport Authority's Bonding and Contract Financing Assistance Program invites TAG to present "Best Practices in Construction Accounting Software". TAG is San Diego's premier construction accounting and construction software provider with Sage Certified Consultants and Contractor V Consultants.

1. http://www.teamtag.net/
Best Practices in Construction Accounting
Software
San Diego International Airport
Bonding and Financing Program
January 30, 2014
Presented by Olivia Roemer, CCIFP

2. Beyond the Numbers…
TAG provides valued financial and business resources &
counsel for companies and individuals on the move.
TAG supports and strengthens your company’s accounting department
and management with outsourced bookkeeping, controller, and CFO
services.
Whether you are a CFO who could use a quality controller once a
week, a controller who needs bookkeeping assistance, or an office
manager looking for higher level finance and accounting oversight, TAG
can fill the need.
From sales to implementation, training to consulting, TAG’s team of
certified consultants work to improve your efficiency and reporting
capabilities with the best accounting software for the building industry.
TAG is an Authorized Reseller with a team of Certified Consultants for:
•
Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate
•
Sage 100 Contractor
•
Sage Estimating
•
Contractor V

3. Surety Bond Program
The objective of the San Diego Airport Bonding and Contract Financing
Program is to assist San Diego small and emerging contractors in
obtaining or increasing bonding and financing for Authority construction
projects.

4. Topics of Discussion
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Key Components of Construction Software
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Key Components Considerations
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Which software is right for your organization?
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Should the key components integrate?
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Should software grow with your business?
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How much should your software cost?
•
What is the “Cloud”?

5. San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
Bonding and Contract Financing Assistance Program
www.bondingprogram@san.org

6. Key Components of Construction
Software
• Estimating
– Historical data to confirm accurate estimating
• Project Management
– Track compliance and/or scope changes
• Accounting
– Produce accurate reports on a regular basis
• Security
– Confident that your information is secure

7. Key Components Considerations
• Estimating
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What level of detail do you need for your estimates?
Do you need an Excel spreadsheet or a multi-tiered database?
Are you bidding at a GC, subcontractor or mixed level?
What type of work are you bidding? (e.g. Private, Public, Government)
Do you need to keep track of historical data for future estimates?
• Project Management
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Do you need to track costs related to bidding and preconstruction?
Do you need to track correspondence during the life of a bid and/or job?
Do you need to track compliance items?
What type of reporting is required by operations?
Does operations need access to this information in the field?

8. Key Components of Construction Software
Olivia Roemer, CCIFP – Sage 300 CRE Certified Consultant and
Construction Accounting Expert.
www.teamtag.net

9. Key Components Considerations
• Accounting
– Do you need to track multiple companies, locations and/or divisions in one
database?
– Do you need to track subcontractor compliance items (e.g. prelims, lien waivers,
insurance certificates, etc.)
– Do you need to track cost to budgets and/or commitments? Warned if exceeded?
– Do you need to customize reports and/or inquiries?
– Do you want a document management solution?
• Route invoices for approval?
• Do you need all documents related to the job to be managed?
• Security
– Do you need to restrict access based on
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Employee duties/roles?
Certain jobs and/or job types?
Company database?
Individual tasks?
Individual reporting?
GL structure?
– What level of detail do you need in security logs?

10. TAG presents at the San Diego Airport
Olivia Roemer, CCIFP – Sage 300 CRE Certified Consultant and
Construction Accounting Expert.
www.teamtag.net

11. Software Type Overview
• Level 1
– QuickBooks
– Peachtree
Estimating: Microsoft Excel
Project Management: Microsoft SharePoint
• Level 2
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Sage 100 Contractor
Contractor V
Foundations
American Contractor
Computer Ease
• Level 3
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Estimating: ProEst / Microsoft Excel
Project Management: Prolog/Primavera
Estimating/Project Management: Modules
Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate
Viewpoint
Dexter + Chaney
Maxwell
Coins

12. Software Type Overview
• Level 4
– JD Edwards
– SAP
– Oracle
• Other Construction Software
– Prolog
– Primavera
– ProEst

13. TAG is a Software Solution Provider for
the Construction Industry

14. Which software is right for your
organization?
QuickBooks
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Small construction company
Easy to use by all skill levels
Basic job cost reporting
Some purchase order tracking
Entries can be changed with ease (Good & Bad)
Limited estimate entry and tracking
No integration with Estimating or Operations.
Static reporting available
Minimal security restrictions

15. Contractor V
Simple, easy-to-use, fully-integrated job cost accounting software for the construction industry

16. Which software is right for your
organization?
Contractor V
• Small to mid size construction companies
• User friendly interface
• Multiple billing formats including Trade, Progress billing and AIA
formats
• Can process Certified Payroll
• Contains Subcontractor Management
• Can assign costs to equipment
• Can track insurances
• Can track Purchase Orders

17. Sage 100 Contractor (formerly Sage
Master Builder)

18. Which software is right for your
organization?
Sage 100 Contractor
• Customize dashboards with menus, desktops and work process
shortcuts
• More than 1200 built in reports with report drill down to transaction
detail
• Built in report writer
• Schedules can be viewed by Gantt Charts, task grids or critical path
• Many billing formats – including AIA, contract billing and T&M
• Built-in alerts can send emails (e.g. when job exceeds budget)
• Fully integrated with other Sage products (e.g. Sage ACT! and Sage
Construction Anywhere)

19. Sage 300 Construction and Real
Estate

20. Which software is right for your
organization?
Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate
• Mid to large size construction companies.
• Estimating, Project Management and Accounting software
integration.
• Track estimates/budgets and commitments with ease.
• Track subcontractor insurance, lien releases, certified payroll, etc.
and be notified when vendor is not in compliance.
• Receive updated job cost reports while out in the field.
• Automatically be notified when job and/or cost code is over budget
• Remote time entry for payroll
• Multi-level security available
• Ability to create and modify reports and inquiries
• Document management solution available

21. Which software is right for your
organization?
Viewpoint
• Mid to large size construction companies
• Specialty for heavy highway construction – which bills in production
units
• Can easily tie costs to production units
• Contains HR module and Pre-Construction modules
Dexter + Chaney
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Mid to large size construction companies
Have JAVA based version on the web
Robust Service Management and Equipment modules
Forces GL accounts to cost types

22. Should the Key Concepts Integrate?
YES!!!
• A good construction software package should work with all areas of
your business, from start to finish.
• Estimating
– Entering job budgets/estimates or having them import directly from the estimator
are vital to accurate job costing and future data analysis.
• Project Management
– Track RFIs, submittals, transmittals and daily reports in one central location.
– Track change requests and/or change orders within your software for accurate
billing and job cost reporting.
• Accounting
– Tracking subcontractor contracts and supplier purchase orders help you stay
within budget and avoid possible overpayments and price discrepancies.
• Security
– Multi-level user restrictions and data access

23. Olivia Roemer, CCIFP – TAG Certified Consultant
Olivia is a Controller who specializes in Accounting and Software
Consulting for the Construction Industry. As a CCIFP and Sage 300 CRE
Certified Consultant, she has helped businesses learn to effectively use
their construction accounting software to make critical business decisions.

24. Should Software Grow With Your
Business?
YES!!!
• Can your current software grow with you?
• As you become more sophisticated in your business approach, so
should your software.
• The software should be able to easily scale up when you do.
• It should have scalable security so only the right people have
information to the right areas.
• Profit can be won and lost in the field so you need the right
information at a moments notice.
• It should be intuitive to use, so training new employees isn’t a
daunting task.

25. How Much Should Your Software Cost?
• Construction software packages can run between $500-$50,000.
• Computer hardware can run between $1,000-$100,000.
• What is included in these price ranges:
– Software
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Software package of choice
Software licenses
Software service and maintenance plans
Implementation Cost
Potential ongoing customization and/or consulting
Other 3rd party software applications
– Hardware
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Server(s)
Workstation(s)
Licensing
Printer(s)
Network Equipment
Ongoing IT maintenance costs
External peripherals

26. Software Costs Are Relative
• Considerations
– Estimating
•
•
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Staffing (Do you plan on growing?)
Job Types (Private, Public Works, Government)
Reporting Needs (Internal and external)
– Project Management
•
•
•
Staffing (Do you plan on growing?)
Job Types (Private, Public Works, Government)
Reporting Needs (Internal and external)
– Accounting
•
•
•
•
Staffing (Do you plan on growing?)
Job Types (Private, Public Works, Government)
Reporting Needs (Internal and external)
Outsourced work (PayChex, ADP, Etc)
– Security
•
•
Staffing (Do you plan on growing?)
Reporting Needs (Internal and external)

27. Construction Companies are Moving
to the Cloud

28. What is Cloud Computing?
• “Cloud” is a set of hardware, networks, storage, services
and interfaces that combine to deliver different aspects
of computing as a “service”.
– Services include software, infrastructure and storage over the
internet
• There are 3 models of cloud services that can be
provided by a company
– IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
– PaaS (Platform as a Service)
– SaaS (Software as a Service)
• These models then lead to the “Cloud Clients”

29. Cloud Models
• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
– The most basic cloud environment
– The provider offers storage and computer resources that
developers and organizations can use
– Often times provided as virtual machines (or combo of virtual in
physical)
– Ability to scale services up and down according to user needs
– User typically will install their own OS and applications and then
maintain updates and new installs
– Examples: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Azure Services
Platform, Google Compute Engine, HP Cloud

30. Cloud Models
• PaaS (Platform as a Service)
– The provider builds an environment that offers “black box
services” where developers can build applications.
– Typically the provider will include the operating systems, web
server, and possibly the programming language environments or
developer tools
– This service allows developers to develop and run their software
without worrying about the cost to build the environment they
need
– Sometimes providers will build environments that will grow
automatically to match the demand of the developers
– Examples: Force.com, Windows Azure Cloud Services, Google
App Engine

31. San Diego Airport Authority
Award-Winning San Diego Airport

32. Cloud Models
• SaaS (Software as a Service)
– The provider builds the environment and hosts software and/or
databases for the end user
– Provider manages the infrastructure and platforms that run the
applications.
– Typically there may be many virtual machines built to handle the
load and load balancing is handled seamlessly in the background
– Providers typically price the applications/environment on a payper-use basis or subscription basis
• Typically monthly or yearly flat fee per user
– User just connects via cloud client and uses system
– Examples: Google Apps, Microsoft Office 365
– Only downside is data is stored on provider’s server

33. Surety Bond Program at San Diego Airport
Construction Accounting Software Workshop Presented by TAG
www.teamtag.net

34. Cloud Models
• Cloud Clients
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Users access through networked client devices
Users often use web browsers
Users seldom need specific software loaded
Minimal hardware requirements
Examples: Desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones

35. San Diego Airport
Bonding & Contract Financing Assistance Program

36. Cloud Characteristics
• What Makes Clouds Attractive?
– Elasticity and scalability
• The resources allocated can grow or shrink based on the company’s needs
• This growth may come from the number of users or from the software
requirements
– Self-service
• Users can request changes to the environment (faster processor, more
memory, more storage)
– Standardized interfaces
• What the user sees (application interfaces) is the same for all users. Keeps
customization costs low if basic layouts are all that is required
– Billing and service usage metering
• Pay as you go – the usages is metered and pay for what you use

37. Cloud Issues/Concerns
• Providers and Business Considerations
– Cloud security
• Identity management – manage personal identity info for proper access to
materials
• Detection and forensics – ability to separate legal from illegal activity
• Encryption – ability to protect your information
– Cloud manageability
• Assets as well as the quality of service must be managed
– Cloud standards
• Standards provided to company ensures that users can take tools,
applications, images and data to other cloud environments without having to
rework anything
– Cloud governance and compliance
• Who is responsible and what are the policies and procedures surrounding
these responsibilities

38. Maria A. Quiroz
bondingprogram@san.org
San Diego Airport Authority Bonding and Contract Financing Assistance
Program.

39. Cloud Integration & 4 Keys
• Keys Components of Software
– Most businesses will fall into the SaaS model for their Cloud
needs
– This is beneficial to them because they can do all the work they
need in the first three components in any environment – whether
it be in the office or out in the field during meetings
– The key component to consider is security
• Who’s going to have access to the data?
• Who has access to modify security? Someone in a branch office, someone
in the corporate office, someone at the SaaS provider level?
• Where’s all the data stored and how much data can they store before they
run out of room?
• With the two biggest concerns being increased security needs as well as data
storage, when do the costs get prohibitively expensive?

40. Advantages to the Cloud
• User-Level Efficiency
– Open lines of communication between the field and office staff
– Full featured, familiar program with no learning curve
– See updates to data in real-time
• Company Wide Efficiency
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Access from anywhere by multiple users
Multiple device compatibility
Easy access for outside consultants and professionals
Single access point to update

41. TAG
Software Solution Provider
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TAG is a dedicated Value-Added Reseller (VAR), developer and provider with certified experts on staff
to help select, customize, implement, train and support business management software systems with
customers in Southern California and across the United States.
From accounting, Cloud ERP, SaaS, CRM, HRMS, project management, estimating, job costing, asset
management, eCommerce solutions and more, TAG will find the right online, cloud, hosted, or onpremise software solution for your company size, industry and specific needs.
TAG’s services are designed to guarantee your successful transition to NetSuite, the world’s #1 cloud
business management suite and Sage business management software, including Sage 100 ERP (formerly
Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200), JobOps, Sage CRM, Sage HRMS, Sage 100 Contractor (formerly Sage
Master Builder), Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate (formerly Sage Timberline Office), Sage
Estimating, Sage Construction Anywhere and Contractor V Plus.
Visit us at WWW.TEAMTAG.NET