Procore (Financials) vs Planyard

This page compares Procore Project Financials with Planyard for US general contractors and specialty trades. We focus on progress billings, retainage, cost codes, approvals and day-to-day job cost control for PMs, controllers and CFOs.

Short answer: choose one financial system. Planyard is built for budgets, POs, approvals, progress billings/retainage and live forecasting with a native push to QuickBooks Online, Xero and Sage. If you use Procore, pair Planyard with Procore’s non-financial modules (drawings, RFIs, daily logs) — don’t run two parallel financial stacks.

On this page

  • Scope and fit for US firms
  • Reviews at a glance
  • Quick summary
  • Why mirrored cost codes/GLs break
  • Side-by-side comparison
  • Features in detail (approvals, AIA-style billings, retainage, forecasting)
  • Implementation time
  • Who should choose what

Do not run Procore Financials and Planyard side by side. Use Planyard for financials and Procore’s non-financial modules for field/project management.

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What they do (scope at a glance)

  • Procore (Project Financials) — Enterprise module for budgets, cost codes, commitments (POs/subcontracts), change orders and subcontractor pay applications with retainage. Best when standardizing on the Procore platform end-to-end. Accounting usually connects via marketplace integrations.
  • Planyard — Job-cost control for US contractors: estimating, live budget vs actuals, POs/subcontracts, multi-step approvals, 3-way match (PO ↔ delivery ↔ invoice), progress billings with retainage, change orders and live EAC/forecasting. Native sync to QuickBooks Online, Xero and Sage — only approved & coded items post with the invoice PDF attached.

Reviews at a glance

Public summaries from major review sites.

Product Rating Summary
Procore (overall) ~4.5 / 5.0 ✔ Full platform. ✖ For SMBs: steeper learning curve, higher total cost, and reliance on accounting connectors; many export to Excel for forecasting.
Planyard 4.6 / 5.0 ✔ Praised for ease of use, visibility and clean QuickBooks/Xero/Sage sync. Reviewers cite reduced manual entry and a full audit trail.

Quotes: “Planyard integrates seamlessly with accounting.” · “We finally stopped updating endless cost spreadsheets.”

Quick summary

  • Procore Financials. Comprehensive and tightly linked to field tools, but heavier to adopt for small-to-mid US firms. Accounting needs connectors; workflows can feel complex for PMs and subs.
  • Planyard. Focused job-costing: budgets, POs, approvals, enforced 3-way match, progress billings/retainage and live EAC — with native posting to your ledger.
  • Better together (clean stack). Run Planyard for financials and Procore’s non-financial modules for drawings/RFIs/daily logs. Avoid two financial systems.

Why two financial stacks break in the US

Procore Financials expects cost codes and general ledger (GL) accounts to mirror your accounting system. In practice this causes:

  • Double maintenance. Every new code or account change must be replicated in both tools or the connector fails.
  • Drift. Field teams edit codes in Procore; accounting updates the chart for tax classes/vendors — reports and syncs stop reconciling.
  • Month-end friction. Job cost vs GL do not match 1:1, so controllers/CFOs spend time fixing exports.
  • Double coding. People code in Procore and again in accounting; errors and duplicates creep in.

Planyard avoids this. It uses your accounting chart as the source of truth, enforces coding at approval, and only then posts approved items to QuickBooks/Xero/Sage. No mirroring, no drift, no duplicate entry.

Side-by-side comparison

Aspect Planyard Procore (Financials) Planyard + Procore (field)
Cost codes & GL ✔ Uses ledger chart as source; no mirroring required ✖ Codes/accounts must mirror accounting; drift breaks reporting ✔ Keep codes in Planyard + accounting only
Approvals ✔ Configurable multi-step routes with thresholds and full audit trail ✖ Limited native routing for SMB needs ✔ Approvals in Planyard; use Procore for site workflows
3-way match ✔ PO ↔ delivery ↔ invoice enforced; blocks over-billing ✖ Manual checks ✔ Full 3-way match in Planyard before posting
Progress billings & retainage ✔ Subcontractor and client progress billings, retainage schedules; AIA-style outputs ✔ Pay apps/retainage; often feels heavy for SMBs ✔ Run billings in Planyard; share outputs as needed
Sales tax & 1099/W-9 ✔ Enforces correct vendor and category coding so sales tax and 1099 exports work in the ledger ✖ Depends on connector/accounting setup ✔ Accounting remains source of truth
Reporting & forecasting ✔ Live EAC/Cost-to-Complete with drill-down ✔ Powerful reports; many export to Excel for forecasting ✔ Planyard for financials; Procore for field reports
Accounting sync ✔ Native to QBO/Xero/Sage; posts approved items with PDFs ✖ Typically via marketplace integrations ✔ Connect accounts to Planyard; avoid duplicate exports

Features in detail (US)

How they handle approvals, progress billings, retainage, and forecasting.

Commitments and purchase orders

Planyard lets PMs raise and route POs/subcontracts against the live budget with thresholds/roles and a full audit trail. Only approved costs post to the ledger, keeping the GL clean.

Procore Financials supports commitments/change orders, but SMBs often want lighter multi-approver routing than Procore provides out-of-the-box.

Progress billings and retainage

Planyard streamlines subcontractor and owner billing (AIA-style) with retainage, generates clear payment applications/certificates, and updates budget actuals on approval.

Procore Financials supports pay apps with retainage, but many small teams find the workflows heavy compared to Planyard’s simpler approach.

Upload your project budget and track financial progress in real-time

No credit card required. No sales or IT support needed.

Cost-to-Complete and forecasting

Planyard updates EAC/Cost-to-Complete automatically as POs, invoices, time and change orders are approved. Controllers and CFOs get real-time variances without rebuilding spreadsheets.

Procore Financials offers strong reporting, but many teams still export to Excel for forecasting.

Accounting and compliance

Planyard posts only approved costs to QuickBooks/Xero/Sage with vendor, category, tax and the PDF attached, supporting 1099 and W-9 processes in the accounting system.

Procore Financials typically relies on marketplace connectors; many teams prefer a single native push from Planyard to keep the ledger tidy.

Implementation timelines

Planyard usually pilots a live job in days; Procore Financials often requires deeper template/cost-code setup and training.

Product Typical duration Typical steps
Planyard ✔ A few days to a week
  1. Connect QuickBooks/Xero/Sage
  2. Import chart, vendors and a live budget
  3. Pilot one project and roll out
Procore (Financials) ✖ Weeks to months
  1. Define cost-code structure and project templates
  2. Migrate budgets/contracts and train teams
  3. Optional accounting connector setup

Who should choose what

  • Choose Planyard if you want proper job costing — budgets, approvals, progress billings/retainage, change orders and forecasting — without spreadsheets.
  • Choose Procore (Financials) if you need an enterprise platform and will fully adopt its workflows across projects and field operations.
  • Choose both only as Planyard for financials + Procore’s non-financial modules for site/project management. Do not run two financial systems.

Pricing and packages

Planyard has transparent per-seat plans and a free trial. Procore pricing is custom-quoted as part of the wider platform. The QuickBooks/Xero/Sage integrations are included in all Planyard plans.

Estimating

$52
/ month / project manager
 

Cost Estimating

Try for free

Essential

$105
/ month / project manager
$43
for supporting staff
Perfect for support roles or stakeholders—gain access to essential project features and view key financial data without full platform permissions, enabling users to stay informed and contribute without hands-on tasks.

Usually selected for: site engineers, clients, estimators, or auditors.

Estimating and Budget Control

  • Everything in Estimating
  • Track budgets and actual spending
  • Manage purchase invoices automatically
  • Reuse active project cost data for estimating
  • Sync invoices to Xero and QuickBooks
Try for free

Professional

$158
/ month / project manager
$43
for supporting staff
Perfect for support roles or stakeholders—gain access to essential project features and view key financial data without full platform permissions, enabling users to stay informed and contribute without hands-on tasks.

Usually selected for: site engineers, clients, estimators, or auditors.

Estimating, Cost Control, and Purchase Orders Management

  • Everything in Essential
  • Issue and manage purchase orders
  • Track committed costs on the budget
  • Forecast project profitability in real-time
  • Create cash flow forecasts
  • Manage client contracts and progress reports
Try for free

Ultimate

$210
/ month / project manager
$43
for supporting staff
Perfect for support roles or stakeholders—gain access to essential project features and view key financial data without full platform permissions, enabling users to stay informed and contribute without hands-on tasks.

Usually selected for: site engineers, clients, estimators, or auditors.

Full Functionality

  • Everything in Professional
  • Automate subcontractor and vendor quoting
  • Track subcontracts and progress
  • Manage subcontractor change orders
  • Collect subcontractor payment applications
Try for free

In one paragraph

They are not a like-for-like swap, but you should not use both for financials. Run Planyard as your job-cost control (budgets, approvals, 3-way match, progress billings with retainage, forecasting) and use Procore’s non-financial modules for field/docs. Only approved, fully coded costs leave Planyard and hit QuickBooks/Xero/Sage — no duplicates, no re-typing.

Sources and last updated. Public Procore and Planyard reviews, customer interviews and product documentation. Last reviewed 4 November 2025.