The Fastest Way to Get Paid in Construction

TLDR:

If payments lag, jobs lag. Bolster Payments ties billing to approved work, lets clients pay online, and keeps everything connected to your project and QuickBooks so cash flow stays predictable.

Make Payments Follow Progress, Not Paperwork

Construction projects move fast. Your payments should, too. The old way is familiar: paper checks, “I’ll send it tonight,” invoices living in email threads, and your draw schedule getting held hostage by one missing approval.

Bolster Payments is built to remove that drag. It puts billing and payments inside the same workflow you’re already using to run the job, so you can request payment as work is completed and approved, not three days later when you finally have time to build an invoice.

If you’ve ever floated payroll because a milestone payment came in late, this is the fix.

Why Bolster Built Payments Into the Construction Workflow

Get paid the moment work is approved

In Bolster, payment requests are tied to progress. When you complete items, tasks, or milestones, your client gets a payment request in their portal based on the payment terms you set up. They review what’s been completed, approve it, and pay online.

Clients can pay by ACH/EFT or credit and debit card. Once they set up a payment method the first time, future requests are quick. Approve, pay, done.

Less admin, healthier cash flow

This is the part contractors feel right away. Less manual invoicing. Fewer “just checking in” calls about payments. Fewer Monday morning surprises because someone forgot to send a draw request on Friday.

You focus on production. The system handles the billing rhythm.

A clean connection to QuickBooks

Payments are not just collected. They’re organized. Bolster’s QuickBooks sync is built to cut out double entry so invoices and payment records stay aligned without you playing accountant at midnight.

If you want to explore that side, start here: Bolster QuickBooks Integration

Choose How You Bill: Payment Structures That Match Real Jobs

Different jobs need different billing structure. Bolster supports the common ways residential contractors actually bill.

Rolling payments

This is great for smaller projects, service work, and upgrade-heavy remodels.

You bill as work is completed and approved, line by line or bundle by bundle, without waiting for a full “phase” to wrap. It keeps money moving and reduces the end-of-job invoice battle.

Phase or stage-based payments

Perfect for mid-sized remodels and additions.

You group work into milestones like demo, rough-in, drywall, trim, and substantial completion. When a phase is approved, a single payment request goes out.

This works well when clients want a simple draw schedule they can understand.

Segmented or percentage-based payments

Common on larger custom builds or longer jobs.

Instead of tracking every item, you bill by percent complete or predefined splits tied to major milestones. It’s clean and predictable, especially when you’re coordinating multiple trades over months.

Client-facing clarity, your way

You decide how much detail the client sees. Itemized, grouped, or simplified. The key is consistency so there’s less friction when money changes hands.

Settlement Speed: Get Access to Funds Without the Waiting Game

Cash flow problems usually aren’t profit problems. They’re timing problems.

Bolster gives you control over how quickly funds settle, so you can match the payment timing to your operations. Some contractors are fine with standard timing. Others want faster access for payroll weeks, material-heavy phases, or when you’re running multiple jobs at once.

The Bolster Business Account

In supported regions, Bolster offers a Business Account that receives payments and gives you one dashboard for incoming funds, transfers out, and transaction history.

Learn more here: Bolster Business Account

Practical note: availability depends on region. If your market does not support the Business Account yet, you can still run payments and settle funds to a linked external bank account.

Stop “Hostage Payments” Mid-Project

Every contractor has lived this one.

The client is happy with 95% of the work but wants to hold up a full draw because of one disputed detail. Meanwhile, your subs still need to get paid and your schedule keeps rolling.

Bolster Payments is built around progress approvals so one disputed component does not have to freeze the entire payment flow. You keep the job moving without turning payment into a weekly argument.

Give Clients a Better Payment Experience

Simple, transparent, easy

Clients log into a secure portal, see what’s completed, what’s pending, what’s paid, and what’s next. That transparency reduces friction and makes payment conversations way easier.

No weird third-party handoffs

Clients are not bounced to a random payment link that looks like a scam. Payments live inside the same experience where they review work and approvals. It feels professional.

Modern expectations, met

Homeowners are used to paying digitally everywhere else. When your payment process is clean and easy, you look like the contractor who has their act together.

All-in-One Financial Control for Builders

When estimates, change orders, approvals, and billing live in different tools, you lose time and you miss details. When they live together, you get control.

Bolster keeps the financial story connected from estimate to final payment:

• what’s been billed
• what’s been paid
• what’s overdue
• what’s coming next

And because it’s tied to the job, you’re not guessing which invoice matches which scope change.

Quick FAQs Contractors Actually Ask

Can clients pay by ACH or card?

Yes. Clients can pay through the portal using ACH/EFT or credit and debit card.

Do I need QuickBooks to use Bolster Payments?

No. But if you already use QuickBooks, syncing can save a lot of admin and keep records cleaner.

Do I have to invoice manually?

No. Payment requests are built around the approval flow and the payment terms you set, so invoicing becomes part of the workflow instead of a separate chore.

Ready to Stop Chasing Checks?

If you want payments to move as smoothly as your schedule, this is the simplest upgrade you can make.

Activate and learn more here: Bolster Payments