The construction industry isn’t exactly known for timely payments. Whether it’s subcontractors or homeowners, if you own a contracting or homebuilding business, you know all too well about late payments, poor communication, and, of course, mountains of paperwork.
But the construction industry moves fast, and you have to keep up. As a business owner, one missed or late payment from a client can put you in a cash flow crisis. That’s why every general contractor, remodeler, and home builder needs construction billing software.
There are many options out there, so how do you choose the right one for your business? We’ll help you narrow it down by going over some of the common, required, and even uncommon features in the market.
What is construction billing software?
Construction invoicing software is used to manage expenses, create invoices, and collect payments from homeowners, clients, and subcontractors. An invoice is an itemized list of all services and products provided by your business to your clients, with costs and a total amount due. A good invoicing software will turn construction quotes into invoices and get contractors paid fast, easy, and securely.
What Should Be on an Invoice?
There may be slight variations depending on the contract type, but in general, all construction invoices should have:
- Project and Contract Details
- Contact Information
- Invoice Number and References
- Description of Services/Work Provided
- Original Contract Amount
- Approved Change Orders
- Materials Used or Stored On-Site
- Retainage Withheld
- Previously Billed Amounts (Progress Payments)
- Total Amount Due
Construction Invoicing Challenges
Throughout a project, there can be many hiccups, and more often than not, these will affect the final invoice. Below are some common construction invoicing challenges contractors face.
- Late Payments
Until a project is complete, construction businesses have to pay for most of the costs of labor, materials, and equipment. If you have more than one or two job sites to manage, a late payment can prevent you from paying your own bills.
- Poor Document Management
Keeping all the paperwork for expenses, change orders, and progress payments accurate and up-to-date is a lot of work and takes time away from revenue-generating activities. Without billing software, contractors risk billing the wrong amounts, losing profit, and, in the worst case, letting full payments slip through the cracks.
- Invoicing Errors and Discrepancies
Manual entry mistakes can cause invoicing errors and discrepancies, which can lead to miscommunication between homeowners and your team. Simple data entry errors will result in incorrect invoices, losses, or legal troubles that eat into your margins.
- Construction Billing Software Makes Invoicing Easy
Bolster is a construction billing software that simplifies your billing and collection, increases cash flow, and gets you paid faster. With Bolster, you can stop sending, tracking, and managing invoices for hours and spend more time doing what you want.
Why Bolster?
Bolster has changed the way you can do invoicing and payment collection in the construction industry. By consolidating all contractors’ billing and collection needs into one simple piece of software, we have saved business owners and their accounting teams hours a day from tedious manual processes and errors. With just a few clicks, you can send accurate, fast, and trackable invoices and not have to end another long day with a night of paperwork.
Features
- Integrated Payments for Faster Cash Flow:
This is the feature that gets contractors and home builders. Instead of using another software or cash, cheques and ACH transactions, contractors using bolster can issue itemized invoices from their estimates and let their clients use our payment portal to complete the transaction.
This means you get paid faster without the hassle of calling or chasing clients to complete the payment. Clients can pay invoices anywhere.
- Centralized Billing and Collections:
Reducing software clutter is the name of the game these days, and with Bolster, you just need us. By consolidating your billing and collection needs into Bolster, you can manage all your transactions within the platform and keep your business organized and profitable.
Bolster has a CRM styled invoice tracker, and it’s perfect for managing multiple invoices on the go. From one screen, you can view all in-progress, overdue, and paid invoices. By tracking these invoices in your payment pipeline, no project will ever slip through the cracks.
- No More Manual Tasks
In this day and age, there’s no need to write checks, hand deliver them to the bank, or drive back to a completed job site to collect payment. With Bolster, funds are sent online and can be deposited into your bank account immediately. You don’t even have to write out the invoices!
Our system generates invoices from the most up-to-date version of your construction quotes. With one click, you can take your project from an estimate and turn it into an invoice for your client to complete the payment.
What are the main benefits for contractors?
Invoicing and payment management can be a big headache for contractors and home builders and can lead to cash flow issues and wasted time. Bolster is here to change that. Our software simplifies your billing, increases your efficiency, and gets you paid faster. Here’s how Bolster can transform your business.
- You Get Your Cash Faster!
When a payment is collected through Bolster’s system, you can access your cash with minimal delay with market-leading settlement times. Choose from our “Fast”, “Faster” or “Fastest” options to determine how quickly funds are transferred to your bank account. No more delays or cash flow interruptions—just fast and reliable access to your funds.
- It’s Secure
Payments through Bolster’s system are secured by our partner Ayden. Ayden is a global payment service provider. Their payment service is federally insured (FDIC) and a registered agent with card networks such as Visa and Mastercard, so your transactions are safe and valid. If anything goes wrong, you can rest easy knowing your transactions are insured.
- Build Better with Bolster
A healthy cash flow is essential for any construction business. By choosing Bolster as your billing software, you transform your payment process, save time, and reduce stress. With integrated payments, centralized billing, and automation, Bolster gets you paid faster and minimizes manual tasks.
Discover how Bolster has revolutionized invoicing for contractors by exploring our client success stories. Ready to streamline your invoicing process and boost your business operations? Book a product demo with our team today.
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