Guides

Three ways contractors lose access to their own project data — and the questions to ask a vendor before you sign.

Subcontractors wait 51 days to be paid after submitting a pay application while GCs estimate payment is sent in 35. Retainage and prompt payment law are the backstop; your pay application is the lever.

97% of specialty contractors sometimes start directed work before approval. This guide covers what makes that work collectable afterwards — the confirming letter, what to track, and where the law helps.

Four in five construction organisations have not got past an AI pilot, and nobody has published a credible figure for what it returns. What works, why it fails, and how to test a vendor claim.

A waiver arrives with the pay app and someone wants it back today. The distinction that matters is conditional versus unconditional — and one version ends your lien rights the moment you sign.

Public work pays well and the compliance is not optional. The question is not whether you can do the work — it is whether you can carry the paperwork every week without an error.

Seven tools ranked for crews of 5 to 50, on prices read off each vendor’s own pricing page. WorkHoist is on the list and is not first: Contractor Foreman costs less at every crew size on annual billing.

Seven CRMs ranked for contractors with crews of 5 to 50, on prices read off each vendor’s own pricing page. The question that matters most: does a won lead turn into a job in the same system, or get typed in twice?

Six job costing tools ranked for trade contractors and subs, on what each vendor’s own pricing page and help documentation say. The test that matters most: does crew time land on the job as a cost, or does somebody type it in later?

A free Excel job costing template for contractors and subs: budget by cost code, loaded labor cost, purchase orders and subcontracts, change orders, and a WIP tab that shows over- and under-billing. No sign-up, no email.

The G703 column by column and the G702 summary, from AIA’s own instructions, with a worked example: where each number comes from, how stored materials move, and why “previous” means certified, not billed.

A free Excel retainage tracker for GCs and subs: retainage held from you on every pay application, retainage you hold from your subs, when each release is due, and what you owe subs out of a release. No sign-up, no email.

A free Excel tracker for subcontractor certificates of insurance: expiry dates, limits, additional insured and other endorsements, workers’ comp and W-9s, plus a check that each sub is covered for the whole job. No sign-up, no email.

A free Excel change order template for contractors and subs: a one-page change order to send for signature, a change order log, pricing with markup, and the revised contract sum and completion date. No sign-up, no email.

A free Excel schedule of values template: build the SOV from your estimate so it adds up to the contract sum, check every line for front-loading, then bill against it with a continuation sheet that handles stored materials and certified amounts. No sign-up, no email.

A free Excel construction estimate template: burdened labor rates with the 2026 payroll tax figures, line-item pricing, sub bid leveling with exclusions added back, contingency, overhead, profit and bond, and a one-page proposal. No sign-up, no email.

A free Excel WIP report template: cost-to-cost percent complete, earned revenue, over- and under-billing, loss jobs, uninstalled materials, and a gain and fade check against last period. No sign-up, no email.

A free Excel punch list template: one numbered list with location, trade, status and who checked each item, a printable list for each sub, overdue flags, and the retainage open items can hold up. No sign-up, no email.

What WorkHoist sends to QuickBooks Online (invoices, payments received, expenses, bills and bill payments), what it never sends or changes, and how to connect and set it up, step by step.

A free Excel construction daily report template: weather, crews by trade, work, deliveries, inspections, delays, instructions and safety, a printable report for any day, and a check for missing days. No sign-up, no email.

A free Excel RFI log template: numbered RFIs, who has the ball, required-by dates and overdue flags, cost and schedule impact, a printable RFI form, and every answer that needs a change order. No sign-up, no email.

A free Excel construction schedule template: activities in working days, finish-to-start links, float and the critical path, a baseline, a weekly Gantt chart and a three-week lookahead. No sign-up, no email.

A free Excel contractor invoice template: line items with change orders, sales tax, retainage and deposits, plus an invoice log, payments, client statements and AR aging. No sign-up, no email.