As part of the KBS Institute’s Spring Semester, Will Paulette, Project Manager, conducted a class for the “How to Effectively Utilize the Job Cost Report” for KBS construction projects. Will discussed the Job Cost Report (JCR) tool utilized by the project management teams, and tracks all costs throughout the duration of every KBS project. The JCR is accessed through our Timberline software that is linked with our estimating, accounting and other project management programs. The project management teams are tasked with updating the job cost report for their projects on a weekly basis.
The audience had varying amounts of JCR experience, with some individuals having up of 15 years experience using the reports and others just beginning to use the program. To interest the veteran users, Will discussed a few of the program’s nuisances. One of the best aspects of the class was having such a good representation from the Accounting Department. While the JCR is administered by the PM teams, it involves a great deal of behind the scenes data entry from the accounting team. Having the accountants actively involved in the class gave the PM teams a great chance to bounce questions around.
The 1st half of the class was an overview of the use and maintenance of the JCR, and the 2nd half turned into an active discussion of how best to utilize this sophisticated software. Attendees stepped in to answer some of the more technical questions that they had more experience with. Cathy Muto and Trina Janosik were particularly helpful with their insight on cost accounting within the report for issues such as business license and general insurance fees. McMahon Croft offered great information on how to properly account for subcontractor default in the JCR. The class proved to be a useful refresher course on a topic most of work in nearly every day, and the interactive discussion certainly provided helpful information on the more intricate aspects of the Job Cost Report.
This KBS Institute spring semester class was well attended by Project Managers, Project Engineers, Project Assistants, and our accounting team.
