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Great Accounting Construction Software
Updated February 01, 2023

Great Accounting Construction Software

Marjie Maguire | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Viewpoint Spectrum

Spectrum is mainly being used by our Accounting and Project Management departments to track all costs related to our jobs. We use a number of modules including Payroll, Accounts Payable/Receivable and Inventory. The Job Cost module does a great job of centralizing all this data into one place to see how our jobs are performing.
  • Great software for analyzing data and trends while still being pretty easy to use.
  • The ability to create a custom info link reports enable you to create virtually any report using the data you have in Spectrum that will auto-refresh with just one click of a button.
  • They have a fantastic support network and I the few times I have had to contact support, I was directed to someone very knowledgeable that was able to find a solution.
  • I wish there was a way to sort the canned Spectrum reports a bit easier. I am quite comfortable using info link, so it is easy for me to create a quick variation of the Spectrum reports, formatted the way I want it to look. But unless you have knowledge of info link, there is no way to easily rearrange Spectrum reports to show the data in the way you want it.
  • The Job Requisition screen needs a lot of work. It's very slow if inventory is entered using the wrong job number, the entire thing has to be deleted and re-entered using the correct job number. If an item is entered using the wrong item code, you have to delete the line and re-enter it.
  • I wish we had the ability to create new payment types. Something as simple as paying out jury duty is made more difficult than it needs to be because there is no "button" for it. Instead, we enter it as Sick and use a separate spreadsheet for tracking the actual sick time employees have remaining.
  • I have not had any experience with other construction accounting software but I would be hesitant to try anything else just for it's reporting capabilities alone.
  • Positive impact overall.
Spectrum is a great product but I wouldn't necessarily use the word intuitive to describe it? Lots of clicking to get where you want to go but once I got used to it, it really hasn't bothered me
We could probably take better advantage of this
Spectrum was already implemented when I started so I am unable to comment on the alternatives. I will honestly never change software because of how incredibly easy it is to make custom reports using SQL. These reports can be then exported into Excel where they can be continuously refreshed as new data is entered. Spectrum clearly was way ahead of it's time and spent a lot of resources organizing there backend tables to be EASY to understand for a novice user. I truly didn't even not what SQL was when I started using Spectrum and now I'd like to think I'm pretty much a pro :)

Do you think Viewpoint Spectrum delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Viewpoint Spectrum's feature set?

Yes

Did Viewpoint Spectrum live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Viewpoint Spectrum go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Viewpoint Spectrum again?

Yes

We are a mechanical subcontractor and it pretty much covers all of our needs with the exception of tracking and forecasting manpower. There are a lot of reports you are able to create using the data you enter into Spectrum, it's just knowing where to find it and how to use it to fit your needs.

Viewpoint Spectrum Feature Ratings

Not Rated
Accounts payable
Not Rated
Accounts receivable
Not Rated
Global Financial Support
Not Rated
Primary and Secondary Ledgers
Not Rated
Journals and Reconciliations
Not Rated
Configurable Accounting
Not Rated
Standardized Processes
Not Rated
Not Rated
Billing Management
Not Rated
Cash and Asset Management
Not Rated
Period Close
Not Rated
2.0
Inventory tracking
2
2.0
Pricing
2
Order entry
2
Credit card processing
Not Rated
Cost of goods sold
Not Rated
10.0
Pay calculation
10
Benefit plan administration
Not Rated
Direct deposit files
10
8.0
Dashboards
7
Standard reports
7
Custom reports
10
Not Rated
API for custom integration
Not Rated
10.0
Role-based user permissions
10
Single sign-on capability
Not Rated
Grants Management ()
Not Rated
Project Financial Management ()
Not Rated
Project Execution Management ()
Not Rated
Procurement ()
Not Rated
Risk Management ()
Not Rated
Logistics ()
Not Rated
Manufacturing ()
Not Rated
Supply Chain ()
Not Rated
Product Lifecycle Management ()
Not Rated

Using Viewpoint Spectrum

20 - Office employees - Accounting, Project Managers, Operations, Payroll & HR
  • Reporting
  • Accoutning
  • Productivity
  • Job Costing
  • Manpower feature would be great

Evaluating Viewpoint Spectrum and Competitors

Viewpoint Spectrum Implementation

Viewpoint Spectrum Support

ProsCons
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Kept well informed
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
None
N/A
I do not have to use support much but the few times I've had issues, it's always a payroll related issue, on a payroll day and the issues have always been resolved right away
Honestly, they have one of the best support networks I have ever dealt with. They are growing so yes, there are new people, but you also deal with the same support reps that have been there for years! The employees really are knowledgeable and "get it". They also have a GREAT online network where you can post to discussion boards and browse topics for help support. I rarely have to call in anymore because there have been numerous times when I'll do a search of the discussion topics and find someone else who was also experiencing the same problem and see the solutions that other customers have come up with!

Using Viewpoint Spectrum

ProsCons
Like to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Just takes a lot of clicking around
Yes, but I don't use it

Viewpoint Spectrum Reliability

You can grant user specific access which is nice. Project managers do not need all the same modules as Accounting. But Accounting does need access to PM modules as well
I've never seen Spectrum down

Integrating Viewpoint Spectrum

  • PowerTrack Mobile
The process was very long. I believe we were estimating it would take 3 months and it actually took a year. Some of it was our fault, some it had to do with us being on the east coast and the implementation team on the west coast & I think some of it had to do with that this was a "newish" integration for them. This was about 7 years ago so I'm sure a lot has changedsince then
  • File import/export
Plan for more time than discussed at the beginning of the process
I can only comment on how it integrates with our Payroll collection system. We use PowerTrack in the field for time collection which integrates with Spectrum. It's nice that job/phases added in Spectrum are synced multiple times a day to PowerTrack, so there is no need to manually give employees access to phases and jobs anymore. This is a huge time saver.

Upgrading Viewpoint Spectrum

Yes - Always seems to go smoothly. If there are bugs support will issue a hot fix almost immediately