Best Construction Invoicing Tools for Contractors
Creating invoices for construction work can be difficult, particularly if you’re an independent contractor with limited experience or resources. Yet you need high quality invoices in order to properly bill your customers for services and start the payment collection process. Fortunately, construction accounting software includes the tools you need for crafting professional invoices.
Review these top 11 options to find the best construction invoicing software for your business needs:
Best Construction Invoicing Software Options
1 AvidXchange
AvidXchange is an accounts payable (AP) software specifically for industries like real estate and construction. The AvidXchange invoice application allows contractors to scan finished invoices and submit them to clients via a secure electronic portal. The secure web submission improves the turnaround time from a bill being sent to payment being received by keeping the process entirely online.
Once an invoice is approved, it will automatically be moved to your accounts payable. Then, automated AP tools allow you or your company’s accounting team to electronically review and route invoices based on customized rules. For example, you can get set alerts when an invoice goes from upcoming to past due in order to perform timely follow up with late clients or customers who have missed payments.
Captured invoice information can show payment status throughout the entire process, providing a clear audit trail for your records. AvidXchange’s complete visibility into invoice status makes it easy even for busy general contractors to know who owes money and when. With automated updates, management can effectively report on all accounts paid or outstanding.
AvidXchange offers integration with over 100 other accounting systems including popular options like NetSuite, Blackbaud, Microsoft Dynamics, Intacct, MRI and QuickBooks. Consolidate your financial reporting with AvidXchange.
2 FreshBooks
FreshBooks makes billing and invoicing easy, so you can spend less time on paperwork and more time on construction projects. First, the software automatically tracks billable hours on your projects. Then you can effortlessly include those hours on an invoice so you know you’re accurately billing the client for all of the work you have done.
FreshBooks is your ultimate solution to automating your invoicing processes. With FreshBooks you can easily create, send, and manage invoices. This platform allows you to enter invoices quickly with minimal custom contact data required, then send them out via e-mail or traditional mail depending on your or customer preferences. Each invoice is automatically sent out based on completion, as are any applicable late payment notices.
With FreshBooks, all of your data is stored securely in the cloud, so you can work wherever you are, on whichever device you’d like. You have the option of accepting payments from your clients over the Internet too. You can even directly connect your bank account through FreshBooks so you can see all transactions in real-time. The ability of FreshBooks to invoice and accept payment online will result in greatly reduced time to receive payments.
Out of the office a lot? FreshBooks mobile apps let you take your invoicing on the road. The apps are free for Android and iOS mobile devices.
3 HoneyBook
The HoneyBook project management platform includes easy-to-use tools small business and independent contractors can use for preparing invoices. Also a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, contractors can respond to clients quickly and professionally with automated follow-ups regarding invoices using personalized templates for client notifications.
In addition, automated payment reminders can be sent to customers to present late payments. And task reminders can be created based on the specifics of project timelines. You can even allow customers to submit online payments to finish the billing process faster.
HoneyBook integrates with other online business tools such as:
- QuickBooks
- Calendly
- Zapier
- Gmail
- Google Calendar
By combining HoneyBook with these tools, you can fully customize your business processes. There is a free trial available to see if this software is right for your company.
4 Invoice2go
Invoice2go is primarily a debt collection app which can offer ready-to-go invoices and purchase orders for contractors. Whatever business documents you need, Invoice2go has you covered.
One of the hardest parts of being a general contractor or construction business owner is having to handle all the accounting tasks without any accounting training. To address this, Invoice2go produces professional invoices and other business documents with virtually no learning curve. A step-by-step guide helps you complete invoices in minutes rather than hours.
A simple drag-and-drop interface lets you customize and create your own styles while tooltips explain what every button does. Anyone can put together a professional, polished invoice without getting weighed down by complicated accounting jargon. And the app is compatible on both iOS and Android devices for crafting invoices on the go.
There is a free trial available to try out Invoice2go. Pricing starts at $10 per month.
5 Jobber
Jobber is a field service management software, which includes the tools you need to create estimates, quotes, and invoices. This software is designed for reducing time spent on tasks like data entry of billable hours, to the point that Jobber users save an average of 6 hours of paperwork per week.
For contractors, Jobber does more than just invoices. Automated services let you stay on top of project requests while customizable templates can generate high-quality, winning quotes. Then send timely follow-ups and get signature approvals when a job is accepted.
When the work is done, it’s time to get paid. Tired of invoices getting lost by clients? Email or text invoices through Jobber. You can even receive payments through the platform, keeping all your cash flow in one easy to manage spot.
Jobber is used by:
- General contractors
- Electricians
- Roofers
- Plumbers
- Painters
- HVAC specialists
6 Joist
Joist is a contractor app you can use on the go to perform estimates and prepare invoices anywhere, at any time. Fully customize professional invoices by easily adding your company logo and relevant project photos to the document with only a few clicks.
Store all of your client information securely in one place, accessible from your mobile device and the web. Joist allows you to accept customer payment by credit card, debit card, eCheck, or through PayPal. Web-based payments allow you to get paid faster, as you no longer have to visit the customer or job site just to get a final signature on payment paperwork. And you can set milestone payment schedules where customers pay as the job progresses.
The app can sync with QuickBooks online accounts to further automate your bookkeeping services. Joist is available for as low as $10 per month when billed annually. A free version is available, and you can try it for free on iOS or Android mobile devices.
7 Jonas Construction
Premier Construction Software, sometimes known as Jonas Premier, is a construction project management and accounting cloud software. Gain faster invoicing and improved cash flow with software designed for ease of use.
Define various billing methods for your customers, including flat-rate, time and materials, and quotations. You can even set separate price ranges based on the type of work (ie: commercial/residential) and preferred customers. And pre-define various markup tables, charge-out rates, and flat rate tables.
For jobs that require time and material billing, Premier Construction Software offers an unlimited number of mark-ups and fee calculations. Standard mark-ups are defaulted or overridden based on customer preference. For jobs requiring progress billing/AIA there are an unlimited number of reports and applications. Thanks to the powerful and easy to use drag-and-drop form-designer through Microsoft Word, you can create custom alternatives to the standard billing forms.
With Premier Construction Software, users can also manage purchase orders, billing and expense reporting activities. And the Time and Expense module lets you enter employee or crew time, calculate any group deductions, manage union reports, and track prevailing wages by job. The Job costing and estimating module is another useful tool for invoicing, as it allows contractors to track cost estimates and generate level wise job costing breakdown reports in advance.
Both contractors and the on-site teams can view and enter daily job logs on their mobile phones by installing Premier mobile apps available for Android and iOS smartphones.
8 Planyard
Planyard software is designed for general contractors and construction companies. Ditch the spreadsheets and ensure compliance by standardizing processes all the way from bidding to contract management, subcontractor billing, and invoicing.
To start, budget and cost tracking all you to perform accurate construction estimates and bidding. Once a project is won, Planyard can track all change orders to adjust the final total for the invoice. Cash flow forecasting can then show customer payments so you remain informed about your finances. Finally, accounting integrations reduce the time once spent on manually calculating invoices.
The Planyard platform is intended for medium and large construction companies, mainly serving general contractors.
9 Procore
Procore is a construction management software with tools for invoicing, scheduling, and job logging. In particular, the Construction Financials portion of Procore helps general contractors connect back office functions with the construction workers and managers out in the field. Project teams can manage changing costs in real time directly from the job site. This includes updating billable hours or material costs on the final invoice.
In particular, the Job Cost page of Procore allows contractors to view job cost summary data and committed costs for each project. Review the details of each transaction to see what makes up even the smallest line items before sending out invoices to ensure overall accuracy in your billing process.
Independent contractors and project managers can use the Procore software to integrate with other accounting software, including: -QuickBooks Pro -QuickBooks Premier -Sage 100 Contractor -Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate -Viewpoint Spectrum -Viewpoint Vista
10 ProjectPro
This construction accounting software is powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. As an all-in-one platform, ProjectPro can track daily expenses, work on progress billings, or check progress reports all in one central location. The customer relationship management (CRM) tools make it easy to contact customers when it’s time to send the bill and follow up on invoices.
Additionally, the progress billing feature could help you manage bills based on unit consumption or the lump sum contracts. Users can bill customers and clients based on the progress of construction projects. Your preferred “Contract” planning or schedule value lines decide billing arrangements.
The ProjectPro Progress Billings Granule provides the following billing documents and reports:
- Generic Progress Billing by Schedule of Value (Contract) – Bill by %, Work Units, Lump Sum $
- AIA G702 Progress Billing (American Institute of Architects) Document
- AIA G703 Progress Billing – Continue Progress Billing continuous detail sheet
Builders, contractors, remodelers and construction business owners can all streamline operations by using ProjectPro. Software pricing starts at $50 per month and there is a free trial available for testing out features.
11 Zoho Invoice
Some of the functions Zoho provides to improve your invoicing process include customized templates, workflow automation, and collaboration with your team and clients in real-time.
Zoho Invoice has a forever free version that works for business with 5 or less customers, making it one of the best free invoicing software for contractions.
Available integrations include:
- Paypal
- Zoho CRM
- G Suite
- Stripe
- Zoho Projects
- 2CheckOut
- Dropbox
- One Drive
How to Make Construction Invoices
Construction invoicing is hard enough thanks to specialized billing, which needs to account for fixed price, time and material, unit price, and progress billing. A lot of independent contractors struggle with making invoices. Putting together estimates and categorizing bills are a completely different skill set from installing roofing or updating electrical wiring.
As a result, most contractors rely on software as a way of streamlining the process and reducing potential errors when billing clients. And as described above, most contractor estimate and invoice software offers additional accounting modules to cover job costing, financial reporting, and even basic payroll. If you’re looking for a more efficient way to prepare professional invoices, consider construction accounting software.
