Managing Project Financials
Every construction project comes down to the numbers. BuilderMate tracks the money flowing in (client invoices) and flowing out (supplier expenses) so you always know where a project stands financially — without spreadsheets or guesswork.
Who Can Access This
Admin and Team Member roles can view and manage project financials. Field Users cannot see financial details such as invoices, expenses, or profit information.
The Financial Summary
On the project's Summary tab, you'll find a financial summary box that updates automatically as you create invoices and record expenses. Here's what each number means:
- Total Invoiced — The sum of all client invoices you've created for this project.
- Total Paid — The total payments you've received from the client so far.
- Total Receivable — What the client still owes (Invoiced minus Paid).
- Total Expenses — The sum of all supplier invoices and costs recorded against this project.
- Balance — The project price minus Total Paid. This tells you how much of the contract price is still outstanding.
- Profit — Total Paid minus Total Expenses. Your real-time bottom line.
Pro Tip: Check the financial summary regularly — it's the fastest way to spot a project that's going over budget or has outstanding receivables.
Creating Invoices from a Project
- Open the project and go to the Billing tab.
- Click the Invoices sub-tab.
- Click "Create Invoice".
- The project and client fields are pre-filled for you.
- Add your line items with descriptions, quantities, and prices.
- Set the invoice date and due date.
- Optionally, link the invoice to a payment stage (more on that below).
- Save and send to the client.
As invoices are sent and payments recorded, the financial summary on the Summary tab updates automatically.
The Payment Stages Workflow
Payment stages let you break a project into billing milestones — a common practice in construction. Here's how the workflow works:
Step 1: Define Your Milestones
Go to the Billing tab and click the Payment Stages sub-tab. Create stages that match your payment schedule. For example:
- Deposit — 10%
- Foundation Complete — 20%
- Framing Complete — 25%
- Rough-In Complete — 20%
- Final Completion — 25%
You can create stages manually, import them from a template, or import them from a quote's payment stages if you set them up during the quoting phase.
Step 2: Create Invoices and Link to Stages
As work progresses and milestones are reached, create an invoice and link it to the corresponding payment stage.
Step 3: Track Completion
Stages track completion automatically based on the linked invoice payments. When a client pays the invoice tied to "Foundation Complete," that stage shows as paid — giving you a clear visual of billing progress.
Good to Know: Setting up payment stages during the quoting phase saves time later. When you import stages from a quote, they carry over with the amounts already defined.
Tracking Expenses
Every dollar you spend on a project should be recorded so your profit numbers stay accurate.
- Open the project and go to the Expenses tab.
- Click "Create New" to add a supplier invoice.
- Fill in the details:
- Vendor/Subcontractor — Who you're paying.
- Amount — The invoice total.
- Date — When the expense was incurred.
- Category — What type of expense it is.
- Payment Status — Whether it's been paid or is still outstanding.
- Save the expense record.
As you add expenses, the Total Expenses and Profit figures on the Summary tab adjust in real time.
Use the filters at the top of the Expenses tab to narrow by subcontractor, date range, or payment status — helpful when you need to review what's been paid versus what's still owed to your subs and suppliers.
Keeping Profit Accurate
Profit is auto-calculated as Total Paid minus Total Expenses. To keep this number trustworthy:
- Record every invoice promptly — don't let client billing fall behind.
- Log expenses as they come in — even small material purchases add up.
- Record payments on both sides — mark client payments received and supplier payments made.
The more consistently you track these, the more reliable your financial snapshot becomes. No end-of-month surprises.