Business bookkeepers and payment processors need progress billing education and training to make their job more efficient. Progress billing is a technological application that helps businesses organize bill invoices into installments for clients. Many customers prefer to pay large-cost jobs in payments rather than one lump sum. Progress billing education and training is practical for the smallest to largest business types for keeping track of the payments made toward a job.

Your staff can obtain progress billing training in several different ways. Seminars, tutorials, and manuals all provide an education in progress billing for companies. When thinking about increasing a business accounting department’s progress billing education and training, consider the following options:

1. Enroll in a progress billing training course.

2. Complete a tutorial for progress billing software.

3. Study articles offering information about progress billing accounting.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Enroll in a course that explains the progress billing format for invoices

Short courses and seminars are great ways to learn basics of progress billing software applications. Most courses offer hands-on training and allow students to complete trial invoices with a progress billing sample. These courses are perfect for those who work in progress accounting and billing departments.

I recommend: Apex offers a three-day Microsoft Dynamics course that includes teaching students about progress billing accounting. Sage Software University offers several business management courses. One such course is devoted to how to manage progress billing.

Complete an online progress billing software tutorial

Online software tutorials give viewers step-by-step information about using progress billing software. Learn to create a progress invoice for a job. Most tutorials give visual demonstrations of how the software works and allow hands-on operations. Be certain to complete a tutorial that pertains to the same type of software used in the business accounting department.

I recommend: Clients and Profits X offer an online tutorial to teach progress billing for accounting employees. The tutorial is divided into lessons. Hyper Teach gives a short introduction into what is progress billing and offers an online video.

Gain progress billing education and training through professional articles

Articles offer tips, suggestions, and insights into specific and general aspects of progress billing. Many articles also list dates of events, courses, and seminars pertaining to progress billing for accounting. Some articles focus on using progress billing in a particular industry such as for medical or construction jobs.

I recommend: Housing Zones features an article that demonstrates and discusses how to calculate the percentage of completion for progress billing. In an article on Directory M, various businesses discuss how they use progress billing to keep their clients happy. Read over the different business progress billing practices and use ideas that you like for your own company.

What is progress billing? Progress billing can be used for any long term project in which there is more than one contractor or business involved. It is a common billing system in defense and aerospace projects, and is becoming more popular in construction projects.

Progress billing accounting allows companies to invoice costs as incurred on a twice a month or monthly basis. This reduces the need for working capital as the customer is actually financing the project's inventory.

Progress billing accounting can be set up around the progress or completion of:

1. Progress billing on categories of work within the project
2. Progress billing within different locations or phases
3. Progress billing on specific items of work

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find information on the progress billing format

When considering if the progress billing form of accounting would be beneficial to your company, search websites that provide information on progress billing accounting.

I recommend: Containing information on the basics of the progress billing format and setup, Goldenseal Reference Manual has all the information on construction progress billing. To see an explanation of the benefits of progress billing accounting, check out the Made2Manage website. WikiCFO provides information on how accounting with progress billing works for a construction project.

Purchase progress billing software to set up a system for your company

Once you have decided that progress billing is a viable option for your company, research the different software products available to find the right one for you.

I recommend: Providing a free demo, 2020software.com offers progress billing software. Saprro Systems offers progress billing software called PAYMEE, which stands for payment application made easy for excel. Sage Software, through their Peachtree software line, has a number of options for accounting with progress billing.

Examine a progress billing sample

Since progress billing in accounting is only applicable to certain types of companies that specialize in long term projects, there are currently not a wide variety of samples to view. As companies become more familiar with the progress billing format and its benefits, more samples should become available.

I recommend: Oracle provides a progress billing sample, as well as information about the progress billing format in a pdf file article about progress accounting in an aerospace program.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Check out discussion forums, such as the one for Quick Books, to see what people that are currently using progress billing for accounting are saying.
• •  If your industry works on projects that would benefit from progress accounting, trade magazines and journals may provide articles or information.