When New York-based general contractor B.R. Fries needed to upgrade from a Unix-based accounting system, it was disappointed with the first software it tried. Although the software allowed networking, something B.R. Fries sought, it was unable to create reports in the specific manner the company wanted.
"Even when we had a report designer work on the report, we couldn't get it the way we wanted it," says Jenny Pacheco, B.R. Fries' controller. "We just couldn't get a report that would cater to our design."
Custom reports makes difference
After six months with software that didn't fulfill its needs, the company decided it needed to change accounting software again. This time, Pacheco learned about Sage Timberline Office accounting software from a friend.
"Everything I heard was positive," recalls Pacheco. "The flexible reporting capabilities caught our interest right away."
After a demonstration and trial, B.R. Fries liked what they saw.
"We're happy with it because we can design our own reports the way we like," Pacheco says.
While the company uses all of the software features, it depends most on Sage Timberline Office's Job Cost reports.
"It's the most important report for us," Pacheco says. "We designed a report that lets us look at how our costs are running versus revenue. It really saves us time that we can look at the report and know immediately how our jobs are doing."
Being able to enter Change Orders directly into the accounting software also saves B.R. Fries time. In the past, the company used Microsoft Word or Excel to handle change orders, and then had to input the data into the accounting software. With Sage Timberline Office, it's just a single step.
Easy to use, too
Pacheco says Sage Timberline Office accounting software was easy to learn how to use once it was set up.
"Once it was ready for other people to use it, it's easy to go in and input something," Pacheco says. "It's like you go in and just fill in the blanks. Everything is much easier to do in accounting with Sage Timberline Office."
Next, Project Management
B.R. Fries plans to expand its Sage Timberline Office software to add Project Management, which will allow project managers to manage contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, change orders, submittals, RFIs and other project documentation.
Pacheco says having software that integrates project management with accounting will save the company a lot of time because it will eliminate dual entry of data.
"Right now, the contract we issue is in Word. If we have it in Project Management, we can print it out from there and it would link to accounting. That will save us a lot of time because I won't have to input the contract details into the accounting program," she says.
Responsive support
Sage Timberline Office's award-winning technical support department also won points from B.R. Fries. Early on in its use of Timberline, Pacheco says the company ran into some problems with payroll and some reports. Quick calls to Sage Timberline Office technical support resolved the issues.
"They were very helpful," Pacheco says. "Whenever we had a problem, they were always able to quickly solve it.
"Not only are we getting the product that performs how we want it to, we know it's backed by a company that will be there for us."
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