CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

What Is Construction Management Software?

Construction management software solutions are cloud-based platforms that enable contractors and construction companies to improve profit margins and productivity with tools that help facilitate project planning, project management, job costing, payroll, inventory, billing, and a wide range of other functions. 

What Are the Common Features of Construction Management Software?

Contractor job costing software: The best construction software provides tools to keep track of costs and monitor profitability for projects. With ServiceTitan, subcontractors and project managers benefit from:

• Job costing flyouts that give you a quick breakdown of job costs based on materials, equipment, purchase orders, commissions, and labor so you can see your profit on every type of job. 

• Project budget versus actual tables that are updated in real time (a feat which cannot be accomplished in spreadsheets) as crew members log hours in at the job site, inventory is used or ordered, etc.

• Project summaries that help you stay on top of your accounts receivable and improve cash flow.

Contractor payroll and timesheets: Construction software often includes timesheets and/or time-tracking functionality to help streamline payroll. With ServiceTitan, contractors can benefit from:

• Having technicians’ drive time, vendor runs, wrench time, and OT automatically documented on their timesheets.

• The ability to provide your crew with access to their own timesheet, and digitally sign off on their timesheet via the ServiceTItan mobile app at the end of a pay period to ensure it accurately matches their piece work or hours logged.

• Automated connection to ServiceTitan job costing to ensure your team’s time is accurately accounted for, and to provide real-time visibility into profitability of your projects as they progress. 

Contractor accounting software and integrations: Construction software typically offers  accounting features or integrations that help to streamline accounting processes. With ServiceTitan, contractors benefit from:

• Real-time financials that are updated automatically as jobs or phases of jobs are completed. 

• The ability to click and view job costs from any invoice in real time (which isn’t possible in traditional accounting software such as QuickBooks).

• Efficiency gains that provide a greater ability to scale your construction business without adding to your accounting team. 

• Integrations with top accounting platforms (e.g. QuickBooks) and CSV exports to keep your data in sync with your preferred providers.

Contractor scheduling software: Construction software often assists project scheduling by allowing project managers to assign team members to jobs based on their availability. With ServiceTitan, users benefit from:

• Easily viewing crew availability and assigning team members based on the job schedule. 

• Automated reminders that keep the team and GC/customer in the loop with your schedule.

Contractor invoicing software: Construction management solutions usually offer capabilities for invoicing and billing, along with closeout and accepting payments. With ServiceTitan, contractors benefit from:

• Automated generation of payment applications that follow AIA standards to efficiently manage progress billing.

• Automated connection with ServiceTitan job costing to have real-time visibility into your project financials. 

• Seamless connection into ServiceTitan’s accounting features.

Contractor inventory software and purchase order management: Construction software generally provides some type of inventory management system, or integration to connect project management to your inventory management system. With ServiceTitan, contractors benefit from:

• The ability to view and filter through all of their inventory to get the information they need, from item names and codes to quantities on hand or on order.

• Automated tracking of equipment and materials by location (ie. truck, warehouse, etc.), and real-time updates to reflect the number of items needed in a given location.

• Purchase order management to requisition equipment and materials for jobs (from preconstruction through project completion), create and send purchase orders to the appropriate vendors, and track those orders through fulfillment.

• Workflows for managing change orders, adjustments, returns, warranty parts tracking, and more. 

Construction project management software: Construction software offers project management tools that help to facilitate complex jobs. With ServiceTitan, contractors benefit from:

• Digital portfolios for tracking progress and profits throughout the entire project, including a single place to store and access all project information and project documentation (estimates, POs, etc.). 

• Real-time visibility for every line item, so every project stays on budget.

• A task management system that allows you to create, assign, and track job tasks. 

• Job cost management features to know sooner if a project is off track, allowing time to fix the problem to protect profit.

Contractor reporting software: Construction software can also provide reporting and/or dashboard features to track key performance indicators (KPIs) from revenue and profitability to employee performance. With ServiceTitan, business owners and project managers benefit from:

• Customizable dashboards that can be tailored to display the metrics and KPIs that mean the most to your business. 

• Real-time reporting data that’s automatically updated as jobs are completed in the field.

• The ability to view high-level metrics such as revenue and trends by day, week, or month — or just as easily drill down into fine details such as job costing data for a specific job.

Contractor pricebook functionality: Construction software can offer built-in pricebook functionality or integration with third-party pricebooks to help manage pricing. With ServiceTitan, contractors benefit from:

• The ability to upload or create and customize a pricebook that contains your equipment, materials, and services.

• Direct integration with top industry supplier catalogs in HVAC, electrical, and plumbing.

• Tools to help you calculate markups and price your services for profitability. 

Contractor mobile app: Construction software typically provides a mobile app that empowers project managers and techs with the tools they need to succeed at the job site. With ServiceTitan, crews benefit from:

• Access to project information, photos and videos, estimates, and more.

• Job forms that assist in document management and submittals, foster accountability and consistency with SOP checklist templates, and more.

• Messaging and notification features that keep team members informed.

• Offline functionality that gives techs access to all key features even when they’re out of cell service zones.

Who Needs Construction Software?

Construction management software is beneficial for construction professionals including general contractors and subcontractors, as well as home builders, remodelers, and other specialty contractors that manage aspects of construction projects. 

What Are the Benefits of Construction Management Software?

Increase profit margins: By gaining real-time visibility into your project financials, you can spot issues, control costs, and make decisions quickly that help you maintain profitability throughout the job lifecycle. In doing so, you can complete more jobs at your target profit margins and run a healthier contracting business. 

Get paid quicker with less effort (and overhead): With tools that automate much of the process of maintaining continuation sheets and creating applications for payment, you can execute AIA-style progress billing with less time and effort, allowing both large and small businesses to get paid faster while reducing overhead costs.

Manage your operations from a single platform: By investing in a holistic construction project management solution, you can significantly reduce the number of software platforms that it takes to run your construction firm, thereby improving your workflow efficiency and the overall experience of running your business.

What Are the Key Considerations When Purchasing Construction Management Software?

Do you strictly work in the construction industry? Or do you have a service division as well? If you do service and repair work in addition to construction, or want the flexibility to expand into this area, you’ll benefit from a hybrid software solution such as ServiceTitan that can support both sides of your business—versus going with a construction-only software and needing separate platforms to support your service and repair work.

Is the platform built to scale as you grow? For many contracting businesses, it can be tempting to opt for less robust software solutions when first investing in construction software. However, migrating a business to run on field service software costs time and money. So, it’s important to take into account what your longer-term goals are and invest in a software solution such as ServiceTitan that is built to grow with you. This will help avoid the switching costs of finding another new tool once you reach the limits of your initial service.

Is the platform easy to use? The intuitiveness of construction management software varies from platform to platform. To get the maximum value and usage out of your software, and ensure that your project managers and crews actually like using it, it’s essential to choose a platform that is easy to use in both the office and field.