If you’re still managing payable invoices by email, paper, or spreadsheets, you’ve probably felt the pain:
- Invoices get buried in inboxes.
- The same invoice lands in multiple inboxes
- Receipts sit in glove compartments until month-end.
- Payments go out late, frustrating vendors and subcontractors.
- Late invoices show up at project late stage messing up the margins and creating issues with Cash flow
- And as your team grows, the mess multiplies.
The good news: accounts payable doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You don’t need a full ERP system to get started. With a few simple steps, you can prevent chaos and make your processes scalable as your business grows.
Step 1: Create a dedicated accounts payable inbox
Right now, invoices may land in project managers’ inboxes, or worse—multiple email addresses like info@. With dozens of emails arriving daily, losing invoices is almost guaranteed.
Instead, set up a single dedicated inbox (e.g., ap@yourcompany.com). Make it the only place vendors and subcontractors can send invoices. Add this requirement to subcontract agreements and purchase orders.
This gives you a clear starting point and eliminates the risk of invoices falling through the cracks.
Step 2: Assign someone responsible
It doesn’t need to be a full-time job. But someone must own the AP inbox. It could be an office manager, an accountant, or one of your managers. Their responsibilities:
- Make sure every invoice is logged.
- Route invoices to the right project manager or quantity surveyor for approval.
- Track that invoices are approved and scheduled for payment on time.
Most accounting tools like Xero or QuickBooks can digitize this basic flow: invoices enter the inbox, project managers approve, and payments go out on time.
The downside? Budgets still need to be updated manually. That’s where tools like Planyard make the leap—automatically updating budgets as invoices are processed, giving management real-time visibility into project profitability.
Step 3: Log receipts immediately
When someone buys materials, the receipt shouldn’t ride around in their car for weeks. Make it policy that receipts are photographed or scanned via smartphone right away and sent to the AP inbox.
This way:
- Receipts don’t get lost.
- Project managers can immediately allocate them to the right budget item.
- Cost reports stay accurate in real time.
Step 4: Negotiate payment terms
Cash flow is often tighter than profitability. Here’s a simple way to reduce stress:
- Negotiate longer payment terms with vendors (e.g., 20–30 days).
- Negotiate shorter payment terms with clients (e.g., 10 days).
That means client money arrives before you need to pay subcontractors and suppliers, keeping projects cash-positive and your company liquid.
Step 5: Add a manager approval workflow
Before invoices are paid, they should go through a manager’s approval. Tools like Xero and QuickBooks already support basic approval flows and mobile apps to make this easy.
With Planyard, managers can go deeper:
- Drill down into purchase orders and subcontractor agreements. So no need to track PO or SO payment summaries via spreadsheets.
- Prevent overbilling by matching invoices against contracts.
- See live project budgets and margins before approving payments.
This ensures cash flow stays under control and profitability isn’t eroded by late discoveries.
Step 6: Automate the workflow
Spreadsheets mean repetitive data entry, delays, and errors. The more innovative way is automation:
With Planyard construction accounting software, you can:
- Capture invoices automatically via your AP inbox.
- Route them to project managers for one-click approval.
- Update project budgets in real time (no manual updates).
- Sync invoices directly with accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks, etc.).
That means:
- No lost invoices.
- No duplicate data entry.
- Vendors paid on time.
- Budgets that always in sync with accounting.
Keep it simple
Don’t try to overhaul your entire process overnight.
From there, layer in better payment terms, manager approvals, and automation. Step by step, you’ll move from spreadsheet chaos to a stress-free system that scales with your business and keeps your projects profitable.