Using a job management software in your building business will help you organise your workforce and manage your projects from initial engagement right through all stages until completion. There are a tonne of job management apps available for tradies but a select few have been designed to suit the particular needs of builders.
Let’s explore our 5 best job management apps for builders: (Listed in no particular order).
1. Builda Price
One of the newer players on the block, Builda Price was created by some of our Kiwi neighbours who were looking for a way to help builders manage their cost plus projects in an easier and more effective way.
Builda Price is a cloud-based software solution designed to help builders quickly and accurately price and track all types of projects ranging from small renovations to entire new home builds, and keep track of the financial progress of your job in real time as the costs come in combined with a deep integration to Xero.
It features a nice simple mobile app for timesheets for field staff giving detailed labour tracking and some genius automation for the processing of supplier invoices in order to remove as much manual data entry as possible. The combination of these two components gives excellent actual cost tracking and all of this info can copy straight to a cost plus claim report with as much detail as you want to provide to your client (including a copy of each supplier invoice if necessary). This is a serious game changer for managing cost plus projects!
BuildaPrice have also just released a new built-in Health and Safety module to help you stay compliant, and have a raft of new stuff coming soon to help manage fixed price projects. If cost-plus projects are your focus then BuildaPrice is an awesome option right now, and if fixed price projects are your thing then BuildaPrice is definitely one to watch!
Find out if Builda Price is right for your business.
2. MyConstruct
Coming out of the beautiful Sunshine Coast of Queensland, MyConstruct was originally developed in conjunction with one of Australia’s largest construction industry bodies and is now a fully featured web-based project management platform for builders and tradies.
Featuring built-in take-off and estimating functions right through to scheduling, ordering, time tracking, project reporting, and an integration to Xero (but not MYOB or QuickBooks)
MyConstruct is a web-based platform with a mobile responsive web app for phones and tablets, which means timesheets and accessing job info isn’t quite as straight forward as some other platforms with a native app but still works quite well and means field staff can access and log info on the go.
MyConstruct is primarily designed to manage fixed price projects with detailed reporting at cost centre level and they have development underway to make the management of cost-plus projects as simple and automated as possible.
Find out if MyConstruct is right for your business.
3. Nextminute
Another piece of amazing Kiwi development, Nextminute has found a great niche for smaller residential builders and project style trades who don’t need all the fancy bells and whistles of the full blown construction management systems.
It provides easy-to-use job/project management with timesheets, estimating and quoting, invoicing and integrates beautifully with accounting providers Xero and MYOB. Everyone on the job can see weekly, monthly, even yearly project schedules and the mobile app allows field staff to see job info and add their own times, notes and photos.
Find out if Nextminute is right for your business.
4. Buildertrend
Hailing from the US, BuilderTrend has taken a slightly different approach to most other systems out there in that it was designed to help the builder manage their construction projects but also to collaborate with all of the various people involved in the build, including subbies and the client.
BuilderTrend have achieved this by building an outstanding and very comprehensive mobile app designed to be used by internal staff, external trades/subbies, and the client, with different levels of accessibility for each so they can only see and do what you want them to.
This app allows your supervisors/leading hands to do pretty much all project admin from their mobile device including scheduling, communications, purchasing and approvals, functions that a lot of other systems can only do in their web console. It also allows workers to log timesheets, access files, add photos and notes, complete site diaries, and a bunch of other useful things for project management, and the subbies can access project info, see tasks, RFI’s, and defects and see what’s happening with the schedule.
From the client’s perspective, the app lets them see project progress, communicate and message, approve variations and selections, and access photos and files etc. Sometimes this works well in theory but in reality isn’t all that practical, but it is a fantastic feature when it does work as it helps streamline the communication for the project.
BuilderTrend integrates with Xero and QuickBooks Online, but not MYOB, and there are some considerations when it comes to manual data entry of supplier invoices and what data syncs over to Xero or Quickbooks.
Find out if Buildertrend is right for your business.
5. Buildxact
BuildXact was originally a cloud based estimating system featuring take off and estimating calculations that then evolved to include some excellent project management functions. It’s a nice simple system to help keep on top of the financials for your fixed price projects without too many bells and whistles.
Along with the original take off and estimating, it now features sales/lead management, a simple client portal, conversion of your quote/estimate to a project, project scheduling, detailed financial tracking by cost category, variation management, and integration to Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online. The accounting integration is rather basic though and requires some double handling of data entry to get everything where it needs to be, and the lack of timesheet functionality is a bit of a shame as this is such a huge part of so many construction projects.
BuildXact have just released the first version of a mobile app which allows field staff to access job info, add photos and complete site diaries, but is missing the key functions of timesheets and purchasing. Hopefully, we’ll see this in future releases.
Find out if Buildxact is right for your business.
Having a number of software solutions which can help manage your building projects better is great, but also a little confusing. How do you choose which one will be the best option for your business? We recommend that you consider the subscription costs of each software, how tech savvy your staff are versus how complex the system is and which features of the software you will actually use before making a decision.
Want to fast-track finding the right job management software for your building or construction business? Let’s chat!
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