Full accounting with GST returns
Keep the books in the same system as your sites. Approved client progress bills, subcontractor bills, wage runs and hire bills reach accounts as drafts, with retention, advances and TDS on their own accounts. Scale adds the full accounting screens and reports, from ledgers to cash flow, and GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for Indian entities.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- RA bills are made in Excel and typed again into Tally, and the retention kept is lost.
- A subcontractor's TDS and back-charges are worked out by hand at every bill.
- Wages are paid in cash and booked weeks later as one figure.
- GST figures are pulled together at month end and do not match the books.
How it works
- Set the accounts once in Accounting > Settings > Construction. They cover retention kept from subcontractors and by clients, advances given and received, withholding tax, and the wage accounts and journals.
- Approving a client progress bill makes a draft customer invoice. It has a line per item with the entity's default sales tax, and minus lines for retention and the advance recovered.
- Approving a subcontractor's running bill makes a draft vendor bill with the subcontractor's bill number, less retention, advance, back-charges and withholding tax.
- An approved wage run books gross wages against wages payable and deductions payable; a fully paid run books the payment. Hired plant gets a draft vendor bill each month from its log sheets.
- Your accountant checks and posts the drafts and matches payments. In Scale, open Accounting > Reporting > Financial Reports and click any line down to its document.
- For an Indian entity, open GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B for the month and download Excel for the GST offline tool. Filing stays with your accountant.
Everything it does
What arrives from the sites
- Client progress bills after approval: draft customer invoices, with Make Invoice if one could not be made
- Release of retention from the client: Ask for Retention Back makes its client bill
- Subcontractor bills after approval: draft vendor bills; Release Retention on the work order pays back what was held
- India: TDS under section 194C ready on new work orders, 2 % (1 % for an individual or HUF), changed per work order
- Wage runs: booked on approval and on payment. India deductions PF 12 % up to 15,000 a month and ESI 0.75 % are loaded once, to change or switch off
- Hired plant: a draft vendor bill to its owner for last month on the hire bill day (the 3rd to start with). It comes from confirmed log sheets, with minimum hours kept
- Purchase orders to the site stores: vendor bills as in standard purchasing
- With the Lending add-on: loan releases, interest during construction to capital work in progress, and repayments booked
Full accounting screens (Scale)
- Journal entries and journal items, the chart of accounts and reconciliation of payments with invoices
- Shown to the accounting Administrator role, with no developer mode needed
Financial Reports (Scale)
- Executive Summary against the previous period; Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement (indirect method), Trial Balance
- General Ledger and Partner Ledger with opening balance, running balance and closing
- Profit and Loss by Analytic Account, one column per analytic account
- Comparison with up to 12 earlier periods or the same period of earlier years; Budget and Variance columns
- Several entities side by side, or consolidated with inter-company amounts taken off
- Filters for period, entities, posted or all, analytic accounts and zero lines; settings saved per person
- PDF (A4 landscape) and Excel of what is on the screen
GST returns (India, Scale)
- GSTR-1: B2B, B2CL, B2CS, exports and SEZ, credit and debit notes, HSN summary
- GSTR-3B: 3.1 (a) to (d), input tax credit 4 (A) and net ITC 4 (C)
- Read from posted invoices, notes and bills by invoice date; each line opens its document
- Excel with each section on its own sheet
Not built
- Filing with the GST portal, and the portal's JSON file
- GST e-invoice (IRN) and e-way bill in SmartMy Construction
- Bank feeds and automatic matching of bank statement lines
- A sync to Tally from SmartMy Construction
Who uses it
AccountantPosts the draft invoices and vendor bills, matches payments, and reads ledgers and GST returns.
Finance head or managing directorReads the executive summary, cash flow and profit and loss, also across entities.
Construction ManagerApproves client bills and subcontractor bills that become drafts for accounts.
Construction Wages ManagerApproves wage runs, which are booked when approved and paid.
Where you use it
- Web: Accounting > Reporting > Financial Reports and Accounting Reports (Scale)
- Web: Accounting > Settings > Construction for the retention, advance, withholding and wage accounts
- Web: each client bill, subcontractor bill and wage run links to its invoice, vendor bill or entry
- Not in the SmartMy Construction app
What you control
Settings
- Accounting > Settings > Construction: retention (payable and receivable), advances (given and received), withholding tax. Also site wages, wages payable, deductions payable, wage journal and wage payment journal
- Each entity's default sales tax, used on invoices from client bills
- TDS % per work order (India: 2 % to start with)
- Hire bill day: the 3rd of the month
- Who has the accounting roles; the Administrator role sees the full screens
Approvals
- Client Progress Bill: approved through its chain before the draft invoice is made
- Subcontractor Bill: approved through its chain before the draft vendor bill is made
- Site Wage Run: approved through its chain before it is booked
Questions
Do we need Scale to invoice the client?
No. Accounting comes with purchasing on every plan, so approved progress bills make draft invoices from Starter. Scale adds the full screens, the financial reports and the GST returns.Does it file our GST returns?
No. It works out GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B from your books and gives you Excel. Your accountant checks the figures and files on the portal.How is retention kept?
Retention kept from a subcontractor sits on the retention payable account and comes off each vendor bill. Retention the client holds sits on the retention receivable account. Each can be released later with its own bill.Does it deduct TDS on subcontractor bills?
Yes. Each work order carries a withholding %, 2 % to start with for India under section 194C. The vendor bill shows it as a minus line on the withholding account.We use Tally. Can we keep it?
SmartMy Construction keeps its own books and does not send entries to Tally today. Tell us before you start if you need both.Related features
MONEYClient progress billsBill the client on the contract items. Each bill shows this bill, previous and up to date per item, the retention the client keeps and the advance taken back. It is approved inside first, prints as a progress bill, payment application or interim payment certificate, and becomes the customer invoice.MONEYWork orders and subcontractor billsA work order to each subcontractor with items, rates and terms, approved before work starts. Running bills come from certified measurements. They take off retention, advance, back-charges and TDS, and become the vendor bill.SITEWage runs, advances, bank file and slipsPay site workers from their attendance. A wage run fills itself and works out basic, overtime, deductions and advance recovery. It goes for approval, then is paid by a bank file or in cash against the worker's signature. Wage slips print in each worker's language.PLANT, SCHEDULE, QUALITY, SAFETYHire bills for hired plantEach month, every hired machine gets a draft vendor bill to its owner. It is worked out from the confirmed log sheets at the hire rate, with the minimum hours kept. A hire statement for any period sets what you owe against the owner's invoice.MONEYProfitability per projectOne row per project: value sold, budget, revenue from approved client bills and cost from the building budget. Cost is split CAPEX and OPEX, with committed, margin and budget used.ACROSS SMARTMY CONSTRUCTIONApproval chainsBudgets, material requests, wage runs, work orders, subcontractor and client bills, client updates, piece work, permits and more need approval. They go to the right people in order, set up without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.
See your next site report on it.
Tell us what you build, how many sites you run and how your client hears about progress today. We will set up a project with you and send your first daily update.