Progress Billing

Is progress billing a good option for your company?
By CJ Slovey 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

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.
Try:  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.
Try:   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.
Try:  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.

• 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.