I am about to start construction (hired a general, applying for the loan), on a second home. I would like to keep an accurate accounting of all of the upcoming costs. Does anyone know of a good template or program that would help me with the accounting? I could use Excel or Quicken but don’t know what fields to use for entering the costs.
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Huh? Why would the general not be responsible for giving you itemized bills and organized information? He's gonna have to if he wants to make bank draws.
If you're paying directly for every single expense, then maybe you need to do the accounting, and Quicken or Quickbooks would work fine. All you need to do is set up categories and classes for the items you want to track, and then enter each invoice.
If you use internet banking, and have your credit cards hooked up through the internet, my experience is Quicken does a very good job. However, if you don't, then you mind as well save the money and just use Excel by keeping track of your bills the "oldschool" way, by reconciling your bank and credit card statements. If you are looking for a general template, let me know and I can attach one for you.
As for the categories, really this is totally up to you. I am assuming you are building this house for yourself, therefore you likely want to keep track of these expenses for your own personal benefit, therefore however you want to group things, it doesn't really matter. If I were doing this, I would have the same categories I would have if I were trying to budget for the house project (which by the way, you can set-up in Quicken, and then Quicken automatically tracks how you are doing agains this budget, alerts you when you are overbudget, etc.). For instance, you could break down your costs in general "buckets" based on their function (i.e. framing, foundation, flooring, etc.), then have sub-categories for each for the materials portion, and labour. I would assume that this would be good enough for your own purposes, however it really depends on what you are looking for in this "accounting".
If, on the other hand, you are building this for re-sale, then I would encourage you to be a little more specific with your categories to be sure everything is on budget, etc. Depending on how large the project, it might make sense to set everything up through Internet banking, and set-up a budget through Quicken. Once this is done, it's a simple click of a button and all your banking / credit card data is in Quicken and it just has to be classified based on the categories you chose. Also, if you are looking to re-sell this house, you may want some financial statements, but I won't get into that now. If you want that, just let me know and I can help you out with that too.
I apologize for the details, however I am an accountant by trade, and an "homebuilding enthusiast", so usually I am the one looking for help, but for once, this is a topic that I can provide some guidance on.
If this doesn't answer your question, be a little more specific on what you are looking for in this "accounting statement", and I can provide more help if necessary.
Something I forgot to say, I wouldn't spend more than $75 on the software. For your purpose you can get by just fine with the basic Quicken. Unless you are in the business of building houses, you won't need a specific accounting program, just something to track your costs.
Thanks for the info. I never thought of setting up a budget in Quicken. I guess that was to obvious. I would like to have a detailed list for the categories and subcategories. I have been using Quicken for years but am just starting to keep track of the costs of this new construction. I suppose as the bills come in I could create categories as needed.
No problem - glad I could help. As for the categories, I would likely start on the budget process and when you do this, it will have some standard budget categories (utilities, etc.). You can also add you own categories and subcategories. I would start here, then I would just post the bills as they come in.
Any other "accounting" questions, I would be more than happy to help!
Out of curiosity, what is the basis of your deal with the GC you hired?
Because if it is some kind of a cost-plus arrangement, and your GC isn't going to be providing you with all the detail you need, you hired the wrong GC.
If you need to track all the pennies, and being the "old school" person you are, you could just use old fashioned paper and pencil. It's not that big a deal.
Actually the GC has done a great job in providing projected costs to date. I am an anal old school guy who likes far to much detail. I love the way computer programs can sort information instantly in just about any format that can be imagined with the touch of a key. This satisfies my need for quick detailed information that paper and pencil just can't do.
Hmmmmm. Likes "far too much detail." You are sounding like a nail-counter.
I'm glad I am not your GC, cost-plus deal or not. ;-)