Build Accounting & Project Costing Platform

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT BRIEF Integrated Accounting and Project Costing System CLIENT AND PURPOSE Develop a secure cloud-based accounting and project costing system for one South African electrical engineering company. The company manufactures, installs, replaces, repairs and maintains switchgear and related electrical equipment. The platform must replace disconnected spreadsheets and provide one reliable record of company finances, project budgets, purchasing, stock, labour, invoicing and payments. Default currency is South African rand (ZAR), with Africa/Johannesburg as the timezone. PROJECT OBJECTIVES Provide complete double-entry accounting; monitor project cost and profitability; control procurement and stock; allocate labour accurately; issue quotations and invoices; reconcile bank transactions; produce South African VAT and payroll reports; and deliver timely financial information to management. Build a working application with real data persistence, not static demonstration screens. 1. TECHNICAL DESIGN Build a responsive web application for desktop, tablet and mobile. Developers must recommend a documented frontend, backend, relational database, hosting platform and deployment approach. Separate financial posting logic from the user interface. Enforce calculations, permissions and validation on the server. Provide APIs, secure document storage, database migrations, automated tests, monitoring and backups. The first release supports one legal company with multiple users and bank accounts. 2. MANAGEMENT DASHBOARD Display current bank balances, revenue, gross profit, net profit, expenses, receivables, payables, overdue invoices, VAT position, payroll cost, active projects, projects exceeding budget and forecast cash flow. Provide filters by date, customer, project and status. Every figure must link to supporting records. Display project margins and cost overrun alerts without treating unpaid invoices as cash received. 3. GENERAL ACCOUNTING Provide a configurable chart of accounts, general ledger, journals, trial balance, accounts receivable, accounts payable, opening balances, accruals, prepayments, bank and cash accounts, financial period closing and year-end adjustments. Use double-entry accounting and decimal arithmetic for money. Every posted journal must balance. Lock posted records against direct editing or deletion. Correct errors with authorized reversing or adjusting journals. Preserve document references and complete audit histories. 4. CUSTOMERS, QUOTATIONS AND SALES Store customer profiles, contact details, credit terms and account balances. Prepare quotations with item descriptions, quantities, material costs, labour, subcontractors, overheads, markup, discounts and VAT. Support quote revisions, approvals and conversion to projects. Issue branded PDF pro forma invoices, tax invoices, progress invoices, milestone invoices and credit notes. Support partial receipts, allocations, statements, debtor aging, payment reminders and sequential document numbering. Separate invoice issuance, revenue recognition and cash receipt in accounting records. 5. PROJECT SETUP AND TRACKING Assign every job a unique project number. Store project name, customer, site, manager, category, contract value, start and planned completion dates, actual completion date, status, progress percentage, documents and approved budget. Support quotation, approval, procurement, production, installation, testing, commissioning, invoicing and closure stages. Permit approved variations and revised budgets while preserving original baselines. Provide a project register and project-specific dashboards. 6. PROJECT COSTING Track material and electrical component costs, direct labour, overtime, subcontractors, equipment, transport, accommodation, site costs, testing, commissioning, overhead allocations and contingency. Distinguish original budget, revised budget, actual incurred cost, outstanding committed cost, forecast additional cost, estimated final cost and cash paid. Avoid double-counting commitments already invoiced or received. Calculate budget variance, forecast gross profit, gross margin, billed revenue, recognized revenue, collected cash and remaining amounts. Show both project-level and portfolio-level profitability. Allow project managers to update cost-to-complete forecasts subject to approval. 7. ELECTRICAL JOB COSTING Support switchgear panels, circuit breakers, relays, contactors, busbars, enclosures, cabling, testing materials and related components. Create bills of materials for each panel or job. Compare estimated quantities and costs against issued materials and actual labour hours. Record manufacturing, installation, engineering, testing and commissioning hours. Calculate unit cost per panel or assembly and total job cost. Record rework and warranty costs against the relevant project when applicable. 8. PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLIERS Maintain supplier profiles, requisitions, purchase orders, approval thresholds, goods received notes, supplier invoices, credit notes and payments. Link every project-related line to a project and cost category. Support partial deliveries and partial invoices. Match purchase order, receipt and supplier invoice before payment where required. Report outstanding orders, committed costs, supplier balances and overdue accounts. Prevent duplicate supplier invoice posting and record changes to supplier bank details for review. 9. INVENTORY AND MATERIALS Maintain item codes, descriptions, categories, units, locations, quantities, reorder levels, suppliers, purchase costs and documented valuation methods. Support stock receipts, issues, transfers, returns, counts and adjustments. Reserve materials for projects and record actual issue-to-project costs. Reconcile stock balances and inventory ledger values. Do not charge a project twice when an item is purchased into stock and later consumed. Provide inventory valuation and project material consumption reports. 10. EMPLOYEE TIMESHEETS