Still using Procore project financials for budget management? There could be a simpler way.
Procore financials might not be the best tool for SMEs according to Procore user reviews
- The pricing is inflexible and can be difficult for companies with high revenues and low margins;
- Onboarding and implementation can be complicated and a lengthy process;
- Need for user accounts and training for suppliers may deter them from using the tools;
- Accounting integrations are provided by third parties and might not fulfil all needs;
Planyard saves time and hassle
Monitor your budget in real time and take immediate action when errors occur. Job costs are organised, fully searchable, and accessible for forecasting, project management, and more. The implementation is usually completed in a single training session lasting just a few hours.
What is Procore?
Procore is a US construction project management software with many different modules.
The software covers preconstruction, project management, resource management, and financial management.
A Bit More Context
Procore has been developing its software since 2003. This makes it a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, it’s very comprehensive. It covers a lot of different functions through various models, meaning you can unify processes more.
On the other hand, companies tend to move upmarket as they mature. Their solutions become far more complex and the pricing increases significantly. Procore is similar to Salesforce in that sense – it’s used by the biggest companies in the world, but they are all paying through the nose.
Because Procore has been in development for almost 20 years, it likely contains a lot of legacy technology. Features built 10 years ago may now appear outdated in software.
What is Planyard?
Planyard is a cloud-based budget and subcontractor management software for main contractors.
You can manage budgets without Excel and back-and-forth emails. Your subcontractors will do the work for you.
Procore project financials vs Planyard construction financials software functionality
Different review sites highlight that the onboarding process for Procore is complicated and costly. If you want to use the financials module in Procore, you would have to sign up for multiple different module packages, where there will probably be a lot of functionality that you might not necessarily need.
Since Procore financials is mainly an enterprise solution, it requires a lot of training and configuration to set everything up. If you are a smaller company with a small or no IT team, the setup might not be very straightforward and can be time-consuming. If you want to test with a pilot project to see whether your processes match the software, it might not be easy due to the fixed processes for setting up your account.
If you want to try and digitalise your processes one small step at a time, then the processes in Procore might not be most suitable for you. It can be less effort to test an easier setup platform like Planyard to see if this is something that could even be suitable for your company and employees.
The good thing is that Procore has a vast marketplace where there are many different tools that can be integrated if you need a specific part of your process fixed or automated.
| Feature/Provider | |  |
| Project and company level permissions |  Company-wide and project-wide admin configurations | Company-wide and project-wide admin configurations Project-level fine-tunable permissions to send out RFTs, create subcontracts and prepare documents to confirm |
| Tenders and tender comparison | You can send tender requests to contacts and companies in your directory | You can send tender requests to any email address and it will be added to your contacts. You can also add any contact from your contact database. |
| Subcontracts | Create contracts from subcontractor bids and manually  No unit price information is available | Create contracts from subcontractor bids and manually Unit price info available |
| Subcontractor progress reports/valuations | Subcontract invoices are creatable by both subcontractors and quantity surveyors Progress report process not available outside invoicing Progress report feedback process doesn’t exist outside invoicing | Creatable by both subcontractors and quantity surveyors Progress report process available Progress report feedback process is simple and tracked |
| Subcontractor variations | Variations creatable by quantity surveyors and subcontractors | Variations creatable by quantity surveyors and subcontractors Variations editable by quantity surveyors |
| Purchase orders | Purchase orders can be created for suppliers in the project | Purchase orders can be created for suppliers in the whole company |
| Main contracts/Prime contracts | Main contracts can be created using existing or new budget items with custom structure | Main contracts can be created using existing or new budget items with custom structure |
| Main contract variations | You can create variations for the main contract Markups fairly complex to set up | You can create variations for the main contract Markup setup is done implicitly in the jobs and needs no additional configuration |
| Invoice and cost management | Subcontract invoices are submitted directly against the subcontract without a progress report Purchase order cost tracking is available | Subcontract invoices are submitted according to the progress report Purchase order cost tracking is available |
| Invoice document uploading | There is no frictionless way to get documents into the system besides manual uploads by either party | Various simple ways to get the cost documents into the system: * Project and company accounts payable e-mail addresses * Outlook plugin * Mobile apps |
| Accounting integrations | Different custom connectors on the marketplace | Simple setup with Xero, QuickBooks, Directo, and many others. You can assign accounting accounts in Planyard to reduce work for the accountant |
| Accounts not required for suppliers and subcontractors | All users need to have accounts with correct permissions shared with them to access data | Subcontractors can submit bids, progress reports, and invoices via e-mail and without needing a username and password |
| Training not required for suppliers and subcontractors | All suppliers and subcontractors need to go through certification to be able to use the platform | Suppliers and subcontractors do not need to be certified and can start to use the tool without any certification |
| Pricing | 667 USD per month (with an annual contract and max 5M in annual revenue) | Plans start at 20 EUR per project per month |
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