10 Must-have Construction Accounting Software Programs to Watch in 2024

Updated by Nazanin Ghodsian, 08/26/2024

By enhancing decision-making, guaranteeing safety and regulatory compliance, cutting paperwork, and offering real-time task visibility, construction accounting software is completely changing site management. Building enterprises need accurate project estimation and smooth team collaboration, which this software provides. Adopting these digital tools is essential for construction companies to manage complicated projects and satisfy industry demands as they move away from old ways.

The business is facing issues like increased material costs and cyber threats, which has led to the emergence of construction accounting software. With capabilities including job costing, project profitability predictions, and real-time cost monitoring, these technologies maximize construction workflow, profitability, and compliance. This software is becoming more and more popular worldwide, which is indicative of its vital function in contemporary construction.

There is a great need for these products because the market for construction accounting software is predicted to increase gradually, especially in North America and Asia Pacific. This software is becoming more and more important for construction companies all over the world as a result of companies investing in it to improve productivity, lower mistakes, and comply with industry rules.

Essential Features for Construction Accounting Software

Having the proper construction accounting software is essential for building companies to manage their finances effectively. With the help of these specialized features, businesses are now able to precisely track project costs, manage contracts, and take care of job-specific billing to meet the demands of the building industry.

Here, we’ll go over some crucial accounting features to think about:

• Job Costing: For building companies to accurately track and allocate costs to particular projects, job costing is a crucial tool. This enables you to keep track of costs for supplies, tools, and subcontractors.
• Project Management Integration: As a result, real-time insights into project costs, schedules, and budgets are made possible, bridging the gap between financial data and project progress. Syncing these enables resource tracking, delay detection, and cost overrun detection.
• Analytics for Actionable Data: Making informed decisions depends on data-driven insights. With in-depth analytics, you can look beyond the numbers to discover information about the profitability of a project, the distribution of resources, cost trends, and financial health.
• Customization: Choose software that enables you to modify it to fit your unique business rules, workflows, and jargon. By giving you a solution that is completely in line with your needs, customization improves efficiency, accuracy, and user adoption.

1. Jonas Premier: Best Overall for Construction Accounting Software

Cost: High price, suitable for big companies
Scalability: Very good
Ease of use: Provides comprehensive documentation, video training, and webinars for new employees
Customer Support: Highly efficient

Jonas Premier is a comprehensive building and project management solution for all sizes of contracting businesses. It includes features such as automatic recurring accounts payable, automatic tracking of subcontractors’ retainage payables, and custom payment approval workflows. It also provides comprehensive project accounting capabilities, such as job cost reports, RFI documents, and time tracking via a mobile app.

• Accounts payable procedures are streamlined while accounting procedures are automated. During a billing cycle, it is possible to configure an automatic merge of costs and unpaid invoices. Access to more than 50 financial reports is available, and building companies’ compliance is monitored.
• The platform streamlines job costing with real-time estimates and forecasts using budget management tools that let users easily switch from budget to change order requests. The software streamlines workflows and carries out digital tasks automatically, which is the best way for businesses to automate their accounting operations.
• A cloud-based construction accounting system called Jonas Premier can assist companies of all sizes in planning, monitoring, and documenting their financial activities. Managers can keep an eye on the finances of various projects and even entire businesses thanks to its feature-rich design.
• Jones Premier offers a customizable dashboard that shows various types of accounting and financial data and, it supports cloud-based document storage, automatic notifications for all significant events, and electronic signatures. It is simple to understand why many people think this construction accounting software is one of the best in business.

2. Quickbooks: Best for Building Invoicing

Cost: Expensive tiers, including Plus 5, Plus 10, and Plus 15, require QuickBooks subscription, impacting smaller companies
Scalability: Multi-user, multi-site, and multi-project security, PCI-compliant payment options, and encrypted user authentication. It also supports modern browsers and mobile applications.
Ease of use: Comprehensive accounting tool for midsize to large businesses, offering comprehensive training and support, making it user-friendly
Customer Support: Enables comprehensive project Management, offers industry-leading training, and offers excellent client communication functionality.

For small businesses, startups, independent accounting firms, and independent bookkeepers, QuickBooks is a reliable accounting system. The platform is made to make construction accounting and financial management simpler and is regarded as efficient construction accounting software for small building business operations. It offers sophisticated tools for managing invoices, tracking expenses, and keeping tabs on sales.

The website also includes a helpful tax calculator, just like a top-notch tax preparation program would. Additionally, Quickbooks offers dependable options for bill payment, bill customization, financial reporting, profit and loss reporting, and financial monitoring.

Features like automatically keeping track of earnings and costs make payments to contractors and employees easier to determine taxes and provide efficient billing and invoice solutions making this a promising choice.

3. Procore: Top Construction Management App

Cost: Price is determined per company depending on the products needed and the amount of the building you do.
Scalability: Project executives can generate financial forecasts using real-time data from the field from their office.
Ease of use: The solution is compatible with all mobile devices, enabling field employees to conveniently manage change and purchase orders from any location.
Customer Support: Without leaving the job site, project managers can keep track of their project costs.

Procore is a project management tool that offers a central hub for securely tying together personnel, technology, and apps. This construction accounting software gives managers a unified platform that makes it simple to look over project and financial data and stay on top of things. Through its reporting capabilities, Procore also provides crucial insights that support projections and decisions that are based on data.

Users of Procore can oversee a variety of building projects, such as those for retail establishments, educational facilities, apartment buildings, office buildings, and industrial plants.

The outstanding features of this specific are standardized financial data reporting and data collection, a platform that addresses all building management issues in one place, utilizes machine learning to identify trends in construction data, and combines communications with the team and clients to support an unlimited number of users and data.

4. RedTeam: Best for Project Control

Cost: $165/month
Scalability: Building firms’ actual financial and accounting needs are addressed.
Ease of use: Managers can easily receive and track information requests, perform and update parties on change orders, and collaborate with teams and clients.
Customer Support: RedTeam provides a wide range of project management solutions.

RedTeam caters to the actual financial and accounting requirements of building companies as it was developed by one. Submitting quote requests to vendors in the database, defining project specifications, and contrasting vendor offerings, enables users to manage bids. A wide range of project management solutions are also provided by RedTeam.

By using this construction accounting software, managers can collaborate with teams and clients, easily perform and update parties regarding changed orders, and receive and track requests for information regarding the latest updates.

Features that make this construction accounting software a reliable choice for construction accounting software are: makes workflows more specific and automated, tracking of bidder responses to invitations, keeps track of adjustments to project budgets and bids, and notifies people automatically when tasks aren’t finished.

5. Gusto: HR Incorporation at Its Best

Cost: $40 per month
Scalability: The platform provides a variety of expense management tools for creating budgets for employee necessities such as food, housing, and transportation.
Ease of use: The system automates tax computation, form collection, and validation processes, as well as those of independent contractors who work for you.
Customer Support: Accounting experts, receive compliance support, and so much more.

Gusto is a payroll and accounting solution for construction companies that work with both domestic and foreign vendors and contractors. Through this platform, businesses can manage payroll and benefits, communicate with HR and accounting experts, get help with compliance, and much more. Managers can also monitor the financial and physical well-being of their team thanks to the system, and that’s how this specific construction accounting software comes to your aid.

The digital wallet software from Gusto aids in designing perfect benefit plans for your staff. It comes with several tools for managing spending that can be used to develop spending plans for things like food, lodging, and transportation for employees.

The features that make this blog useful are Automatic tax calculation, Unlimited payroll runs, Time tracking integrated with payroll, and support for international contractor payments!

6. Bonsai: Construction Accounting System with Reliable Templates

Cost: $17/month — 1-year plan + 2 months free
Scalability: The software provides a reliable building invoicing solution with user-friendly features, efficient scheduling, and excellent invoice and contract templates.
Ease of use: Excellent customer service, collaboration on projects with contractors is not limited, and features for simple scheduling
Customer Support: The Bonsai recurring invoices feature saves time for installment payment systems by sending invoices to selected clients on the first of each month.

With a large library of contract and proposal templates to choose from, Bonsai is the best partner for managing your business. Your clients will be able to approve them directly through Bonsai.

You can include pricing packages with a proper breakdown in the proposal so that clients have a clear idea of your service prices right away. Furthermore, all contracts on Bonsai have been reviewed by actual lawyers — simply select a default template that meets your requirements, and you’re good to go.

In order to create a custom contract, there is a simple four-step process with Bonsai: 1) choose a template, 2) make the changes, 3) e-sign the contract, and 4) send it to the client. You’ll also be notified when a client approves the contract.

If you normally work with an installment payment system, the recurring invoices feature will come in handy. On the first of every month, Bonsai will automatically send an invoice to the selected client. The payment method chosen by the client will be automatically billed on the file.

It is unusual that tax management is not included. To get tax services, you must purchase an additional top-up to your base subscription fee. It is, however, worthwhile because it will remind you when your taxes are due, and you can even download your tax forms from its portal. Overall, Bonsai is a solid construction accounting software option, with simple invoicing and scheduling features, as well as excellent invoice and contract templates, and these features make it a very good choice of a construction accounting software choice.

7. Turbotax: A Tax-Focused Construction Accounting Software

Cost: $69 – one-time cost
Scalability: The Refund Estimator feature assists users in maximizing refunds via deductions and credits, estimating how much tax can be saved with each updated figure.
Ease of use: Each plan can be further tailored to your specific needs.
Customer Support: Turbotax is a tax preparation service that provides comprehensive tax services such as tax preparation, filing, and return signing.

As the name implies, Turbotax is primarily tax management software. This construction accounting software doesn’t just calculate taxes for you however; it also ensures that you get the most refund possible through deductions and credits via its Refund Estimator feature, which shows you how much tax you can save each time you update the figures.

Turbotax has three options. The first is where you do all of your taxes, complete with audit support and options to scan, upload, and import. The expert-assisted plan combines DIY and expert assistance, with unlimited assistance from real tax professionals.

The top-tier plan is where Turbotax handles all of your tax work. A dedicated expert does taxes for you and even signs and files your return. This is a big plus, but it gets better. Each plan can be further customized based on your situation. Let’s use an example to better understand the use of this specific construction accounting software, if you select the “I am a freelancer” option, the base plan will help you gravely. In this case, Turbotax will assign a freelance tax expert to help you navigate tax complications.

Turbotax, on the other hand, will not help you with accounting or building management. Bookkeeping, time tracking, payroll, and other features are missing, making the tool one-dimensional, but a real asset for peace of mind during tax season. With these features the construction accounting software even manages to help with the often-frustrating matter of paying the taxes!

8. Wave: Free Home Constructor Accounting Software

Cost: $8/month — annual plan
Scalability: This is a comprehensive, free accounting solution that offers all of the necessary accounting assistance in one location.
Ease of use: By comparing monthly and yearly accounting reports, you can identify cash flow trends and understand where you stand.
Customer Support: The best free accounting software for small building companies that need advanced tools and proper account management.

Wave is a powerful free accounting solution that provides all of your accounting needs in one place. The process of creating a free account is extremely simple; simply enter a few details about your building company and you’re done.

Despite the fact that it is free, Wave offers excellent construction accounting software. For regular transactions, you can set up recurring invoices and automatic credit card payments. It’s also simple to switch between automatic and manual billing. It handles bookkeeping by syncing all invoices with the corresponding payments received to your account. When you connect your bank accounts, the system automatically updates the transactions.

Wave’s intelligent dashboard separates income, expenses, payments, and invoices for easy tax filing. You can also identify cash flow trends and understand where you stand by comparing monthly and yearly accounting reports. While the basic accounting and invoicing tools are free, you must purchase the payroll feature separately. The catch is that the live chat features are only available if you purchase one of the paid products.

If you don’t require that, don’t worry; chatbot support is still available, and you can always email them with your questions. Overall, Wave is the best free construction accounting software for small building businesses that require pompous tools and adequate account management.

9. Sage Accounting: A Practical Choice

Cost: Reasonable, subscription-based software with a guided demo, making it financially feasible for small companies with few users.
Scalability: Designed for ease of use by offering a menu-driven, user-friendly interface, comprehensive documentation, webinars
Ease of use: Provides a user-friendly interface, extensive documentation, webinars, videos, in-person training, and online support
Customer Support: May outgrow quickly for rapidly growing companies.

Sage Accounting combines affordability, usability, and flexibility into a single construction accounting software package. Sage Accounting software may be of interest to small businesses just entering the accounting software market. This program is reasonably priced, with monthly fees ranging between $10 and $25. And, with only a few minutes of setup time, the companies using this construction accounting software can begin using the accounting software right away.

Sage Accounting lacks some of the features that larger corporations may require, but it is designed for smaller businesses. It also enables users to make payments more easily by accepting credit card payments in the field or through accounting software. In addition, as the contractor’s needs grow and its software program becomes more complex, Sage offers additional programs to supplement its capabilities.

There is very little setup required and the stripe integration allows for easy mobile payments. also, the cost is relatively low not to mention the free trial period of one month! its qualities like this that make this construction accounting software a suitable choice.

10. Moxie: to Meet All of Your Requirements As A Freelance Business Owner

Cost: Starts at $16/month
Scalability: Keep track of every financial detail so you can pay taxes, bill expenses, and calculate profits.
Ease of use: Moxie works well with all of the accounting software that accountants rely on, such as Xero, Quickbooks, and others.
Customer Support: Expenses should be classified, receipts should be attached, and costs should be assigned to specific clients.

Let us now discuss Moxie. This construction accounting software is called “The Freelancer OS” because Moxie was designed to meet all of your needs as a freelance business owner starting with the Essentials plan and more. Of course, the accounting aspect was not forgotten. Moxie makes it simple to keep track of every financial detail, so you can pay taxes, bill expenses, calculate profits, and more with ease.

Do you need to complete your finances elsewhere? It’s not a problem. Moxie works well with all of the construction accounting software that accountants rely on, such as Xero, Quickbooks, and others. Besides being a team player with some of the other construction accounting software in this aspect Moxie also comes with an undeniable offer! It is available in two paid tiers: Pro and Teams. They have everything you need to run your freelance business without limits, starting at $16 per month.

Moxie Accounting Advantages; never forget who owes you what for what again with ultra-organized expenses. You can categorize expenses, attach receipts, and assign costs to specific clients in Moxie.

It also has click-to-invoice reimbursements, so getting reimbursed has never been easier. See what any client owes you at a glance, and quickly attach expenses to invoices. Another feature of this construction accounting software is the ability to become a sponsor! Plaid can put your finances on autopilot. Simply connect your business credit card or checking account to Moxie’s Plaid integration and your expenses will be auto-populated.

How to Select the Most Suitable Construction Accounting Software

You may still be overwhelmed by this important decision after reviewing this list of the best construction accounting software.

Even after reading the details above, if you’re still not sure, here are a few more things you can do to find the best accounting software for your freelance business:

• If you already have an accountant who assists you with your finances, they may already use accounting software, and doubling up would be more detrimental than beneficial.
• If you’ve narrowed it down to a few options and aren’t sure how to proceed, consider consulting with someone who knows more about accounting than you do. Most of us have at least one friend who works professionally with money or is a financial nerd.
• whichever you choose, finding quality construction accounting software is preferable to none at all. So just jump in and give it your all. You can’t go wrong with any of the choices on this list.

Conclusion

The top ten construction accounting software for building businesses review emphasizes the importance of integrated tools for managing other accounting-related management needs. ERP platform features essential for complete building project management are included in the top platforms. Netsuite ERP is the best option, with comprehensive industry-specific tools and workflows that cover end-to-end processes such as invoicing, time tracking, payments management, and project management. It is highly scalable and customizable, and it is regarded as one of the best accounting software for small businesses.

Sign up for a free trial to evaluate the solution’s suitability. Other software products listed can also be used. These construction accounting software are mostly regarded as the best accounting solution for manufacturing or wholesale businesses, and it is extremely adaptable, making them an excellent choice for small businesses. As a result, when looking for the best accounting solution for your company, it’s critical to consider the platform.

Individuals can improve their understanding of construction accounting principles and practices by exploring the latest trends, techniques, and business strategies discussed in these blogs. These blogs cover a wide range of topics that are essential for success in the field, whether it’s staying up to date with technological advancements, learning about effective cost management strategies, or gaining insights into financial reporting and analysis.

Construction accounting software plays a crucial role in empowering people to navigate the complexities of the industry in a time when being informed and adaptable is essential.

What Benefits does Real-time Financial Tracking Offer in Construction Projects?

• Answer: By ensuring precise budgeting, prompt payments, and effective cash flow management, real-time tracking lowers the possibility of financial inconsistencies.

Is Construction Accounting Software Scalable for Growing Businesses?

• Answer: Yes, scalability is a feature that most construction accounting software packages offer, enabling organizations to develop by adding users and features.

Suggested article for reading:

Top 5 Construction Document Control Software Solutions in 2024: A Comparative Review

Top 7 Construction Project Management Software Solutions for 2024

10 Essential Tips for Mastering Construction Management Software Training (2024)

Top 5 Construction Waste Management Software Solutions for 2024

Top 7 Construction Workforce Management Software Solutions for 2024

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Resources:

Bedecibels | 2-10 | Kingsbridge | Capterra | Insynth | Medium

For all the pictures: freepik