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Builder's Guide to Accounting Revised Published by: Craftsman Book Company Step-by-step, easy-to-follow guidelines for setting up and maintaining records for your building business. This practical guide to all accounting methods shows how to meet state and federal accounting requirements, explains the new depreciation rules, and describes how the Tax Reform Act can affect the way you keep records. Full of charts, diagrams, simple directions and examples, to help you keep track of where your money is going. Recommended reading for many state contractor?s exams. Each chapter ends with a set of test questions, and a CD-ROM included FREE has all the questions in interactive self-test software. Use the Study Mode to make studying for the exam much easier, and Exam Mode to practice your skills. Are you a builder, not an accountant? Can you manage your crews better than your accounts receivable? Is your time better spent at the jobsite than at a desk piled with accounting ledgers? If so, then this book is for you. It's a comprehensive, completely revised and updated guide to construction accounting. It tells, step-by-step, and in plain English, how to choose, set up and maintain an appropriate, efficient, and practical bookkeeping system for your construction business. This book will prove invaluable for: * Students studying for contractor’s license exams * Teachers of contractor’s license preparation courses * Self-employed builders & construction contractors You won't find incomprehensible economics/accounting theory here. Theory is little help when it's month end and the books don't balance. This book delivers real help that you can use right now. You get straightforward, practical information and advice on how to: * Build a customized accounting system from the ground up * Set up an easy-to-use depreciation system that complies with IRS rules Keep records of job costs, do trend analysis & budgeting * Handle sales & accounts receivable * Manage payroll, materials & inventory * Prepare financial statements - when, how, which & why * Maintain ledgers and balance sheets For students and teachers, or builders who want to check their understanding as they go along, this new edition includes a self-test section at the end of each chapter. Test yourself, then check the answers in the back of the book to see how you did. Michael C. Thomsett has been a consultant for numerous construction and engineering firms over the last 20 years, specializing in introducing practical business systems for builders and contractors. He is the author of 48 books on business and finance, and more than 500 articles in national trade and business magazines. His other books for builders are Builders Office Manual, Bookkeeping for Builders, Contractor’s Year-Round Tax Guide and Contractor’s Growth & Profit Guide. Sales and Accounts Receivable, 5 Percentage-of-Completion Method, 21 Percentage-of- Completion/Capitalized Cost Method, 23 Which Method Should You Use? 23 Combined Accounting Methods, 24 Track Your Receivables Trend, 47 Receivables As a Planning Tool, 51 When Does an Account Become Uncollectible? 55 Journal Entries for Bad Debts, 56 6 Sales Records and Cash Budgeting, 63 Before You Take on New Kinds of Work, 69 Analyzing the Relative Profits, 76 Guidelines for Dropping Low-Profit Business, 79 9 Check Writing and Recording, 85 Other Check-Writing Methods, 93 10 Accounting for materials, 103 Analyzing Materials and Inventory, 109 Four Ways to Keep Payroll Records, 114 Accounting for Tax Liabilities, 120 Variable and Fixed Overhead, 129 Controls on Purchasing Equipment, 145 Testing the Cash Position, 162 15 Cost and Expense Records, 173 Objectives of the Cost System, 174 Scheduling Costs and Expenses, 175 Control of Deferred Costs, 176 16 Accounting for Costs and Expenses, 181 Accounting for Direct Labor, 182 Accounting for Material and Subcontracts, 184 Accounting for Completed-Contract Expenses, 186 18 Balancing the Checking Account, 197 The Ten Steps to Accurate Reconciliation, 197 Keeping Track of Your Balance, 202 19 Accounting for Estimates, 205 The Next Step - Controlling Costs, 210 20 Recording Before the Event, 215 The Three Financial Statements, 223 Income Statement Accounts, 229 22 Using Financial Information, 233 Apply Financial Information, 234 Using Financial Information, 236 Comparative Ratio Analysis, 245 24 Putting Together a Statement, 247 25 Comparative Period Statement, 257 Comparative Balance Sheets, 257 Comparative Income Statements, 259 26 Restatements by Accounting Methods, 267 The Restated Income Statement, 267 28 Statements for Loan Applications, 281 Small Business Administration, 284 Complete Financial Statements, 295 Expanding & Automating the Accounting System, 303 Answers to Test Questions, 313 (New builder's guide to accounting construction books was posted and is owned by: Tom Griffith) |
t.griffith@chicagopartsnetwork.com (Tom Griffith) for more information.
