April 29, 2004
Construction software company UDA Technologies today announces the official release of the much-anticipated UDA ConstructionOffice 2004, a project management system designed for small- to medium-sized businesses. Key innovations for 2004 include: industry-leading QuickBooks Integration tools for integrated estimating and accounting, advanced synchronization between Estimating and Scheduling, a new project database for storing and organizing job information, and tighter integration between ConstructionOffice and Microsoft Office. "UDA Technologies is excited to release ConstructionOffice 2004," says President Michael Stevens. "We're ready to get this software in the hands of our clients as part of our continuing commitment to provide software that lowers the cost of construction."
UDA QuickBooks Integration creates the strongest bridge between estimating and accounting available for construction. ConstructionOffice users can now import fully dynamic chart of accounts, items, budgets, and costs from UDA Estimating into QuickBooks, with all elements classified by customer or job. As jobs progress, users can manage cost data in Estimating and update the existing costs in QuickBooks.
The tight integration between ConstructionOffice and QuickBooks Integration allows users to create QuickBooks invoices, estimates, and purchase orders directly from UDA Estimating. A few easy-to-follow steps eliminate the possibility of costly errors resulting from manual data transfer between Estimating and QuickBooks. To create a purchase order, for example, go to the QuickBooks Integration menu in UDA Estimating, choose "create purchase order," select a category (i.e. Framing), and the purchase order is created for you in QuickBooks.
New data-sharing technology for UDA Estimating and UDA Scheduling provides strong synchronization between UDA Estimating and UDA Scheduling. Constructions Office users can now create a complete project estimate and then automatically generate a schedule from the estimate. When a schedule is created from an estimate, UDA Scheduling dynamically creates a task list based on the categories and subcategories in the estimate.
When changes are made to project estimates and schedules, users can quickly synchronize the two with a few clicks of the mouse, allowing users to view estimated costs in the schedule and project durations in the estimate. Plus if changes are made to delay the construction schedule, users can shift an entire project schedule forward or back for a specified interval of days, weeks or months, keeping all task durations and predecessors intact.
The complex process of managing multiple jobs is streamlined with the new UDA project database. When a firm undertakes a new project, data like project name, address, directions, lender information, square footage, and notes are logged and stored in the project database. Project information is available in all ConstructionOffice applications, and users can quickly import the data as needed into files like contracts and estimates.
ConstructionOffice 2004 includes over 300 advanced new features. Prices for ConstructionOffice 2004 range from $299.95 for a Builder version to $999.95 for Developer version. Multi-user network versions for 5 to 25 users start at $299.95 per user. Buyers can customize their software package with options like California versions, subscriptions, tech support, and advanced scheduling. Free trials of ConstructionOffice are available for download.