Practice Management Member Conversations

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  • 1.  Accounting software

    Posted 09-16-2010 08:56 AM
    This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Practice Management .
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    What is a good system for accounting for a small firm (5-10 people)?  On the Mac.  QuickBooks perhaps with add-on (third party) modules for timekeeping, job costing and invoicing ..... does anyone have recommendations?  Thanks!
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    Judith Repp AIA
    Architect
    Judith Repp Architect
    Villanova PA
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  • 2.  RE:Accounting software

    Posted 09-17-2010 07:32 AM
    We have been using quickbooks Premier for the last year and it has worked very well for our 3 person firm. We had previously used Deltek Sema4 for the past 12 years and while it has many superior benefits to Quickbooks as would other full accounting systems, the ease and simplicity of Quickbook is more suited for our current environment.

    Quickbooks will allow tracking of time and expenses and simple reporting of job costing as well. I am sure that other firms have found or created more advanced reports but we have not required them this year. It also does not require a strong background in accounting to operate the program and operate it correctly which is important.

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    Craig Pryde AIA
    Perkins Pryde + Kennedy Architects
    Glen Ellyn IL
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  • 3.  RE:Accounting software

    Posted 09-18-2010 04:45 AM
    ------------------------------------------- Rudy Fabiano AIA Fabiano Architects, PC Montclair NJ ------------------------------------------- We have had between 5 and 15 people in our firm ( the economy). We have been using Arch Administrator for over 15 years. It is axsmsll company with excellent costumer service.it has a full amounting mode, or can intergrate with quickbookd. It tracks everyones time, transmittles, prints, the works and allows for highly detailed invoices. Most important to me, we can track project profitabilty ( or lack of) in real time, allowing for adjustments in project workforce. The program is very affordable and written by an architect. Certainly worth looking into .


  • 4.  RE:Accounting software

    Posted 09-17-2010 08:20 AM
    We are a small firm that began life with Quickbooks several years ago.  I found it to be adequate at the time, but grew increasingly frustrated with its lack of support for many of the basic features of an Architect's billing processes.  I grew to be quite proficient with QB. Though admittedly not an expert, I did consult with several.  I began looking for a new solution after a few missteps with consultant invoices/payments.  These issues were costing me more than another software platform.

    I had used Deltek in a previous life, which is typically regarded as the 800# gorilla in this arena, but way overpriced and overcomplicated for a small firm.

    We chose to go with Axium Portfolio in January of this year.  It is a fairly new product but has come a long way.  They are constantly improving the product and have very good training and tech support folks.  The price is an investment, but still significantly less than Deltek and comes with a much better and appropriate feature set for Architects than QB. 

    If you manage multiple projects with multiple project managers and consultants; it will greatly streamline your workflow and give you a much better understanding of your financial picture.

    Having said all that, I don't know if they make a Mac based product.  It is a SQL database system that resides on a server.  Everyone in the office logs into and runs the program on their respective machines from the server with varying levels of permissions and rights.

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    Mark Prichard AIA, MBA
    Link Architecture
    Austin TX
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  • 5.  RE:Accounting software

    Posted 09-20-2010 10:59 AM

    We use QuickBooks for accounting. It was prefered by our partime account and the CPA that does our yearly taxes. We use a third party program that tracks time for employees and projects.
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    Richard Espinosa
    Architect
    Synectic DS
    Salt Lake City UT
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