SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION AND REAL ESTATE CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW BY SHELDON NEEDLE

Transcription

1 SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION AND REAL ESTATE CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW BY SHELDON NEEDLE

2 Overview Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate is a collection of fully integrated software for professionals in construction and real estate. Within each industry Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate offers a set of applications offered separately or chosen from its product suites to meet specific industry needs. Product suites include accounting, estimating, procurement, project management, property management, service management, document management, subcontractor compliance, alerts, reporting other tools. The Sage 300 Construction and Real Estates accounting software consists of core applications, additional applications that can be added as needed, and reporting and other tools. Core applications vary depending on the type of industry: commercial and industrial contractors, specialty contractors, and residential contractors; service specialty contractors; and real estate managers, owners, and developers. User Experience Sage Desktop allows the user to develop a simple and specific experience with the software. The Sage Desktop includes three panes of information which allows each user to change their interaction with Sage 300. The Task pane includes an inventory of all Sage 300 software owned and loaded, The My Task pane is a user defined workflow tool that allows the user to group, order and utilize both Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate application tasks as well as other external products. The My Task allows firms to hide much of the Sage 300 menu system and expose modules, tasks, reports and warnings by user or role. The final pane is called the Homepage and it is defined by company or individual and can be a Crystal report design, html, or web link. The product is shipped with dozens of default home pages and customers can use these as starting points to help introduce role or individual solutions. Value If you are willing to make a commitment to training and support, Sage 300 Construction and Real Estates accounting software has the horsepower to provide a solid accounting backbone for virtually any construction or realestate company. The accounting applications are vigorous and should satisfy the most detailed requirements of accountants, as well as governmental reporting obligations. Pros Cons Integrates financial and operational processes Rigorous, structured accounting orientation. Ability to customize output with reporting tools. Flexibility in system setup. Supports 64-bit technology. Template procedures guides are available through your local business partner Good support Offer unique application for homebuilders Use of a Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate certified consultant is recommended to assist in complex setup of accounting. Poor integration of Service Application with accounting Weak PO application, no integration with inventory or AP SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 2

3 Ease of Deployment & Training Sage Software is aware of the need for training and assistance, and has made a number of services available to help you set up a system that will work in your industry segment and handle the specific accounting needs of your company. You should factor in (1) the staff time for training, (2) the cost of that training, and (3) the cost of a certified consultant to assist in the setup and customization. Sage Software recommends the use of a Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate certified consultant to help you to set up your Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate accounting software to meet your needs. Training and Support Sage Software offers an extensive array of training classes and resources to assist you: training, phone support, Web-based resources (including Anytime Learning), conferences, and local consulting. Additionally, a full range of training classes are offered in authorized training centers located throughout the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Users report that training classes are of high quality. Further Reading Executive Summary Since 1971, Sage Software has offered leading edge, scalable, and customizable business products and services that support numerous industries, including construction, distribution, manufacturing, nonprofit, and real estate. More than 20,000 contractors and real estate professionals have selected Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate (formerly Sage Timberline Office) since it was first developed. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate is a collection of fully integrated software for professionals in construction and real estate. The current version is 13.1 for accounting and management products and 13.x for estimating products. Within each industry Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate offers a set of applications offered separately or chosen from its product suites to meet specific industry needs. Product suites include accounting, estimating, procurement, project management, property management, service management, document management, subcontractor compliance, alerts, reporting other tools.. In turn, each product suite has a corresponding set of applications. There is a high level of integration among Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s applications minimizing the data touch points and the need to rekey. The process begins with integration to leading Building Information Modeling (BIM) applications or digital on screen take-off tools. The data from these tools or a digitizer, or taken off by hand will then pass to Sage Estimating s Model Estimating where conceptual estimates allow for feasibility analysis of projects. For detailed estimates you can modify conceptual estimates with more data or you can start fresh using assembly or item take off to develop estimates. The estimate forms the basis for additional takeoff and refinement to cost the job, creates final bill of materials and transfers to Job Cost budgets for variance reporting and tracking project profitability based on activity entered in the Accounting suite. On the accounting side, Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate accounting products are evidence of the company s earlier experience in providing accounting software to CPAs for minicomputer environments. The software has strong audit trail requirements, as well as strong, structured accounting tools. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 3

4 Another strength of Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate accounting software is its flexibility with its high level of customization and support multiple entities. You can customize many data fields and edit field names. The software provides many user-defined fields in all tables and data entry screens. It also provides multi-level breakdown and summarization in both the general ledger (e.g. company, division, department, general ledger codes, sub ledger code) and job cost applications (e.g. job, sub job, cost code, cost type, category).. Because Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s accounting software can be tailored to each user's individual requirements, some less sophisticated users have commented on the complexity of setting up the system. This puts a premium on the experience and competence of the reseller whose guidance is a critical part of the process. Sage Software has taken the steps necessary to ease some of the pains associated with setting up and learning the software by introducing some new features within the Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Desktop based on the best practices of customers. The features include Setup Central, Workflow Centers, Job Central, and the Desktop. Setup Central is a series of setup wizards available to assist the user in setting up General Ledger, Cash Management, Job Cost, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Payroll. Setup Central is designed to provide the most basic of setups to get the user operational. The user then has the ability to discover, on their own, the value-add features of the software. Workflow Centers will help the user walk through the basic workflow of the above applications, allowing the user to get comfortable with the software. As the user gets more comfortable with the workflow, they may opt to use the desktop or the applications to further customize their workflow. This tool is very similar to the interface used by Timberline s sister product Sage Peachtree for Construction. Job Central allows the user to setup the most common types of jobs and contracts, including billing information and estimates, from one location. Sage Desktop allows the user to develop a simple and specific experience with the software. The Sage Desktop includes three panes of information which allows each user to change their interaction with Sage 300. The Task pane includes an inventory of all Sage 300 software owned and loaded, The My Task pane is a user defined workflow tool that allows the user to group, order and utilize both Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate application tasks as well as other external products. The My Task allows firms to hide much of the Sage 300 menu system and expose modules, tasks, reports and warnings by user or role. The final pane is called the Homepage and it is defined by company or individual and can be a Crystal report design, html, or web link. The product is shipped with dozens of default home pages and customers can use these as starting points to help introduce role or individual solutions. Because there are limitations to these tools, the user should consult with their business partner or certified consultant to be sure the tools will be helpful in their particular case. As you evaluate Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate, be aware that the trade-off for receiving a structured accounting environment with flexibility is the setup. Sage Software is aware of the need for training and assistance, and has made a number of services available to help you set up a system that will work in your industry segment and handle the specific accounting needs of your company. You should factor in (1) the staff time for training, (2) the cost of that training, and (3) the cost of a certified consultant to assist in the setup and customization. But the same should be said for all SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 4

5 systems with this flexibility and power. If you are looking for simplistic setup and processing with strong construction capabilities Sage recommends you review Sage 100 Contractor (formerly Master Builder) as another option. If you are willing to make this commitment to training and support, Sage 300 Construction and Real Estates accounting software has the horsepower to provide a solid accounting backbone for virtually any construction or real estate company. Sage Software has an exceptional reputation for support as well as local training and implementation assistance through their nationwide business partner channel. To ensure your success as well as a positive experience, make sure you feel comfortable with the representative in your area. System Features Pros Integrates financial and operational processes Rigorous, structured accounting orientation. Ability to customize output with reporting tools. Flexibility in system setup. Supports 64-bit technology. Multi-tasking. Template procedures guides are available through your local business partner Cons Use of a Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate certified consultant is recommended to assist in complex setup of accounting. The accounting applications are vigorous and should satisfy the most detailed requirements of accountants, as well as governmental reporting obligations. The flexibility of user-defined fields and the report and inquiry tools let you track any accounting-related activities not already provided for. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s accounting data entry screens work and look very much like spreadsheets, with each transaction entered on a separate row. As you enter data, the spreadsheet columns and rows scroll left and right, up and down. To enhance data entry efficiency, columns can be auto set, meaning that they will be automatically prefilled on each new line and the column can be skipped during entry. The spreadsheet feature lets you make changes by clicking in a cell on any line or column and making the change. A notes feature lets you record additional information about a transaction, job, customer, vendor, etc. File attachments let you link any electronic file (such as word processing documents, spreadsheets, and visual images) to accounting data files. Once attached, you can double-click on the file icon to launch the program and view the file. Notes are automatically date-, time-, and operator-stamped. You can view and edit notes anywhere in the system. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 5

6 You can choose how and when transactions are posted. Posting settings within each application determines when entries are posted and to which interfacing applications. You can choose between Manual (posting can occur when exiting an entry session or using the Post command) or Automatic (the posting process occurs automatically for entries created during the current entry session). This is especially useful as you learn the basic functioning of the system. You can review all entries before you update account balances and totals to ensure accuracy and validity. The software supports 64-bit technology and is Windows 8 / Server 2012 compatible. Sage s early commitment to a GUI interface and focus on Microsoft development guidelines and tools have made time to implement and test many of the features supported by Windows operating systems. The software incorporates features such as icons and drop-down menus, scroll bars, and system utility features in data backup processing. You can easily move between and within applications, performing various functions through the use of menu commands (File, Edit, Tasks, Setup, Inquire, Reports, Tools, Window, and Help). You can also work in multiple applications at the same time. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate also takes advantage of Windows capability to let you customize tool bars. Online help options include a Help Topics function accessed through the menu command, which contains full documentation about an application, including how-to procedures and overviews. You can access the What s This? function with a right-click in any field throughout the system. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate supports the following operating systems: Windows 8 Professional Windows 8 Enterprise Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition SP2 Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition SP2 Windows Small Business Server 2008 Premium Edition Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition R2 SP2 Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition R2 SP2 Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 SP2 Windows 7 Professional Windows XP Professional SP3 For more details, visit sagecre.com or contact a Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate business partner. Security To help you to maintain a high level of system integrity, the system offers an optional security feature whereby user permissions are set for menu items, files, and jobs within each application. You can set up controls for individual operators or groups of operators, with permission levels ranging from unlimited, to group memberships, to custom. Once security is activated, all operators must be assigned an operator ID and password. Additional security features are available within the Service Management application. Each time an application is started, the software asks for an ID and password. The permissions set up for an operator or group determines the menu items and files available. These security settings, combined with other user-defined processing features such as auto or manual posting, enhance the software s ability to operate effectively in a multi-user environment. Reporting Custom Reports Report Designer, Information Assistant, and Inquiry Designer, as well as the Financial Statement Designer that is included with the General Ledger application, are versatile tools to access company data files. They let you gather and display specific information in any design and format suitable to your needs. You can use these applications to create new report designs and inquiries, as well as to modify standard reports and SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 6

7 inquiry designs supplied by Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate. In addition, some reports use Crystal Reports designs. Users report high satisfaction with reporting flexibility however using it effectively requires some technical skills and considerable training since designing reports involves knowledge of file layouts. Some users find that they are not able to write custom reports without the help of certified consultants who charge for that service. You can use formulas in report designs and inquiries. You can also use basic functions such as IF, LOOKUP, JOIN, within the reports. More than 1000 reports come standard with the software. You can customize and rename any of these reports or add custom reports. You can designate which submenu a report appears under and rename and reorganize the submenus. The Report Designer also supports the creation of prompt windows for determining report contents. Print options include a variety of fonts and styles, with output sent directly to the screen, printer, text file, or PDF file. The data export and Basic ODBC capabilities of Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate allow further access to other powerful report writing tools. Sage recently released its initial version of Office Connector which allows customers to build reports in Microsoft Excel using ODBC and a simple but powerful wizard-like tool. In addition to the query capability of the core Office Connector application it has the optional ability write data back to the Sage 300 database. You can customize the system to accommodate your needs in transaction processing, information tracking, and reporting. The titles of selected fields can be changed to correspond with your terminology and incorporate your company or industry jargon. These custom descriptions will appear throughout the software, as well as in custom reports and inquiries. The customizable fields can range in form and content from alphanumeric to numeric only, to check box, date format, phone format, and drop-down list box content. You can add up to 250 additional fields to most records. The variety and amount of information accessible creates a bigger picture than is available in most other construction accounting systems. The notes feature available in attachments allows an unrestricted amount of text to be entered to describe any record in the system. For example, you can add notes to invoices, checks, jobs, and personnel records. Inquiry and Filtering A strength of the software is a fast online inquiry application. Using Inquiry Designer, you can design and save what you want to see and how you want to view it. The core capability includes the ability to structure data screens and related drill downs (or jumps) for more detail. For example, while you view a list of job cost transactions, you can use the mouse to click on an invoice number on one of the transactions and immediately view the accounts payable invoice that created the transaction. The inclusion of user-designed formulas lets you view actual performance and what-if projections. Another key strength of Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s reporting is the user s ability to filter the information they wish to report on. This is accomplished through setting up conditions to see only the information you want to see, such as only those jobs by a particular project manager, or all cost associated with one phase of a particular job. Built in filters on most reports allow you to select individual jobs or a range of jobs and also report on a particular accounting date range. Conditions can be modified or added to all reports on the fly to allow for simple ad hoc reporting. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 7

8 Integration Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate interfaces with other applications developed and owned by Sage and other solid third-party products in areas outside construction accounting. The in family integration includes Sage FAS Fixed Asset Software, Sage ABRA HR software and Sage CRM. Some of the other areas that applications integrate to Timberline are s project scheduling, payroll remote time capture, hand held service applications and remote daily field reporting. Sage Software takes the approach of letting, for example, AutoDesk do what it does best, CAD software while dedicating their time and resources to what they do best, financial and operational software. In the case of Auto Desk CAD Timberline Estimating has an interface to AutoDesk QTO or through Revit utilizing several BIM models on the market. Sage Software has a Development Partner Program with a staff that helps identify and develop strategic partnerships with the top-level software firms and developers in related areas. This includes sharing strategies, developing links, and setting boundaries as to where one application stops and the next starts, jointly developing code and interfaces so that the applications can effectively talk to each other. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate also has a powerful data import facility to take in master file and transaction data from external systems built within each module or by utilizing the office connector write utility. The most powerful tool in the sharing of data is ODBC compliance. Sage Software has embraced this standard for sharing data. Use of the ODBC capabilities frees you from virtually any data sharing limitation. When a dynamic link is defined to an outside application, that application can automatically share data with Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s accounting software. The information in one application can be refreshed with data from the other application in real time. ODBC compliance provides a powerful tool that integrates generic applications such as spreadsheets, databases, and word processing applications with Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s accounting software. This includes such applications as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Project, and Crystal Reports. Timberline recognized that ODBC and its related tools are not always simple enough for clients which is why they offer a simple wizard oriented application (Office Connector) which allows all clients to utilize ODBC without having to be technical. Support and Training Setup Sage Software has developed a range of programs to help you get through the setup process. These include: Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate accounting setup training Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate accounting workflow training Sage Software recommends the use of a Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate certified consultant to help you to set up your Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate accounting software to meet your needs. Training and Support Sage Software offers an extensive array of training classes and resources to assist you: training, phone support, Web-based resources (including Anytime Learning), conferences, and local consulting. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 8

9 Additionally, a full range of training classes are offered in authorized training centers located throughout the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Users report that training classes are of high quality. The Sage customer support group was the first in the construction and real estate industries to earn the Support Center Practices (SCP) certification of excellence. They also received the Star Award given by the Software Support Professional Association (SSPA). Sage Construction and Real Estate offers two separate support plans to choose from. Silver and Gold. All include the following: Maintenance, updates and enhancements Online Services Technical Support Knowledgebase Government updates and payroll tax table downloads Software alerts and notices How-to guides and resources Software Alerts and Notifications Customer Newsletter Silver Support support is designed for clients who prefer a self-help approach to support, and whose support needs are likely to be minimal. It also includes five support cases that are resolved with telephone or IM support representatives. Gold Support is Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s flagship plan with its most prominent feature unlimited telephone support. The plan includes discounts for Anytime Learning and Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s users conference. A notable feature of the service plans is the Technical Support Knowledgebase. With the Knowledgebase, you enter an issue, problem, or error message and within seconds, the search engine displays those solutions that best match the scenario. Product Suites The Sage 300 Construction and Real Estates accounting software consists of core applications, additional applications that can be added as needed, and reporting and other tools. Core applications vary depending on the type of industry: commercial and industrial contractors, specialty contractors, and residential contractors; service specialty contractors; and real estate managers, owners, and developers. Products, by product suite, include: Accounting Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Billing Cash Management Contracts Equipment Cost Financial Statement Designer General Ledger Job Cost MICR Interface (check printing) Payroll Remote Time Entry Estimating Cut & Fill Database Editor Digitizer Extended Digitizer Standard eplan Takeoff Estimating Databases Estimating Explorer Estimating Extended Estimating Knowledgebases Estimating Report Manager Estimating Standard Estimating Tools SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 9

10 Procurement Buyout Inventory Procurement TRA-SER Integrator Purchasing Project Management Project Management Change Management Property Management Property Management Advanced Retail Reporting and Other Tools Address Book Crystal Reports Desktop Document Management Information Assistant Inquiry Designer Service Management Communication Center Service Agreements/Preventative Maintenance Service Inventory Service Management Service Messaging Service Purchasing Sage Construction Anywhere Remote Project Files Remote Time Entry Software Products Following is a description of several Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate software products. The heart of Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s accounting software is the Job Cost application. It provides the ability to determine the amount of detail desired in tracking estimates, contracts, revenue, costs, commitments, and other user-defined criteria essential to manage jobs effectively and ensure profitably. Integration Between Applications The Sage 300 software applications are tightly integrated. Information flows properly and timely among the applications minimizing data re-entry. The Accounts Payable application interfaces with Job Cost allows for the updating of job costs through the distribution of invoice and check transactions. Invoices entered in Accounts Payable are reconciled to commitments (purchase orders and subcontracts) by line item. Some of the tasks often associated with job cost are performed in Sage estimating software products. With Sage Estimating, you can send the estimate directly to Job Cost; or with Buyout, you can generate purchase orders and subcontracts and then send to Job Cost. With Project Management, different contract construction documents can be entered and flow into Job Cost. These include subcontracts, purchase orders, and change orders. The Project Management module also includes a complete document tracking capability facilitating integrated document control. Some of the documents covered are RFI s, Transmittal s, Daily Field Reports, Meeting Minutes, Submittals and Drawing Logs. If using the Microsoft Office suite of applications you can also log Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook documents to the Project Management Correspondence Log utilizing the SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 10

11 Sage 300 Microsoft Add- in. Using the Inquiry and Report tool in Project Management, you can view all job-related cost information. To assist in collecting information from the field, Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s accounting software provides a user-definable miscellaneous worksheet entry journal. These worksheet journals can be used to enter such items as completed work, units in place, and projections such as cost to complete and cost at completion. This feature is available in both Project Management and Job Cost. Job Cost Tracking The basic job costing structure consists of jobs, cost codes, categories, and extras. The job code can be divided into three sections, while the cost code can be divided into as many as four levels. User-defined fields are available within each entry type. You define the structure and functions of each level during the initial set up. Job Cost has the capability to use sectioning in the job ID, allowing you to identify, track, and group like projects based upon four sections of userdefined criteria. In addition to setting up the job cost codes and categories, you can enter several windows of descriptive information relating to each job. These include information for the following: customer and contract; job status; payroll; equipment; accounts payable and general ledger. Additional windows are updated by the system through interfacing applications to provide overall job totals, such as contract, billing, estimate, and change order information on a job-to-date and year-to-date basis. It also tracks summaries from miscellaneous worksheets and custom fields. The Extra level lets you track additional information about job costs. Extras can be used to separately account for costs associated with change orders, track unexpected costs added after the job estimate has been finalized, or break a job into multiple development phases. Information tracked at the cost extra level includes accumulation period totals, accumulation totals, contract totals, custom fields, dollars paid, estimate totals, miscellaneous worksheet totals, and receivables. Using the traditional setup functions you can define an unlimited number of codes relating to their specific types of costs. This is especially useful when classifying like code types together for reporting or processing functions. You can create a summary level of group cost codes that automatically total all costs from cost codes that are related to the group (summary) cost code. A contract link can be established with Billing that includes costs collected as lines in a schedule of values or billing categories to facilitate time and material and cost plus billing. Job Transactions Within the tasks command menu, you can enter job-related estimates, direct costs, miscellaneous entries, commitments (purchase orders or subcontracts), and change orders. Each task has a unique entry grid. Selected information (previously entered during the initial job cost setup) is automatically pre-filled by the system. Miscellaneous worksheets allow the project manager to track a variety of information, such as production units in place, percent completion by category, anticipated change orders, projected cost to complete, and projected cost at completion. Custom worksheets can be developed to track almost any production activity by having the ability to customize the entry grid for data entry SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 11

12 into the miscellaneous worksheets. Within Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s accounting software, you can have unlimited miscellaneous worksheets at each cost level. Job Cost Change orders can be tracked as not issued, pending, approved, or denied and can include a cost estimate, price, associated commitments and production units. A detailed scope of the change can also be included. Change orders can be printed in a user-defined format. Estimates entered within Job Cost are entered in a spreadsheet grid. An estimate can be copied from an existing job or estimate template using the Job Copy function. Estimates can also be imported from Sage Estimating or an outside estimating software package, as long as the data from the outside package can be made to fit into the accounting software s import table structure. When you choose to finalize an estimate, any adjustments have to be entered as change orders. This tool helps to ensure all changes are processed properly. A separate Purchasing application will handle the needs of a construction company that relies heavily on a purchase management system. Job Cost, however does offer strong commitment management. A detailed analysis of individual needs will dictate which commitment options should be used. The system tracks the original contract amount for each line item as well as any changes, the amount invoiced to date, retainage to date, the amount paid, and the amount remaining to be billed. The system has the ability to track up to 250 userdefined fields of information relating to the commitment (for example, receiving a signed contract, payment bond, receipt of insurance certificate, etc.). You can also track verbal authorization, performance-bond amounts and dates, schedule information, insurance details, checklists, and secondary vendors and their preliminary notices involved in the performance of work related to this commitment. A full range of user-defined field types is also available for information relating to the commitment. In addition you can attach a note or file to each commitment. There is also the option to mark cost types or cost codes as Bought Out to analyze profitability of the buy-out process. Sage Estimating s Buyout application interfaces with the commitment systems. The Job Cost application does not provide the ability to maintain a database of items for use in entering purchase orders or the provision to set up standard scope of work descriptions for subcontracts. The Purchasing application which was developed specifically to help subcontractors and homebuilders, provides these features. The Copy Job option in the Setup menu does not have a provision to copy commitments with the job. If the user is relying on Job Cost, this information must be reentered every time a commitment is issued, or it must be imported from a file. The Purchasing application supports purchase order templates. Commitments for non-job related expenses can be entered through either the Job Cost or Purchasing applications. Inquiry and Reporting A number of different inquiry screens are available within Job Cost. Within each inquiry screen you can view progressively more detailed levels. The system comes complete with more than 80 Job Cost standard job cost-related reports. Since all reports were designed using Report Designer, you can easily modify the output. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 12

13 Change order reports include approved and pending change orders and change order forecast (listing all pending billable change orders as well as a change order log). Committed cost reports include a committed cost status report (providing information on the status of each line item of purchase orders and subcontracts) both with and without invoice details. Receivable reports include an aging by job and an aging as of a specific date to assist in general ledger reconciliation of Accounts Receivable. A number of labor analysis reports are available, including labor cost, labor forecast (which shows projected hours to complete), labor hours, and labor productivity variance. Following are some of the many additional reports: Historical unit cost (showing the costs per unit it took to finish each cost code). Job costs at completion trends (showing the monthly costs at completion forecasts submitted by the project managers). Job cost profit. Job cost report as of a specified date. Cost spreadsheet. Unit cost report. Job cost summary. Project Management Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Project Management extends much of the project management cost and contract control functionality available in Sage 300 such as document control functionality, enhanced change order management, a centralized vendor and customer contact database (called Address Book), and expanded logs, inquiries, and reporting capabilities. Additional functionality provides for meeting minutes, which records attendees, discussions, action items, and parties responsible for follow-up. You can easily distribute meeting minutes with supporting documents such as RFIs, change orders, or submittal logs to provide more complete information. Meeting items can be categorized according to priorities, for example, track schedule or change order related items together. The application uses a central database to store all project information, making it accessible to the entire project team. Whenever data is updated in one application, the changes immediately and automatically appear in all other related applications. The project manager has view access to all the costs associated with a job. The system helps control the change order process. With these functions, you can quickly identify potential change orders, solicit quotes, price out the changes, and issue pending and approved changes to accounting. A release to accounting feature allows for department controls. For example, you can create a subcontract in Project Management that can be viewed by accounting, but until it is released to accounting, no invoices can be recorded against the subcontract. This provides controls without double entry. Security privileges can be assigned to indicate who has access to job information. The application also enables the setup of a potential project to track precontract construction documents. Then, when the job is awarded, job information is available throughout the system. A sampling of documents handled includes RFIs, submittals, transmittals, meeting minutes, and drawing logs. In addition, from within Project Management, documents can be sent automatically by or fax. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 13

14 Change Requests allow users to capture, price, budget, cost and submit proposed changes to customers as change conditions are identified on the job. Each Change Request allows a contractor to define the condition, estimate a budget change (either in the application or integrated with Timberline Estimating), identify material vendors or subcontractors that will provide estimates to complete the work and ultimately develop a price for the change requested. Each change request is logged, monitored and reported separately. One of the strengths of this application is the ability to consolidate multiple change requests into one change order and update the contract schedule of values as well as the budget in one step. You can also issue subcontractor change orders from the data captured in the initial change request. Project Management includes approximately 100 inquiries and reports. In addition, estimates imported into Job Cost from Sage Estimating can be viewed through inquiries and reports. Line item estimates and estimate adjustments can be entered in Project Management. Miscellaneous worksheets can be used to track anything at the project, cost code, or cost type (category) levels. They can be used to forecast cost-to-complete, cost-atcompletion, and to monitor forecast trends. Accounts Payable Pros Inter-company accounting. Flexibility in selecting invoices for payment. Pending invoice system. Customization of invoice entry screen. Auto entry of recurring payables. Integration with Document Management for Imaging and document routing and approval. Cons Multiple steps required to correct an AP invoice The Accounts Payable application offers a number of customizing options to best suit your company s specific accounting and reporting needs. At the outset, you can set system parameters to default distributions to accounts such as commitments payable, retainage payable, discounts taken, etc., as well as set posting and interface settings to determine the timing and creation of appropriate entries to Job Cost, Equipment Cost, General Ledger, Billing, and Cash Management. Additional customizable features include a provision to define two additional fields for user issues tied to invoice transactions; check register report settings; whether and how lien waivers are used, and what is displaced in the payment selection window. You can also elect to tie invoices to an owner draw and release them upon receipt of payment. Vendor file Vendor setup is required as a prerequisite for processing invoices and payments. While the system allows a vendor setup on the fly during an invoice entry, the normal set-up process involves the input of general and specific information. Vendors are assigned a customizable category; for example, subcontractor, supplier, equipment supplier, summary (infrequent payees), and other. The vendor terms and default screens allow input for discount percentages, payment dates in terms of number of days after the invoice date, or datespecific payment. Other choices are defaults such as workers compensation amount to be withheld, general ledger account distribution, sales tax status, job, cost code, and category allocation. You still have the ability to override the defaults during SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 14

15 invoice entry and assign the invoice to a different cost code or category if desired. Also included on the vendor master file are 1099 controls, accumulated balances, recipient s tax ID name and number, and insurance fields, which detail four types of insurance carried by the vendor and required by the user. Vendor totals for open invoices, retainage, last invoice, and check issued and amount purchased are automatically updated and displayed. Invoice Entry Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s Accounts Payable provides the ability to customize the invoice entry screen to display only those columns needed for each type of vendor. The invoice number, invoice date, payment date (used in the invoice aging report), and accounting date (used for distributing costs to other applications) are entered or pre-filled based on defaults. The vendor type determines the grid format displayed during invoice entry. For a vendor type of supplier or subcontractor, you may be prompted to enter the related commitment number (a look-up list is available). The job, cost code, and category pre-fill from data entered in the commitment. For commitments with multiple line items, you can look up individual line items. The system will compare estimated and committed costs against the actual invoice information being entered. The system will warn you (you determine whether it is simply a warning or prohibits the entry from being accepted) when the entered data exceed the amounts and variances as specified in the initial setup. You also have the option of tracking invoices as pending or approved. The software includes a number of pre-defined reports that track pending invoices through the process. Invoices can be posted to multiple companies with the system making the appropriate inter-company payable or receivable entry. Cash Disbursements You can select invoices for payment using a variety of selection criteria. Open invoices can be displayed by vendor, job, prefix, or payment date. You can also establish values to determine the invoices listed in the pick list. You can select individual invoices for payment by clicking on the appropriate invoice or all invoices for a vendor or job. You can also select to automatically pay invoices matching your criteria. Available options include partially paying invoices, issuing joint payer checks, placing a vendor on a soft hold (only invoices displayed on the screen will be put on hold) or hard hold (all existing and new invoices will be placed on hold). When you select invoices for payment, checks are printed using one of the predefined check forms or the check form that you define. After the check information is posted, transactions and totals are sent to the Cash Management application and appropriate entries are made in General Ledger and Job Cost. The software also includes the ability to pay one company s invoices from a second company s bank account. It also provides other check printing options, including an interface to Create-a- Check or PrintBoss for MICR-encoded checks, payment memos (notes on check stub), and a plain paper check stub printout for filing purposes (check stub carbon). Inquiry and Reporting The Accounts Payable application includes a wide range of both standard reports plus some unique reports that are not found in most systems. Standard reports include cash requirements (by vendor and by job), check register, invoice aging (by vendor, job, and cut-off date), open invoice register, retainage register, and paid invoice register. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 15

16 Some of the unique reports include an insurance expiration report (showing general liability, workers comp, and automobile and umbrella insurance requirements and status), a joint check report (reflecting the open invoices that require a joint check to be printed), a tax preparation report (showing invoices that have been taxed), and a discount analysis report (tracks discounts taken and lost by vendor). Lien waiver reports are also available. These are but a few of the reports immediately available. Since all reports were designed using Report Designer, you can modify the output to suit your particular needs. Cash Management Cash, checking, and savings account reconciliation is handled in a separate application called Cash Management, included with Accounts Payable, Payroll, or Accounts Receivable. Cash Management reconciles accounts against bank statements and helps with the day-to-day management of cash. General Ledger Pros Cons User-defined fields let you track additional information on each account. Flexible financial statement generator. True multiple company accounting including intercompany balancing entries. Ability to mix posting periods in a single batch. Powerful budgeting features. Flexible chart of accounts setup.10 years of default history maintained in GL Standard Financial Reports by quarter / month but not range of dates Cannot close sub-ledgers separate from GL General Ledger accumulates financial information generated by other accounting applications. The resulting totals and account activity are the basis for producing financial statements and related reports necessary to effectively manage the business. Among the General Ledger reports are a budget report, trial balance, and working trial balance, along with a variety of edit and posting reports. You can produce exception reports using standard conditions and ranges. An inter-company verification report is also available, as is a columnar report that compares companies, divisions, regions, etc., on financial statements. The flexibility of these financial reports is determined by the account format used in General Ledger setup. The account format can consist of up to 25 characters, three prefix fields, the base field (referred to as the base account number), and a suffix field. You designate the purpose and size of the optional prefix and suffix fields during the initial setup. Account totals are maintained automatically. Account activity windows display up to 10 years of historical data, including current period activity, 23 previous period activity totals, and six future activity totals and summary totals for the last 10 years. Transaction history is unlimited and allows for customer date range reporting. This financial database will allow you to get a better picture of where your business stands with new fields for General Ledger Reports and Financial Statements, Your additional year-end and activity balances will also automatically populate as months or years are closed in General Ledger and can even be populated using ODBC compliant applications. Setup - You create accounts during the initial implementation and can add more as needed. Other setup options include (1) the ability to track books on both accrual and cash methods at the same time, (2) the ability to track partner SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 16

17 ownership percentages for joint ventures, (3) the ability to allocate expenses based on predefined percentages, (4) the option to force balanced journal entries by account prefix, (5) the ability to track up to ten budgets per year for each account, and (6) the ability to generate partnership financials using percentage of ownership calculation. You can define up to 100 journals to collect information and balance against related reports. Transaction Processing The recurring entry feature allows transactions to be journalized and posted. This feature automates the entry of data consistently posted each month, such as depreciation of fixed assets, amortization of property taxes, etc. After the initial setup, the date for future postings is maintained by the system. You can post to prior or future months, but the software will alert you. You can also keep open the previous six months books while you post to the current and future months. Financial Statement Designer Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate provides a separate application called Financial Statement Designer when you purchase General Ledger. The system comes with one balance sheet, profit and loss, and working trial balance design. You can modify these or design your own. This application lets you produce customized financial statements by controlling what and how financial data is presented. Layout lets you use header and footer options, define columns and sections, and include related text, formulas, and totals. Once completed, a financial statement design can be assigned to a group (related reports) to take advantage of printing efficiencies. Payroll Pros Cons Ability to automatically accrue payroll. Inter-company payroll transactions. Flexibility in defining pays, fringes, and deductions. Customizable data entry grids. Canadian version available. Utilize Tax forms through Aatrix as part of your support plan. Utilize HR forms and alerts through Aatrix as part of your support plan Option to efile through Aatrix (nominal fee) and Sage 300 integration. Select (and growing) certified payroll reports. Drilldowns may be limited based on setup options selected. Utilizes Formula capability in all areas of payroll. This allows for unlimited flexibility but requires user to understand how, where, when and why formulas are used The Payroll application calculates earnings, deductions, taxes, and fringe benefits for all employees, as well as generates the information needed to file the appropriate government, union, and certified reporting information. This updates Job Cost, Billing, and Equipment Cost totals before checks are run; it also automatically posts a month-end accrual to General Ledger. The accrual is reversed automatically and actual expenses and costs are recorded when payroll checks are posted. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Payroll comes set with all federal and state taxes. Sage monitors these taxes and delivers them electronically when they change. In most cases, necessary tax setup is limited to the addition of SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 17

18 applicable local taxes and your state unemployment rates. Employee Master Each employee is assigned to a default pay group in the employee setup screen. Groups are based upon criteria such as pay frequency, check printing order, salary pay, or hourly pay. The use of pay groups allows for more efficient payroll processing because earnings (referred to as pays ) can take on a number of forms, such as vacation pay, sick pay, per diem, bonuses, etc. A totally customizable checklist is provided to track employee details such as receipt of W-4, employment agreement, drug test, etc. Payroll tracks an unlimited number of pay classifications (pay IDs). You set up a table that defines each pay classification, and select the GL expense account, the job cost category, whether the year-to-date total is cleared during the close year procedure, whether it is tracked in related applications, and whether it is exempt from any taxes. You can also enter a formula to automatically calculate the amount of each pay ID based on pay amounts, other ID amounts, hours, or data from other applications. You can also set up deductions, fringe benefits, and tax tables. These are calculated automatically when payroll is processed. Reporting and processing of union and certified payroll is easy because of a union class table that contain the locals, classes, applicable pay rates, deductions, and fringes. You can report on certified payroll by designating the classes of labor assigned to various contracts that require time to be reported on a daily basis. Timecard Entry Payroll lets you define the columns that appear in the entry grid. Each entry grid is called a view and the system allows for an unlimited number of views. In a default view, drop-down lists make the entry process easy; the software prompts you for employee ID, department, pay ID, and units (hours), prefills the rate and calculates the amount based on your entries. You can prefill department and other information through settings in the employee record. After you enter time, the software automatically calculates pays, deductions, benefits, and taxes for both hourly and salaried employees. Before you print payroll checks, you can modify any earnings, deductions, fringes, and taxes calculated by the software. Checks can be printed in any order, including job, union, or employee last name. You can make direct deposits to the employees bank accounts. The direct deposit feature complies with the National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) standards. You can also change posted time to modify certain information related to the time records, even after the checks have already been modified. Sage recently added a subscription to Aatrix for HR forms, HR alerts, federal reporting forms, state reporting forms and e-filing. This service is updated via the internet and provides a unique ability and the benefit from a leading tax reporting service Inquiry and Reporting Payroll provides a number of setup, processing, and tax reports. Processing reports include a check recap by employee, certified payroll, monthly EEO report, check activity (with and without detail), a number of union reports (including one that lists weekly totals of hours by union, local and class), workers compensation summary, and detail reports. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 18

19 Accounts Receivable / Contracts / Billing Pros Cons Flexibility to bill in any format required by customer, lender, or reviewing agency. Powerful cost-plus billing features. Correspondence tracking to facilitate the tracking and reporting of customer calls. Billing is done in a separate application. Contracts and contract line items are established in its own application. AIA billing will not show cost codes summarized Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate s accounting software includes three revenue modules: Accounts Receivable, Contracts, and Billing. Accounts Receivable handles cash receipts and invoice aging. Contracts is bundled with Accounts Receivable but is considered a separate application. In Contracts you set up your billing formats and handle contract data. Billing provides user-defined invoices in a variety of formats. Setup This application interfaces directly with General Ledger, Job Cost, Cash Management, and Contracts. You use this application to set up the general ledger accounts and journals that are used in handling income accounts. The software provides tools to track other information associated with the customer. Billing and Cash Receipts Cash receipts are entered into the Accounts Receivable application. If you do not use the Billing application, you can also enter invoice amounts. You can bill retainage in Accounts Receivable and produce an invoice for the customer. Retainage can be billed on a percentage basis or on an invoice basis. Contracts The Contracts application is used to set up the contract and to define most of the terms for separate items within the contract. You enter a schedule of values if the contract is based on fixed amounts for line items, as many construction contracts are; for example, AIA G702. You can also enter cost plus, time and materials, lump sum, progress billing, and unit price contracts. Billing Use Billing to set up rate, markup, and add-on tables, as well as standard items. These tables are the basis of different billing formats. For example, you can use a rate table for labor rates related to a time and materials contract. For an AIA billing, you would use a worksheet to denote percentage complete, amount to bill, unit price, etc. The schedule of values is entered in the Contracts application. The software automatically retrieves all necessary data from the Job Cost, Accounts Payable, Payroll, and Equipment Cost applications to create costbased billings and applies the rate, markup, and add-on table information to produce the invoice. The Quick-Bill feature is a real time saver. Quick Bill invoices do not require an associated contract in the Contracts application and can be billed directly to the customer or job. You can produce Quick Bill invoices by taking advantage of current Billing tables (standard items, rates tables, and standard add-ons). The invoice formats offer a huge number of predefined formats, or you can mix and match to create your own. The formats are built using Crystal Reports, which gives you ample opportunity to customize your invoices. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 19

20 Query and Reporting The three revenue modules have a full range of standard reports available, as well as the ability to customize the predefined reports or generate your own. You can base reports on custom fields or specify criteria for what is included. You can access custom reports in outside applications. Standard reports are accessed in each of the applications. Accounts Receivable Reports The reports available are listed in the reports manager. These reports deal primarily with invoice aging, the income accounts in the general ledger, and customer information. Contracts Reports The Contracts application contains the predefined reports for job billing status and change orders. It also includes the reports to compare and reconcile contracts and billings with job cost, as well as contract information. Billing Reports The predefined reports in the Billing application detail the rate, markup, and add-on tables used in cost-based billing. They also include invoice status and formats. Service Management Pros Powerful dispatch board. Preventive maintenance and service agreements. Inventory control. Purchasing control. Paging. Integration to several leading handheld solutions Cons Lacks realtime integration with construction purchasing and inventory database. Service Management posts invoices to Accounts Payable and billings to Accounts Receivable. All service transactions update General Ledger, and you can send time entries to Payroll. Burden costs are posted from Payroll to Service Management. In addition, Job Cost can receive cost information directly from Service Management. Synchronization between Inventory and Service Management is not real time and must be manually initiated. Optional add-on applications to Service Management include Service Purchasing, Service Inventory, Service Agreements/Preventive Maintenance, and Service Messaging. Service Purchasing lets you create purchase orders and invoice those purchase orders in Accounts Payable. Service Inventory tracks multiple service locations and the amount of inventory, uses standard cost and average as valuation methods, and allows for imports from Trade Service. Service Agreements/Preventive Maintenance This lets you enter agreements with your customers for service calls, provides automatic billing of agreements, automatically schedules preventative maintenance tasks, and tracks customer equipment. Service Messaging lets you send pages to the technician from the dispatch board. You can control the information that is being sent to the technician by the pager. Service Location Master File The service location master file input screen includes tabs for entry of general information, including map page (GPS is available Road Integrator or FieldCONNECT). The screen also has tabs for SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 20

21 contacts (primary, alternate, cell, fax, and ) and service center (including information that ties to the dispatch and call takers board, such as default rate sheet, default technician, and contract type). User-defined fields are available within the master file and throughout the system. Service location information entered into Service Management is also linked to Accounts Receivable. You can link multiple service locations to a customer. Call Processing and Dispatch The dispatch board includes information for entry of call type, problem code (each problem code has estimated time and skill level), open and closed work orders, equipment on site, service agreements, invoice history, marketing information, leads, and notes. Any open accounts receivable balance will flash on the screen. You can instantly retrieve a customer s service history, drill down to retrieve additional information about specific service calls, and check details of warranty and service agreement coverage. Work orders can be printed or sent out via Nextel or pager (alphanumeric paging). The product also includes Internet paging capabilities. The dispatch board is easy to read and manipulate. You can click and drag assignments around the board or between multiple dispatch boards, which are defined by employee group and center. The dispatch board also includes a color-coding of status. The dispatch board is a grid with up to 50 techs and 10 slots for calls per day. One-day, fourweek, and one-year boards are available. E-card stamping lets the dispatcher tell customers exactly when technicians were dispatched. Unfinished work orders automatically carry over to the next business day. Billing After the work is completed, a clerk updates the register, which includes billing line items with time spent on the work order and any miscellaneous materials used that were not included on the work order. Invoices are printed in Service Management and automatically written to Accounts Receivable when printed. Payments are received within the Accounts Receivable application. Inventory The Service Inventory add-on application maintains a record of inventory on each truck. Service Inventory is automatically updated at the time of invoicing. Items must be in the inventory database to enter them on the work order. The inventory parts database uses either standard or average cost for inventory tracking. To bill inventory items, you can establish a sale price or use the rate table. Equipment Pros Cons User-defined formulas to calculate cost and billing rates. Rate tables to bill equipment back to jobs. Reporting equipment use and comparing rented to owned figures gives the owner an understanding of how to invest capital. Software does not track small tools but interfaces with applications that do. Limited preventive maintenance function. Depreciation calculations are only available from interfacing applications, such as Sage FAS Fixed Assets. The Equipment Cost application is designed to capture the history of costs and revenues for each piece of equipment. This software integrates with Accounts Payable, Billing, Accounts Receivable, General Ledger, Job Cost, and Payroll. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate and Sage Fixed SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 21

22 Asset Software (FAS) have an interface that brings depreciation cost for each piece of equipment directly into the Equipment Cost application and then generates the entries for Job Cost and General Ledger. An interface to third-party packages, such as Tool Watch, is available for the company that wants to track small tools. Equipment Cost plays a vital role in the tracking of business equipment, not only in terms of revenue and expense, but also usage, location, maintenance, and related components. Revenue earned from the use of equipment can be tracked hourly, daily, weekly, or at a flat rate. Another useful feature is the ability of the intercompany accounting feature to automatically create balancing general ledger entries if you have separate companies for equipment ownership and construction. Setup You can set up Equipment Cost to receive financial information from Payroll and Accounts Payable and send information to General Ledger, Job Cost, and Billing. During setup, Equipment Cost lets you determine how specific items will post to General Ledger, either through default account settings or the use of account tables. You can set up an unlimited number of custom cost codes, revenue codes, and miscellaneous entry codes. The custom rate tables can use formulas to calculate cost and billing rates. You can set up revenue rate tables to associate revenue rates based on specific criteria such as equipment type, operator, job, etc. For each piece of equipment, you can track various types of costs. System-supplied standard costs codes are available or the user can create his own standard cost codes, each individually identified by rate, unit of measure, and cost type. If costs need to be determined based on criteria other than cost code (such as specific job or shift type), cost rate tables can simplify the process. Equipment Cost setup prompts you for general information such as serial number, make, model, and other identifying features. Usage and status windows track meter and odometer readings and last maintenance activity. The default window identifies revenue, Job Cost, and category codes related to the equipment item. A window is dedicated for equipment tracking and reporting based on user defined fields. The cost and revenue totals windows display updated information including week-to-date, M-T-D, Y-T-D, and L-T- D totals. The software also supports user-defined fields to track additional equipment-related information and create custom entry journals to verify data entered. Data Entry Cost, revenue, and miscellaneous data is entered in the spreadsheet grid. You can also enter equipment and operator s time simultaneously in the Payroll time entry screen. In the employee master file equipment can be assigned to an operator or entered during time entry. You can assign invoices to a piece of equipment by cost type in Accounts Payable. You can enter miscellaneous items with cost or revenues through Accounts Payable or Payroll, as well as through Equipment Cost. Through location tracking, you can see updated information regarding equipment location, last operator, last job, usage dates, and whether or not equipment is attached to or a component of another piece of equipment. Numerous standard reports are included within Equipment Cost and are easily accessed through the Reports command menu. A historical database is available to analyze trends in cost, revenue, and profits. Reports are further segregated into related groups, depending on the type of information generated. You can further enhance standard reports using the Report Designer. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 22

23 Purchase Orders Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate provides two different options for handling purchase orders. Purchase orders can be entered as commitments within Job Cost. The Purchasing application (described below) provides a full-blown purchase order system that integrates with inventory, handles receipts, and provides the ability to copy purchase orders (features that are not available within Job Cost). Pros Cons Customization of entry grids. Can create orders from requisitions. Can process purchase orders, blanket orders, unit-rate orders, or subcontract orders. Automatically creates change orders from closed orders. The new tools and capabilities make the user interface somewhat different from that in other Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate applications. Although not part of the Report Designer, Crystal Reports provides for more customization options. Purchasing is fully integrated with all Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate accounting applications. Purchasing shares an item table with Inventory. Item prices can be updated using various Trade Services pricing databases. Purchasing integrates with Job Cost, General Ledger, Accounts Payable and Equipment Cost applications. You can enter invoices within either Accounts Payable or Purchasing. If you choose to enter receipts, you must create invoices within Purchasing. As you enter a receipt, you can enter an invoice at that time and send the invoice into Accounts Payable. Postings in Purchasing automatically update Job Cost, General Ledger, and Accounts Payable. Query and Reporting Eleven different formats are available to produce purchase orders, which can be printed or sent by fax or directly from the software. An online inquiry with drill-down features is available with tabs to view purchase orders, change orders, receipts, and invoices. A variety of reports are available including daily receiving by job, receipt exceptions, expected delivery by location, and purchase order receipts audit list, which is used to reconcile inventory. Inventory Pros Cons Averaging costing, standard costing, and LIFO and FIFO. Interfaces with Trade Services pricing service. The new tools and capabilities make the user interface somewhat different from that in other Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate applications. Inventory is fully integrated with all of the accounting applications except Service Management. Inventory shares an item table with Purchasing. Inventory is also integrated with Accounts Payable (material purchases not on a purchase order), Equipment Cost, General Ledger, and Job Cost. When you enter a non-job invoice in QuickBill, the system will relieve inventory to enable processing of point of sale transactions. Inventory SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 23

24 also integrates with Billing for cost plus and time and materials billings. Item prices can be updated with Trade Services pricing databases or you can define your own database. There is no integration between the item table in Purchasing and Inventory with the service or estimating databases. Item Setup Set up allows you to enter general information, including the costing method, item classification, and user-defined fields; unit of measure with a stocking and purchase order unit of measure and conversion factor; suppliers, including most recent price; contract pricing; location information, including bin location and quantity and dollar value of amount on hand; minimum, maximum, and reorder quantity; purchase order history; and U.N. hazardous materials information. Inventory also has the ability to link items for ease in ordering as well as reserve items before they are issued. Query and Reporting An on-screen inquiry provides tabs to view item information by item number, location, and transaction. Drill-down capabilities are available on all tabs. All reports are written using Crystal Reports designs. Inventory reports include lists, analysis, and pricing and physical inventory procedures. Analysis reports include order history, issues by job, as well as a transaction list by class and by location. A variety of reports are available including daily receiving by job, receipt exceptions, expected delivery by location, and purchase order receipts audit list, which is used to reconcile inventory. Estimating Sage Estimating integrates with Sage 300 Job Cost, Address Book, and Purchasing applications. Estimating includes three products: Sage Estimating SQL, Sage Estimating Standard and Sage Estimating Extended. This report covers Sage Estimating Extended. Sage Estimating uses a spreadsheet approach, which is fed by a database. The system is intuitive and easy to use. Sage Estimating Extended provides a number of takeoff options. Starting with Quick Takeoff, you simply drag one or more items from the database and drop them into the spreadsheet. Item Takeoff lets you work with multiple items before moving them into your spreadsheet. Assembly Takeoff lets you take off groups of items or a construction system all at once. Model Takeoff starts with a list of interview questions about your project and lets take off an entire project or building at once. A very good tool for conceptual or feasibility estimates. Then, after takeoff, the Takeoff Audit Report lets you see all the items in your estimate in the order they were taken off, including date and time of takeoff, sequence, phase and so on. Another tool for takeoff is eplan Takeoff. eplan integrates Sage Estimating with OnCenter s On- Screen Takeoff. Using these tools you can calculate dimensions and perform counts onscreen directly from electronic plans. For divisions of work that are being subcontracted out, Sage Estimating Extended includes a subcontractor bid grid, in which you can log the subcontractor s name, bid quantity, unit price, total bid amount, and notes. Additionally, a cutsand-adds log lets you log in one place last minute changes to the bid that might make the difference between winning and losing the job. Additional estimate related capabilities and/or applications are: Explorer (provides an ability to organize, manage and analyze your estimate), Cut & Fill for earthwork estimating, Digitizer, Buyout, Viewer, which provides non-users with the ability SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 24

25 to sort, review and report on estimates. The Database Builder Wizard, and Database Editor, are tools that streamline the setup and ongoing maintenance of estimating databases. A number of estimating databases are available with varying levels of detail. Some simply provide a structure or starting point for your own database building efforts. Others are complete and offer current pricing and extensive detail such as codes (WBS Work Breakdown Structure) built into the database allowing you to automatically resort your estimate in a variety of ways for better estimate analysis. The databases also support crew pricing (labor and equipment). Additionally, the cost for a particular item or assembly can be broken out by labor, material, equipment, subcontracts, and other for a single item or assembly. Reporting in Sage Estimating Extended is strong. The Cost Variance report compares costs and quantities between two projects. The Cost Comparison report lets you identify changes between your conceptual, interim, and final estimates on a project. In addition to the hundreds of built-in standard reports, the Estimating Report Manager simplifies the task of custom reporting when using Crystal Reports or Access. Sage Estimating Extended also includes a conversion factor from imperial units to metric as well as multi-currency capabilities. Integration has been expanded beyond just job cost. The Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Project Management software now sends details to and from the change management function and estimating as well as allows the RFI feature to be launched directly from within Sage Estimating Extended. My Assistant With the release of Sage 300 My Assistant now has one of the most powerful and simple data integration tools on the market. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate MyAssistant proactively identifies what needs to be done, determines who needs to be informed, and automatically performs the notification task. Fully integrated into the Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Desktop, MyAssistant uses Microsoft Outlook to deliver essential information, when it s needed. For example, MyAssistant can help with tasks such as: Identifying vendors with insurance expiring in 30 days and send them a letter. Sending past due customers a list of their delinquent invoices. Generating and distributing personalized reports on a regular schedule. Notifying executives when jobs drop below a profit threshold. Sending each project manager a list of costs codes that are over budget for their jobs. Auditing processes such as job, contract, or employee setup to ensure they are completed correctly. Additionally, when used hand in hand with the new Sage 300 subcontractor compliance capabilities, compliance tracking becomes much more manageable through built-in intelligence and automation that MyAssistant supports. Instead of manually tracking all the different types of compliance, MyAssistance takes a proactive approach to keeping compliance items current (lien waivers, insurance certificates, certified payroll reports,...) Sage Construction Anywhere Sage Construction Anywhere integrates with Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate to provide construction professionals with anytime, anywhere access to the project information needed to keep their jobs moving forward. The solution s initial release in 2012 gave Sage 300 customers the SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 25

26 ability to access Sage 300 project reports anywhere, anytime on any mobile device or personal computer. The Spring 2013 release addressed a key area of process improvement for many contractors automating the collection and approval of employee time worked in the field. This release provides the ability to more quickly capture labor costs and potential profitability threats earlier in the project, It accomplishes this with a simple way to capture employee timecard information in the field using phones and tablets. The new Time capabilities within Sage Construction Anywhere provide employees and supervisors the ability to use an ipad, iphone, or an Android, app to quickly and easily submit employee time worked on a project. Submitted time can be reviewed and approved using the mobile app or online within Sage Construction Anywhere, and once approved, the information flows to Payroll and Job Cost to provide a view of current labor costs on the job. The release also features Project Files capability that provides project teams with online access to share and easily retrieve project documents, drawings and photos from one central location. On-the-spot access to the latest information, while at the job site, saves foremen and superintendents time associated with tracking down information needed to correctly complete a task, reducing the risk and cost of potential rework. About Sheldon Needle A former CFO, consultant and software designer, Sheldon Needle has authored or co-authored more than 20 books on software selection and has contributed articles to major publications, including the Journal of Accountancy and Nation s Business. CTSGuides.com has the distinction of being the very first company to do hands-on, independent evaluations of software for the middle market. Sheldon speaks with business owners and managers every day about software selection and makes personalized recommendations based on their needs and budget. He is widely known and respected throughout the business software community for his independence, integrity and expertise. As part of registering for our free software selection kit, you receive a 15-minute consult with Sheldon. Sheldon understands financial and business issues and speaks your language. He knows the leading software companies how they compare, their strengths and weaknesses, where they fit into the market and which ones would be suitable for your business. SAGE 300 CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW CTSGUIDES.COM PAGE 26