The Client:
A full-suite construction company catering from design to execution of projects.
Scope of Work
End-to-end accounting services including accounts payable, accounts receivable, maintenance of general ledger and subsidiary ledgers, month-end closure, fixed assets accounting, project valuation and reporting.
Process Bottlenecks
With multiple ongoing projects, gaps had arisen regarding correct property costs classification resulting in misleading profitability across properties. The accounting team further grappled with unorganized data management for properties purchased and sold. These led to:
- Unallocated project costs across the general ledger
- Backlog and overdue tax return of two years leading to fines
Cogneesol’s Optimization Solution
With extensive experience in handling real-estate accounting for existing clients, our team of experts conducted a thorough investigation and diagnostics of the client’s accounts. In conjunction with the client team, we redesigned the document management process and software, including creating folders on the cloud and categorizing existing data. Alongside, we:
- Introduced project-based cost allocation approach to resolve the issue of unallocated project costs, map costs to correct accounting heads, and reclassify property costs to reflect the correct position
- Cleaned up all unallocated costs and allocated further costs based on asset manual entries with supporting documentation
- Allocated an additional and dedicated resource to clear the backlog for tax return
We had been vexed by project cost classification issues that led to the non-filing of tax returns. With Cogneesol’s help, our project costing is now as per accounting guidelines. They have made us tax and returns compliant as well. The team is extremely efficient and delivers what they promise!
Impact Delivered
With the implementation of the above steps and complete documentation of the revised processes, our team not only solved the current issues of the client but also made the processes sturdy for future growth. The team brought about:
- Project costs accuracy improvement rose to 100% from 85%
- Project valuation and WIP report accuracy increase from 80% to 99%
- No filing penalties for more than a year
Client Testimonials
It is always a pleasure to learn that the work we do has positively impacted our clients and that they are happy to share their experiences.
The team is extremely good with project accounting. With many projects at different levels of completion, we needed a good partner that would maintain our project books as per law and generally accepted accounting principles. Cogneesol gives us this very support. We are amongst the most compliant in the industry.
Cogneesol adopts industry best practices to bring the highest standards of accounting and reporting into our business. Auditors and regulators respect us for our accurate books of accounts. The team has been our accountants for a good many years now. Their sense of ownership and discipline are commendable and extremely beneficial.
We needed simplified accounting processes in order to be able to concentrate more on vital business activities. Cogneesol’s professionals came on board, revised accounting and reporting operations and put in place a structure to bring efficiency and effectiveness. We now have a realistic and accurate view of our business operations at all times.
We started with handing them over our monthly reconciliations. They streamlined the long-standing open items in record time. Soon, we entrusted them with our overall bookkeeping, payroll and management reporting. They manage these services with exemplary professionalism, timeliness, compliance, and confidentiality. If you are a firm struggling to grow because of time and resource constraints, hand over the backend accounting to Cogneesol and take off. They take care of your books as you grow!
As my business expanded, I was in a dilemma -- hire an in-house team for accounting? Or hand it over to an experience team outside the organization? Decided to go for the latter, and enrolled Cogneesol for the backend accounting services. They were prompt in setting up a process for every function, implemented accounting rules and regulations, maintained my accounting books as per statutory and regulatory requirements.
Cogneesol's accounting experts have defined and put a structure into our processes, making them less prone to human error. Thanks to them, we have been able to extend excellent customer experience with timely reports, invoice generation. On the vendor side, they have streamlined our payments. With real-time view of our funds position, we have been able to take important business decisions. Thank you Cogneesol!
