Many types of construction software are available these days, and it can be hard to figure out what you actually need.
If you’re a small contractor, you might only need software to create estimates, send invoices, and keep up with payments. However, when you start managing more jobs, employees, subcontractors, and project costs, etc., you’ll probably need something more advanced. So, what kind of construction software do you actually need?
In general, you should look for software based on what you need help with, be it estimating and invoicing, scheduling, project management, job costing, accounting, or managing a more complex software setup rather than a software with the most features.
Below, we'll go over the main types of construction software, when you might need them, when you don’t, and what to think about before adding another tool to your business.
Think about how you’re currently managing your business. For example, if you’re still creating estimates in Word, sending invoices as PDFs, and checking if your customers have paid, invoicing and estimating software could save you quite a bit of time.
If you have several employees and jobs happening at the same time, scheduling might be more important. And if you have larger projects, you might need project management, job costing, and more advanced accounting software.
The most important thing is to figure out which part of your current process is becoming difficult to manage and then what can be done to improve this.
Imagine you have two crews working on different jobs, and suddenly one project starts running late. At the same time, a customer asks to move their appointment, and you still need to figure out where everyone should be the next morning.
It can get stressful pretty quickly when you're trying to keep track of all the calls, texts, schedule changes, and job updates at the same time.
In this case, scheduling or job management software can help. For example, Fieldwire lets construction teams assign work, set due dates, and manage upcoming tasks using calendar, Kanban, or Gantt views. That way, everyone can see what needs to be done and when.
Scheduling and job management software is most useful for contractors managing several jobs, employees, or crews at once. If you work alone or only handle a few jobs and your regular calendar still works well, you probably don’t need it just yet.
If your project has several subcontractors, changes to the original work, documents flying around, deadlines to hit, and a client asking for updates, keeping track of everything can get messy quickly.
That’s when project management software starts to be useful. Instead of digging through old emails or messages, everyone can check the same place for the latest project information.
Procore is one option you can use in this situation. It was built for larger construction projects and can help you manage schedules, drawings, documents, and day-to-day project updates in one place.
If you only handle smaller jobs, you probably won't need something this heavy. But once you have more people involved and several moving parts to keep track of, it can save you a lot of back and forth.
Photos and documents are important in construction as they help you keep a record of completed work, project progress, receipts, plans, and any problems that occur during the job.
If you only work on a few projects at a time, keeping everything on your phone or in shared folders might be enough. However, once several people are taking photos and working across different job sites, it can become harder to remember where everything was saved.
For example, one employee might send a photo through text, another might upload it to a shared folder, while someone else keeps it on their phone instead.
This is where job site documentation software might become useful. CompanyCam is one of the tools you can use to keep project photos, videos, documents, and notes together in one place. That way, you can go back and find everything later without searching through different emails, phones, or messages.
This type of software is worth trying if you have several people working across different job sites. But if you work alone or only manage a few projects, a shared folder might still be enough for you.
Accounting becomes more important as your construction business grows because you need to know not only how much money is coming in and going out, but also how much you’re actually making on each project.
For example, let’s say you quoted a customer $25,000 for a renovation and invoiced them for the full amount once the work was completed. If materials ended up costing more than expected or you needed extra labor, your final profit will be lower even though the customer still paid $25,000.
Job costing is used to keep track of the costs related to a specific construction project, including labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractors, making it easier to compare what you originally expected to spend with what the job actually cost you.
If you’re running a smaller construction business, regular accounting software might still be enough. For example, QuickBooks includes job costing features that can be used to track income and expenses by project.
As you start taking on more projects and need more relevant information about project costs, profits, and financial performance, you might eventually need construction-specific accounting software.
There can also come a point when your current accounting system no longer works well for the way your business operates.
For example, you might start noticing that you're relying on several different spreadsheets, creating reports yourself, and entering the same information into different systems.
But switching accounting software is much more complicated than changing the tool you use to create invoices. You might have to move years of financial information, set up job costing, configure reports, connect other software, and then train your team to use the new system.
In this case, you might benefit from construction software implementation, especially if you want help setting everything up properly and making the transition easier for your team. RedHammer specializes in construction accounting and financial software implementations.
They help construction companies with software selection, configuration, data migration, testing, training, integrations, and moving the new system live. They can also help companies that already implemented software but need to fix the setup.
Not always. Using one platform can definitely be beneficial because all of your information stays in the same place, so you don't have to search for it across different systems. But one platform isn't necessary for every business.
For example, you might already have accounting software that works well and use something else for estimates and invoices. Or you might have project management software but still use a separate tool for accounting.
There isn't anything wrong with using several systems as long as they work well together.
The problems usually start when you're entering the same information several times or constantly moving information from one system to another yourself.
Before adding new software, look at everything you're already using and think about where the new tool would fit. Would it save you time? Would it make things easier for your team? Would it replace something you're already using, or just add another system to manage?
You don't need to upgrade your software just because your company is growing.
If you already have a process that works well, you might be able to keep using it even as you take on more work.
It might be time to start looking at other options when your current setup regularly creates more work for you or your team.
For example, you might find yourself constantly creating spreadsheets because your current software doesn't track something you need. Or your employees might start keeping their own records because they can't find the information they need in the main system.
Another important sign is spending too much time doing the same administrative work over and over again.
