I coordinate two construction projects at once and handle the paperwork, which includes subcontractor invoices, material orders, and equipment rentals. The one that always needs care is an invoice from a material supplier I've never dealt with before.
The tricky case: an unfamiliar supplier invoice
When that invoice comes in, I have to work out what it's for. It might be billed to a subcontractor, tied to a specific subcontract. So I document it carefully in Excel and mark it under the right subcontract. Most of our subcontractors don't run accounting systems, or they use QuickBooks lightly, and in complex situations they sometimes submit invoices for more than the contract price.
How APARBooks handles it
Since I started managing these invoices in APARBooks, it's gotten much simpler. One click: I select the subcontractor's contract that relates to the supplier invoice, and the system links it and deducts the invoice amount from that subcontract automatically. It shows up in the subcontract's billing history. No more Excel for these details, and no more worrying about a mistake.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you handle a supplier invoice that belongs to a subcontractor?
In APARBooks, you select the subcontractor's contract that the supplier invoice relates to, and the system links the invoice and deducts its amount from that subcontract automatically, recording it in the subcontract billing history.
Why is tracking these invoices hard in a spreadsheet?
Each unfamiliar supplier invoice has to be identified, marked under the right subcontract, and reconciled against the contract price. Doing that by hand in Excel is slow and easy to get wrong, especially when subcontractors submit invoices above the contract amount.
Built for Contractors. Built for Construction Accounting.
APARBooks is purpose-built construction accounting software for general contractors and bookkeepers. Manage job costing, AIA progress billing, subcontractor payments, retainage, change orders, lien compliance, and WIP reporting in one place.
