Project accounting & billing solutions
Gain greater control over project financials by replacing disconnected processes for tracking costs, billing customers, and managing project accounting. Rand Group helps project-based organizations connect project activity with their accounting environment to reduce manual work, improve financial visibility, and streamline processes from cost capture through invoicing.
Connect project activity with the financial side of delivery
Project delivery and financial management are closely connected, but disconnected systems and manual processes can make it difficult to maintain a clear picture of project financials. Project data may move between project teams and finance through spreadsheets, manual entry, and reconciliation before it reaches accounting or billing.
Rand Group helps project-based organizations create a more connected approach to managing the financial side of project delivery. By aligning project and accounting processes, organizations can reduce administrative work, strengthen financial control, and give teams better information for managing projects and making financial decisions.
Reduce manual financial processes
Create a more consistent flow of information between project and finance teams to reduce duplicate entry, reconciliation, and administrative work.
Improve billing efficiency
Create a clearer path from completed and approved project activity to customer billing, helping finance teams prepare invoices more efficiently.
Gain greater financial visibility
Give project and finance teams more reliable information to understand project performance, identify issues earlier, and make more informed decisions.
Some partners seemed like they did not understand who we were as a company, but Rand Group took the time to understand our services and how we work. That made us feel much more comfortable moving forward.
What can project accounting and billing software help you manage?
Project accounting and billing software connects the financial activity behind individual projects, from budgets and costs through billing and accounting. Rand Group evaluates project structures, financial requirements, and existing technology to help determine which capabilities and solutions best fit the business.
Depending on the platform and configuration, project accounting solutions can help you:
- Manage project budgets and costs by comparing estimates and budgets with labor, expenses, purchases, materials, and other actual costs.
- Track job and project costs at the level of detail needed to understand where project spending occurs.
- Streamline project billing and invoicing by connecting billable project activity with customer invoicing processes.
- Support billing rates and contract rules for different customers, projects, resources, and billing arrangements.
- Manage WIP and applicable revenue processes based on project, contract, and accounting requirements.
- Strengthen financial controls and accounting integration with approvals, audit trails, and connections between project activity and the general ledger.
Not sure which project accounting solution fits your requirements?
Project structures, costing methods, billing requirements, financial processes, and existing systems can all influence which technology is the right fit. Rand Group can help you evaluate your requirements and determine the best approach for improving project accounting and billing.
ERP and project accounting software options
Dynamics 365 Project Operations
Dynamics 365 Project Operations is designed for organizations that manage project delivery and financial processes together. It supports project contracts, estimates, time and expense capture, and billing based on project activity. Professional services businesses can use these capabilities to manage project costs and billing requirements as work progresses, with financial integration supporting broader accounting processes.
Dynamics 365 Business Central
Dynamics 365 Business Central offers project accounting capabilities within an ERP designed for small and midsize businesses. Its project management functionality supports budgets, resource and material costs, timesheets, and customer invoicing. It is particularly useful for organizations that need to manage project financials alongside purchasing, inventory, general ledger accounting, and other day-to-day business transactions.
Dynamics 365 Finance
Dynamics 365 Finance supports complex project accounting requirements, including project contracts, cost allocation, billing, work in progress (WIP), and revenue recognition. Its financial management capabilities help enterprises manage project-related transactions, accounting policies, and reporting across multiple legal entities. It is suited for organizations that require detailed financial controls and consistent accounting practices across complex project environments.
Oracle NetSuite SuiteProjects
NetSuite SuiteProjects provides project accounting and billing capabilities for services organizations operating within NetSuite’s cloud ERP environment. It supports project budgets, time and expense tracking, and billing based on project activity, with project financial information available alongside customer and accounting records. This makes it a strong option for organizations seeking to manage service delivery and project financials within NetSuite.
Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct focuses on project financial management for organizations with detailed accounting and reporting requirements. Its project accounting capabilities support cost tracking, project billing, revenue management, and financial analysis. Dimensional accounting allows finance teams to evaluate project revenue, expenses, and profitability across departments, locations, and other business dimensions without relying on separate general ledger accounts for every reporting requirement.
Sage 100
Sage 100 supports job-based accounting through its Job Cost module, making it particularly relevant for manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses that need to track financial activity by job. Organizations can manage labor, materials, overhead, budgets, and job profitability while connecting job costs with core accounting processes. Additional modules and integrated solutions can address specialized billing and project management requirements.
Case Study
See how DoubleDigit Sales improved project accounting and financial visibility
DoubleDigit Sales, a professional services organization, relied on spreadsheets and disconnected systems to track project profitability, time, and expenses. Rand Group implemented an integrated ERP solution with Project Accounting and a web-based time and expense portal, helping the company reduce manual work, streamline month-end processing, and gain clearer visibility into project financial performance.
Extend project accounting capabilities with purpose-built apps and AI agents
Go beyond standard software capabilities with Rand Group’s purpose-built apps and AI agents. Designed to complement leading ERP and project management solutions, these tools help automate specialized accounting processes, streamline project workflows, and provide greater visibility into project costs and financial performance.
Featured AI Agent
Project Oversight Agent
Use AI in Business Central to turn project history into actionable insights to support more informed project delivery decisions.
- Automate project updates.
- Identify emerging risks.
- Use project history to inform delivery decisions.
Project CIP
Track capital project costs and manage capital-in-progress accounting for fixed assets within Business Central. Improve visibility into project spending and streamline the transition from capital projects to fixed assets.
Retainage Manager
Automate retainage calculations and manage construction holdbacks directly within Business Central. Reduce manual tracking and simplify retainage management as part of your project accounting processes.
Explore related project and professional services solutions
Project accounting and billing are closely connected to how organizations plan resources, capture project activity, and measure financial performance. Explore additional solutions that help bring these processes together and support more effective project management.
Resource planning
Align resource availability, skills, and capacity with project demand to make more informed staffing decisions, improve utilization, and better manage project labor requirements.
Time & expense management
Simplify how employees capture and submit project time and expenses. Streamline approvals, reduce manual entry, and connect billable activity with project costing and invoicing.
Project reporting & profitability
Gain a clearer understanding of project financial performance with reporting that brings together budgets, actual costs, billing, utilization, and margins to support more informed decisions.
Why partner with Rand Group?
Project accounting and financial expertise
Connect project activity with financial management. Rand Group combines accounting, ERP, and project management expertise to help organizations improve project costing, billing, financial controls, and reporting. Our team understands how project financial processes affect both day-to-day operations and broader accounting requirements.
Multi-platform ERP expertise
Find the right solution for your financial requirements. With expertise across Microsoft, Oracle NetSuite, and Sage, Rand Group helps organizations evaluate project accounting and billing software based on their project structures, costing methods, billing models, and existing ERP environment.
Solutions aligned with your processes
Build around how your organization manages project financials. Rand Group evaluates how costs are captured, billing is managed, and project activity flows into accounting before configuring solutions to support your financial processes, reporting needs, and operational requirements.
Long-term partnership and support
Keep your project accounting environment aligned with your business. With a 90% client retention rate, Rand Group provides ongoing support, optimization, integrations, and development to help your financial systems adapt as projects, processes, and business requirements evolve.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What should we look for when evaluating project accounting and billing software?
When evaluating project accounting and billing software, consider your project structures, cost tracking requirements, billing models, revenue recognition needs, and existing financial systems. Look for solutions that support accurate project costing, flexible invoicing, financial controls, and reporting. Integration capabilities, ease of use, and scalability are also important factors when comparing software options.
Can project accounting software support multiple billing methods and complex customer contracts?
Yes. Many project accounting solutions support multiple billing methods, including fixed-fee, time and materials, milestone-based, and progress billing. Depending on the platform, organizations can manage different billing rates, contract terms, retainers, and invoicing schedules. Businesses with complex customer agreements should confirm that a solution supports their specific billing rules, approval requirements, and contract structures.
Can we improve project accounting and billing without replacing our existing ERP?
Yes. Many organizations can improve project accounting and billing without replacing their existing ERP system. Additional modules, integrated applications, and workflow automation tools can extend capabilities for job costing, time and expense capture, invoicing, and financial reporting. Rand Group helps organizations evaluate their current systems to determine whether targeted improvements or a broader ERP transition would better support their requirements.
Can project accounting software handle complex cost allocations and revenue recognition requirements?
Yes. Many project accounting solutions support detailed cost allocation and revenue recognition processes, although capabilities vary by platform. Depending on the software, organizations can allocate labor, materials, overhead, and other expenses to projects while managing revenue recognition based on applicable accounting policies and contract terms. Businesses with complex requirements should evaluate how each solution handles work in progress (WIP), cost allocation methods, and revenue recognition rules.
Can project accounting software integrate with time tracking, expense management, and resource planning systems?
Yes. Project accounting software can often integrate with time tracking, expense management, and resource planning applications to connect project activity with financial processes. These integrations can help organizations capture labor and expense costs, update project financial records, and prepare customer invoices with less manual data entry. Integration options depend on the ERP platform, connected applications, and business requirements.
Can one system manage project accounting, billing, and financial reporting?
Yes. Many ERP platforms provide project accounting, billing, and financial reporting capabilities within a single system. Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle NetSuite, and Sage offer solutions that support different levels of project financial complexity. Organizations with specialized billing, reporting, or operational requirements may need additional modules or integrated applications to support their processes.
Can project accounting and billing software be implemented in phases?
Yes. Project accounting and billing capabilities can often be implemented in phases to address immediate business needs while reducing disruption. For example, an organization might begin with project cost tracking and financial reporting before introducing more advanced billing workflows, time and expense integrations, or revenue management capabilities. The implementation sequence should account for financial data dependencies, system integrations, and existing accounting processes.
How do we choose the right project accounting and billing software for our business?
Choosing the right project accounting and billing software depends on your organization’s project complexity, billing requirements, financial controls, reporting needs, and existing technology. Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle NetSuite, and Sage offer different approaches to project financial management. Rand Group helps organizations evaluate these options against their business requirements to identify a solution that supports accurate accounting, efficient billing, and long-term growth.
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