Many construction companies struggle with the limitations of entry-level accounting solutions such as QuickBooks. As companies grow, this traditional platform often fails to support increasingly complex operations, leading to manual data entry, error-prone calculations, inefficient processes, and limited real-time visibility into financial performance.
To overcome these challenges, many companies have recognized the need to adopt Sage Intacct Construction, a robust, cloud-based solution with AI-powered capabilities tailored specifically for the construction industry. Sage Copilot, the platform’s embedded AI assistant, helps automate routine tasks, provide predictive insights, and guide users through workflows, enabling teams to work more efficiently and make faster decisions.
Sage Intacct empowers you to manage key financial and operational processes in one system, enabling timely, data-driven decisions with greater visibility and control. The platform includes advanced functionality designed to streamline processes, improve accuracy, and support smarter decision-making in a rapidly evolving construction environment.
Discover the 7 key areas where Sage Intacct outperforms QuickBooks and why it’s an ideal choice for growing construction companies.
Multi-Entity Consolidations
If your construction company operates across multiple locations, managing intercompany transactions and consolidations can be complex. Sage Intacct Construction addresses these challenges with built-in multi-entity consolidation features that go beyond those of QuickBooks.
Sage Intacct supports multiple entities, locations, currencies, and users within a single environment. The system makes it easy to switch between entities and share company data (e.g., vendors, customers, GL accounts, departments). In contrast, QuickBooks treats each entity as a separate environment, requiring manual consolidation in Excel. This process often involves creating due-to and due-from entries and rebuilding GL accounts for each entity.
Sage Intacct’s multi-entity mapping functionality further streamlines consolidation by automating elimination entries. This reduces manual effort, saves time, and speeds up access to consolidated results. QuickBooks does not offer comparable built-in functionality, leaving teams reliant on spreadsheets and manual workarounds.
Enhanced Reporting & Dashboards
Accurate, timely reporting is crucial for construction firms. Sage Intacct Construction offers reporting and dashboard capabilities that exceed those available in QuickBooks.
QuickBooks mainly relies on basic reports and spreadsheet exports, which require manual effort and increase the risk of errors and outdated data. Sage Intacct creates reports directly within the system, removing the need for spreadsheets and manual calculations.
The platform offers flexible report templates, customizable dashboards, Excel-like formulas, and configurable financial statements. You can access real-time reports and dashboards that provide clear visibility into cash flow and financial performance, supporting more informed decision-making. Sage Copilot provides predictive insights directly within dashboards, helping teams anticipate issues, detect irregularities, and focus on the most critical data points.
Advanced tools, including financial charts and the Interactive Custom Report Writer (ICRW), enable users to drill down, pivot easily, and filter data, enhancing insight and supporting daily accounting operations.
Job Dimensions & AP Automation
Sage Intacct Construction stands apart from QuickBooks with its job dimension capabilities. The system allows you to create detailed job records and track costs, revenue, and profitability by project.
Sage Intacct visualizes project work using a hierarchy with project, task, and cost-type levels, often called a work breakdown structure (WBS). This setup helps teams track costs and productivity throughout the entire project lifecycle.
Sage Intacct streamlines accounts payable processes, reducing manual work and inefficiencies. The system handles vendor setup, invoice capture, approvals, payments, reconciliation, and reporting all within one workflow. Invoices can be emailed directly into the system and captured via advanced scanning technology, reducing manual data entry and improving accuracy. Sage Intacct’s embedded AI helps automate routine AP tasks, flag anomalies in real time, and guide staff through approvals, further reducing effort and supporting timely, accurate financial reporting.
A Customizable Platform
Every construction company operates differently, and QuickBooks’s one-size-fits-all approach can restrict flexibility. Sage Intacct Construction provides a customizable platform built to meet construction-specific needs.
Unlike QuickBooks, Sage Intacct lets you set up workflows, data fields, and journal entries that would otherwise need manual input. Its open APIs and system triggers enable automation of actions such as invoice approvals, journal entries, and adjustments based on specific events.
For example, when project attributes change, Sage Intacct can automatically trigger updated workflows, reducing manual effort and improving consistency across processes.
These open APIs also allow you to connect Sage Intacct with other key platforms, creating a unified system for financial, operational, and project data.
Advanced Invoicing
Managing construction billing can be complex and time-consuming. Sage Intacct Construction helps automate invoicing to reduce delays and errors.
The system automatically creates and sends invoices, reducing manual work. Users can develop customized American Institute of Architects (AIA) billing templates directly within the system and configure workflows to ensure accounts receivable invoices are sent accurately and on time. With Sage Copilot, routine billing tasks are guided and automated, helping teams catch errors early, accelerate approvals, and ensure invoices are processed correctly.
Sage Intacct also supports retainage processing directly within the system. You can deduct and bill retainage on both vendor and customer invoices without needing external tracking tools.
WIP Automation and Revenue Recognition
Sage Intacct automates work-in-progress (WIP) calculations and postings using project and cost data, eliminating spreadsheet-based processes and reducing period-end risks. The system’s AI capabilities help identify anomalies and highlight key variances, giving finance teams greater confidence in their WIP data.
Once WIP is calculated, Sage Intacct automatically posts revenue recognition, generates required WIP journal entries, and maintains a complete audit trail. This automation replaces manual monthly calculations and helps reduce close time.
The system also produces real-time WIP schedules by project, property, or entity, including earned revenue, over- or under-billings, cost-to-date versus budget, and forecasted margin. This provides construction and CRE finance teams with immediate visibility into project performance.
Approved change orders directly update contract values, budgets, and WIP and revenue calculations. As a result, WIP reflects the current financial position of projects throughout their lifecycle.
Seamless Closing Process
Sage Intacct offers a more controlled closing process than QuickBooks. When you close a period in Sage Intacct, the system locks it to prevent accidental postings. Authorized users can still adjust, which the system records in a separate journal to maintain transparency.
You can close by entity, company, or subsidiary, depending on your internal procedures. These capabilities support a more efficient and auditable period-end close.
The CBIZ Difference: Choosing the Right Sage Intacct Construction Partner
Choosing the right implementation partner is essential for long-term success.
CBIZ is a Sage Diamond Partner with over 30 years of experience in implementing Sage solutions. Our certified Sage Intacct consultants understand how construction companies operate and develop financial management solutions tailored to specific business needs.
To discover how your business can benefit from Sage Intacct, contact a member of our team.
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