On this page
- 01When is off-the-shelf job management software enough?
- 02Where does a construction company lose money between quote and invoice?
- 03Which three solutions make up a construction build?
- 04What is an unbilled variation worth? Do the sum
- 05What have we built that works this way?
- 06What does a custom build cost?
- 07Frequently asked questions
When is off-the-shelf job management software enough?
Often. If you run one trade, price jobs in a standard way and your team will follow the product's process, buy a subscription and stop reading here. You will be working sooner and for far less money than a build.
| Your situation | Buy off the shelf | Build your own |
|---|---|---|
| How you quote | Fits the product's templates | Needs rules the product cannot hold |
| Variations | Rare, agreed by phone without disputes | Frequent, and some never reach an invoice |
| Sign-offs | One person approves everything | Different approvers by job value or stage |
| Other systems | The product connects to them already | Staff retype between systems daily |
| Subcontractors and clients | Do not need their own view | Need limited access to their own jobs |
| Ownership | Renting is fine | You want to own the code and the data |
Two or more answers in the right-hand column is the point to look at a build. Our comparison of custom software and subscriptions goes through the trade-offs in more detail.
Where does a construction company lose money between quote and invoice?
- Quote requests that waste a site visit. The form does not ask for postcode, job type, budget or start date, so an estimator drives out to a job you would never take.
- Variations agreed on site and never billed. The client says yes in person, the work is done, and the office hears about it after the final invoice.
- Sign-offs stuck in a text thread. Nobody can show who approved what, or when.
- The same job typed four times. Quote, job sheet, schedule and invoice each start from a blank form.
- Documents in the wrong place. Drawings, photos and certificates sit on phones and in personal inboxes.
Which three solutions make up a construction build?
A build for a contractor can be any mix of these three. Our construction page describes the sector work more broadly.
Funnels and landing pages: quote requests that qualify the job
A quote request page asks what an estimator would ask before agreeing to visit, and takes photos or drawings with the request. Jobs outside your area or size get a polite no. Lever: more clients, because the estimator's time goes to jobs you can win.
Workflow automation: quotes, variations, sign-offs and chasing
Workflow automation turns an accepted quote into a job without retyping. A variation raised on site becomes a priced request, goes to the client for written approval and joins the invoice once approved. Unanswered quotes and overdue sign-offs are chased on a schedule. Levers: money kept and time back.
Internal tools: one place for jobs, tasks and documents
An internal tool is the screen your team opens each morning: every live job, its tasks, its documents and its approvals, with access set by role. Lever: time back, measured as the next office hire you can put off. Our custom software pricing page explains how one is scoped.
What is an unbilled variation worth? Do the sum
The leak, in an owner's words: "We did the extra work and never got paid for it." Here is the mechanism. The site lead logs the variation on a phone with a photo. The office prices it, the client approves it in writing, and it lands on the invoice with the approval attached.
The sum for workflow automation counts the mistakes first, then the retyping.
| Step | Example figure | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Variations done but never invoiced, a month | 2 | |
| Value of each | £600 | £1,200 a month |
| Months in a year | 12 | £14,400 a year |
| Times a job is retyped (quote, job sheet, schedule, invoice) | 4 | |
| Minutes each time | 5 | 20 minutes a job |
| Jobs a week | 30 | 10 hours a week |
| Hourly cost of office staff | £25 | £250 a week |
| Weeks in a year | 52 | £13,000 a year |
| Total | £27,400 a year |
Example figures. Swap in your own. These are made-up round numbers that show the method. They are not a result from a client and not a forecast. Hours saved are only worth £13,000 if they replace a hire or let the same office run more jobs.
For your own number, take your last ten finished jobs. Compare the variations the site team remembers with the variations on the final invoices, and add up the difference. Bring it to a call. The audit report prices each problem for a year, so you can see which one to fix first.
What have we built that works this way?
The nearest build we can point to is MRM Group, a property development and investment company and not a contractor. It has an internal command centre for clients, deals and tasks, with document handling, task workflows, reminders, audit history and human approval at sensitive points. We share the build details only, with no figures.
The mechanism carries over: one record per piece of work, approvals with a name and a date, and documents attached to the thing they belong to. A build follows these steps:
- Audit. We map how a job runs, the tools in use and where work gets stuck.
- Design. A written scope sets systems, integrations, permissions and success measures.
- Build. In your own accounts, keeping what works.
- Test. Real jobs, edge cases and failure paths, such as a variation raised with no signal on site.
- Launch. In stages, with training and handover documents.
- Improve. Review the numbers and agree the next changes.
If you want to prepare before a call, our guide on how to write a software brief shows what to put on one page.
What does a custom build cost?
More than a subscription, and that is the honest starting point. The audit comes first: £3,000 plus VAT (US $5,000), a written report within 10 working days, and the fee credited against the build when the build deposit is paid within 14 days of the report. Before the audit we give a range and not an exact price.
Scoped builds run from £5,000 to £20,000 (US $10,000 to $30,000), and larger custom projects are priced separately. The number of roles, approval rules and connected systems moves the price. The timeline is agreed in the written scope, and the default is half upfront and half on launch.
Hosting and software are paid directly to the providers from your accounts. You own the code and the data. Run and Improve support is optional at £1,000, £2,000 or £4,000 a month.
Frequently asked questions
How much does custom job management software cost?
It starts with a £3,000 plus VAT audit, credited against the build when the deposit is paid within 14 days of the report. Scoped builds run from £5,000 to £20,000, and larger projects are priced separately. Roles, approval rules and integrations move the figure.
Should we try an off-the-shelf product first?
Yes, if your quoting and approvals fit a standard process. Use it properly for a few months. If you are still retyping jobs or losing variations, you will know exactly what a build has to fix.
Can site teams use it on a phone?
Yes. The site view is designed for a phone: today's tasks, the job documents and a button to raise a variation with a photo. What happens with no signal is settled in the scope and tested before launch.
Can clients approve variations without a login?
That is a scope decision. A link that records the approver, the price and the time is the simplest route. A client login makes sense when clients also need drawings, progress and invoices.
Will it connect to our accounting system?
Usually, where that system allows data in and out. The audit checks this before anything is priced, and the scope names every integration.
Who owns the software?
You do. It is built in your own accounts, and the code and the data are yours. You are not tied to us to keep it running.
How long does a build take?
We do not give a time before a scope is signed. The timeline is agreed in the written scope, once the audit has shown what is involved.