Accounting Information
The Accounting button (see Illustration 1) allows you to set pricing for a material and to set information that allows you to track the material. To do this:
1. Select the Accounting button from the Material Setup menu for the material. The Accounting Information menu for the material opens:
Illustration 1: Accounting Information Menu
2. Use the following menu items to enter cost and tracking information for the material:
In this section of the menu, SoftList allows you to set three different unit costs for a material: a default Cost, an Alternate Cost A, and an Alternate Cost B. Any costs that are included are for illustration only. You must adjust these costs to match your current costs for materials.
To enter a unit cost in a cost field, highlight the field and type in the cost.
Note:
· The Alternate Cost A and Alternate Cost B cost fields allow you to set alternate unit costs for a material. For example, you might want to set different costs, such as a low, medium, and high price for bricks. These alternate costs can be based on grade of material, supplier, and so on.
· You can specify which of these Cost fields you wish to use when pricing the materials for the material list report. To learn how to do this, see Setting the Options for a Material Definition.
Multiply cost by:- Use this menu item to specify that you want to multiply the unit cost by a value that will be calculated in the material formula.
For example, in the case of stairs, the cost you might specify in the Cost field would be a set cost for any stair, regardless of its size or construction. This cost would not be accurate for all jobs.
In order to calculate a more accurate cost for the stair, it would be better to specify in the Cost field a price per stair riser. Then, in the Multiply cost by: field, enter the SoftPlan variable riser_count that specifies that you want to multiply the cost by the number of risers in the stair. Now when SoftList calculates the cost for the stair, the calculations will be much more accurate and will not have to be changed for each project.
Note:
·
To help you to select the SoftPlan Variable to use, click on the 
button beside the Multiply Cost By: field. The
variables specific to the current material group, for example Stair, can
then be selected from the menu that opens.
· For information on SoftPlan variables and entering them in fields, see the sections SoftPlan Variables and Entering Information in the Material Setup Menu Fields.
The following menu items allow you to track a material:
Sequence - While the material name identifies the material to the user, the sequence number is needed to identify the material to SoftList. It identifies what the material is and can also be used to tell SoftList where in the material list report you wish the material to appear. Once specified, SoftList will be able to place the material under the correct section of the report and in the order specified.
You can only use numbers in this field. Use the same sequence number for materials that you wish to group together. For example, all trim materials could be given the sequence number 4815. They will then be listed together on the material list report.
Note:
· Frequently you will want the material you are defining to have the same sequence number as other materials in the definition in order to have these materials grouped together when the material list report is generated. To automatically select the sequence number you want to use for the material, click the Review button beside the Sequence field. The Listing Format table for the Material Definition opens. In the table, place your cursor on the sequence number you want to use for the material you are defining. The sequence number is automatically placed in the Sequence field for the material.
For more information on Listing Format tables, see Defining the Listing Format for a Report Style.
· It is important that you print out a listing of the different sequence numbers you have used. You will need to refer to them later when setting up your report styles. To have a printed list of the sequence numbers being used, print the Material Definition menu.
For information on printing tables, see Printing SoftList Information Tables.
Account - An account number can be specified for each material. The account number for a material can be the same number you use to identify the same material in your accounting system. You can enter numbers or letters in this field up to six characters long. This field is not used by SoftList and is not necessary unless you plan on importing or exporting your reports to or from other programs.
Order - Use this item to add a catalogue number or order number for each material. The order number is only used to identify the material when it is imported or exported to or from other computer programs, such as accounting or job costing programs, or when pricing is imported into SoftList from these programs.
Note:
· This field is blank.
· Order numbers are required for all materials if you plan to export or import cost information about them to or from another program. For more information, see the sections Exporting Material Costs Defined for a Material Definition and Importing Material Costs into a Material Definition.
Part - The part number is used as another way of identifying the material when exporting to another program such as an accounting program.
Item - The item number is used as another way of identifying the material when exporting to another program such as an accounting program.
Billing
Use this section of the menu to enter a cost for the Labor, Markup, and Waste for a material.
Labor - Using manual estimating methods, you generally figure out labor costs by estimating how long each material will take to construct. Because SoftList cannot directly estimate how long an activity will take, it cannot calculate labor costs in this way.
SoftList estimates labor as a cost per unit and is based on the amount of material required. Set this entry to represent the labor cost for one unit of the material you are calculating. If for example, the material formula is to calculate the number of gallons of paint needed, set this entry to indicate the labor cost to apply one gallon of paint. The maximum labor value you can enter is $9999.00.
When generating the material list and cost estimate report, SoftList will then calculate the amount of paint needed and the total labor cost to apply the paint.
As you begin to use this feature you will be able to analyze the actual labor costs of completed projects to determine approximate per-unit labor costs.
Note that the cost value set for the Labor field is $0.00. You can add your own labor costs.
Markup -SoftList allows you to define a markup factor for each material. Use this to add a profit margin into the overall construction costs.
You can specify a markup factor for each material you specify expressed as a percentage of the cost.
Once you have added a markup factor, SoftList will calculate the actual cost of the material and add the markup percentage to this cost.
Note that the Markup field is set to 0.00%. You can add your own markup percentage.
Waste - SoftList accurately calculates the materials needed from floor plan drawings, but during construction, slightly more material is usually needed to make up for waste not included in the actual estimate.
You can set a waste factor for each material in the report. As with the markup, this factor is a percentage.
If you specify a waste factor for a material, SoftList, when generating the material list report, will automatically include the material waste in the total quantity of material needed.
The Waste field is set to 0.00%. You can add your own wastage percentage.
In this section of the menu, SoftList allows you to add the necessary tax or taxes to the cost of the material. To do this, check the tax or taxes that you want applied to the material in the Taxes section of the menu.
Note:
· Before you can apply the necessary taxes to the cost of any material in the current material definition you must first specify in the Options menu for the material definition the name of the applicable tax and its tax rate. The specified name will then appear in the Taxes section of the Accounting Information menu.
· You can specify up to three different taxes in the Options menu. To learn how to do this, see Setting the Options for a Material Definition.
3. When you have finished entering the needed information in the Account Information menu, select the ok button to return to the Material Setup menu for a material.