10 minute read 

In today’s tech-driven world, using a software solution to run your residential construction business’ day-to-day operation is critical to be competitive and manage your business more efficiently. For the residential construction business, the choices seem endless. 

If you’re searching for the right construction management software solution or even assessing your current software solution, we’ve developed a thorough and straightforward guide to help you make the smart choice. 

What is construction management software?

Construction management software is a tool designed to simplify your residential construction business; automating, and connecting all the parts of your business — like communicating to subcontractors and suppliers, scheduling, takeoffs, and cost estimating — to be more efficient, profitable, and grow your business.  

Benefits of construction management software

If you’ve used or are still using Excel, paper planscalculator, and ruler as your primary takeoff and estimating tasks, there’s a better way. Save time and frustration by using a project management software solution that centralizes these manual tools into a single automated platform, like Buildxact. 

Here are the top five benefits to use a construction management software solution: 

1. Ease of accessibility: look for cloud-based software, allowing you to store as much information as you need from any device and anywhere. Cloud-based solutions offer expanded capabilities, including collaboration and security. The cost is generally more affordable than adding a local server, particularly for the small and medium-sized residential construction owners.

2. Streamline your business systems: from the initial takeoff to the final invoice, construction management software solutions offer more than just automating tasks. It integrates  your business systems into a single platform to run your business seamlessly, reduce errors, and improve efficiency.  

“I knew there had to be a better way, much like how I use the software in my personal life. I knew the same tool had to be available in my professional building life,” said Matthew McCrimmon, owner, Sabado Homes. 

3. Better business management: make informed decisions in real-time using a 360-visual dashboard tool, which allows you to track and analyze your business from a broad level with the ability to drill down on specific items quickly and easily without having to search through the paperwork.  

“My least favorite thing to do is having to go into the office and look for the information I needed — I knew it was going to be in a myriad of different places — and I knew there had to be a better and different way,” said Matthew. 

4. Collaboration and communication: construction management software makes it easy to communicate with your internal and external (subs) teams as well as your customers, at the office or in the field, at any time and anywhere, and nothing gets lost in translation. Instead of storing important information on your desk, in your truck, or in your head, construction project management software stores all of it in a central system for everyone to access. 

“The transfer of information is a lot easier, not as much data lost in translation when transferring from one person to another,” said Jeremy De Paz, owner of Waterloo City Construction. 

5. Simplicity over complexity: many cloud-based construction management software platforms are powerful yet overly complex and lack the features for small to medium-sized residential builders. Buildxact provides a single solution from the first takeoff to the final invoice. Because it’s designed specifically for the residential builder, it has the features you need and nothing you don’t. Opting for a simple solution means you can get started easily and start realizing the value your new solution brings quickly.

Top construction management software features 

The benefits may have you shaking your head “yes, sign me up,” yet features vary significantly from offering too many options to not enough features to justify the monthly subscription. An initial online search may turn up pages and pages to sift through, a daunting process considering your project load. It doesn’t make your job any easier. 

We’ve learned the top pain points for residential construction business through constant communication and feedback with our customers. Here are the top five features builders like you choose when selecting a construction project management software for their day-to-day business operations. 

1. 80% faster digital takeoffs: one of the most time-consuming pre-construction tasks is creating accurate takeoffs to estimate correctly and quickly. Today, you can ditch paper plans for digital takeoffs, and the measuring and estimating are complete in just a few clicks.

“I was doing everything by hand, as my dad taught me, and now I’ve switched to using software mainly because most plans sent to me are in PDF format,” said Dustin Ballew, owner of Blue Bexar Construction in San Antonio. “I can do takeoffs using a PDF, save all that information, and I don’t have to continue to do it again and again and again.”

2. Easy and accurate estimating: estimating is one of the most essential elements of the job and if you don’t have access to the most up-to-date pricing, it can be challenging. Construction management software, like Buildxact, allows you to streamline your entire estimating process using a formula-based process called recipes, where the calculations are automated, saving you tons of time. Recipes package all the components together to create the takeoff, and the quantities automatically calculate, speeding up the estimating process and your accuracy.

Once you’ve measured the takeoff, you can source your material and overhead costs by sending them to your suppliers and subcontractors to complete your estimate. The total prices and quantities calculate automatically and more accurately, saving you time and your bottom line.

3. Impressive professional quotes: often your quote is the first time your customer receives something tangible from you. It’s the first impression. Instead of building your quotes in Word or Excel, construction management software will generate a professional-looking quote — 5x faster — using your company branding for a professional first impression.

“Software has been an immense help because it demonstrates organization and clients get a sense early on if you don’t have it together,” said Matthew. 

4. Stress-free project management: instead of finding yourself in your truck running from job site to job site, construction project management software, like Buildxact, allows you to manage all aspects of each job, like scheduling, purchasing,  delivery, and invoicing, in the cloud, saving time and money. It’ll give you the confidence that your projects delivered on time and budget. 

5. Real-time financials: tracking your profitability is key to your business’s success, and if you’re doing your own invoicing, the data you get out is only as good as the data you put in. A construction management software solution tracks your line-by-line costs and integrates with your accounting software essential to your bottom line. 

“To run a successful business, you need a good accounting system,” said Jeremy. “You need good information to put into the accounting system.” 

Choose the right solution, choose Buildxact 

There is a better way to run your residential construction business. Whether you’ve been using Excel, paper and a ruler, or complex software, ask yourself if you’ve met your business goals or grown your business to where you want it to be today. 

Save yourself the headache of looking online for the best construction management software and try Buildxacta cloud-based solution specifically designed for the residential construction business. Buildxact offers on-demand tutorial videos by topic or feature. You can be up and running in no time. 

“Give it a shot. You’ve got a two-week free trial. Play around, watch the videos and see how quickly you will be able to work a lot of the features into your daily workflow,” said Matthew. 

Are you ready for a better way to manage your projects? Learn more or try our 14-day risk-free trial, or book a personalized one-on-one demonstration with one of our expert team members today.