Accounting Overview

The MacNail accounting software is a single-entry accounting system for small and medium-sized construction businesses. It provides very detailed job cost information to help you to come up with your own personal unit prices. It also provides reports that can be used for payroll, financial statements, and accounts payable.

NOTE-- Goldenseal construction accounting software replaced MacNail in 2000. It's an integrated program that includes general accounting, job costing, payroll and project billing, plus estimating and other features. Goldenseal does not require Excel, and is a much better program!

In the MacNail construction accounting software, all money transactions are handled through the Checkbook Ledger. It shows you a running total for each item, so you always know how much is in your account. If you have more than one checking account, you will keep a separate Checkbook Ledger for each. See more about the Checkbook Ledger on pages 23 and 64.

To track your costs in more detail than is possible with the Ledger, you can use special Logbooks for labor, materials, subcontractors and/or miscellaneous items.

All labor information will be handled through a Labor Log. This is a worksheet designed for use with on-the-job time sheets. Each employee will enter the hours spent on each general item of work, breaking it down by job and by construction category. After typing the hours into the Labor Log, you can use them for both payroll and for detailed job cost control. See more about the Labor Log on pages 26 and 79.

Material purchases are handled through a Material Log. This is a log of each construction item or group of items, as taken from delivery slips or invoices. You will break material costs down by job and by construction category. The information can then be used for both accounts payable, and for detailed job cost control. See more about the Material Log on pages 29 and 84.

Subcontractors and equipment can be handled in a special Subcontractor Log, or they can be paid directly from the Checkbook Ledger. See more about the Subcontractor Log on pages 31 and 90.

You can also track miscellaneous costs with the Misc Log, or use the Checkbook Ledger. See more about the Misc Log on pages 31 and 94.

As you accumulate records of expenses, you can 'post' them to special Job Cost Control worksheets for each project. The Job Cost Control sheet provides a detailed 'estimated versus actual' report on costs to date. It also helps to predict the final project cost, based on the percentage of completion. See more about Cost Control on pages 41 and 122.

You will generate different kinds of reports to handle month-end billing, payroll, financial statements, 1099 forms, and so on. You can also use Reports to help you understand more about your business. See more about Reports on pages 35 and 100.

All MacNail Accounting functions are run by the Accounting Manager and the Cost Control Manager. When they are opened, they add special MacNail accounting commands to the bottom of the regular Excel spreadsheet menus.

NOTE: You must have the Accounting Manager or Cost Control Manager open to get the special MacNail menu commands.