Implementation tips for residential developers with multiple lots using budget spreadsheets
Business overview
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A developer purchases land to build a residential community and wants to manage both land development and lot construction within a single project. The development is completed in multiple phases, as outlined below:
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Acquisition phase: Identify and evaluate suitable land for residential development.
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Design phase: Work with architects and consultants to develop models and finalize floor plans.
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Land preparation phase: Complete site work, including land clearing, surveying, utilities, and road construction.
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Lot construction phase: Build homes on individual lots.
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The project might involve either a single lender or multiple lenders across these phases.
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The final two phases (land preparation and lot construction) can be managed in Sage Construction Management using the steps outlined below. These instructions focus on job costing, where budgets are created using a spreadsheet rather than Sage Construction Management estimates.
Implementation plan
Make sure all firms involved on the project, including lenders, are added in the Contact Management module.
For example:
- Lending source A (for the land preparation phase)
- Lending source B (for the lot construction phase)
- Legal firm
- Architect
- Consultants
- Suppliers
- Subcontractors
Learn more about adding firms to the Contact Management module.
Create one project record in Sage Construction Management representing the entire work (land preparation and lot construction phases).
For example:
- Project number: Seacliff
- Project title: Seacliff Estates
Learn more about creating projects manually in Sage Construction Management.
The following companies must be added to the project directory:
- Your firm
- Lending source A (for the land preparation phase)*
- Lending source B (for the lot construction phase)*
- Legal firm
- Architect
- Consultants
- Suppliers
- Subcontractors
* A single lending source may also be used for both the land preparation and lot construction phases.
Learn more about adding companies to the project directory.
You can use the following Excel files in the Contract Admin Setup Wizard to populate the job cost codes and prime contract budgets:
* For each lot, use a spreadsheet to populate the prime contract budgets. See the example structure below for reference.
Example prime contract structure for land preparation and lot construction
- Project number and title: Seacliff - Seacliff Estates
- Prime contract number and description: LandDev - Land Development
- Land development cost code 1: Raw land acquisition
- Cost budgets: Internal cost budgets (M|L|E|S|O)
- Contract amount: Loan or funding source amount
- Labor hour budget
- Equipment hour budget
- Land development cost code 2: Engineering and surveying
- Cost budgets: Internal cost budgets (M|L|E|S|O)
- Contract amount: Loan or funding source amount
- Labor hour budget
- Equipment hour budget
- Land development cost code 3: Temporary construction
- Cost budgets: Internal cost budgets (M|L|E|S|O)
- Contract amount: Loan or funding source amount
- Labor hour budget
- Equipment hour budget
- Land development cost code 1: Raw land acquisition
- Prime contract number and description: Lot-001 - Lot 1
- Lot construction cost code 1: Concrete
- Cost budgets: Internal cost budgets (M|L|E|S|O)
- Contract amount: Loan or funding source amount
- Labor hour budget
- Equipment hour budget
- Lot construction cost code 2: Framing
- Cost budgets: Internal cost budgets (M|L|E|S|O)
- Contract amount: Loan or funding source amount
- Labor hour budget
- Equipment hour budget
- Lot construction cost code 3: Roofing
- Cost budgets: Internal cost budgets (M|L|E|S|O)
- Contract amount: Loan or funding source amount
- Labor hour budget
- Equipment hour budget
- Lot construction cost code 1: Concrete
- Prime Contract # Lot-002: Lot 2
- Lot construction cost code 1: Concrete
- Cost budgets: Internal cost budgets (M|L|E|S|O)
- Contract amount: Loan or funding source amount
- Labor hour budget
- Equipment hour budget
- Lot construction cost code 2: Framing
- Cost budgets: Internal cost budgets (M|L|E|S|O)
- Contract amount: Loan or funding source amount
- Labor hour budget
- Equipment hour budget
- Lot construction cost code 3: Roofing
- Cost budgets: Internal cost budgets (M|L|E|S|O)
- Contract amount: Loan or funding source amount
- Labor hour budget
- Equipment hour budget
- Lot construction cost code 1: Concrete
- Prime contract number and description: LandDev - Land Development
Each prime contract requires its own purchase orders (PO) and subcontracts. You cannot assign a single PO or subcontract to cover multiple prime contracts, such as multiple lots. In a project with multiple prime contracts, each PO or subcontract must be tied to a specific prime contract. Plan your contract and subcontract structure accordingly, especially when vendors work across multiple lots.