Bricks and blocks
Accounting software for fly-ash brick and block plants
Builder cheques, cash at the gate, daily diesel and a month's credit from the fly ash transporter, all in one ledger that the documents keep current.
In short
SimpleERP is accounting software for fly-ash brick and block plants. Truck invoices, builder cheques, gate cash, diesel expenses and supplier bills post their own journals, so profit per builder and the yard's value are ready any day.
Illustration of a profit and loss statement for Jan–Jun 2026 with net profit of 4,691, a tax summary and the lock date.
An accounting day at Brazos Brick Works
Money at Brazos Brick Works moves in odd shapes. Builders pay by cheque, sometimes 60 days after the load. House owners pay cash at the gate. Diesel for the tractor and the hired loader is paid daily, fly ash comes on a month's credit from the transporter, and the cement dealer wants his money every Saturday.
The owner's brother keeps a cash book, and the accountant in Waco writes the books once a quarter from bank statements and a bag of bills. By then the question of whether the Austin builder's order made any money has no answer.
SimpleERP writes the books while the yard works. Each truck invoice books the sale, the cost of the bricks and the tax; each cheque or cash receipt clears an invoice; each diesel slip becomes an expense. The accountant's quarterly visit turns into a check of entries that are already there.
Which accounts matter in a brick unit's books?
Six accounts tell the owner most of what he needs. All of them are kept current by documents, not by a monthly journal from the cash book.
- Seeded at sign-up, with plant, machinery and vehicle categories ready
- Day book listing every entry for a date, for the owner's evening check
| Account | What feeds it | What the owner learns |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory: raw material and bricks | Fly ash and cement bills; work orders; truck invoices | What the shed and the yards are worth |
| Cost of goods sold | Each truck invoice at average cost per thousand | Margin per builder and per month |
| Accounts receivable | Builder invoices, cheques and gate cash | Who owes what, and for how long |
| Accounts payable | Fly ash transporter and cement dealer bills | What falls due this week |
| Diesel and vehicle running | Diesel slips entered as expenses | What the tractor and JCB really cost |
| Plant and machinery | Hydraulic brick machines, pan mixer, tractor | Book value after monthly depreciation |
What happens when a builder's cheque comes back?
The receipt was recorded and allocated when the cheque came in. If the bank returns it, cancel that receipt: the cancellation reverses its journal, the invoices it settled are open again, and the builder's balance goes back up. The bank's return charge goes in as an expense or onto the builder's account, as your accountant advises.
- Cancellations reverse, never delete, so the bounced cheque stays on record
- Ageing updates at once, so the builder's next order call starts with the right figure
What should be checked before the month is closed?
Five checks, in the same order every month, catch most of what goes wrong in a brick yard's books.
- Bank reconciliation: tick the cleared cheques against the statement until the difference is zero
- Cash count: the gate cash in the drawer agrees with the cash account
- Tax summary against the sales and purchase registers your filer uses
- Yard valuation agreeing with the inventory account in the trial balance
- Lock date on the last day, so October cannot be changed in November
Illustration: saving invoice INV-2026-0213 moves stock, posts the customer ledger, records tax and updates the dashboard in one step.
Did the Austin builder's order make money?
Greenfield Homes took 92 thousand bricks over the quarter for $14,720 before tax. At an average cost of $125 per thousand, the bricks cost $11,500, leaving $3,220 of gross margin. The sales-by-customer report shows that for every builder, so the low-rate ones stand out.
- Sales by customer and by product, with margin, for any date range
- P&L by month to set the wet winter months against the building season
One system
Where the entries come from
Invoices, receipts, supplier bills, expenses, payroll and depreciation post their own journals; a manual journal is only for what no document covers.
Bricks and blocks
Bricks in thousands by yard, batch costs from a BOM, truckload invoices and builder credit.
See howInvoicing & tax
Tax invoices with VAT, GST or sales tax on every line, numbered by fiscal year and posted in one step.
See howInventory for brick makers
Fly ash in tonnes, cement in bags and bricks in thousands, across the raw material shed, the curing yard and the ready yard.
See howPayroll for brick kilns
Monthly staff on salary with shifts and advances, and the loading gang paid on its leader's bill, both posted to the same books.
See howProduction for brick plants
A mix per 1,000 bricks as a versioned BOM, a work order per shift, and the real cost per thousand from what the pan mixer used.
See howAccounting
A double-entry ledger with journals, bank registers, statements and a lock date.
See how
Honest limits
What SimpleERP does not do yet
- No bank feeds: bank entries are recorded and reconciled by hand
- No multi-currency; every document is in your base currency
- Tax returns are not filed and e-invoices are not issued from inside the product
- Cash collected by a driver at the site is not tracked per driver; record the receipt when the cash reaches the office
Getting started
Start with accounting
Sign up with your email
Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.
Tell us about the business
Pick your country and, if you are registered, type your tax number. Accounts, tax rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for that country.
Enter opening balances
Enter what each builder owes and what you owe the fly ash transporter and cement dealer, from your last cash book and bank balance.
Run the trial balance
Every posted document is already in the ledger; the trial balance and P&L are ready on any date.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can my accountant in Waco work in the same books?
Yes. Invite the accountant by email with the Accountant role. They see journals, bank and cash registers, statements and the tax summary, can set the lock date, and can export any report to CSV, all from their own office.
How do I record cash a house owner pays at the gate?
Raise the invoice for the tractor load, then record a payment against it into the cash account. The invoice is settled, the cash account rises, and the evening cash count can be checked against that balance before the money goes to the bank.
Is tractor diesel an expense or part of brick cost?
Both are possible. Diesel for deliveries is an expense entered from a phone with the slip photo. Diesel and power used for pressing can be included in the per-batch cost on the bill of materials, so it lands in the cost per thousand bricks.
Can I see profit per builder?
Yes. The sales-by-customer report shows sales, cost of goods sold and margin for each builder over the dates you pick, because every invoice carries the average cost of the bricks it moved. Export it to CSV if your accountant wants it.
Related
Keep reading
Bricks and blocks
Bricks in thousands by yard, batch costs from a BOM, truckload invoices and builder credit.
Read moreInvoicing & tax
Tax invoices with VAT, GST or sales tax on every line, numbered by fiscal year and posted in one step.
Read morePayroll for brick kilns
Monthly staff on salary with shifts and advances, and the loading gang paid on its leader's bill, both posted to the same books.
Read more
See how accounting works in SimpleERP for bricks and blocks
Seven days free. No card. Your first invoice in minutes.