Construction accounts payable software for material invoices

Construction accounts payable software comes in four kinds, and they solve different problems: the accounting system's own AP module, a procurement suite with PO matching, a tool that matches material tickets to invoices, and a spreadsheet. Which one you need depends on whether your hours go into entering invoices or into checking them.

This guide is for the controller or AP manager at a paving, excavation or site-work contractor whose big supplier invoices come with a stack of delivery, scale or batch tickets.

What are the kinds of construction AP software?

1. The AP module in your accounting or ERP system (Foundation, Viewpoint, Sage and similar). It records invoices, routes approvals, pays vendors and ties to the job cost ledger. It is the system of record. Ask what it does with a 300-ticket stack, because recording and approving an invoice is not the same job as checking its tickets.
2. Procurement and AP suites with PO matching. They match a PO, a receipt and an invoice. Precoro, which a software directory lists from $499 a month, is an example; Field Materials AI is another, sold by demo, with no public price we could find. They are broad: purchasing, approvals and receiving along with AP, which is more than a controller wanting one monthly check needs.
3. Ticket-matching tools. They take the supplier's invoice and tickets and check each ticket against each line. Ticket Match is one. Some plant and ticketing systems also do ticket work for the supplier or contractor, usually inside a wider platform sold by quote.
4. A spreadsheet. One sheet for tickets, one for the invoice, and lookups between them. It costs nothing, and works for a handful of tickets.

Which kind should you buy?

Answer by where your hours go.

• Entering and approving invoices: the AP module or a procurement suite.
• Receiving and approving POs in the field: a procurement suite.
• Checking the tickets behind monthly material invoices: a ticket-matching tool.
• Few tickets and one person who knows them: the spreadsheet is enough.

Many contractors need the first plus one other. A ticket-matching tool does not replace the system of record; it checks the invoice before it is entered and approved there.

What should software check on a material invoice?

Use this as a buying checklist, and ask each vendor to show it on one of your own invoices.

• Every ticket matched to its invoice line, not a sample of them.
• Tickets received but not billed.
• Invoice lines with no ticket.
• The same ticket billed twice.
• Billed quantity against the ticket's net.
• Billed rate against the PO.
• Tickets whose PO or job is not on your list.
• Quantity times rate against the line amount.
• A dollar amount at risk on every flagged line.
• A way to take the result out: a spreadsheet and a summary you can send the supplier.

The three-way match guide explains each check.

What questions should you ask before you buy?

What does it read? Ask for the file types: text PDF, scanned image, Excel, CSV. A scanned ticket has no text to read, and a tool that says it reads scans should show you one of yours.

Who checks the extraction? Reading a ticket is not matching it. You want to see each page beside the rows read from it and approve them before they count.

How is the matching done? Rules you can read give the same answer on the same files. Ask what is rules and what is a model's judgment.

Does it connect to your accounting system? If it does, ask which ones and what it writes. If it does not, ask what it gives you to work from.

What does it cost, and can you see that before a call? Some vendors publish a price and let you start the same day. Others start with a demo and a quote.

How long are your files kept, and who can see them? You are uploading supplier invoices. Ask for the retention period in writing.

Where does Ticket Match fit, and where does it not?

Ticket Match checks one supplier invoice against its tickets and your PO and job list. It reads text PDFs, Excel and CSV; a scanned page is entered by hand beside the preview. You approve what was read, and the matching is fixed rules. It lists tickets not billed, lines with no ticket, duplicates, quantity and rate differences, tickets with no PO or job, quantity over the PO, and arithmetic that does not add up, with dollars at risk and a CSV and PDF summary.

It does not connect to Foundation, Viewpoint, Sage, QuickBooks or Procore, does not calculate taxes or discounts, does not email your suppliers and does not pay or hold anything. You can put your own invoice through it first: run the free check with the invoice, tickets and PO list as CSV or Excel, and see what it flags before you decide anything. A sample is also at the sample page.

What if the tickets are the real problem?

If suppliers' tickets arrive missing a job or PO, no software can match what is not printed. See the delivery ticket template for the fields to ask for.

FAQ

Is there construction AP software that matches delivery tickets? Yes. Some procurement suites and ticket-matching tools do it; they differ in what they read, how they are priced and whether they connect to your accounting system. Use the checklist above on your own invoice.

Do I need to replace my accounting system? No. A ticket-matching tool checks the invoice before it is approved and paid in the system you already use.

Can a spreadsheet do the same job? For a few tickets, yes. The cost shows up on large invoices, where a check of every ticket takes hours and a sample misses most of the errors.