Can you tell us what we spent on the school job?
A building contractor with six live jobs asks for a breakdown of what each site has cost in materials this quarter. Their quantity surveyor needs it for cost reports. Your account shows hundreds of invoices with references like 'Jim', 'school', 'SCH', 'Oak Rd' and nothing at all. The credit controller spends a day building a spreadsheet by hand, and the contractor finds three invoices assigned to the wrong site.
Next month they ask again. Meanwhile a competitor offers them an online account with site reporting.
Why site spend is hard to produce
The information exists at the moment of sale. The operative at the counter knows which job he is buying for. It just isn't captured in a way anyone can report on.
- Site references are free text, typed differently each time.
- Operatives collecting goods may not know the contractor's site code.
- Deliveries have a site address but it isn't linked to a job.
- Credits and returns aren't tied back to the right site.
- Reports come from exports and spreadsheets built by hand.
What the missing breakdown costs
Larger contractors choose merchants partly on reporting, so it affects who wins the account. Credit control time goes on building spreadsheets. Invoices are queried when the contractor's QS can't place them. And your reps lose a useful conversation with the customer about how their spend is going.
Site accounts and self-service reporting
- Each contractor's live sites are set up under their account with a name, code and address, added by the contractor or your rep.
- At the till, the counter picks the site from a short list for that account, and phone and message orders do the same. Delivery addresses match to sites automatically.
- Credits and returns are linked back to the site of the original invoice.
- Contractors sign into a portal showing spend by site, by period and by product group, with each invoice and its proof of delivery.
- A monthly report goes to the contractor's QS or accounts team by email, as a spreadsheet they can load into their own cost reports.
- Sites are closed when a job finishes, so the list at the till stays short.
| Contractor question | Where they find the answer |
|---|---|
| What has this site cost? | Portal, by site and period |
| Which invoices are for this job? | Filtered invoice list with POD |
| Who collected this? | Collector name on each counter sale |
| What have we returned? | Credits shown against the site |
What your contractor accounts get
Contractors get the numbers they need without asking. Their QS stops querying invoices they can't place. Your reps have a reason to talk to the customer about their jobs. And the credit controller gets their day back.
Site-level data also helps you. Reps can see when a contractor's site is approaching completion and ask about the next one. Branch managers can see which sites are buying which product groups from you, and which they are clearly buying elsewhere, which is a natural opening for a conversation about range or price.
Signs your contractors need this
- Contractors ask you for spend by site or job.
- Site references on invoices are inconsistent free text.
- Someone builds site spend spreadsheets by hand.
- Invoices are queried because the contractor can't place them.
- Competitors offer online site reporting and you don't.