I have been using and implementing job cost modules for 20+ years and most of them have the same end result. What did I spend on this job and how much revenue did I make. The differences between them can be do they use the functionality of the sub ledger modules or is it a module on its own or a mixture of both? I want to compare each of the accounting packages and give you a small taste of what the features of each job module has to offer in the accounting software market.
Dynamics GP
Dynamics has multiple “Job Cost” modules. There is MDA, AA and the big dog Project Accounting. MDA and AA both use the general ledger accounts to add dimension and codes to the chart of accounts. You can attach these to your accounts and say whether they are optional or required. When you enter a transaction you can tag it to a code which in turn tags it to the dimension. You can also tag a transaction to multiple codes. MDA works similar to AA so that is why I am combining those together for this purpose. I get asked quite frequently what is the difference between AA and Project Accounting and why would I choose one over another?
The main reason I state for using Project Accounting over AA is that it “holds” transactions for billing purposes. What this means is when I enter time sheets, employee expenses, inventory transactions or other Project related expenses I can mark them billable and when I need to bill them I can use the Project Accounting module to collect all the costs and it can create a bill automatically through a cycle billing process. AA does not have this functionality you would have to run a report to show you all costs entered to an AA codes and then manually create a bill in the SOP module.
Project Accounting has many more features such as fee, service and scheduled billing capabilities. Both Analytical Accounting and Project Accounting have budgeting. However, Project Accounting has many more standard out of the box reports available. Analytical Accounting has Smart List and reports can be created through Management Reporter. Project Accounting does not work with with Management Reporter.
There are many more features that I could talk about with these modules, but at a high level these are some of the main reasons for using a job cost module.
Dynamics 365 Business Central
Dynamics 365 Business Central also has a job cost module that can be found by searching Jobs. The job cost module in BC is easy to setup. Throughout most of BC you can enter a transaction and tag it to a job and a task no. This will allow you to track expenses as well as budgets against the tasks. There is standard reporting in BC for jobs to show budgets vs actuals as well as many more reports available.
Quickbooks Online
Quickbooks Online just came out with Projects for the newest version. It is similar to Dynamics 365 Business Central. You can setup projects and they must be associated with a customer. Customers can have multiple projects associated with them and it is easy to find the projects by customers. You can enter time sheets and expenses tagged to a project. There is also reporting to show expenses per job.
Each of these modules works similar by allowing transactions to be tagged against projects and some have more robust features that allow percentages and schedules for billing.
Stay tuned for more comparisons and detailed explanations of the different products and how one stand above the other.
Happy Mother’s Day,
tanya henderson