#accounting-software

5 Costly Accounting Mistakes Small Construction Businesses Make

Don’t let accounting errors slow your construction business! Discover the 5 most common mistakes small builders make and how Hiworth Solutions’ construction software helps prevent them.

Accounting mistakes can silently drain your construction business. Discover the 5 most common errors small builders make and learn how Hiworth Solutions’ construction software helps prevent them. Streamline your finances, manage job costs efficiently, and keep projects on budget.

Don’t let avoidable errors hurt your profits — read the full article and visit Hiworth Solutions today to see how smart software can transform your business! www.hiworthsolutions.com

Small construction businesses often struggle with accounting and project management. Mistakes may seem minor, but over time, they can impact cash flow, project success, and profitability. Let’s break down the most common errors and how modern software prevents them.

1. Losing Track of Project Costs

The Mistake: Builders often fail to track labor, materials, and subcontractor costs in real time. A small oversight on one project can quickly snowball, affecting profit margins and budget forecasts.

The Impact: Inaccurate project costing leads to overspending, late payments to subcontractors, and reduced profits. Many small businesses only realize the damage during quarterly reviews or at tax time — by which point it’s too late to adjust.

The Solution: Construction software for builders automatically links project budgets to accounting records. Every expense is logged and categorized, giving you a clear, up-to-date view of each project’s profitability. You can identify overruns instantly and take corrective action before it becomes a serious financial problem.

2. Delayed or Missed Invoices

The Mistake: Manually creating invoices or relying on scattered spreadsheets leads to delays. Important invoices can be forgotten, sent late, or contain errors, causing frustration for clients and delays in payments.

The Impact: Cash flow becomes inconsistent, making it harder to pay employees, suppliers, or cover operational costs. This often results in unnecessary short-term borrowing or missed opportunities.

The Solution: Modern accounting software allows you to generate invoices directly from project data. Automated reminders and payment tracking ensure clients pay on time, while syncing with financial records keeps your books accurate and current.

3. Overlooking Tax Deductions and Compliance

The Mistake: Construction businesses often struggle to identify all deductible expenses or fail to document them correctly. Manual tracking can result in missed deductions or even non-compliance with tax regulations.

The Impact: Overpaying taxes, facing penalties, and additional stress during tax season. For small businesses, this can be a significant financial burden.

The Solution: Accounting software integrated with project management centralizes all transactions and expense data. Deductions are automatically tracked, reports are generated quickly, and compliance is simplified, reducing both risk and workload during tax season.

4. Miscommunication Between Teams

The Mistake: Finance, project management, and field teams often work in separate systems or tools. Without clear communication, updates are missed, errors go unnoticed, and project timelines suffer.

The Impact: Mistakes such as duplicate billing, incorrect cost allocation, or mismanaged inventory can occur. Miscommunication delays decisions, reduces productivity, and increases operational frustration.

The Solution: By using one unified platform, all teams access the same data in real time. Everyone sees updates immediately, improving transparency, collaboration, and accountability. This reduces errors and ensures projects stay on schedule and on budget.

5. Manual Data Entry and Human Errors

The Mistake: Entering numbers manually or transferring data between spreadsheets and separate tools is time-consuming and prone to mistakes. Even small typos can cascade into bigger financial problems.

The Impact: Human errors can result in inaccurate financial reports, miscalculated profits, incorrect payroll, and ultimately poor decision-making. Fixing these errors often takes hours of tedious review.

The Solution: Hiworth Solutions’ software automates data entry and synchronizes accounting with project management. Numbers are captured once and reflected across the system, reducing errors, saving time, and providing accurate, actionable insights for better decision-making.

The Bottom Line

Accounting mistakes in small construction businesses aren’t inevitable — they’re preventable. With the right accounting software and construction management tools, you can:

Track project costs accurately

Streamline invoicing

Stay compliant with taxes

Improve team communication

Eliminate manual errors

All in one platform designed for builders.

Choosing the right software for your construction business can be confusing. While general accounting software may handle basic finances, construction projects have unique requirements that demand specialized tools. Understanding the difference is crucial to streamline operations and maximize profitability.

1. General Accounting Software: Strengths and Limitations

General accounting software is designed for standard business bookkeeping. It can track invoices, expenses, payroll, and basic reporting. For small businesses with simple workflows, this may be sufficient.

Limitations for Construction Companies:

Lacks job costing capabilities

Cannot track materials and labor per project

Limited reporting for project profitability

Using general software for complex construction projects may lead to incomplete data, costly errors, and inefficient management.

2. Construction-Focused Accounting Solutions

Construction-focused accounting software is built to handle the nuances of the industry. It integrates financial management with project-specific workflows, helping builders and contractors:

Track costs by project, phase, or subcontractor

Manage budgets and forecasts accurately

Generate detailed reports for each construction project

Handle purchase orders, change orders, and lien waivers

This ensures that every amount spent is accounted for and every project stays on track.

3. Construction Management Software: Going Beyond Accounting

While construction-focused accounting software handles finances, construction management software combines accounting with project management. Builders gain visibility into:

Scheduling and resource allocation

Progress tracking and milestone management

Communication with subcontractors and teams

Compliance and documentation

This holistic approach reduces errors, improves efficiency, and ensures timely project completion.

4. Which One Should You Choose?

If you run a small-scale construction business with few projects, basic accounting software may suffice.

If you manage multiple projects, subcontractors, and detailed budgets, construction-focused accounting or construction management software is essential.

Investing in the right solution saves time, reduces errors, and maximizes profitability.

Take control of your construction business today with Hiworth Solutions. Our specialized construction accounting and management software ensures every project is efficient, transparent, and profitable. Visit our website now to schedule a demo and see how we can transform your construction operations.

The integration with Xero seems quite complicate. I explained in my previous post, how to create the token to integrate your application with Xero. Now, I’m going to explain the code for getting organization list from Xero in C# applications.

My goal is to have a package for a Xero Connector with basic functionalities. So, I can use it and share it. The functionalities I want to have are:

Get list of organization

Get invoices

Search an invoice

Get an invoice as PDF

Create a client/customer

Create an invoice

Refresh the access token

With these basic functionalities, I will have the ability to satisfied most of the client requests. It is time to start.

The first step in the integration is to give from Xero your TenandId. The TenantId is the GUID of your organization. Probably, you have more than one organization in your account like me:

Demo Company is the company Xero creates for you so you can play without breaking your real data

Your company where you have all your real invoices, clients and so on

Organizations in Xero

In the Xero home page, I see that the dropdown list at the top left shows the selected current company (Demo Company (global)). If I click on it, the menu shows other options but in particular my other organizations or I can create a new one.

Remember I had an access token from Xero from Postman and ClientId and ClientSecret from the Xero developer portal. See my other post to understand how I got them.

Quick look at Postman

Call Organization in Postman

In the Postman collection from the Xero documentation, I see what url is using and what headers are required in the request. What I get is a json with the list of organizations.

[ { "id": "dd69c6a4-12e2-43fb-9578-87ee27f12887", "tenantId": "1c0611b5-8fd4-4c1d-a300-04d7b1eaf89d", "tenantType": "ORGANISATION", "tenantName": "Demo Company (Global)", "createdDateUtc": "2020-05-12T15:24:36.1047450", "updatedDateUtc": "2020-05-12T15:24:36.1069920" } ]

Here I see the TenandId, required for next calls.

Time for coding in C#

Based on the json I got in Postman, I create a model for the list of organizations.

OrganizationResponse

/// <summary> /// Class OrganizationResponse. /// </summary> public class OrganizationResponse : BaseResponses { /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the organizations. /// </summary> /// <value>The organizations.</value> public IList<Organization> Organizations { get; set; } }

Organization model

using Newtonsoft.Json; using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Text; namespace PSC.Accounting.Models.Common { /// <summary> /// Class Organization. /// </summary> public class Organization { /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the identifier. /// </summary> /// <value>The identifier.</value> [JsonProperty("id")] public string Id { get; set; } /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the tenant identifier. /// </summary> /// <value>The tenant identifier.</value> [JsonProperty("tenantId")] public string TenantId { get; set; } /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the type of the tenant. /// </summary> /// <value>The type of the tenant.</value> [JsonProperty("tenantType")] public string TenantType { get; set; } /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the name of the tenant. /// </summary> /// <value>The name of the tenant.</value> [JsonProperty("tenantName")] public string TenantName { get; set; } /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the created date UTC. /// </summary> /// <value>The created date UTC.</value> [JsonProperty("createdDateUtc")] public DateTime CreatedDateUtc { get; set; } = DateTime.Now; /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the updated date UTC. /// </summary> /// <value>The updated date UTC.</value> [JsonProperty("updatedDateUtc")] public DateTime? UpdatedDateUtc { get; set; } } }

Now that I defined what I receive for getting organization list from Xero in C#, I have to call the endpoint. To do that, I use RestSharp. The request is a simple GET and in the header the access token is required.

/// <summary> /// Gets the organizations. /// </summary> /// <returns>OrganizationResponse.</returns> public OrganizationResponse GetOrganizations() { OrganizationResponse rtn = new OrganizationResponse(); _client = new RestClient("https://api.xero.com/connections"); _client.Timeout = -1; var request = new RestRequest(Method.GET); request.AddHeader("Authorization", "Bearer " + _settings.AccessToken); var response = _client.Execute<IList<Organization>>(request); rtn.HttpStatusCode = response.StatusCode; rtn.Status = (int)response.StatusCode == 200 ? PSC.Common.Enums.ResponseStatus.Success : PSC.Common.Enums.ResponseStatus.Failed; if (response.StatusCode == System.Net.HttpStatusCode.OK) { rtn.Organizations = response.Data; } return rtn; }

So, let me explain few things although the code I think is clear. _client.Execute is calling the endpoint and passing the header and parameters. Then, Xero API returns something: the HttpStatusCode tells us if the call has had success or not (200 is OK). I translate this status in my internal status.

If the result is HttpStatusCode OK, I put all organizations from Xero to my OrganizationResponse.

Happy coding!

The post Getting organization list from Xero in C# appeared first on PureSourceCode.

Getting organization list from Xero in C#

The integration with Xero seems quite complicate. I explained in my previous post, how to create the token to integrate your application with Xero. Now, I’m going to explain the code for getting organization list from Xero in C# applications.

My goal is to have a package for a Xero Connector with basic functionalities. So, I can use it and share it. The functionalities I want to have are:

G…

The integration with Xero seems quite complicate. I explained in my previous post, how to create the token to integrate your application with Xero. Now, I’m going to explain the code for getting invoice list from Xero in C# applications.

My goal is to have a package for a Xero Connector with basic functionalities. So, I can use it and share it. The functionalities I want to have are:

Get invoices

Search an invoice

Get an invoice as PDF

Create a client/customer

Create an invoice

Refresh the access token

With these basic functionalities, I will have the ability to satisfied most of the client requests. It is time to start.

Start with Postman

First, take a look at the Postman collection that Xero provides. If you have the access token as I explained in the previous post, you are be able to have from Xero a list of invoices for your company.

Invoices in Xero collection

With Postman I can verify the Access Token is valid and what kind of response I receive from the Xero API.

So, from the json or from the Xero documentation, I can create the response model for invoices and I’m going to call it XeroInvoiceResponse. Invoice is the class create from the json. Look on GitHub.

/// <summary> /// Class XeroInvoiceResponse. /// </summary> /// <seealso cref="PiP.Accounting.Models.Responses.XeroBaseResponse" /> public class XeroInvoiceResponse : XeroBaseResponse { /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the invoices. /// </summary> /// <value>The invoices.</value> [JsonProperty("Invoices")] public IList<Invoice> Invoices { get; set; } }

Let’s code

From Postman I have create the response from the Xero API. So, when I’ll receive the data from Xero, I can convert them in a model I can easily use in the project. Also, I want to create my response. So, I can return from the function the data I need plus some extra information. I’m going to call this model InvoiceResponse.

/// <summary> /// Class InvoiceResponse. /// </summary> public class InvoiceResponse : BaseResponses { /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the invoices. /// </summary> /// <value>The invoices.</value> [JsonProperty("Invoices")] public IList<Invoice> Invoices { get; set; } /// <summary> /// Gets or sets the content. /// </summary> /// <value>The content.</value> [JsonProperty("Content")] public byte[] Content { get; set; } }

Ignore for now Content. I’ll use that field when I want to retrieve a PDF from the invoice. Invoice is the same as the XeroInvoiceResponse.

With the RestSharp I call the Xero API. In the header of the request, I have to pass the Access Token that I created in Postman (see my post) and the Tenand Id (see the other post for that).

/// <summary> /// Gets the invoices. /// </summary> /// <returns>InvoiceResponse.</returns> public InvoiceResponse GetInvoices() { InvoiceResponse rtn = new InvoiceResponse(); var _client = new RestClient("https://api.xero.com/api.xro/2.0/Invoices"); _client.Timeout = -1; var request = new RestRequest(Method.GET); request.AddHeader("Authorization", "Bearer " + _settings.AccessToken); request.AddHeader("xero-tenant-id", _settings.TenandId); var response = _client.Execute<XeroInvoiceResponse>(request); rtn.HttpStatusCode = response.StatusCode; rtn.Status = (int)response.StatusCode == 200 ? PSC.Common.Enums.ResponseStatus.Success : PCS.Common.Enums.ResponseStatus.Failed; if (response.StatusCode == System.Net.HttpStatusCode.OK) rtn.Invoices = response.Data.Invoices; return rtn; }

So, let me explain few things although the code I think is clear. _client.Execute is calling the endpoint and passing the header and parameters. Then, Xero API returns something: the HttpStatusCode tells us if the call has had success or not (200 is OK). I translate this status in my internal status.

If the result is OK, I put all invoices from Xero to my InvoiceResponse.

Happy coding!

The post Getting invoice list from Xero in C# appeared first on PureSourceCode.