Sage Timberline Office evolved from a mainframe system that Sage acquired in 2003. Today Timberline provides financial and operations management systems to a variety of contractors -- commercial, industrial, electrical, mechanical, specialty and service -- as well as residential homebuilders and real estate developers and managers.

Sage Timberline Office comes with up to 60 construction accounting, estimating and project management modules. These are organized into several different suites.

• Timberline's accounting suite includes regular accounting features, allowing users to manage accounts payable/receivable, job costing, payroll and billing in addition to equipment cost, contracts, financial statements and a general ledger.
• The estimating suite comes with information about thousands of industry items, and also allows users to add their own items and formulas. It can be integrated with RSMeans databases. Sage also offers a digitizer add-on. Finally, with modeling estimating, it is possible to see what various changes to a plan would cost, the vendor noted.
• Timberline's office-procurement tool lets users create purchase orders and receipts and track change orders following the estimating process. The production management suite helps contractors manage purchase orders and communicate with other team members, the vendor said.
• The project management suite aids contractors in managing change orders, RFIs, subcontracts and purchase orders.
• Timberline's property management suite provides developers and property owners/managers with the tools to manage many aspects of leases, such as interest on deposits, billing, lease options, overage rents and credits. This module also comes with accounting features specific to property management, a billing module and property management reports.
• Sage Timberline Office's reporting module includes features such as an address book, integration with Crystal Reports, a report designer and a module to initiate tasks.
• Finally, the service management module assists contractors with field purchasing, service agreements and warranties and preventive maintenance.

According to the 2008 CFMA IT survey, Sage Timberline Office is the market leader in both job costing and construction project management software. Nearly 30% of contractors use Timberline for job costing and more than 15% of contractors use Timberline for project management, the survey noted.

Construction professionals credit Timberline's ability to store and analyze vast realms of data with giving them the keys to unlock business improvements. Data efficiency and accuracy dramatically reduce human errors, resulting in satisfied customers, quicker payments and fewer costly mistakes, according to one Sage Timberline Office review.

Sage Software company information

• Phone toll-free: 800-628-6583 (Industry & Specialized Solutions Division Construction and Real Estate Solutions) or 800-854-3415 (corporate headquarters, North America)
• Address: 15195 NW Greenbrier Parkway, Beaverton, OR
• Products: Sage Timberline Office; Sage Master Builder
• Company size: More than 30,000 resellers and 40,000 accountants, according to Sage company information; 5.8 million customers worldwide (Sage North America supports 2.9 million customers)
• Number of employees: 14,500 (Sage North America: 4,800 employees)
• Founded: 1981

Sage Timberline Office product information

• Type of application: Client-based
• Windows requirements:  Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2; Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition SP2; Windows Server 2003 R2; Windows Small Business Server 2003 SP2; Windows XP Professional SP2; Windows Vista (Business and Ultimate) SP1; Windows Server 2008
• Memory requirements: Accounting and Management Products on a server or stand-alone computer: 600 MB available disk space plus 25 MB per accounting and management application plus 400 MB for required third-party components, which Sage Timberline Office installs as necessary, according to Sage Timberline Office system requirements
• System requirements: Processor - P4-2 GHz with 2GB RAM
• Integration: Sage products in CRM, ERP, accounting, human resources; Peachtree by Sage Premium Accounting for Construction and Sage Master Builder
• Mobile device support: Track and manage mobile resources through GPS integration with @Road Web-based mapping services, according to a Sage Timberline Office product overview
• Customer size: Small enterprise, midsize
• Customer type:  Architects, engineers, contractors; midsize and small enterprise
• Minimum number of users: 1
• Maximum number of users: Unlimited
• Suggested retail price: Contact Sage
• Free software trial: Available on ConstructionSoftwareReview.com

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