This is a discussion of various functions in the operation and accounting of a construction business, and how these are supported differently by Smart Contractor and QuickBooks.

•  Contractors version comes with a pre-defined item list and GL account list that are typical of what you might use in a construction business. 
• Contractors version comes with help documentation that is oriented toward a construction business. 
• Contractors version comes with pre-defined reports that are oriented toward what a construction business might want to get out of QuickBooks.

Creating Job Estimates

QuickBooks does not provide a way to create job estimates by copying items or item assemblies from templates or other jobs. When you create an estimate in QuickBooks, you must start from scratch each time.

Creating an estimate in Smart Contractor is very easy. You can copy any number of items or item assemblies from other jobs, or from job templates that come with the program. See information about the copy from tab in the Edit Job Estimate form. You can also cut and paste items within a job. See information about the item  selection box in the Edit Job Estimate form.

Item List

An estimate in QuickBooks is based on a list of items which are common to all jobs in QuickBooks. This makes it difficult to create special item assemblies that are specific to a particular job.

In Smart Contractor, each estimate item is unique to that job. For scheduling, cost accounting, and reporting purposes, job estimate items are cross referenced by an "Job Phase". This allows complete flexibility in the definition and breakdown of job estimates, and yet provides meaningful cost accounting and reporting.

Item Cost Categories

The US Internal Revenue Service requires construction businesses to report construction costs in 5 separate cost categories: materials, labor, equipment, subcontract, and other charges. All construction specific accounting software has the ability to do this. QuickBooks does not. Items in QuickBooks ("service items") can only have one cost associated with them, and they can only be posted to one GL account. The typical work around used in QuickBooks is to assign construction  cost transactions to different "Classes" in QuickBooks.

By contrast, each estimate item in Smart Contractor allows you to enter estimated and actual costs broken into the 5 cost categories: materials, labor, equipment, subcontract, and other charges.

General Ledger Cost Accounts

Items in QuickBooks can only have one General Ledger account associated with them. Each of the 5 cost categories (materials, labor, equipment, subcontract, and other charges) should to be posted to separate GL accounts. The only way to do this QuickBooks is to create a separate item for each GL account to be posted to (5 "sub-items" for each item), or to post cost transactions to different QuickBooks "Classes". The problem with posting cost transactions to different classes is that GL accounting reports must report these in separate columns accross the page.

Items in Smart Contractor define estimated and actual costs for each of the 5 categories: materials, labor, equipment, subcontract, and other charges. When Smart Contractor is integrated with QuickBooks, it can be set up to automatically create 5 sub-items under each item, and each of these is assigned to a separate GL cost account. By using Smart Contractor, item costs are appropriately posted to GL accounts in QuickBooks. The extra work required to do this in QuickBooks would make it difficult to say the least.

What QuickBooks Can't Do

The following is a list of things Smart Contractor can do that QuickBooks can't:

• Allowance Tracking. Smart Contractor tracks allowance items and automatically generates allowance Variance Documents. All change orders in QuickBooks must be entered manually.
• Scheduling. QuickBooks has no scheduling capability. Smart Contractor automatically generates schedules from job estimates with no additional data entry or data export/import. Smart Contractor provides Gantt style schedule editing.
• Proposals, Contracts, other customer documents. QuickBooks does not produce proposals, contracts, or other customer documents. Smart Contractor comes with a wide array of pre-defined documents (proposal, contracts, allowance schedule, draw schedule, options list, etc.) that merge customer and job data, and prints or emails these (with your custom letterhead). Customer documents can also be posted to your web site to provide customers access to them on the internet.
• Materials Ordering Schedule - automatically generated based on the scheduled installation of materials and their order lead time.
• Automatically generate Purchase Orders - based on the materials ordering schedule. PO's can be printed or emailed.
• Automatically generate employee Work Orders - based on the job schedule. Work orders can be printed or emailed.
• Quote Requests - automatically generated based on the job estimate - no data entry required. Quote Requests can be printed or emailed, and vendor's emailed replys can be automatically imported into the product price database.
• Product price list database. Smart Contractor maintains a product price list database. 
• Enter actual job costs against job estimate items - no data entry required. All job costs are automatically  merged into QuickBooks as bills or purchase transactions (check and credit card), whereas  QuickBooks requires manual entry of all job costs.
• Enter actual labor hours (employee time sheets) against job schedule (work orders) - no data entry required. Actual labor hours in Smart Contractor automatically create time sheets in QuickBooks, whereas QuickBooks requires manual entry of time sheets.
• Automatically generate customer invoices and AIA standard bank loan draw requests from the estimate with actual job costs. 
• Store, print, and email job site photos. Job site photos can also be posted to your web site for customer access on the internet.