990 WASHINGTON ST, SUITE 102, DEDHAM, MA

INFO@SIEGELSOLUTIONS.COM

Facebook icon linkedin icon X icon Instagram icon youtube icon

24 Apr Run Projects? IES Is Your QuickBooks: Why Intuit Enterprise Suite is the Best QBO Solution for Project-Based Businesses

Posted at 21:12h in Blog by
If You Run Projects, Read This

Hello friends,

This issue is for one specific audience: owners and finance leaders who run a project-based business. Construction, specialty trades, engineering, consulting, agencies, nonprofits running grant-funded programs — anyone whose profitability lives or dies at the project level.

If that’s you, and you’re still running QuickBooks Online Advanced or QuickBooks Desktop, here’s the bottom line: Intuit Enterprise Suite (IES) is the best QuickBooks solution on the market for project-based businesses. It’s a full project financial management platform built into the Intuit ecosystem — with several capabilities that do not exist in any other Intuit product.

Below is what’s new, what’s different, and why it matters. No fluff.  

If your business runs on projects and needs stronger reporting, better cost visibility, and more control, contact us to learn more about IES.

— Jeff Siegel

The Problem This Solves

Most project-based businesses we work with use some combination of: QuickBooks for accounting, a project management tool (Monday, Procore, Knowify, a spreadsheet), a time-tracking tool, and an estimating tool. The data doesn’t talk. By the time anyone realizes a project is 15% over budget, it’s already 30% over budget. Month-end becomes archaeology. IES collapses that stack. Projects, estimates, change orders, budgets, time, payroll, bills, and reporting all live in one place — and the AI watches for problems while you’re focused elsewhere.

  1. Project Phases

One of the biggest gaps in QuickBooks has always been the lack of a structured way to break projects into phases. In IES, you can now define phases directly inside the project — site prep, framing, MEP rough-in, finishes — and those same phases flow into your budgets, estimates, and reporting.

  • Structure budgets and estimates by phase at both the project level and budget level.
  • Track variances by phase so you can see exactly where you’re over or under — not just that you are.
  • Roll up phase-level progress into project-level reporting without exporting to Excel.

 

This alone replaces what most of our project clients have been doing in spreadsheets for years.

  1. Cost Groups

Cost Groups are a new concept in IES that sit alongside your existing product and service items. Think of them as industry-standard roll-up categories: Labor, Materials, Equipment, Subcontractor, and Miscellaneous.

  • Designate cost groups on items in your products and services list.
  • Track cost groups consistently across budgets, expenses, purchase orders, and bills.
  • Report estimated vs. actual by category, not just line item — so you can answer questions like “why is labor 22% over budget on this job?” in seconds.

 

For anyone who has ever tried to fake this using QuickBooks classes or sub-items, this will feel like fresh air.

  1. Project Budgets (Cost Budgets)

Project budgets got a meaningful upgrade in the Winter 2026 release. What used to be a planning artifact is now an operational tool.

  • Simplified setup. Simplified setup with fewer steps to get a working budget in place.
  • Phase-level tracking. Budgets track variances by phase, so you see over/under at the level that matches your project structure.
  • Real-time insights. AI flags budget concerns as they develop, not at month-end. The Project Management Agent monitors in the background.
  • Comprehensive reporting. Access critical metrics that aren’t available in QBO Advanced: cost to complete, work-in-progress, budget vs. actuals, and unallocated amounts.

  1. Dedicated Project Manager Role

One of the quieter — but most valuable — additions in IES is a dedicated Project Manager role. This is not available in QuickBooks Online or QBO Advanced.

  • Project managers get access to the project data they need — budgets, estimates, actuals, time, change orders — without seeing company-wide P&L, payroll, or sensitive financial data.
  • You can assign projects by owner and monitor them by manager.
  • Role-based permissions work across multiple entities, so if you have PMs working across related companies, you can grant access cleanly.

 

If you’ve ever hesitated to give a project manager access to QuickBooks because “they’d see everything,” this solves it.

  1. Change Order Management

In QuickBooks Desktop, a change order meant editing the original estimate. In IES, change orders are separate transactions — which means you can track them, route them for client approval, and report on them independently.

  • Create change orders as distinct transactions linked to the project.
  • Route to the client for approval via a built-in workflow (including e-signatures in the construction edition).
  • Handle negative change orders properly — another capability missing from prior Intuit products.
  • Once approved, the change order integrates into the estimate for invoicing, but stays trackable as its own record.

  1. Proposals & AIA-Style Invoicing

With the construction edition of IES, you can now generate proposals directly from estimates (or vice versa), build a customized proposal document, and send it for e-signature — all inside IES. AIA-style invoicing tracks total contract value, invoiced to date, current invoice amount, and remaining balance at the phase level.

This is a meaningful step toward replacing standalone proposal, e-signature, and progress-billing tools for project-based businesses.

  1. The Project Management Agent

IES includes an AI-powered Project Management Agent that provides what Intuit calls “Project 360-degree insights.” In practical terms:

  • Flags projects trending off-budget before month-end.
  • Recommends specific actions to get projects back on track.
  • Surfaces anomalies in labor cost, materials, or timing that a human reviewer might miss in the noise.

 

This is not chatbot AI. It’s an always-on layer that watches your projects and raises its hand when something looks wrong. A meaningful upgrade for any firm running more than a handful of concurrent jobs.

  1. Project Reports You Actually Get

IES ships with a 15-report project package, including seven reports that were not available in QuickBooks Online. These are the reports project-based businesses have been asking for, for years:

  • Committed Costs
  • Change Orders
  • Project Status
  • Project Costs by Vendor and Project
  • Project Costs Detail
  • Unpaid Bills by Vendor and Project
  • Time by Employee and Project
  • Plus: Cost to Complete, Estimates vs. Actuals, Work-in-Progress, Budget vs. Actuals, Unallocated Amounts

How IES Projects Compares to QBO Advanced

The short version:

 

Who Should Be Looking at IES Projects

This isn’t for everyone, and we’ll tell you honestly when it’s not the right fit. But if more than one or two of these describe your business, it’s worth a conversation:

  • You run 5+ concurrent projects and your current setup can’t tell you which ones are profitable in real time.
  • You’ve hit the ceiling on QBO Advanced’s project tracking — no cost to complete, no WIP, no change orders as separate transactions.
  • Your project managers don’t have access to job financials because you don’t want them seeing company-wide numbers.
  • You’re exporting to Excel every month to produce job cost reports.
  • You’re paying for a separate project management tool, estimating tool, and proposal/e-signature tool that don’t talk to QuickBooks.
  • You bill using progress billing, percentage-complete, or AIA-style schedules and currently handle it manually.
  • You’re a contractor, specialty trade, engineering consultant, agency, or nonprofit with grant-funded programs.
How We Help

Siegel Solutions is an Intuit Premier Reseller for IES and a Top 100 QuickBooks ProAdvisor firm. We help project-based businesses evaluate whether IES is the right fit, migrate cleanly from QuickBooks Desktop or QBO Advanced, and build out the project, phase, cost group, and budget structures so the reporting you actually need starts working on day one. When IES isn’t the right answer, we tell you — and if you’ve genuinely outgrown IES, we also implement Acumatica as a Gold Partner.

Want to See It?

If your project reporting is a monthly headache — or if you’ve been wondering whether IES is worth the step up from QBO Advanced — let’s schedule a 30-minute call. We’ll look at your current setup and give you a straight answer.

If you are wondering whether IES is the right fit for your business, visit the Siegel Solutions contact page to schedule a conversation with our team. 

Ride safe,

Jeff Siegel, CPA

Owner & President, Siegel Solutions, Inc.

Intuit Premier Reseller  |  Top 100 ProAdvisor  |  Acumatica Gold Partner

Print page


Antonio Tony Martinez
Senior Partner Development Manager

Tony brings over 15 years of QuickBooks knowledge with him and has been recognized as a top performer year over year. Tony will play a critical role in helping our team grow your QB business by managing the relationship between Siegel Solutions and the QuickBooks Solution Provider Program. Tony is focused on optimizing results for strategic partners of all shapes and sizes.

This will close in 0 seconds

Noah

Noah Raney
Senior Account Payroll Manager

Noah is our dedicated Intuit Senior Account Payroll Manager who can help you find the right payroll solution for you and your business. He is well versed in all of the QuickBooks platforms being desktop/online/standalone and payroll has been his world since joining Intuit 13 years ago. Whether you are looking for ways to save on time, reduce inflated payroll costs or just get set up with the best discounts, he is here to help. Your success and satisfaction are of utmost importance!

This will close in 0 seconds

Sean

Sean McCaffery
Global Channel Sales Partnerships and Alliances Leader

Sean McCaffery has more than 15 years of experience leading channel sales and cloud solutions in the US and Internationally. Sean has held leadership positions with Avaya in Europe growing the channel business with resellers and distributors in key countries driving double-digit growth. He then joined Rackspace Technology and was instrumental in developing sales growth strategies in cloud adoption for customers and partners. Most recently, he ran channels at Dizzion responsible for dynamically growing and expanding the partner ecosystem through SaaS-based VDI solutions before joining Intuit. Currently, he runs the QuickBooks Solution Provider Program supporting the strong business that solution providers and ISV partners have established as well as finding new opportunities to drive emerging mid-market growth together!

This will close in 0 seconds

Gabor

Gabor Terebesi
Payments Account Manager

Gabor Terebesi is an Account Manager with the Payments Team of Intuit for over 15 years. He works in the partner division for Intuit payments to ensure Intuit partners along with any clients of theirs are in the most suitable and financially cost-effective solution accepting payments through eCommerce, QuickBooks, mobile payments, or any other options necessary for their business.

This will close in 0 seconds

Aimee Garneau
Manager of Accounting Services

Aimee joined Siegel in 2022 as the Accounting Manager overseeing the accounting and bookkeeping team. Aimee brings 18 years of experience with increased responsibility with privately and publicly held companies. Her experience lies with SaaS-based companies as well as in healthcare, consulting, education and nonprofits. Prior to joining Siegel, she held accounting leadership positions with Waban Projects, Elastic Path, Moltin, and Ned Davis Research. Aimee loves partnering with business owners to establish financial reporting and results that promote growth and expansion. When Aimee is not working, she loves spending time with her family and friends and exploring all New England has to offer. She is also an avid Red Sox fan and enjoys going to Fenway Park when she can.

This will close in 0 seconds

Jeffrey Siegel
CPA, CEO

Jeff has spent the last twenty years working providing solutions to emerging growth businesses. After graduating from Northeastern University, he spent five years working with two multinational CPA firms in an auditor capacity building a foundation for understanding how business work. He later went on to work in various controller and CFO roles before starting Siegel & Associates (previously Siegel Financial Group) in 2000. In those roles, he sold a company to ADP, raised funds for a major expansion of a large regional IVF clinic, and helped set up accounting and financial structures for dozens of companies. Since starting Siegel & Associates, Jeff has worked with hundreds of clients providing accounting system solutions. Those solutions include setting up QuickBooks in a single-user environment putting in QuickBooks Enterprise in a 30-user environment and integrating various add-ons including inventory, CRM, and e-commerce. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a QuickBooks Pro Advisor, a QuickBooks Advanced Pro Advisor, and an Intuit Solution Provider certified in Enterprise Solutions, Point of Sale & QuickBase. Jeff is also a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer

This will close in 0 seconds

Lori Swartz
Client Solutions Advisor & Professional Services

After graduating from Boston University, Lori spent eight years working in various managerial positions for two national companies. In those positions, Lori developed the skills necessary to manage multiple projects, clients, and resources. She later went on to work for a management company that handled over 25 real estate properties with multiple tenants. Lori joined Siegel Solutions in 2003 as a client services manager where she utilized her skills developed to manage multiple clients and multiple staff. She recently moved into the client support manager role where she is responsible for meeting with and onboarding new clients, managing and maintaining our technology stack along with QuickBooks setups, conversions, training, and consulting.

In her free time, Lori enjoys spending time with her family. She loves to travel, music, and theater.

This will close in 0 seconds

Janet Jodoin
Bookkeeping Associate

Janet joined Siegel Solutions in May of 2022 as an Associate Bookkeeper. In her younger years, while raising her family, she completed her degree in Business and she spent 20 years in the trades as a custom designer. Janet also has 16 years in corporate management. Her strong team support, training, and development led her to support and manage Human Resources. Janet's desire to change careers has led her to return back to bookkeeping at Siegel Solutions. In Janet's free time she enjoys spending time with her growing family. Her personal favorite is creative landscaping in her yard. She also enjoys working alongside her partner in construction and remodeling.

This will close in 0 seconds

Tricia Gullage
Associate

Tricia Joined Siegel Solutions in 2022 as a bookkeeper and works with our clients to keep their day-to-day bookkeeping in order. Tricia has 12 years of bookkeeping experience working for a large construction company for 10 of those years handling all their accounting and Payroll. She met Jeff our CEO while working there and decided she wanted to join our team.

When not working Tricia enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She recently moved up to the lakes region in NH and loves going to concerts, enjoying her time boating and snowmobiling.

This will close in 0 seconds

Ed Jaworski
Professional Services

With over 21 years of corporate experience at PeopleSoft Consulting, Sun Life Financial, and KPMG, Ed brings a big business approach to small business solutions. Prior to joining Siegel Solutions in 2022, Ed helped small businesses get the most out of QuickBooks for 21 years as a co-founder of SMB Partners and the founder of Solutions for Office Software.

Ed is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks® ProAdvisor, a Certified QuickBooks® Point of Sale ProAdvisor, a Certified QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions ProAdvisor, and a Certified SOS Inventory Consultant. Ed holds an MS in Computer Information Systems from Bentley University and a BS in Business Administration from Northeastern University.

This will close in 0 seconds

Debby Mono
Firm Administrator

Prior to joining Siegel Solutions in March 2023, Debby had been working in administrative and executive assistant roles for many years in various fields. Her extensive background in these positions has provided her with a range of skills and knowledge that are valuable in her new role as a Firm Administrator. She graduated from Suffolk University with a Bachelor's Degree.

Outside of work, Debby can be found at football fields or dojos cheering for her sons. She also enjoys hikes with her dog, Sawyer, reading, sports, and live music. She and her husband also love to entertain family and friends.

This will close in 0 seconds

Letitia Cote
Senior Associate

Letitia has an accounting degree and has been working in the Accounting/Bookkeeping industry for over 25 years. Tish is also an Acumatica Business Consultant. Outside of work, Tish has 4 grown children and 5 grandchildren, she loves to ski, hike, bike, and be outdoors. Tish has worked with Jeff for over 10 years.

This will close in 0 seconds

Andrea Alencar
Associate

Andrea graduated from Bridgewater State with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting. Andrea joined Siegel Solutions in 2022. Andrea has gained accounting experience working in various industries including a CPA firm, legal, hospitality, and telecommunications. Before coming to Siegel Solutions Andrea previously worked as a bookkeeper and staff accountant.

Andrea has 4 kids which keep her busy. Outside of work, Andrea enjoys spending time with her kids, being outside, cooking, and going to softball/baseball games.

This will close in 0 seconds

Mike Derrico
IT

I started my career in 1983 when I designed and built a device to share a computer program, written by the president of a local bank and his son, running on an Apple Lisa computer. The device allowed the large and expensive Lisa's computer to be shared with bank employees. With this program, and with my device, we started a company to market this unique solution to banks. At this point, computer networks were just starting to be used in businesses. I transitioned my efforts to providing support for migrating banking terminal/mainframe functions to the emerging Personal Computer networking platform. For the next decade, I worked with, and beta tested, numerous technologies to integrate the banking functions from dumb terminals into the now smart desktop computers. After working with a few small consulting firms, I started my own company focusing on providing I.T. support to SMBs. More recently I am now doing the exact opposite by helping customers migrate their PC applications and data from their local computers to The Cloud. A few years ago, I joined Siegel Solutions to add my years of I.T. experience to their firm.

In my spare time, I like to travel, fly my drone and, most importantly, spend time with my family. I also still enjoy tinkering with technology.

This will close in 0 seconds

Pat Jaworski
Associate

After spending most of her corporate career in the insurance industry, Pat joined a QuickBooks consulting firm providing bookkeeping services to several small companies. Late in 2022, that firm merged with Siegel Solutions, Inc., bringing Pat and her clients to the group. She provides services to clients in a variety of industries: fitness, construction, beauty, equine care, and medical billing, to name a few. She enjoys supporting her clients by keeping their financial records in good shape and allowing them to focus on growing their respective businesses.

Pat resides in the 495/MetroWest area with her husband Ed, daughter Abby and Duffy, their lovable, energetic golden retriever.

This will close in 0 seconds

John Brakey Campos

Senior Account
Payroll Manager

John has been with Intuit for over 18 years, serving in a variety of roles across the organization. For the past 8+ years, he has focused on payroll and workforce management solutions, helping clients streamline operations and make informed decisions. John is passionate about working directly with customers to understand their unique needs and recommend the best solutions to support their teams.

This will close in 0 seconds

DeeAnna Keyes

Sales and Marketing Associate

DeeAnna Keyes, has been our Sales and Marketing Associate since December 2023. She brings a wealth of experience, having worked at Intuit with a focus on Quickbooks Online and Quickbooks Desktop. With a robust sales history and a license as a real estate agent in Virginia, DeeAnna is a versatile professional. Outside of work, she cherishes family moments, indulges in camping with friends, and finds joy in entertaining at home with her husband and four children.

This will close in 0 seconds

Janice Kats

Associate

Janice Kats graduated from Carl Sandburg College with an Associate Degree in Accounting in 1992 and has been working in the accounting field ever since in various jobs doing AR, AP, payroll, office management, and bookkeeping before joining Siegel Solutions in late 2023.

In 2022, she made the decision to branch out on her own and started her own bookkeeping business, working from home.

She is a mom to 3 grown children and a grandmother to 5 grandchildren and enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs and following her grandchildren in all of their sports.

This will close in 0 seconds

Alyssa Bradford
Firm Manager

Alyssa Bradford joined Siegel Solutions as Firm Manager in March 2025, bringing with her a strong background in operations management and a hands-on, "boots on the ground" leadership style. Known for her excellent communication skills and practical approach to problem-solving, Alyssa plays a key role in driving efficiency and fostering team collaboration at the firm.

She is a graduate of the University of Hartford and lives in Franklin with her husband and son, where they enjoy making the most of nice weather together as a family. In her downtime, Alyssa enjoys HGTV and Food Network shows.

This will close in 0 seconds

Cynthia Moncayo-Mena
Associate

Cynthia joined Siegel Solutions in March 2025 as an Associate. She has a Bachelor's in Accounting from New Jersey City University and over 10 years of experience in accounting.
She is married with two children and enjoys reading and exploring new places to visit!

This will close in 0 seconds

Jermaine Sanders
Associate

Jermaine began his accounting career in 2017 after earning his Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Emory & Henry College. With seven years of industry experience, he brings a solid background in financial analysis, business taxation, and small business accounting. Jermaine is a QuickBooks Online Certified ProAdvisor and is currently pursuing his CPA designation. He joined Siegel Solutions in the summer of 2025.

Outside of work, Jermaine leads an active lifestyle. He enjoys attending football and basketball games, hiking, biking, and spending quality time with family and friends. A fan of great music, he also enjoys relaxing to the sounds of jazz and practicing the trombone.

This will close in 0 seconds

Miya "Yiting" Guan
Coop - Fall 2025

Miya joined Siegel Solutions this summer as a six-month Co-op. She is entering her senior year at Northeastern University and brings prior experience from a previous Co-op. In a short time, Miya has already proven to be a valuable asset to the team, thanks to her strong technical and financial skill set.

Originally from Shanghai, China, Miya has an older sister and a younger brother. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and going to the movies.

This will close in 0 seconds

 

Melissa Boyan
Senior Associate

Melissa is originally from Orrington, ME (outside of Bangor). She attended Husson College and graduated with her BS in Accounting and MS in Business. She currently lives in Levant, ME, with her husband, son, and their pets. She has 2 dogs and 2 cats! Melissa enjoys playing the Tenor and Alto saxophones in a local band, as well as crafting, particularly learning how to knit and crochet. Additionally, she teaches accounting classes.

She joined Siegel Solutions as a part-time Senior Associate in December 2025.

This will close in 0 seconds

 

Matthew Galligan
Associate

Matthew Galligan is from Pembroke MA. He received his Undergrad Degree from Stonehill University and is taking classes to become eligible for the CPA exam. He has 2 dogs, Sully and Finn. Matt enjoys any Boston sports as well as ATVs, snowmobiling and golf.

He joined Siegel Solutions as an Associate in December 2025.

This will close in 0 seconds

 

Beth Peter
Administrative Assistant

Beth earned her undergraduate degree from Westfield State University, focusing on Psychology, which supports her strong interpersonal skills and attention to detail in her day-to-day work.

She brings a thoughtful and organized approach to her role as Administrative Assistant. Originally from Boston, she has spent the past twenty years living in different parts of the country before returning to Massachusetts, where she now calls home.

Outside of the office, Beth enjoys spending time with her daughter, who is currently in college, as well as caring for her two cats. In her free time, she loves cooking and getting lost in a good book.

This will close in 0 seconds