Purchase orders wired into job costing
Issue POs to your suppliers and subcontractors against a project, track exactly what's committed, then record and approve vendor bills against them. Committed and actual costs flow straight into budget-vs-actual — the full procurement loop, not a standalone form.
The problem
Without purchase orders, committed cost is invisible: a builder can be tens of thousands of dollars deep in supplier orders and vendor bills before any of it shows up against the budget. By then the job is already over.
How BuildersBridge solves it
POs against a job
Raise a purchase order to any supplier or sub, tied to a project, with line items and an expected date. You send it to them yourself and mark it sent; BuildersBridge records the commitment.
Committed cost, visible
Sent and received POs count as committed cost, less any bills already recorded against them. Drafts commit nothing and closed POs release what was never billed, so the number is what you actually still owe.
Bills matched to POs
Record vendor bills against a PO, approve them, and mark them paid — the actual cost rolls into job costing.
Supplier & sub directory
Keep every supplier and subcontractor in one place, including insurance/WCB expiry so lapsed coverage is flagged.
Worked example: committed and actual cost on one purchase order
A fictional $2,400 plumbing subcontract on the ensuite job, followed from draft to closed. Committed is what you have promised and not yet been billed for; actual is what approved bills say it cost.
| Event | PO status | Committed | Actual |
|---|---|---|---|
| PO drafted, not yet issued | Draft | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| PO marked sent to the plumber | Sent | $2,400.00 | $0.00 |
| Rough-in bill approved against the PO | Sent | $1,200.00 | $1,200.00 |
| Finish bill approved against the PO | Sent | $0.00 | $2,400.00 |
| Extra $300 bill for an added shutoff | Sent | $0.00 | $2,700.00 |
| PO closed | Closed | $0.00 | $2,700.00 |
A draft PO commits nothing, because nobody has been promised anything. Once it is issued, the full amount sits in committed until bills replace it with actual cost, so the job budget sees the spend weeks before the invoice arrives. A bill above the PO total shows up in actual cost rather than disappearing, and closing a PO releases whatever balance was never billed.
What it does today, and what it does not
- Works todayPurchase orders against a job, bills matched to a PO, and committed and actual cost on the job budget. On every plan.
- You do thisYou send the PO to the supplier yourself and mark it sent; BuildersBridge records the commitment, it does not deliver the order.
- Not yet builtA supplier and subcontractor portal is planned, not built: suppliers do not log in to accept POs or upload bills.
- Not yet builtNo accounting sync yet, so bills recorded here are not pushed to QuickBooks or Xero.
Frequently asked questions
- What is construction purchase order software?
- It lets a builder issue purchase orders to suppliers and subcontractors, track the committed cost against each job, and match incoming vendor bills to those POs so procurement flows into job costing.
- How do POs and bills connect to job costing?
- Sent purchase orders show as committed cost on a job, and approved vendor bills show as actual cost. A bill recorded against a PO moves that amount from committed to actual, so it is never counted twice.
- What is the difference between committed and actual job costs?
- Committed cost is what you have promised and not yet been billed for: the unbilled balance of purchase orders you have issued. Actual cost is what approved bills (and, on Pro and Enterprise, logged labour) say the job has cost so far. Watching only actual cost hides the spend you have already agreed to; adding committed shows it weeks earlier.
- Do suppliers receive the PO through BuildersBridge?
- Not today. You send the PO to the supplier yourself and mark it sent, and the job budget picks it up from there. A supplier portal where suppliers receive POs and send invoices back is on the roadmap, not in the product.
- Can I track subcontractor insurance?
- Yes. The supplier and subcontractor directory stores insurance/WCB expiry dates and flags coverage that has lapsed.
See construction purchase order software done right
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