Progress Billing and Site Software for Construction Companies
Progress billing, quantities, subcontractors, timekeeping and site photos.
In construction, money is made on site and lost in the office. When progress, material consumed and subcontractor entitlement reach the office late and incomplete, project cost only becomes clear after the job ends, when nothing can be corrected.
Progress billing should not be an argument
Most disputes with subcontractors come not from bad faith but from two parties keeping different records. When measured quantities, approved work, deductions and advance offsets live in separate files, the monthly valuation gets renegotiated every time.
With contract unit rates, site approval and deduction rules defined in one system, the valuation becomes a calculated output. The discussion moves off the number and back onto the work, which both speeds payment and preserves the relationship.
- Contract unit rates linked to measured quantities
- No work entering a valuation without site approval
- Advances, withholding and deductions calculated automatically
- Progress and payment history per subcontractor
- Actual project cost visible as it accrues
Record site progress photographically
Site progress is usually reported through a few photos sent in the evening and a phone call. Those records are scattered, unsearchable and useless as evidence in a dispute months later.
Timestamped, located photographs tied to a work item show management real progress and produce evidence when concealed works are later questioned. The same archive serves client and building inspection processes directly.
Timekeeping and materials leak most
Where timekeeping is kept on paper, who worked how many days comes down to memory at month end. On materials, any site that does not compare what left the store with what went into the work shows a discrepancy. Together the two are usually larger than expected.
Entering timekeeping on site and tying material requests and issues to a work item makes the leak visible. The purpose is not to police anyone but to correct cost while the project is still running.
See project cost before the project ends
The gap between tendered cost and actual cost is only manageable if it is compared as work proceeds. The final table may be a lesson, but it does not rescue that project.
When budget lines and actual spend advance on the same screen, deviation shows early. Which work item has overrun on quantity, which subcontractor is costing more than expected: seen in time, these can be acted on.
Running several sites at once
An arrangement that works by phone on one site collapses on the third. When every site has its own spreadsheet, its own messaging group and its own recording habits, management never sees a combined picture.
A shared structure makes comparison possible: which crew is faster, which supplier delays most, which work item overruns on every project. For a growing firm that comparison is the most valuable management tool there is.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Connectivity on site is poor. Will the app work?
- Yes. Site applications are built to work offline. Timekeeping, photographs and material records are held on the device and synchronise automatically when a connection returns.
- Will it integrate with our accounting software?
- If the software exposes a data exchange interface, valuation, invoice and cost data can synchronise, removing double entry between the site record and accounting.
- Do subcontractors get access too?
- It depends on scope. A subcontractor can be given limited access showing only their own work and payment status, which usually reduces the monthly reconciliation burden considerably.
- Can it be built for a single project?
- Yes. Starting with progress billing and timekeeping on one project, then extending to other sites once it has proved itself, is the lowest-risk path.
Let us evaluate your project together.
Share your requirements and we will assess feasibility, the recommended scope, indicative timeline, and budget approach during an initial consultation.
Discuss Your ProjectComplimentary initial consultation