As the finance manager at BuildRight Construction, I was constantly facing challenges in managing our cash flow to keep our projects moving. One of our biggest struggles was dealing with errors in progress billing calculations and maintaining a professional presentation of our invoices.
On a recent commercial building project, after completing a major milestone that included framing and initial electrical work, I submitted a progress invoice for $500,000. However, we encountered an unexpected setback: the invoice had duplicate numbers, formatting inconsistencies, and a few calculation errors. These issues were not due to client-side problems but stemmed from our own internal mistakes. As a result, the client questioned the accuracy of the invoice, causing approval delays.
The incorrect invoice led to complications, not only delaying payment but also impacting our operations. We struggled to pay subcontractors on time, which led to stalled work and filing claims. Additionally, we couldn’t proceed with material orders for the next construction phase, extending our project timeline and putting us at risk of missing crucial deadlines. To keep things moving, we had to consider short-term financing, which cut into our profits and strained the project further.
Recommended by a colleague in the industry, we implemented APARBooks to address these challenges. The platform offered a standardized template that eliminated the risk of calculation errors and formatting issues. APARBooks also prevented duplicate invoice numbers and allowed us to properly distinguish between invoices and reimbursements, improving our professionalism and accuracy.
With APARBooks, we now send all our progress billings through a unified system. The platform automatically generates clear and consistent invoices, and it provides email notifications and reminders to all parties involved, ensuring they stay informed of pending approvals and payments.
The efficiency gained from avoiding calculation mistakes and document formatting issues has allowed our team to focus more on project management and less on administrative corrections. The real-time updates on the status of our invoices have significantly reduced approval delays, improved our cash flow, and strengthened our relationships with clients. APARBooks has been a game-changer, giving us the confidence to present error-free and professional documents, maintaining our credibility in every project.