If you’re a regular AccuBuild user, you may have noticed the UDF tab in various locations throughout the program.

But what are UDFs?

Simply put, UDFs allow end users to populate data in custom fields for various records like Jobs, Cost Codes, GL Accounts, Customers, Vendors etc… with custom data.

Why are UDFs important?

No two construction companies are the same and no software application (Not even one as Awesome as AccuBuild) can have every field built in necessary to track every scenario required. This is where UDFs can help.

For example, a roofing contractor may need to track Warranty Expiration Dates on each job. In AccuBuild, there isn’t a standard field called Warranty Expiration Date. With the use of UDFs in AccuBuild, you can set up a field on the Job List Called Warranty Expiration Date as shown below. UDFs eliminate the need to track information outside of AccuBuild which reduces duplicate data entry and eliminates data entry errors. Pretty neat huh?

How Can UDFs Help Manage My Business?

As mentioned above UDFs allow you to track custom information in one fully integrated database eliminating duplicated data entry, but UDFs can also help you track things like profitability or which vendors are best to work with.

Tracking Profitability using UDFs

Example:
ABC Construction Company wants to know which Construction Sector they work in is most profitable Commercial, Industrial or Residential. To find this out we can set up a UDF on the Job List called Construction Sector with a drop down list of the three sectors. This UDF allows me to classify each job in its appropriate Construction Sector as shown below.

This information can now be used to analyze which sectors are more profitable. This is done in My AccuBuild Reports (aka MAR) by copying and customizing existing reports or creating new reports from scratch.

The example below shows a modified copy of Current Contract Earnings Report in MAR. In this example, an additional group was added to the report with a subtotal for the UDF Field Construction Sector.

Now ABC Construction can quickly identify which Construction Sectors are most profitable.

This is just one example but there are endless possibilities of what can be analyzed with the use of UDFs and custom reports.

For more information on setting up and using UDFs

Click Here: http://www.accu-build.com/Downloads/UDFHelp.pdf