From Chaos to Control: How Sage Intacct Transformed Tom’s Life in Construction Management

Tom is a seasoned construction manager. He oversees multiple commercial jobs, and his work is very busy and stressful, as he needs to ensure each job will be completed within budget, on time and without compromising risk.   He often spends more than 60 hours a week at work.  He is frustrated because he feels like he is always chasing data from across the company to get an accurate view of his project.  And even after his project is closed and delivered, the numbers change.  

Tom finds himself burned out by numerous administrative tasks that drain his energy and hinder his ability to focus on strategic project management.

He relies on Excel spreadsheets to track job budget and actual costs. He spends countless hours inputting, formatting and reconciling data. It’s challenging to be error free. Even worse, as multiple team members can access and modify his spreadsheets, version control is nightmare.   As the drawing deadlines approach, Tom often stays late into the night to finalize the report.

Weekly meetings with the accounting team are another drain on his time. He repeatedly explains the intricacies of subcontract commitment and job cost, frustrated by the lack of trust in his expertise. Why can't they simply accept his numbers?

The constant interruptions from his manager and colleagues are equally disruptive. Although he sends project updates at the beginning of each week, he's bombarded with questions throughout the day.

Each week, he must put in his working hours and expense report into a spreadsheet. It’s so tedious… Even worse, the accountants always ask more questions when they receive them.

Tom decides to take a long vacation.

On his return, his manager tells him that they have implemented Sage Intacct, an accounting system, while he was out.

Tom frowns. Sage Intacct? What “the bleep” is that going to do for me?  

After some quick training…

When setting up his job budget in Sage Intacct, Tom simply selects the necessary cost codes from a Work breakdown list (WBS). His team has access to the budget immediately, but they won’t be able to make changes by mistake. Users’ access is controlled through system security.

When finalizing takeoffs, he directly inputs the subcontract commitment into Sage Intacct. When he approves a change order, he directly inputs it into Sage Intacct and links it to the original commitment. The invoices for the commitment will show up in his approval queue for his review.

Tom's daily routine now revolves around his Sage Intacct dashboard, which provides real-time insights into project status and performance. He also shares the dashboard with his manager and co-workers.

Even personal tasks like timesheet and expense report submissions are now handled through Sage Intacct.

After several weeks, Tom notices a significant shift in his daily work. He's now able to focus on managing his projects without constant interruptions.  He’s able to spend more time on risk analysis and mitigation.  While he's not entirely sure why, he's enjoying this newfound productivity.

At their monthly company meeting, he sits next to Joe, the CFO.

"How have you been?" Joe asks.

"I'm doing great. How's your team? I haven't talked to them in a while. What's new?" Tom replies.

"That's good to hear," Joe says. "All the information we need is now in Sage Intacct, which has eliminated all the back-and-forth. We can finally leave you alone to do your job, which is critical to our company."

"I love it!" Tom exclaims. "It feels like I have a new job!"‍

Conclusion

Sage Intacct, a Cloud-based accounting software trusted by construction industry, bridges the gap between construction operation and financial management.

1. Real-time Financial Insights
2. Streamlined Workflows
3. Enhanced Project Management