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Feature Spotlight: Subcontractor Management

In this feature spotlight, we turn to subcontractor management - a critical, yet overlooked side of the business for many contractors.

With smarter subcontractor management you’ll reduce errors, protect your cash flow, and even shield your business from the worst effects of national and local skills shortages.

Construction management software can play a significant part in optimising your communications and transactions with subcontractors.

CIS/RCT

One of the most time-consuming aspects of subcontractor management is complying with CIS (or RCT, if you’re in Ireland) regulations. Registering, verifying, and periodically filing returns can be a significant time sink if you work with many subcontractors.

Evolution M handles all that for you - you need only enter the relevant data, press a button, and the information will be sent across to HMRC. There’s no need to copy and paste values from your own system into HMRC’s (compounding the risk of error) - it’s all managed for you in one central location.

Authorisation and paper trails

Using an electronic subcontractor management system ensures that the payment process is properly authorised by the relevant person(s). User access levels prevent anyone else from giving the green light to a payment or seeing private information like payment rates.

The centralised nature of the system means that you have the same paper trail when it comes to purchase orders. You can easily keep track of every stage of the purchase process, and see how current and upcoming costs impact on the budget of a specific area of a project.

What are the benefits of electronic subcontractor management?

The numerous benefits of this approach include:

• Reduce errors when filing CIS returns. Copying and pasting data across to HMRC significantly increases the chance of errors slipping in. You could end up paying more than is due to contractors, or paying less and having to deal with a subsequent payment dispute.
• Reduced cash flow pressure. You can see at a glance when subcontractor payments are due, so you know exactly when cash needs to leave your account.
• Satisfied subcontractors. Subcontractors want to be paid on time, and to be paid the correct amount. Evolution M ticks both those boxes.
• Time savings. The paperwork associated with managing subcontractors can be overwhelming. An electronic system automates many processes, and streamlines others, leaving you with extra time to manage more productive areas of your business.

Overall, subcontractor management software is becoming increasingly essential for contractors in order to remain compliant with regulations and keep control over ever-increasing costs.

Is your current software setup missing a subcontractor management feature? Or are you looking for an integrated system to manage all aspects of your construction company in one place? Get in touch and we’ll show you how it should be done in a free, no obligation software demo.