Avantages
1. Full service software
Jonas is a full service software that includes original estimates, subcontract creation, change orders, progress billing, T&M billing, RFIs, data management, and much more. Everything is included under one roof so instead of having to bounce back and forth between multiple programs we can access almost everything we need in one place.
2. 6 weeks of amazing training!
The training and implementation aspect of this software was excellent. The team is friendly, professional, helpful, and always willing to answer questions (and I asked a TON of questions) and help us figure out how to make Jonas work for our company. I really appreciated that they helped train us in best practices and showed us ways to improve upon our current processes. We loved having people to hold our hands and guide us through the process.
3. Organization
I really love the flow of the software and how well it organizes our jobs in an easy to use system. It's quite robust and takes time to learn, but once we're up and running I know we will be so grateful to be able to perform so many operations with the click of a button. No more hunting down important info in emails, printed documents, or computer files. We'll be able to access so much information in a short amount of time.
Inconvénients
Learning anything new takes time and effort. There was definitely a lot to learn but Jonas emails us all of the training videos so we can access them at any time and there's a ton of support once we Go Live. We're a small team, so it felt like a lot of work, but that's normal with any new software implementation. If you have a small amount of employees, you'll really need to manage your work hours well so you can continue running your business and handle all of the training and implementation. We did it, and you can too!
Avantages
To prioritize the pros of this software as compared to the traditional out of the box type softwares in its category, I have to say the overwhelming advantage of Jonas is the people who handle your transition into the implementation of this software tool to your company or companies.
I mean, who cares how extensive and exhaustive the features are if you don't have a personalized team to help you get up and running.
I personally don't quite understand how they are able to offer this type of personalized customer service for each client. They learn your business and how to best organize it and even tailor the software to meet your needs. I've never experienced this before. They listen to what you need and then come back with modifications or a different approach to continually streamline your day to day operation. You are assigned a team from the beginning, actual human beings that you interact with on a first name basis. They are on top of things, and that's really comforting for someone who is a habitual procrastinator.
They make your daily tasks a breeze with minimal effort.
I like that it is an online application. I can access it from any device. Really handy when looking up stuff on a phone while I'm on site - a suppllier invoice, contract, plan, sketch, etc...
The user interface is very simple, everything is right there on one screen and not buried under a hidden tree of drop-down menus.
You can create your on short list of favorites on the fly.
The document manager is like having your own unlimited DropBox portal but with the advantage that the search capabilities are infinitely more powerful and logical, as the software stores all of your documents that you upload, attach or link for you to find through multiple queries as opposed to DropBox where if you forget the name of the file, good luck finding it.
Very handy in my business as a builder is the tracking of subcontractor compliances that can be set up to block payment or at least warn on payment of a sub if he's late on a particular compliance. This was a real problem before. Who has time to constantly check and harass these guys for compliances. Just don't pay them and see how quick they email you that compliance .
Inconvénients
Only complaint is that the software initially seems to be more set up for sub-contractors rather than general contractors and developers. I also buy land and build independantly so the accounting is quite a bit different as I have to capitalize expenses and revenue at completion of projects and jobs if I want to maintain a positive cash flow.
The consequence of this is that the customer service team has to re-adjust to first understand the very different accounting that I need to have in place and from that point make adjustments and tailor the software so it suits my needs.
Everyone at Jonas has been very professional, friendly, helpful and seem to genuinely want our conversion to be a success. They have been very accommodating with my schedule and the need to reschedule appointments or take things out of order, based on work load. Everyone is incredibly responsive and I couldn't be happier with our training to date.
Avantages
We are currently in the training phase and are about half way through. I love that during training we have live webinars with the trainers and are able to ask questions and follow along in our test environment. Trainers are very knowledgeable and patient and the webinars are designed to be easy to follow along! The provided recordings of the webinars are a big help in going back and working in the test environment on your own afterwards. The webinars are followed up by one on one calls to discuss your company's specific needs and to dig deeper into specific areas; these sessions have been incredibly helpful and I highly recommend taking advantage of them. Coming from an environment that has done all of its project management manually, this is a huge conversion for us and based on everything we are experiencing during training, we made the right decision to go with Jonas!
Inconvénients
So far in training, there isn't anything I don't like about the software, as we are still digging in and learning our way. Some modules are easier to follow along than others, although I think that has a lot to do with personal preference (I enjoy the PM training sessions much more than the accounting). I think for me my biggest frustration with the training is the scheduling of the webinars. As the person leading the conversion, but also having to accomplish my regular work on a daily basis, two back to back hours of webinars twice a week is sometimes difficult to manage and I find myself having to skip or leave early at times. If i could change anything it would be maybe to have a morning and afternoon session instead of back to back.
We are extremely happy with Jonas Premier! The customer service is outstanding and our rep always goes above and beyond when we have questions. Although we do not fit into the standard general contractor box, Jonas has shown us that it can be utilized to fit our business needs.
Avantages
We enjoy the scalability and functionality of Jonas. As a small business, it allows us to function at a much larger scale with less woman-power.
Previous to using Jonas, we were doing most business functions manually, such as AP, AR, and Subcontracts. In the last year, we have been able to integrate these processes into Jonas which has improved workflow tremendously! We love the reporting options we have and how we can get real-time information without having to search through a bunch of emails and hard files.
The release of the Sub Pay App has been heaven sent for us! It has eliminated all confusion on contract amounts, approved change orders, and our subcontractors submitting various different invoice formats at various different times in the month. Our subs find the process easy to use and our admins get all the information they need with one click.
Inconvénients
We have noticed in working in certain areas that even after saving and refreshing the tabs, we will have to completely log out and log back in to see changes.
It is also very difficult to correct/delete certain things after they have been processed. We understand this is to protect the integrity of our data, however, there have been times when we would have liked to override/remove items for our own ease of use.
McGuire has been a customer with Jonas for over 2 years and we have been extremely happy with the continued upgrades, support, and top notch software they provide at an affordable price. Looking forward to future enhancements and having the opportunity to meet not only your staff, but other customers at your upcoming convention!
Avantages
Speed, versatility, customer support, and friendly staff. When work/construction was scarce for our company, you took the time to help us come up with a payment plan. The reporting is amazing! You have made a lot of changes in regards to being “user friendly” AKA the ability to delete. Keep this going! Pending AP Invoice Report is also a great addition. I am grateful for your monthly webinars followed by the taped session to refer back to. Dashboard is fresh…love it!
Inconvénients
On reporting such as the financial statement report we see -#’s different then we are accustom to. When the number is negative it shows in positive and when positive it shows in negative (with bracket). Can that be reversed? Since the new update I have posted some items and they don’t show up on other tabs unless I logout and back in (even after refresh) this has happened 3 times. When a change order is rejected its unable to be modified. I would like more opportunity to drill down into reports.
Although we are not a huge company, we have found that this software can be run with just one person. It doesn't necessarily take a whole team of people to keep up with the day to day accounting or project management operations. On our previous software, I had little time to do anything but accounting work; but with Premier, I now have time to get out of the office and quote work, while still keeping up with my accounting role.
Avantages
Jonas Premier has surpassed our expectations. Premier has reduced the overall time we spend on accounting procedures every month, allowing us to focus more of our attention on our customers needs, estimating, and selling jobs. There are many reports to make sure we stay on top of our AP and AR. Although we haven't started to use the Subcontract portion of the software yet, we are hopeful that it will streamline our subcontract agreement process. The Accounts Payable section is extremely easy to use, and with the Jonas Premier add-in for Excel, entering new information is a breeze.
Inconvénients
There are still a few small things that need to be worked out, mostly ease of use features. Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to remember to post your work; for example, we pay bi-weekly, timecards must be posted each week, and then again at the end of the pay period. So, for a two week time period, I have entered and posted timecards on two occasions, but then after the second week is posted, you have to post the whole payroll period in a separate location.
I would recommend this software to other companies in the real estate sector. While the software has some weaknesses, their team is constantly working on adding new features to improve the user experience and efficiency. Also, customer support at Jonas is very strong and their team is usually very responsive and is there to make sure your transition goes successfully.
Avantages
The software has very robust workflow routing capabilities and can help companies transition to a paperless workflow approval process. Controls within Jonas are strong and there is a lot of ability to customize what each of the users can and cannot do in the system.
The implementation team is very helpful and responsive to questions/concerns. They work hard to address issues encountered and have helped to ensure that the transition process goes smoothly as possible.
Inconvénients
The software is mainly geared to sub-contractors and not real estate developers. As such, Jonas currently lacks some capabilities which cater to developers (e.g. currently the Change Order report only looks at changes from the revenue perspective as opposed to the cost perspective). However, Jonas is working on addressing these issues.
Navigation within the system can be improved to increase efficiencies (e.g. being able to select multiple invoices within a batch to approve as opposed to doing one by one if you don't want to approve the whole batch, or not being constantly asked whether you want to save changes while you're still scrolling within the same module). Also, sometimes there are bugs in the system (e.g. not reflecting the changes that were made) but most of these can be resolved quickly by logging in and out of the system.
Avantages
So far, the product has been easy to maneuver and understand. When I purchased Jonas a competitor asked why Jonas? Here is my response: "I liked the fact that I don’t buy modules. I buy a complete package that is updated regularly and I get those updates. All apps are part of the package. This enlarges our use of licenses. Since Jonas is Microsoft based, we use our existing estimating system and it will populate the Jonas system. One less group to train. I am locked into unlimited training at a defined cost. The system is cloud based not cloud stored. Access is anytime as a result. I was able to define my cost exposure 100%. That was a tremendous comfort zone. I know what my yearly cost exposure potential is limited to.
I hope that helps as I wanted a solid comfort with the system I chose. In all cases Jonas seemed to best fit our needs."
Response from competitor:
"Thank you for your candor. All good reasons, especially pertaining to the “good fit” statement. I wish you and Max Construction all the best in the coming years and hope I get to hear how everything goes at some point in the future. It has been a pleasure working with you."
Inconvénients
I do not have any dislikes at this time. Jonas has shared new products coming on line and I am truly excited about the whole thing.
I've used several Job Cost Accounting software packages, from SAGE 100, SAGE 300, and ProContractor. Jonas Premier is by far my preferred package. I'm telling you, their support team and development team is amazing!
Avantages
This product is easy to use and there is not a steep learning curve. The development team is AMAZING! They are generally interested in what features could be improved or introduced to make your workflow easier. The fact that the program is 100% Cloud Based makes things so much easier for us. Also, it is very easy to modify reports and forms as much as you want.. You don't have to use some awkward reporting engine, you can use Word and Excel to modify reports and get data in/out of the system with ease.
Inconvénients
I can't think of much - maybe that their office is in Canada and not across the hall or next door???
More time you take to set this product up correctly, the more it will benefit you in the end... Take your time and get it set up right!
Avantages
Jonas Premier has a very user friendly interface, and allows for more customization than a product like QuickBooks or Sage 100 for a small contractor. Most software packages in the cloud don't allow for easy integration with Microsoft products, however, Jonas Premier does an excellent job of allowing for quick data entry via uploads (something QuickBooks specifically doesn't allow out of the box). Getting up and running with the software was easy and enjoyable through the webinars hosted by customer support.
Inconvénients
Seems like this product needs some work in reporting. The whole software interface is nice and crisp and looks up to date using current technology, but the reporting mechanism seems like it's a little archaic. That said, you can get a lot of data easily (and quicker) through Excel, and if you are handy with Excel, reports are easily made.
We've been with Jonas Premier for four years now. During that time my experience has been very positive. When there are bugs, issues, or questions that arise, the support team is very responsive and helpful. The leadership team is very connected with the needs of their customers; they care about what their clients want and need and their development team delivers. The software has grown and matured nicely. The most recent version is a significant enhancement that has been in the works for a while now, but it was well worth the wait. I like the software....I love the company. Premier has been a valuable partner to us.
Avantages
The newly released Premier is very responsive; crisp and quick, with drill down capability throughout. We have yet to fully use the capabilities of the software.
Inconvénients
Although all of the data is accessible via Odata and can be formatted and reported in unlimited ways, I'd like a few additional canned reports.
Avantages
The different models are excellent to meet the accounting requirements for contractor, construction and development companies. I especially like the excel uploading/downloading function which saved us a lot time! And compared with other softwares I implemented, the function to transfer beginning balance is an easy work now. The job costing model, the PO model and the Subcontract model are excellent and enable us to provide any reports that the projects team would request.
Inconvénients
I strongly suggest JONAS improve the customized report function. This function on the in-house version is perfect and hope the cloud version can do the same.
Through its use of customizable forms and general architecture, Premier eliminated a lot of duplicate or manual work for us.
Avantages
It's tailored to construction accounting and in that way is quite intuitive to use. At a performance level, it's fast on the Web and the various ways it shares and references data internally makes workflows quite speedy. It's also regularly updated with new features and they share their roadmap and vision going forward.
Inconvénients
While technically OS agnostic, it's not platform agnostic or mobile friendly as it requires the Chrome browser and it's not formatted for small screens. I'm not trying to do my full AP workflow on an iPhone, but I can't look up an invoice for reference or get a vendor contact out of the system in an easy way on mobile.
Great!
Avantages
I like that it's an all-in-one accounting and project management software, making information collected via data management, AR/AP, and PM integrated and centralized. They also provide excellent onboarding and ongoing customer support. I'm new to construction as well as to bookkeeping and their team has had endless amount of patience and for my equally endless number of questions. No problem is too big, small, or ridiculous for them to tackle.
Inconvénients
I made the somewhat unfortunate decision to request a Macbook instead of a PC for work. While the add-ons are mainly used only in the setup portion, the only thing that isn't ideal is that some of the MS Office Applications Add-Ons do not work with the applications for MS Office for Mac. The team, however, is super great about making the necessary adjustments on their computers so that it's not remotely the end of the world.
Avantages
Jonas Premier really does a good job integrating all facets of the accounting and project management sides of managing your construction projects and presents it in a clean, intuitive cloud-based software. The training process, though extensive, truly is great and individualized so that you can tailor the software to your needs. The one-on-one experiences with the support staff is great and they really do listen and actively address any questions or concerns that arise. In terms of how it streamlines our management and accounting process, I couldn't be happier. We get more done by doing less, with less opportunities for errors and greater opportunities for managing costs appropriately. I'm excited for how this software makes us a more marketable and efficient company overall.
Inconvénients
Training is a bit time-intensive; but on the flip side of that I really do believe their training is great in that they really do want to make sure you know what you are doing before you "go live" in their software. One perk of Premier is that most of their costs are paid all upfront; however we were a bit blindsided with some recurring costs that we thought were included (i.e., mobile app use, sub pay app, etc).
Jonas Premier is great to supply notifications or warning to prevent a job from going over budget. It has stream lined our purchase order and subcontract process and well as linking all documentations if something would need to be audited.
Avantages
The like the Job Dashboard very much. It gives you a quick view of your job to see the progress and status of each stage. Also I really like the Estimate upload feature because it makes creating subcontracts, purchase orders and change orders with a simple click of few buttons. Also the AIA Progress Billing process and T&M Billing process is very easy. Again with a click of a few buttons the AIAs and AR invoices are created with all supporting documentation attached and tied back to subcontracts or purchase orders. Also if AP or AR invoices need to be reverse the process is very simple again with the click of a few buttons.
Inconvénients
I found the company logo upload was not as easy and it should have been. There is no way to really edit the existing company logo. Also the check formatting has been a challenge getting it to line up correctly. So over all the forms creation is very time consuming and not an easy as it should be. Also setting up role security for users is not as simple.
Avantages
It is a seamlessly integrated, fully-mobile product that can be adapted to the varying situations that present themselves for modern construction company. Being that it is cloud based we are ready to job on a project location as soon as we have internet access; no long winded set-up process or expensive IT costs for VPN or remote server set-up. Your controller will love the product as much as your PMs if they are used to any of the traditional or non-integrated systems.
Inconvénients
You have to create and format all/many of the forms/reports, which is both time consuming and can cause potential continuity errors. I believe that they are working towards solutions for this though.
Jonas Premier people hold your hands during the transition period, patiently answer all your questions and concerns and ensure a successful transition. Periodic introduction of new features strive to keep the software responsive to customer needs and wish lists
Avantages
1. Logical sequencing of menu items
2. End to End consistent user interface
3. Excel training program
4. Committed and customer focused client support
5. A robust document management system
Inconvénients
I would love to see:
1. Complete glossary of all field headings used in all forms and reports
2. A user driven Report Builder that allows the user to pick and choose various fields, make choices for filtering, grouping, sorting and totalling data, enabling them to design their own reports
We love it!
Avantages
The software meets all our needs. We run 13 companies each with different needs. This is a construction software, but we do other companies involving investments, property management, and it meets all our needs and more. One of our favorite features is the document manager. It is super easy to grab documents and attach that document to any transaction. It frees up our computer space and organizes it much better than we could have by ourselves. This software really is for everyone that wants to take the time to learn. It is a tedious process to get started, but well worth it and will save you a lot of time in the long run.
Inconvénients
My only con would be that the training videos are a little long. I think the videos could be a quick overview of the item that is being trained on, then we are required to go and try and figure it out ourselves. The great thing with Jonas is that you can mess up in your test company and nothing carries over once you go live. So mess up as much as you want, it will help you learn. If the videos had a little revamp and shortened with more interaction, there would be not a single con to this software.
Pros:
*Premier is cloud based making it easily accessible on any computer. This eliminates the need to install the program on various office computers. It also eliminates the need for a server in the office to back up the data.
*Premier covers all of our accounting and project management needs. As they expand the software (ie. added Project Management), we are using fewer external software product. We are able to do all of our accounting and project management in one package. This has simplified the process of change orders, subcontracts, etc where accounting and project management cross paths.
*Premier has a common layout from one screen to the next. This has made it easy to train people on using the software. As a trainee becomes proficient at one aspect of the accounting/project management, I can easily add another screen/task to their duties.
*They have recently added a new community website that allows me to submit, and keep track of my cases. I can also submit ideas for future development of the software and review and promote others ideas.
*The Premier team is very helpful and quick to respond when I have a question or problem. When I submit a case, they will call me, usually the same day, if they need more information to understand my problem. They check in with me on a regular basis to see if I am need anything. There is a quarterly webinar to keep us up to date on what has been added to the program, what is in the works for the future, and to find out what we consider our main issues with the program. There are monthly "continuing education" webinars on how to use Jonas Premier more efficiently
Cons
It meets all of our reporting needs, however the reporting still needs some work, but they are working on some new reporting options.
Avantages
It is a very trouble free system to use most of the time, Jonas support team as been helpful during our difficult times with the system.
Inconvénients
Having trouble with reports and providing what my supervisor needs on some reports and not having descriptions on those reports. Also, when needing to change the distribution of an invoice is not simple and easy as it should be, we need to reserve the invoice completely and re enter it with the correct distribution.
Avantages
Great customer service. Constant updates to the software have greatly improved Jonas Premier over time. Has improved since the move to Chrome.
Inconvénients
Some common functions that should be available are difficult to access like an hours and time report based on time frame and not just jobs. Thankfully we can now access this but we must access it through excel which is cumbersome. Also, I am happy that Premier is on Chrome now so I can use it with my mac, but having some external links through excel only, is not helpful; perhaps make add ons so that we can access these same functions on excel for mac.
Before moving to Jonas the job costing was all being done on excel spreadsheets - which is very prone to error and required much manual entry and duplication of entry leading to errors. Jonas job costing has solved the management of that.
Avantages
It is a very robust system - there is great value for money given what the software can do for the cost. The progress invoice application system provides great reports. Great integration between Job cost and GL.
Inconvénients
Some times it hangs and have to shut down and come back in. Get some weird error messages sometimes. Best then to shut down and start over.
Overall my experience has been good. I feel as though we have had a lot of issues on the accounting transition and that has affected our company as a whole. We are getting close to having it working properly.
Avantages
I like the project management tools and how well the integrate with the accounting.
Inconvénients
I am disappointed in the daily reports and mobile app. I think there is a huge opportunity to make the mobile app much more user friendly. It needs to give field personnel the ability to review and interact with their previous daily reports; that necessary function that is not available.
I have been with Jonas Premier from the day #1. The software has improved its capacity and become a very sophisticated software. Customer service has improved 100%. They respond quickly and they are able to solved the problem right away.
Avantages
WEB BASE SOLUTION, DRILING ACCOUNT OPTIONS, GETTING INFORMATIONS AND NAVIGATE THROUGH OUT VERIOUS MODULS, REPORTING
Inconvénients
PAYROLL MODULE DOES NOT FULLY SATISFIED ME. I have been
We had a lot of redundancy with our current system and Jonas will provide a clean and clear electronic process for us. We wanted to bring as much as possible under one roof, and we wanted a clearer picture of job costing and future projections. We were also tired of relying on excel documents for so much information. Jonas is helping us solve all of these problems, as well as helping to get important info out of people's inboxes and into a system that everyone can access! It will also help us to reduce data entry errors and small mistakes with billing. Thank you Jonas for coming at just the right time in the life of our business. We feel confident that you'll take us to the next level!