Who this is for
This is for contractors who have outgrown spreadsheet-based cost tracking but do not want a heavy, bloated system.
Main contractors and specialist subcontractors
Managing multiple live jobs at once
QS, commercial, and project teams
Responsible for budget control
Growing businesses that need more structure
More control without enterprise complexity
Teams using accounting software
Missing a live project cost-control layer
"Many competitors are too bloated, offering thousands of features that just get in the way. While other systems try to do everything at once and end up doing nothing well, Planyard is laser-focused on job costing. It ensures that critical part of the business is completely under control, doing one thing exceptionally well instead of fifty things poorly."
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Simplify construction cost control
Construction teams need more than a record of what has already been spent. They need a live view of cost movement across the project so they can stay ahead of issues.
Book a demoTrack committed costs before invoices arrive
See what you are on the hook for early
See budget variance against spend in real time
Current spend against budget, live
Budgets, cost codes, orders, and invoices connected
One place for the whole cost picture
One live cost view for the whole team
PMs, QSs, and finance share the numbers
"In summary, the most important thing for the company was to have an overview and control over costs, and to be able to immediately see where a cost has been entered and verify if everything is correct."
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Catch cost problems while there is still time to act
Cost control is not just recording spend. It is seeing where the project is heading early enough to fix it.
Spot overruns as orders are raised
Not after month-end
Review cost movement line by line
Across job phases and categories
Protect project profit with early warnings
Act before margin is lost
See where the job is heading
Revised position before it is locked in
"It’s ultimately a full costing solution fór construction businesses. It’s not just a part of this. It gives them the ability to control the full cost."
Why move from spreadsheets to construction cost control software
Construction teams usually start in spreadsheets because they are flexible and familiar, but as jobs grow it becomes harder to keep the numbers up to date and trust what you see. If you want the fundamentals first, read our guide on what construction cost control is.
| Spreadsheets | Construction cost control software | |
|---|---|---|
| Updating costs | Manual updates after every invoice or change |
Costs update automatically as orders and invoices are handled |
| Committed costs | Hard to see until invoices arrive |
Committed costs visible as soon as POs and subcontracts are raised |
| Version control | Multiple files and versions, easy to lose track |
One live project view shared across the whole team |
| Error risk | Formulas and links can break without anyone noticing |
Structured workflows reduce manual data entry and mistakes |
| Time spent | Hours or days each month to rebuild the picture |
Minutes to review live dashboards and reports |
"The contractor would typically send over an email containing a zip file with about 150 invoices every single month. Trying to manually allocate each of those to the correct invoice in Excel, and then further allocate them to specific cost codes within the building to get a reasonable assessment of our spending by category, was an incredibly time-consuming and frustrating process."
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Works on top of the accounting tools you already use
Planyard is the live project cost-control layer on top of your accounting system. Approved invoices flow through to Xero, QuickBooks, and more.
From Excel CVRs to a live view of every project's financial position.
Take control of project costs before they turn into profit problems
Use Planyard to replace spreadsheet-heavy construction cost control with one live workflow your whole team can trust.
Frequently asked questions
We've got your questions covered. If you can't find the answer below, then feel free to contact us via the chat.
Construction cost control software helps contractors track budgets, committed costs, invoices, and project profitability in one place so they can see where a job stands before cost issues show up too late.
Accounting software records financial transactions and supports bookkeeping. Planyard is used by project and commercial teams to manage live job budgets, commitments, and cost visibility during the project.
As projects grow, spreadsheet cost control becomes slower, harder to trust, and heavily dependent on manual updates. That makes it easy for overruns and missed costs to show up only at the end of the month or end of the job.
Yes. You can see commitments from purchase orders, subcontract orders, and variations before the invoices are approved, so you know your likely final position earlier.
Yes. Planyard is designed to be the live project cost control layer on top of your accounting system. Projects are controlled in Planyard, and approved invoices are pushed through to accounting.
No. It is built for growing contractors and specialist trades that have outgrown spreadsheet cost control but do not want the complexity or price of heavy enterprise systems.
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