Project mangers oversee every aspect of a construction job. This includes the planning, execution, supervising, control and closing of the job. They ensure that deadlines are met and budgets stay in order as well as maintain a good client relationship throughout the life of the project. Most project managers handle more than one construction project at a time. With so many jobs going on at once, staying on top of all of them can be difficult.

Implementing a project management solution can help project managers in their jobs. The good news is most construction accounting software solutions come with a built-in project management tool. Taking advantage of that can prove worthwhile to construction firms.

Stay on Top of Tasks

On any given day, project managers perform a variety of tasks to ensure the jobs run smoothly. The challenge that they face is trying to keep track of all of the tasks for each job. For example, a project manager has three immediate tasks to complete:

1. update the CFO on the job status of job A;
2. reorder carpet tile for job B; and
3. review change requests for job C.

Since the project management tool is tied to construction accounting software, all of the job information is already available. The project manager logs onto the project management dashboard and enters the job number to view all information associated with the job, including the status of job A.

Next, he pulls up a past purchase order for carpet tile and creates a new purchase order for the carpet tile for job B.

While still in the project management dashboard, the project manager clicks to view all approved change requests. With one more click of the button, he views all change requests for job C and runs a report.

The project manager can set up task reminders to alert him when specific tasks are due. Most project management tools can integrate with email clients such as Outlook, allowing tasks to be sent directly to the user’s calendar.

Integration

While there are many standalone project management solutions available, using a project management solution that works hand in hand with a construction accounting solution enables the innate integration of data. Using a third-party project management solution requires either a custom integration or having to deal with manually reentering information constantly.

Centralize Information

One of the most difficult parts of managing a project is staying on top of all of the different sources of documents associated with jobs. Without a software solution, project managers have to rely on storing these documents in binders and file cabinets. This costs time, money and takes up physical space.

A project management solution tied to construction accounting software serves as a central hub. Documents can be attached to the job and be accessed from the solution digitally.

Construction firms have plenty on their plate when it comes to running their businesses. Managing jobs is at the top of the list. It is crucial that the right solutions are used to handle that critical task. project managers serve as the backbone of construction firms. So why not provide that backbone with a little extra support?