Good reporting ability allows users to track all job related costs, and project managers can easily track job estimates against actual results. Change orders are easily entered and can be added to an existing estimate. Subcontractor time and expenses can be tracked and paid directly from the system. QuickBooks centers easily track all customer, vendor and employee information, allowing users to create new items, search for existing data or print lists or reports as needed.

The new Leads Center provides users with the ability to better track any potential sales leads and can easily convert those leads to sales. The Inventory Center provides users with a centralized area to manage inventory transactions which include entering part numbers, units of measure and re-order points. There are also a number of user-defined fields available for additional tracking. Users can create purchase order templates for future use and add new vendor information as needed. Remote employees can easily access QuickBooks through a remote access subscription to the QuickBooks Remote Access Service or have their instance of QuickBooks hosted by a third party hosting provider.

Reporting & Management Tools - 4.25 Stars

The Contractor Edition offers a good selection of construction specific reports including the comprehensive Job Profitability Detail, which allows managers to determine how profitable a job is and where the profit is originating. The Profit & Loss by Job provides management with income and expense information and can also compare actual results with amounts estimated. The QuickBooks Report Center makes it easy to run reports from a central location, with all available system reports categorized for quick access. Reports can be easily customized as needed and exported to Excel directly from the print screen.

QuickBooks incorporates templates throughout the application, so users can quickly create and save billing, invoicing, reporting, or other recurring transactions for future usage. QuickBooks users can now also access industry specific report templates created by other users. The application can create groups of reports as well as customer invoices and statements. All reports can be published as a PDF file.

QuickBooks allows users to maintain complete control over all documents by attaching relevant documents such as blueprints, contracts and reports to transactions / items / customers / vendors / employees within the software for free – the documents are stored locally next to the data file. An online document storage service is no longer offered with the 2012 version of QuickBooks.

Integration/Import/Export - 4.5 Stars

Standing data can be imported and exported using a text file format, and third party tools are available to simplify the transaction import process. Users can also import data using a .csv format, and files can be exported to Excel as needed. All data imported into QuickBooks will need to be modified prior to importing into existing data files. QuickBooks works with a long list of third-party software applications, as well as existing Intuit add-ons such as Intuit Sync Manager, which helps to keep files accurate.

Help/Support - 4.75 Stars

All QuickBooks products are truly designed for the new system user, and as such, contain a wide range of learning tools and training options. Learning tutorials guide new users through basic system functions and the Windows 'help' function allows users to quickly access information about any topic. Setup wizards can be implemented during installation and business setup, simplifying the configuration process. QuickBooks also offers excellent online help, as well as the availability of local QuickBooks experts for those who need onsite assistance. Periodic system updates can be downloaded and installed automatically or downloaded manually. Many training options are also available to new users, and a popular user community can assist new users and answer questions as needed. Support options are available, with users able to choose the level of support they will need. While routine support calls are frequently routed overseas, all payroll related questions are handled by U.S. personnel only. A word of caution: if utilizing local 'experts,' look for certification and construction industry experience and references. Many consultants call themselves QuickBooks experts. The true experts will be able to document their capabilities and expertise.