Should you manage construction project costs in Excel or move to ARC PEM? A practical comparison for Indian architects, contractors and builders.
Excel works for one or two small projects. Once a firm runs several projects with separate BOQ, vendor, labour and GST sheets, those sheets drift out of sync and reconciliation eats days each month. ARC PEM links BOQ budgets, vendor bills, labour wages, contractor bills, site expenses and the GST purchase register in one database, so budget vs actual and pending payments update as bills are entered, and data exports to Tally.
| ARC PEM | Excel / Google Sheets | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Ready-made projects, BOQ templates and ledgers | Build and maintain your own sheets and formulas |
| Budget vs actual | Automatic, with overrun alerts | Manual linking between BOQ and expense sheets |
| Labour wages | Daily headcount and wages; PDF muster import | Manual entry per site |
| GST | GST purchase register built as bills are entered | Manual formulas, prone to errors |
| Tally | One-click Tally ERP / TallyPrime CSV export | Re-keyed by the accounts team or CA |
| Multi-user | Shared database on the office network (Studio & Enterprise) | File copies, or cloud sheets that need internet |
| Backups | Daily auto-backup, 30-day rolling history | Whatever you remember to do |
| Cost | Annual licence | Already owned |
Book a free demo of ARC PEM — BOQ, bills, labour, GST and Tally export.
Join 30+ architecture and construction firms already using ARC PEM to track budgets, manage vendors, and generate professional reports — without a single spreadsheet.