estimated costs vs actual costs

Everything that I've been able to find on WIP seems to relate exclusively to the construction industry. We are a consulting company that uses outside vendors. What I need to do is, at the start of each new project, be able to input the estimated payments to the vendors, as well as the amount we intend to bill to the client, so that I can anticipate our cash flow, as well as compare how much we thought we'd make to how much we actually do. I'm not sure that the info on sleetergroup.com WIP is going to allow me to do this.

Thanks - Karen

Reply to
zeke
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We don't use WIP either but this website was the only place I could get any answers. I used Laura's website and filtered her information to set up our estimates and how we wanted our estimated vs actuals to be. It gave me insight so I knew how to set up our items list and go from there. Nothing is gospel - just a guideline.

Cat

zeke wrote:

Reply to
catrick

Thanks Cat, but I'm still confused. What's Laura's website? I must sound like the village idiot, but I missed something here........At sleetergroup, I found the pdf download, but they say to download the Academy construction qbw to work with...is that so or am I totaling in the wrong place? I've been using Pro 2004 for 2 years for this company; it's not a new company

snipped-for-privacy@shaw.ca wrote:

Reply to
zeke

I must be really brain-dead today. Laura is a QB's Pro Advisor who has a website full of information:

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There is a link from herwebsite to the Sleeter Group and their information. All I did was download the .pdf file. Being from Canada and running the canadian version of QB's I couldn't download the .qbw to work with. I read through the .pdf and filtered out what did not pertain to us (i.e. WIP). I modified what they said to do to suit our company. I picked out the information for setting up my estimates (I had already customized our items per the estimates we had already been preparing by hand), how to do progress billing (modified that for our company) and the "Zero-dollar" cheques.

We have had a really difficult time jerking around QB's to make it do what it was supposed to do right out of the box. With modifications and forcing the program we finally have true job costing.

Any one can do it with determination. I had not worked on QB's since

1999 and I was green as they come. I was searching out the Canadian, US and UK user forum websites to get information. I did a lot of "Googling" by just typing in the question I needed answered (i.e. how do i set up estimates in Quickbooks) and scrolling through the answers Google gave me until I got the one I wanted. It took a couple of months and trial and error but it works!

Cat

zeke wrote:.

Reply to
catrick

OK, thanks. I still don't know what to do, but at least what you're telling me is clear. I'm playing with the items, but haven't figured it out at all. In creating estimates, if I put in the amount that we would be billing to the client, and then enter items that we need to pay out to conduct the project, it adds the costs to the project so that the revenue looks higher. If I enter the costs with a negative sign, it subtracts the costs from the service revenue so the revenue looks lower. I need to be able to see what the anticipated billing amount will be, and what the anticipated costs will be as separate numbers. I don't understand how QB can provide you with a report to show estimated vs actual costs but not tell you how to generate the data used for the report!

snipped-for-privacy@shaw.ca wrote:

Reply to
zeke

It might be worth contacting a Quickbooks Pro Advisor in your area and have someone come in and show you what to do. My boss and I took a QB's course offered locally.

Cat

zeke wrote:

Reply to
catrick

Hi Zeke!

Here is a link to look up a QuickBooks Pro Advisor in your area.

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Also you might be able to find some accounting assistance on the QuickBooks forums at:
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Good luck! Amy

Reply to
qb_guru_amy

"Job Estimates vs. Actuals Summary / Detail: Use these reports to see how accurate your estimates are and to improve your future estimates."

Apparently, not what you are looking for. I'm thinking you are trying to budget or forecast?

Reply to
Lisa C

Hi there - I know about the report, and have been trying to use it; the problem is that we have estimated costs associated with a project, and an estimated amount that we would bill for that project, and I can't seem to capture that info I want to be able to see what I plan to bill for a project, what I plan to pay to vendors to run the project, and then the actual numbers. I would think there would be a way to input someplace what my proposal amount is, and also what I expect to pay for conference calls, room rental, etc etc.

Lisa C wrote:

Reply to
zeke

Job costing in QB's consists of entering an estimate (what project expenses should be and what revenue should be realized). From the estimate one can look at the "Job Estimate vs Actuals Detail" and see what costs have accumulated to date and see what the % of completion is. From that information one brings up the estimate and progress invoices the % of completion. The "Job Estimate vs Actual Detail" lets one know what the estimated (budgeted) costs are, if someone has double billed them, if something has not been billed yet and where the job status is at any given time frame.

Maybe what you are looking for is not job costing but budget forcasting.

Cat

zeke wrote:

Reply to
catrick

What you described is exactly what I want to do, but I can't get the estimate right. It nets out the estimated costs vs the estimated billing amount; can't I get the two separate somehow?

snipped-for-privacy@shaw.ca wrote:

Reply to
zeke

Are you using an Estimate that has a markup column? This is the only way to get two separate sets of numbers to appear on your JEvA report. Your Estimated Costs will show the QtyxRate figure and Estimated Revenue show the Cost + Markup figure.

Estimates that don't use the markup column will have the same number plugged into Costs & Revenue.

-- Tara

Reply to
scfundogs

By George, I think I've got it!!!!! Thank you all for your help.

Karen

scfundogs wrote:

Reply to
zeke

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