AP automation built for construction and infrastructure operations at scale

What holds construction AP teams back

• Progress claim complexity
  Construction does not run on simple invoices. Each payment application requires percentage-of-completion verification, supporting documentation, engineer or architect sign-off, and reconciliation against the original schedule of values and any approved variations. Manual processing takes 14–17+ days per cycle.
• Retention holdback tracking
  5–10% of every progress payment is withheld as retention, split between practical completion and defects liability period release. Tracking retention across dozens of subcontracts per project, each with different completion dates and DLP expiry, is a parallel accounting exercise that most AP systems were never designed for.
• Subcontractor payment chains
  A head contractor pays subcontractors, who pay sub-subcontractors and suppliers. Payment delays at any tier cascade downward. 82% of contractors now face payment waits over 30 days, up from 49% two years ago. 100% of subcontractors check a general contractor's payment reputation before bidding. 75% raise bids to compensate for expected delays.
• Variation orders changing the baseline
  Change orders modify contract scope, price, and timeline mid-project. Each variation generates new billing entitlements that must be tracked, approved, and reconciled against the original contract, while work continues and invoices keep arriving.
• Job cost allocation across multiple codes
  A single invoice can split across multiple jobs, phases, and cost codes. Misallocated costs hide project overruns until it is too late to recover margin. When estimating, project management, and accounting teams use different code definitions, misallocation compounds.
• Mixed invoice types from different channels
  Materials invoices arrive with delivery dockets from suppliers. Labour invoices arrive as progress claims from subcontractors. Equipment invoices arrive from hire companies with utilisation records. Each type requires different approval workflows, documentation, and cost coding, and all flow through different channels.
• Multi-site operations with no centralised visibility
  Construction companies operate across dozens of active sites simultaneously. Invoices arrive via email, post, and hand-delivery on site. Site managers approve informally before documents reach AP. No single system connects the site, the work, and the payment.
• Security of Payment compliance
  In Australia, each state has its own Security of Payment Act imposing strict payment timeframes and adjudication processes. In New Zealand, the Construction Contracts Act requires response to payment claims within 20 working days, with unpaid claims becoming enforceable debts. Manual AP processes cannot reliably meet these obligations across multiple projects.
• Duplicate invoices across projects
  The same subcontractor or supplier working across multiple job sites creates duplicate invoice risk. Construction companies lose an estimated $2,000 weekly to duplicate payments.
• Insolvency pressure from cash flow failure
  3,217 Australian construction firms went insolvent in 2024, 27% of all company insolvencies. In New Zealand, 90 construction entities collapsed in Q1 2025 alone, a 53% increase year-on-year. The root cause in many cases is cash flow failure driven by payment delays cascading down the subcontractor chain.