Project management requires the use of reliable and secure accounting software, which specializes in identifying all the strengths and weaknesses of projects and analyzing them to determine what resources can be exploited for their success and development, what risks must be properly avoided to prevent their negative impact on the project, and to develop plans to prevent the threat from recurring again. Through today’s article, we provide a simplified explanation of the project management process, clarifying its relationship to accounting. We also show you how to manage your project efficiently and professionally using the Qoyod accounting system in organized and smooth steps, so follow along with us.
Definition of accounting
The accounting department gathers and analyzes financial project data to make informed decisions on project development, investment timing, and expansion, all while mitigating potential financial risks. For this purpose, a specialist is employed to conduct accounting operations and use accounting programs to document all financial transactions related to the project on organized paper or electronic books. This specialist is capable of handling accounting matters for both large and small projects.
What does “project management” mean?
Project management is defined as everything that is done to direct and lead the work team towards achieving the project’s goals, provided that those goals are achieved in a recognized and legally followed manner. They are specified in the project’s work plan.
A project is an activity that aims to achieve something within a specific time, aiming to bring in profits. Any project faces various challenges, including:
Main challenges:
It includes the projected implementation time, the project budget, and the project’s scope.
Minor updates:
It consists of finding the optimal way to use resources in a way that prevents their waste and achieves the project objectives at the same time.
Project challenges can be met through the use of reliable accounting programs that can provide the tools required for planning and adhering to the project budget and time and also contribute to rationalizing the use of resources and planning to achieve goals.
The role of accounting software in project management
Accounting programs are essential in project management because they play a critical role in bringing your project to safety. The following are some of the tasks that accounting programs perform to fulfill this crucial role:
- It estimates, analyzes, and follows project capital costs and expenses to estimate net profits.
- Properly planning and managing expenses efficiently to control them and set them within a certain ceiling to ensure they do not exceed the required profit margin.
- Enabling project managers to deal with the project’s accounting data to make decisions that lead to raising its financial return and increasing investment opportunities in it.
- Extracting reliable and official reports for all project accounts and measuring their revenues and expenses easily to determine the appropriate time for expansion and business development and to achieve the ultimate goal of establishing the project.
What is the appropriate accounting branch for project management?
A branch of accounting calculates the cost of projects and the profits resulting from their implementation. Project accounting tracks the expenses and revenues from established projects, enabling the prediction of potential project profits. It is worth noting that project accounting needs to apply some standards to ensure it works smoothly and safely, and you must know those standards and follow them in your project to ensure its success.
How does Project Accounting benefit you?
Some features make project accounting very useful to you and other project owners of different sizes and activities, and among these features are the following:
- Project accounting software helps calculate costs and determine the true cost of the project. It also visualizes the amount that the project may require within a short period.
- Project accounting facilitates the development of future plans that produce a profit level expected to be achieved within a predetermined period.
- By implementing this type of accounting, project managers can determine the percentage of revenues that the project receives and take measures that contribute to saving the required costs, with the possibility of reducing them or making better use of them.
- Project accounting allows decision-makers to follow up on the project’s side expenses and keep expenses at the level allocated to them without increasing them so as not to cause the project to fail.
How to manage project accounts in accounting programs
Accounting software or accounting programs are systems that ensure you easily include the accurate accounting values related to your project, in addition to allowing you to infer these values set in them to decide what needs to be done during the next stage. To be able to manage your project successfully through the Qoyod accounting system, you will need to follow the following stages:
Add a project stage.
- Go to the Qoyod home page from here.
- On the side of the screen, you will find a menu with many options; select “Projects.”
- By clicking on the option, new options appear, the first of which is Projects, so click on it.
- You will receive an interface that includes multiple projects that have been previously added, and at the top you will find the phrase “Add a project.” Click on it.
- A form with multiple empty fields will be downloaded. You must fill it out with your project data and click “Continue.”
- The follow-up panel will open, displaying all your projects. You must click on the word “view” next to each project to view its profits and losses and follow its budget.
- Complete the procedures to issue official documents related to it and its activities, and you can use the video. How to start with Qoyod accounting software
Tasking stage
By selecting tasks, you can add new lists of tasks required by the project using the following steps:
- Click Continue after completing the above, or go to the side menu and choose Tasks to make the tasks appear as cards.
- Determine the daily, weekly, or other tasks you want to work on.
- Once you finish tasks, you can move them to the appropriate list. This means that if you select completed tasks and tasks in review, you will have to move them to the tasks in review list to check them, and then move them to the completed tasks list.
Invoice filling stage
Start filling out invoices related to the project using the following steps:
- Select the “Projects” option from the side menu.
- Show the selected project.
- Select Commercial Documents, then click View Invoice.
- Fill out the invoice by project, and you can click “Additional Information” for more options.
Adding users stage
To add users to your project, follow these steps:
- Go to the Projects home page and select Manage Users.
- Add project users, and you can also delete some through the same procedure.
- If you want to delete the project, you must archive it first. On the archive page, you will find the option to delete the project.
The accounting method for developing the first business plan for your project
You need some accounting procedures to prepare your first business plan and add it to your project. The plan is implemented in the Qoyod accounting system through the following stages:
Preparing the executive summary of the project
This summary is comprehensive information related to the project, presented briefly. It is relied upon to predict the success or failure of the project based on that information. It includes details of the following:
- Explain the nature of the project and the outputs it provides to its clients.
- Briefly specify the manufacturing method, or mention the place from which it is imported.
- Develop a simplified analysis of the market being targeted to promote the product or service.
- Include a simplified financial statement that explains the product pricing structure and gives a simple idea of revenues and costs.
- Providing a simplified vision of dealing with competitors serving the same market with an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses.
- Mention the successes that the company has achieved and build a thoughtful future outlook on them, along with mentioning expectations.
Give a description of the company.
This description provides a comprehensive idea of the company’s vision and the goals it seeks to achieve, which must include the SMART goals of:
- Clear, defined goals.
- Measurable.
- It is related to the project that is being worked on.
- It can be achieved.
- It has a certain duration of time.
Include market analysis.
This type of information is basic and necessary when developing a business plan, and it includes specific data related to customers and how they choose the product or commodity they want to buy, as well as studying competitors. Among the most important market analysis tools are the following:
- Competitor analysis.
- Market analysis.
- SWOT analysis.
Introduction to the work and management team
It is important to explain the method of performing the work and the role of each team member in completing it to the fullest extent. This step includes clarifying the roles and responsibilities carried out by each team member, defining the organizational structure, explaining how the project is managed and organized, and who is responsible for making decisions regarding it.
Description of the project output
Any project is established to produce a product or commodity, regardless of its size or location, so you must explain the commodity that you offer to customers with a simple description of the purpose of its production without going into detail.
Project operation plan
This plan is basic and important for projects and includes four basic axes:
- How to manage and store goods.
- Production equipment.
- Explain how to maintain machines and equipment.
- The legal standards to which the project is subject and how to follow them.
Develop marketing strategies.
During this stage, you follow the strategies you use to promote your product and deliver it to the public. This step includes how you advertise and market your product, customers evaluating the product, and following up on its pricing and whether it is appropriate or not.
Determine the financial plan.
This part is necessary because it determines the project’s financial performance and indicates whether it is growing. You must include the following data under this item:
- Overall project budget.
- Income statements.
- Project cash flow.
- Future estimation of the project’s sales and expected market success rate during a certain period.
Submit a project information supplement.
It provides information that is related to the plan and was not mentioned, such as:
- Documents supporting the success of the project.
- Increasing the project’s marketing and financial information and clarifying the necessary points that had not been clarified before.
- Recording and documenting the agreed-upon legal agreements.
How does Qoyod accounting software help you prepare and implement business plans?
The Qoyod cloud program helps in developing plans that contribute to the success of your project and following them up until implementation through the capabilities and accounting tools it provides you that enable you to measure your progress in your project and record all related data that is collected in an organized manner and analyzed to extract new decisions based on them. Among these tools are the following:
- Financial statements facilitate the development, follow-up, and implementation of financial plans.
- Organizing the financial operations of projects according to agreed-upon accounting standards.
- Tools for managing money and measuring the ratio of project revenues and costs.
- Lists of simple and organized financial transactions.
- Recording data and making analyzing the financial performance of institutions easier.
- Debriefing tools to simplify decision-making.
- Official financial reports and invoices.
Conclusion
The best accounting program you can rely on for project management is the Qoyod accounting program. It provides you with everything you need regarding roles, reports, and computational algorithms that contribute to organizing your information and knowing what awaits your project shortly. All of this goes through certain stages that make the path to success in managing your project easy, so request the free trial from Qoyod for 14 days. Use the system without needing to register a credit card, and see for yourself how it will be an important support for organizing your business and managing your projects.
Join our inspiring community! Subscribe to our LinkedIn page and Twitter to be the first to know about the latest articles and updates. An opportunity for learning and development in the world of accounting and finance. Don’t miss out, join us today!
