A company relies on the accountant or CPA firm to keep to a tight budget and to avoid cost or budget overrun. If the accountant doesn’t understand the project fully, there is the risk of improper allocation of resources. The accountant has to avoid these unexpected costs due to underestimating and there are tools and apps to help accountants deal with a cost overrun.
Accountants track time for each client.
Every accountant needs software to keep track of billable hours so it can be advantageous for keeping a real-time record of all client history where all data is protected with 256-bit SSL encryption.
Accountants are kept busy with many different clients and time and billing software for accountants allows them to track time for each of these clients and to furthermore allow them to produce professional-looking invoices. With ImagineTime’s software for accountants, it is no longer necessary to go after clients for statements and receipts as ImagineTime’s secure Client Portal automatically sends clients friendly reminders for due dates and deadlines.
The time and billing software help CPA firms and individual accountants track their time accurately so that they can say goodbye to spreadsheets. It’s as simple as starting a timer on your phone or desktop and getting an accurate time log. The cloud-based system also backs up all data so that it is always accessible.
Software that reduces the potential for human error
Accounting, legal or other professional firms have many clients to conduct business for, and they always give a quote upfront for whatever services they will render. Fees will vary because of the complexity of the work to be done and it isn’t always easy to estimate how long a particular job will be.
Many professionals quote you an hourly rate, but even the hourly rate can vary because of the type of work being done. Accountants, lawyers or engineers who manage several clients benefit from the best time tracking and billing software. The software can be used for multiple accounts and to bill these clients for their services rendered.
The longer a project is scheduled to last, the more likely it runs over budget, with each new year increasing cost overruns by about 15%. Apart from taking time to get estimates right before commencing a project, the best software can help with accurate costing and timing projects and reduce the potential for human error with estimates.
Identify project requirements
As suggested, inaccurate project estimates are a cause of cost overruns. Commencing a job with inaccurate budgets schedules is a recipe for disaster. Estimating a project isn’t always easy as there are many factors that go into it, such as cost and time.
Many stakeholders have had to re-look their budgets, also because the global uncertainty is making it that project leaders have had to change their budgeting strategies. They have to focus on effective budget management before their projects succumb to huge overruns.
What stakeholders need and want often leads to unidentified goals and expectations when project managers don’t have a solid grasp of stakeholders’ true requirements.
It is important to get a thorough understanding of what stakeholders expect as everything is defined by the expectations of stakeholders. So the first step to avoiding cost overrun is to ensure project requirements are accurately identified and confirmed with the stakeholders.
Help project managers
Provide project managers with the resources they need to track and manage their projects. Managing cost overrun on projects is important as a project can so easily go over budget.
The best cost overrun software helps with detecting early trends that things are moving over-budget and then there is still time to do something about it. The project can be kept on track to prevent cost overrun. Also, with proper scheduling, estimates can be kept accurate, which prevents idle time and the risk of overrun.
With the right software, project managers can work with confidence and review forecasts and actual budgets and address problems early.