How does Job Costing differ from General Accounting?
Most General Accounting software is designed around the General Ledger. For instance, when an item is purchased for Inventory, the accounting software will add it to the totals in the Inventory module and (it should) simultaneously add the transaction to the General Ledger. The same happens with Accounts Payable. A transaction is posted to Accounts Payable, then the General Ledger. The same thing goes for Accounts Receivable, Payroll, etc. First, it goes to the appropriate module, then to the General Ledger. If Job Costing is added to a General Accounting program, it is usually as an afterthought, something bolted on after the accounting program was designed and built. In contrast, true Job Costing software (such as JobView) is designed around Job Costing. When an Accounts Payable Invoice is received, it is added to Accounts Payable and is simultaneously added to Job Costing and mirrored in the General Ledger. This should be an automated, single-step process for the user, as it is in J
