Sage 100cloud accounting can help you better manage your projects. The data from your accounting system can help project managers control costs. The accounting department can become an ally instead of the gatekeeper to the finances, helping managers build budgets that cover costs and offer realistic projections.
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In any company, accounting and project managers must work together to budget for projects, project income, and manage company resources. In order to work well together, however, you must understand what each person’s job is and how it interacts with yours.
The Project Manager’s Role
Project managers organize, guide, and as the name implies, manage a project from start to finish, ensuring that timelines, milestones, and budgets are met. They are often part of the marketing, creative services, or production departments. Project managers understand the company’s assets and personnel and bring together people and processes to meet goals and deadlines.
Accountants and the Accounting Department
Accountants are more than the company’s number crunchers or budget gatekeepers. They “follow the money” and know the workflow of the organization through its numbers. The accounting team can become your best allies when it comes to project management.
The information available from the accounting department can help project managers struggling to align processes and people with project goals and milestones. Accountants understand the risks, controls, and other details that can help projects move smoothly through the organization. They know how work gets done internally and can guide project managers around any potential pitfalls and obstacles.
Bring Accounting into Projects at the Beginning
The information obtained from Sage 100cloud can be used from the start of a project to enhance the project manager’s ability to plan people, processes, and elements of the project. Understanding and controlling costs is an important part of any project manager’s job.
With Sage 100 data from the start of a project, you can keep the project on track and carefully guide it to completion without losing sight of the ROI goals for the project. Accountants have the best insight into methods to control costs and build revenues and add great value to the project.
Accountants who wish to add value to the project management team must, however, learn the language of project management. There’s a specific methodology unique to project management that has proven successful.
Ask Accountants to Help Manage Risk
The overall project map can be called a charter or project plan. Accountants, used to managing risk, can add value to the creation of a project plan or charter by assessing and identifying potential risks for the project manager.
The biggest help you can give the project manager is to be objective while reviewing the project map or charter. Your objective viewpoint, from the perspective of a managerial accountant, can help correct any faulty assumptions and keep projects on track.
Accountants are the experts at managing risk within the company. As such, accountants can add great value to project plans by:
- Helping the project manager at the beginning of a project.
- Staying involved with the project. Attending meetings of the project team and reviewing any documents, emails, or other materials promptly.
- Asking questions like an auditor. Key stakeholders in project meetings can help identify the most important project milestones to focus on.
- Raising awareness of workload dips and spikes, and accommodating the crunch periods with additional help.
- Identifying project scope creep, or when the work moves outside of the intended project. Gently guiding it back into scope with the help of the project manager.
By asking the right questions and using your talents and strengths as a managerial accountant, you can become a valuable ally and asset to the project management team in your organization.
Sage 100cloud Offers Data to Streamline Project Management and More
Your business needs data—accurate, timely data. Sage 100cloud accounting provides you with reports that offer real-time insight into all aspects of your business. Core accounting and finance, business intelligence, customer relationship management and much more are included or available as add-on modules that build just the right system for your business needs. Ask us about Sage 100cloud for your manufacturing business.
Emerald TC
Emerald TC offers cloud ERP software, warehouse and distribution software, and more. We specialize in helping mid-market, multi-location companies increase efficiency, productivity, and profits. Contact us or call 678-456-6919 today.