PX360

Advantages for Accounts Processes

Mon, 08 May 2023 07:08:48 +0000

Since the inception of currency, taxes and trade have been a dominant part of our society and accounting processes. These have historically been controlled and managed by governments to reduce fraud and ensure the ability to claim taxes is possible under the law. For this reason, the processes and systems that accountants, banks, and accounting systems (e.g. Xero Accounting Software) follow are highly regulated with strong compliance and uniformity.

PX360 integrates well with these strong accounting systems as part of what the Director and Founder, Tom Heneker, sees as “a great fit for small construction businesses.”

“A major benefit we see for its use within the construction industry is the use of receipt forwarding technology like Dext, Hubdoc, and Synced which allow for all purchases and copies of receipts to be added straight into Xero for reporting, as well as major Australian banks providing account transaction integration,” says Tom, “allowing for these receipts, images, and costs to be allocated to a PX360 project. This strong integration ecosystem halves the bookkeeping time on data entry.”

Tom goes on to say that this allows construction teams to quickly and easily use project management software combined with accurate budget management, variation tracking, and progress claim benefits, with no double handling and no additional admin resources.

Since Xero and PX360 are linked together, they are working from the same information. As values change in one system, the other system will make the same changes to match. That alone makes PX360 a smart choice for any construction business.

This incredibly strong integration works side-by-side with standard accounting practices. It’s completely unique to PX360 and, thus, differentiates the software from any competitors in the market. The system also provides Xero with Labour Timesheeting for quick and automated Xero payroll, allowing labour teams to track their tasks back to a project, and providing great budget tracking benefits.

“Working with PX360 and its linked functionality to Xero has really worked well for us. We have reduced our admin/payroll staff costs from 3 days a week to 1 day a week!” – Jackal Constructions

The fundamental strength of the PX360 software is how it positions itself within the tech software needs for small construction businesses to perform efficiently. PX360 works within the information data ecosystem after the accounting software, allowing for a refined accounts process to exist while receiving the necessary project financial information to track and manage construction projects. This process receives strong recommendations from accountants and bookkeepers.

“This gives strength in your systems doing what they do best and your people working to their strengths. Accountants and bookkeepers are not trained in construction, so why force them to adopt a system that isn’t specifically designed for construction project management? PX360 gives them that perfect balance.” Tom Heneker says.

All in all, PX360 project management handles all cost, labour, and budget tracking, while keeping up with your contract obligations in variations, extensions of time, and more. This reduces your need for excessive administrative costs and enables you to run your projects and your business more efficiently.

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Cost Plus Contracts and Their Continued Dominance

Mon, 08 May 2023 06:39:18 +0000

Cost Plus Contracts and Their Continued Dominance in Residential Constructions

Traditionally Fixed Price contracts were the preferred contract type over 90-95% of the time during the last ten years. This is where the builder provides a “fixed price” quote for all materials, labour, and equipment required to complete the build, including overheads and profit margins. This made sense in a landscape where the competitive tender was seen as the most important means of justification of price and selection for a given builder.

Fixed price contracts create their own problems, given the large contrast between the cheapest prices and the most expensive in a lot of cases. Such varied prices can stem from a challenging level of scope, the builders themselves, the size and experience of their management teams, the need to supplement projects with contractors, or due to labour charge-out rates and margin percentages. The ability to quote a project accurately can also affect the quality of tender comparison.

“Contract types within the residential construction industry have had a large change of preference since COVID 19 and the Ukraine war. A massive swing and favour towards Cost Plus contracts,” says Tom Heneker, Director and Founder of PX360 Project Management Software. “Across the market, there was such a large amount of new project work coming through the system, that the quality level of documentation and the homeowner’s intent to spend money on quality documentation was on the decline,” admits Tom.

This created a divide with builders pushing for Cost Plus contracts with scope clarity falling short, increasing the builder risk. With a higher obligation for administrative needs, homeowners lacked the ability to handle this type of ongoing commitment to the project administration, while the added costs to engage architects had homeowners consistently pushing for Fixed Price contracting.

Add COVID 19 and economic instability brought on by various wars, and the industry saw a new level of uncertainty in the ability to forecast materials and contractor costs. They deemed a Fixed Price contract, where the level of costs could not be accurately established, too risky to venture into.

So Where Are Contract Types Going In The Next Few Years?

Tom said that during this time of COVID 19, his estimating consultancy business, Econstruct
Consulting, had to tackle this frequently by needing to have direct manage price updates weekly in all
areas of the build, from materials and contractors, right down to the type of timber used. “Scarce
timbers drove up prices and availability of other products which led an inability to lock in any lead
times. This makes estimating projects more challenging than ever and builders having to put current
building projects on hold while materials are sourced. The relationships with suppliers become more
critical than ever.” Tom explained.

Naturally Cost Plus contracts started to gain traction, with the Master Builders Association (MBA) and the Home Improvement Association (HIA) pushing solely for Cost Plus contracts, which finally started to turn the wheel of dominance.

Cost Plus contracts, however, can leave homeowners with mixed emotions, feeling uneasy walking into a contract that doesn’t have a set price point, whereas builders see it as an opportunity to reduce risk in tricky times. Cost Plus comes with the builder’s obligation to set the budget point early while creating and maintaining open transparency of communication and reporting lines with homeowners. This took many builders by surprise because projects were now management-heavy, requiring frequent, quality communication to be added to the volume of daily work.

What Are The Key Points of Cost Plus Contracts?

To prevent builders from struggling, all Cost Plus contracts should consider the following:

High-quality estimates are required before the project commences. This means a highly
detailed and structured estimate that forms the basis of future client budget management.
The ability to understand project timeframes and milestones while factoring in
procurement. This allows for more advanced questions to be raised ahead of time.
All parties must have a complete understanding of the contract, how it will be reported,
managed week to week and what outcomes need to be achieved prior to starting.
Do not rush steps 1-3.
Use project management software like PX360. It provides the builder with a powerful tool
for tracking labour that integrates with their accounts system for other build costs, enables
contract administration, and removes duplicate expense entries while providing detailed
reports and forecasts.
Utilise a system that can manage new scope and major scope changes with the use of
variation administration. The ability to understand the originally estimated scope vs. the
updated scope is important to tell the story of change over the building process.
Keep a consistent method of communication and reporting throughout the project.
Builders should get help early and often. If something falls behind or something changes
within the organisation, having administrative support is crucial. PX360 is one of the only
project management software that has a project support administration service that can be
used as part of your build team management structure or to create some structure around
reporting and administration needs.

“Material prices and labour rates through the start of 2023 are already impacting building costs.” says Tom. “We should see greater stability across the backend of 2023 and into 2024.”

The availability of materials has normalised and the economy is starting to show some more consistent signs of cost stability, which should lead to Fixed Price contracts becoming part of the building landscape once again. But we cannot discount Cost Plus as a contract type that is here to stay and to be relied upon as conditions require. Each contract type has its place in the residential building market based on the difficulty of the project, level of construction documentation, clarity around build scope, and the appetite for risk by the homeowner and builder being key points in deciding which is most appropriate.

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A Great Fit for Small Construction Business

Mon, 08 May 2023 06:26:32 +0000

All small construction businesses struggle to manage their time. Choosing a project management tool built for where you are now is critical. PX360 was created specifically to reduce data entry, manage day-to-day administration quickly and easily, and give you project tracking and insights that allows you to make better decisions to build profits and reduce risk.

In running a residential and light commercial construction business, as well as a construction estimating, consultancy and project administration business, Tom Heneker, Director and Founder of PX360, saw how disjointed project management software and accounting systems were, along with a need to consider how the Australian residential construction industry operates.

“Working with residential construction businesses across different sizes, team skills, and operational differences,” says Tom, “it was clear that three core areas needed to be integrated and reinvented to manage project financial data and provide a system built for the Australia building industry.”

So what makes PX360 the best fit for small businesses in a sea of software solutions on the market? It solves these fundamental core challenges:

Accounting Software
Project Management Software Suited for Your Project Type
Project Administration Processes Suited to Australian Contracts

Accounting Software

Tom explains, “We are big advocates for the Xero Accounting platform, especially when used with receipt management software like Dext, Hubdoc, or Synced.”

Xero provides the accounting needs to manage invoices, bills, and payroll quickly and easily. With the use of receipt handling software, you will see 40-60% time savings across general bookkeeping and data entry. Xero also provides great API integrations to safely share data to other approved software systems.

PX360 has one of the strongest Xero integrations for project management software, working in a linear process to how traditional accounts are managed, which strengthens Xero to better adapt to the construction industry’s needs. This allows for simpler accounts systems that your accountants and bookkeepers understand without needing a construction background.

Here is what PX360 customers are saying about the Xero integration capabilities:

“Working with PX360 and its linked functionality to Xero has really worked well for us. We have reduced our admin/payroll staff costs from 3 days a week to 1 day a week.” – Jackal Constructions

“A common issue that we always find with project management software is that it is never in sync with bookkeeping software. PX360 has done a great job of solving this problem. With its 2-way integration, we don’t have to worry about that anymore. The team at PX360 have really taken the time to build a solution that works for both builders and bookkeepers, making everyone’s work more efficient and reducing double handling.” – Tawanda (Chartered Accountant) at Trendsight

“We have a strong referral rate from accountants and the preference of bookkeepers for this reason,” says Tom Heneker. “Other project management software manages this data process by being the invoice/bill creation point and then pushing it into Xero. This loses all the benefits receipt forwarding software provides, as well as Xero API features like seeing the image attachments of receipts/invoices. With PX360’s Xero integration, when one updates the other updates automatically.”

Project Management Software Suited for Your Project Type

We commonly see software as the cure-all to fix companies that haven’t thought through systems and processes. Software is definitely a tool that can enable you to do more, but the correct software for your business needs to consider the following:

Project Type – Commercial, Industrial, or New Builds Residential, as well as alterations and additions.
Organisational Structure – PX360’s flexible user permissions are ideal for small builders who staff wear many hats, covering multiple roles daily.
Organisation Size – This can vary greatly depending on the above points. PX360 provides unlimited users, allowing you to manage large site teams who can focus on time tracking and daily task management.

Using PX360 has enabled us to remain in front with the required sign-off and tracking of contract admin, as well as working directly with the project budget. The use of the Cost Plus Progress Claims, as well as the labour tracking to tasks has really worked well for this project. We save a lot of time with reduced double entry of information, allowing for reduced staffing costs in our company overheads.” – Andrew from HiSpec Constructions

Project Administration Processes Suited to Australian Contracts

Since COVID19, projects in the Australian construction landscape have developed a greater acceptance for Cost Plus contracts in addition to Fixed Price. Organisations should understand that Cost Plus is more than just the idea of “do and charge”, and it requires a greater understanding of project administration processes in the areas of:

Budget management
Cost Plus Progress Claiming
Labour Tracking for budgets
Change Order (variation) approvals

Tom explains, “Cost Plus is about capturing changes over the procurement process. It’s more about the identification of a budget to the documentation at a point in time.”

Often what undermines a Cost Plus contract is the lack of transparency as the project changes. These changes introduce risks for the builder to manage. This is where PX360 offers a clear separation between “Original Budget” and “New Budget”, providing greater clarity on the “change” element to a build.

a build. PX360 gives transparency at a Cost Centre level all the way down to labour, materials, contractor, and equipment level needed for each construction task. Providing quick and real-time management of savings and overspend so your client can clearly understand where costs come from.

“Working heavily in alterations and additions, we see a lot of variations and provisional sum adjustments. Once the variations are approved, we can always see our original budget and the new approved budget to track separately from the contract scope.

Having the status reports for variation and EOT makes for quick advice to our clients on what has been approved, with the cost and any awaiting approvals. This means that the clients have better ability to manage their own budget with additional contract spend always provided. The clients like the clarity we provide, making for faster approvals and quicker progress on projects.” – Till at Econstruction

“PX360 has created a foundation for projects to be better understood, whilst managed with simple construction processes overall. We see companies running projects which previously they wouldn’t be able to do in the same professional and committed ways,” Says Tom. “With the other software systems mentioned all working as one, it is then down to the business ensuring staff responsibilities are understood, training and improvements are put in place to get it working like a well-oiled machine.”

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Work Orders – its all in the process

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 19:08:27 +0000

Keep on top of contractor/supplier payments and even track withholding with PX360

Contractor and Suppliers Management when progress payments are involved always seems to take extra time. Always checking the bank and bookkeeping.

If you then throw in a few variations on top, it can take a few hours to get to the bottom of the spend and remaining balances.

When it comes to a PX360 Work Orders, we recommend using these for large subcontractor values or values where there is several payment points. It is also extremely helpful if your subcontractor is likely to need scope variations.

A little initially planning at the start of the job and creating your contractor and supplier Work Orders is always easier at the start of the job. However its not the end of the world if you need to do some clear previous match and then reapplying these to a new Work Order. This is life and it happens. As long as it saves you time

SEND-OUT FOR QUOTES HINT:

You don’t always have to use your Work Order for selected quotes.

You can create a Work Order and leave the company name blank and send this as a PDF quote request. Once you have your preferred quote write in the details and add the Payment Breakup and your done.

Used for quoting scope assistance and then forming the Work Order. Remove double handling.

The handy point during a build for Work Orders (WO)

Process Description	Point in Build	How Long It Takes	Basic Tips
Create Work Order	Start/During Project	5-10 Minutes	Perfect for electrical, plumbing trades, air conditioning, joiners where they have larger supply and install packages. Or where there are several variations.
Variation	Anytime	5 Minutes	When you approve a variation add any items into your work order. COMING SOON – We will automate this for you.
Invoice From Contractor (with WO)	Anytime	60 Seconds	When the invoice comes into the Cost Tab use the Match Button and tick -> Work Order. This will allow you to select to the Trade/Supplier WO, breakup items (stage of payment or variation). Press Submit. This matches to the WO as well as your overall project budget.
Withhold Amount	Anytime	2 Minutes	If you have a defect, retention to contractors, work outstanding or incorrect bill amount. You can apply the withhold amount. This can happen to any cost within PX360 not just WO.
Settle Withhold Amount	Anytime	2 Minutes	Once a withhold amount is applied. If all work has been completed, you can payout/settle the amount by doing this through the WO Section -> Withhold Tab. Use the orange “Settle” button.
Reconcile	Anytime	2 Minutes	If you have a request for a reconcile of the account. You can check through the Work Order Section. Go to your contractor/supplier and see their current stage of payment breakup/variations, amount exhausted, withholding and remaining. No Bank Accounts needed. Immediate results.

Now you are ready to get back to building!

Having a few processes in place will ensure that you don’t waste time and keep on top!

Good project management sometimes means some additional time thinking about some early setup processes vs jumping straight into building. Doing this will save you hours over the project. It always feels good when your trades know that you are on top of their scope, payments, remaining work.

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Electronic Approval and why it removes the grey, keeps you out of trouble, and increases build speed?

Thu, 20 May 2021 08:56:30 +0000

Contract Admin Document + Client Signing = Great Project Management

Having the approval on your Contract Administration document is important and keeps for simply project management with no document and a floating email with an approval written somewhere.

Forget scrolling through emails to find that client email approval. You should be able to open your document and see it signed. Seconds not hours.

BENEFITS TO E-APPROVAL

Better processes
A consistent process for you and your client
Retrieve signed approval at any time
Increase approval turnaround. Allowing you to get to the building quicker.
Created for Variations, Provisional Sum Adjustments, Extensions of Time, and Progress Claims.

5 Steps from Draft to Signed Approval

Create your Template and Email Direct to your Client.

Helpful Hint: Use the Variation or EOT Status Report to Track your send and approval dates.

Your client receives your email and can click on the Hyperlink to open the project document on their computer or phone for approval.

Client views the document and can Approve the document.

Acceptance to the signing process is in-line with the contract.

Signing area for your client.

Before

After

In PX360 we give you a document status change and ability to download the signed approval at any point.

Now you are ready to get back to building!

Don’t let your administration stop you from being paid or being under time pressure.

Unfortunately far too often we hear of stories where building work has been completed or commenced without an agreement of value and additional time. Don’t let your admin reduce your project profit.

It’s time to use a slick process that helps you go from being behind to being in front. No grey just black and white.

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Why we have FOUR Cost Match Types

Tue, 18 May 2021 18:13:07 +0000

Keeping it simple is always our aim. We know you understand your project costs and know where it lives in your budget. All you need is the link!

PX360 gives you more through 1-click cost matches.

Start with using the match button

PX360 gives ability to cost match in 4-types

Matching costs to budgets shouldn’t be a hard task it needs to be quick and provide the information you need. We have created different cost match types so you have more power from one simple function.

Match Type	Where it goes
Budget Allocate	Project Budget
Approved Variation/PSA	Project Budget with VAR# for further tracking benefit
Split Allocate	Project Budget while split costs across multiple tasks at the same time
Work Orders	Project Budget while deducting costs from Work Order at the same time

The power of cost type matching gives you more for how you track your project.

Budget Match

This should be used on costs that are not variation or work order, as well as doesn’t require to be a split cost.

Approved Variation/Provisional Sum Adjustment (PSA)

Once your variation is approved the costs you receive from contractor or suppliers can be matched back to the budget while also having the variation number tracked with it. This means that it becomes nice and easy to know what variation this cost relates to as well as gives you the variation number in Cost Plus progress claims.

Split Allocate

From time to time you will get an invoice that you know should be split between two tasks. For example hardware invoice split between Carpentry Fitout and Painting. Quickly and easily this can be done. Giving you more accurate budget tracking.

Work Order

We enable you to track Contractor budgets separately from the project allowing you to know what you have paid out and what is remaining to a contractor. You can even raise variation to the contractor work order so that you can always keep complete contract budgets. When you track to a work order you track to the project budget at the same time. Do it once and get it two ways.

Why it is important to request you have you invoices sent in correctly by contractors and suppliers?

The main reason is so that you don’t have to do the work. Tell your contractors and suppliers to keep all variation invoices separate. This always makes for easier management of the invoice with budget tracking.

We hope you all take advantage of using this feature to match the best way to benefit your tracking. Giving you the power to make decisions faster and accurately! Getting you back to building.

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