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Specialty Contractor

Financial Management User Guide

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For Specialty Contractors

This user guide provides specialty contractors with information about how to use Procore's Project Financials tools to streamline your financial business processes across your project's lifecycle.

Some of the things you'll learn in this guide include:

  • How to set up your project's cost codes. Learn the basics for setting up company and project level cost codes. See Cost Code Setup.
  • How to add or import an accurate project budget. Learn how to add budget line items to your project, configure and assign budget views to your project and how to set up a forecasting view to identify and track critical project costs. Use data collected from the site to track your project's labour costs and to register production quantities in your budget. Learn how to create budget modifications to reallocate funds from one budget line item to another.  See Budget Setup.
  • How to create one (or multiple) head contracts for your project. Set up your head contract tool and learn about the considerations to keep in mind if your project has multiple funding sources or delivery methods. Manage the owner progress claim process and create a payment received register. See Head Contracts Tool.
  • How to manage your project's purchase orders and subcontracts. Learn about the Commitments tool's configuration settings and how to create purchase orders and subcontracts. Designate progress claim contacts on your contracts and create a payment issued register. See Commitments Tool.
  • How to improve oversight and management project changes. Choose between managing variations with or without the Change Events tool. Configure your variation tier settings for your contracts. Bring change management to the site––facilitating faster approvals, more accurate communication and eliminating the need to proceed at risk. See Change Management Tools.
  • How to administer the invoicing process for your project's subcontractors. Define your billing periods and choose your project's desired method for creating and submitting subcontractor progress claims. See Invoicing Tool.
  • How to manage your project's direct costs. Learn how to manage costs not associated with your purchase orders and commitments. See Direct Costs Tool.
 Note

For companies using Procore with the Company level ERP Integrations tool, see one of these guides:

Cost Code Setup

The first step when setting up Procore's Project Financials tools in Procore is to verify that your cost codes were set up. Cost codes are the basic building block for your budget. Through the use of cost codes, you can create a budget that is granular or as basic as you need. 

If you are a specialty contractor, Procore recommends the following:

  1. Create a master list of cost codes in the Company level Admin tool. It is recommended that create codes specific to your trade. To learn how to add cost codes to the company level, see Add, Edit and Delete Company Cost Codes.
  2. Add cost codes to your project(s) as needed. You can copy your company level cost codes to your project or add new ones to a project. For instructions, see Add and Edit Project Cost Codes.

Budget Setup

Procore's Budget tool helps your project team efficiently manage your project's budget. It is designed to help your team make informed financial decisions, track expenses against your budget in real-time, analyse historical snapshots, input detailed forecasts and offer deeper visibility into the financial status of your project.  With the use of cost codes, you can create a budget as granular or as basic as you need.

  • Add Your Project's Budget Data. When getting started on a project, the first step is to Set up a Budget in a New Procore Project. You can choose from two methods: (1) Add a Budget Line Item directly to the Budget tool or (2) Download and complete a budget template and complete the steps to Import a Budget
  • Configure Your Project's Budget Views. After adding your project's budget data, your Procore Administrator might want to explore our dynamic and customizable budget views. For details, see Set up a New Budget View. You can set up one or multiple budget views, along with a wide variety of data columns, such as Original Budget AmountBudget ModificationsRevised BudgetPending Budget Changes, and more. You can also actively manage and monitor your project's budget using the 'Forecast to Complete' feature. For details, see Use the Forecast To Complete Feature
  • Utilise Data Collected in the Field to Track Labour Costs and Production Quantities. For customers that have purchased Procore's Resource Management and Field Productivity tools, your budget can be set to automatically  Add a Budget View for Real-Time Labour Costing and Set Up the Procore Labour Productivity Cost Budget View.
  • Reallocate Funds from One Line Item to Another Using Budget Modifications. After you've locked your original budget and set up the other tools listed in this guide,  you can use the budget modifications feature to transfer money between cost codes. For example, if you have cost savings related to one cost code because it came in under budget, but expect another cost code to come in over budget, you can reallocate funds from the first cost code and add it to the latter cost code as a contingency. Budget modifications only appear on the Budget tool, so your vendors will not see your internal adjustments. For details, see Create a Budget Modification

To learn what else you can do with the Budget tool, see Budget.

Head Contracts Tool

After setting up the Budget tool, you can begin creating one or multiple head contracts for your project. With the Head Contracts tool, your team can replace stacks of paper and expensive printer costs with a central location for digital contract management. 

  • Set Up Your Head Contract.  While most Procore customers create a single head contract for a single construction project, project teams do have the option to create multiple head contracts in the Head Contracts tool. For details, see Create Head Contacts. Similar to budget, you can also choose from two methods for setting up your head contract: (1) You can manually Update the Program of Values (SOV) on a Head Contract or (2) you can Import a Head Contract SOV from a CSV File. When finished with the initial setup, simply approve it. See Approve a Head Contract.
     Tip

    Does your construction project have multiple funding sources or invoicing requirements?  Learn why some specialty contractors decide to create multiple head contracts on their Procore project. This is helpful when you have a need to divide the scope of work on a project into multiple phases or stages, however, doing so does present a few considerations.  For more information, see Are there any system limitations when projects have multiple head contracts? 

    An alternate way to manage these types of requirements is to use the Sub Job feature. To learn more, see What's the difference between a job, a parent job and a sub job? 

  • Create and Manage Owner Progress Claims. After your head contract is set and you've set up the Commitments tool as described below, you can also create and manage your owner progress claims. An owner progress claim is an itemized record of a financial transaction between your client and you. Typically, the itemized breakdown is dictated by the head contractor and then you submit your progress claim data to them, so they can then submit their progress claim to the project owner when payment is due. See Create an Owner Progress Claim.
  • Create a Payments Received Register.  After you receive your payment, you can also create a register to track the payments you've received. For details, see Create a Payment Received.

To learn what else you can do with the Head Contracts tool, see Head Contracts.

Commitments Tool

After your contract(s) are approved and completed in the Head Contracts tool, you can begin setting up your project's commitments. Typically,  you will create commitments when your company is subcontracting out work. 

In Procore, you can create two types of 'commitments': subcontracts and purchase orders.

  • Set Up Your Contract Configuration, Dates, Distribution Lists and Settings. Your company's Procore Administrator can work with you to define your project's default contract configuration. This is an important step before you start creating commitments on a project. You can choose the number of variation tiers for your commitments. You can also enable a variety of dates to use on your contracts by default. Settings also include default distribution list settings, your default accounting methods, setting a retention percent (if applicable), and deciding to enable financial markup or payments by default. For details, see Configure Settings: Commitments
  • Create Your Project's Purchase Orders. In Procore, a Purchase Order (PO) is a documented financial commitment that details the types, quantities and agreed-upon prices for products or services. As part of the procurement process, purchase orders are created by a 'buyer' (for example, a specialty contractor) and issued to a 'seller' (for example, a supplier) to cover the cost of a contract. Once accepted by the 'seller,' a purchase order represents an agreement between the two parties. See Create a Purchase Order
     Tip

    In Procore, purchase orders and subcontracts are used exclusively to bill for pre-determined costs recorded in your project's budget. It's important to note that purchase orders are not designed to be used as a running tab. For example, if your company's practice is to create an progress claim to pay for your purchase orders as items are delivered, you would want to create a direct cost instead of a purchase order. See Direct Costs Tool

  • Create Your Project's Subcontracts. A subcontract is a contractual agreement between the contracting company and the subcontractors who perform the scope of work. In Procore, there are two ways to create a subcontract: (1) You can Award a Winning Tender and Convert it into a Subcontract, or you can (2) directly Create a Subcontract in the Commitments tool. 
  • Create Subcontractor Progress Claims and Manage Progress Claim Contacts. Using the Commitments or Invoicing tool, you can also Create an Progress Claim on Behalf of an Progress Claim Contact or you can provide your subcontractor's progress claim contacts with the appropriate permissions to access their purchase orders and subcontracts. See Add Progress Claim Contacts to a Purchase Order or Subcontract. Users with 'Admin' permission on the Commitments tool can also use those permissions to manage progress claims with the Invoicing Tool
  • Create a Payments Issued Register.  After you start issuing payments on your project, you can create a register to track the payments you've issued. Your budget and budget reports are automatically updated to reflect your entries. See Add Payments Issued

To learn what else you can do with the Commitments tool, see Commitments.

 Tip
For companies using the Procore + Quickbooks® connector, you sync your subcontractor progress claim payments from Procore with Quickbooks®. You can also sync your payments to Procore's payments issue register. To learn more, see Sync QuickBooks® Bill Payments with Payments Issued in Commitments.

Change Management Tools

Next, start learning about Procore's change management tools.  You can create two types of variations in Procore. There are two options for setting up these tools: (1) Variations with Change Events or, (2) Variations without Change Events.

Variations with Change Events

Creating a change event allows you to prepare for the impact of the change before it becomes an actual cost - which is an important part of a specialty contractor's contract management strategy when hiring outside subcontractors to perform tasks.

After creating a change event, you can then create an RFQ (Request for Quote), which is sent to the appropriate subcontractors for pricing. When RFQs are created and responded to by the assigned subcontractors, variations can then be created based upon the submitted quote.

  • Configure Your Variation Tier Settings. You can choose between a one (1)-, two (2)-, and three (3)-tier variation setting. Each tier adds a layer to your team's overall change management workflow. A lower number of tiers offers the most straightforward workflow. An increased number of tiers provides your team with a more complex workflow but gives your team more control over changes. The most common settings among Procore users are to use the one (1) or two (2) tier setting.
    Example
    A common example of a head contract (2) tier use case is when you want to mimic your head contractor's bundling of variations in your Procore account.  If you tend to issue variations immediately and bill for them on a one-by-one basis (regardless of the approval bundle), a (1) tier variation setting might be the better choice. To learn more, see What are the different variation tiers?
    Once you've decided which tier setting to use, you can continue to Configure the Number of Head Contract Variation Tiers and Configure the Number of Commitment Variation Tiers.
  • Create Change Events. On a construction project, a change event is any change that affects (or potentially affects), the original scope of a construction project. There are numerous ways to create change events in Procore. In addition to using the Change Events tool (see Create a Change Event),  you can also use any of the options available in supported Procore tools or using Procore's mobile platform. For details on those options, see Which Procore tools can I use to create a change event? 
  • Create RFQs from Change Events and Review RFQ Responses. If you need to create an RFQ for your subcontractors to submit pricing, see Create RFQs from a Change Event. You can then review your subcontractor's quotes to determine if you want to move ahead with creating a variation. See Review RFQ Responses
  • Create Variations. You can create two types of changes orders in Procore: 

To learn what else you can do with the Change Events tool, see Change Events.

Variations Without Change Events

When the Change Events tool is disabled, your team will create changes using the Commitments and Head Contracts tools. Most variations start with a Potential Variation (PV) which would be generated in the Head Contracts tool. Below is a description of the process when all three (3) tiers are enabled for Head Contract variations.

  • Create a Potential Variation (PV). Create a PV to outline any potential change in costs that would affect the head contract. When you fill out a Schedule of Values (SOV) for a PV, you'll have the option to select a cost code and enter the dollar amount. Ideally, it will be a cost code already in the budget, so you can see the budget increase on the Budget tab. See Create a Potential Variation (PV).
  • Create a Commitment Variation (CV). After creating a PV, you can create a CV that acts as a request for pricing from the subcontractor who will be responsible for the scope of work outlined in the PV. You can compare the CV to the corresponding PV and view your variance between the two. See Create a CV From a PV
  • Create a Variation Request (VR). After you've created PCOs, you can roll them into Variation Requests (VR). Variation Requests are typically the documents that are submitted for approval and can be used for submitting either individual Potential Variations (PCOs), or for grouping PCOs in order to streamline the review and approval process. See Create a Variation Request (VR)
  • Create a Head Contract Variation (HCV).  Variations with a status set to 'Pending' will appear in the 'Pending Budget Changes' column of the project's Budget tool. Approved HCVs can be added to head contract progress claims. Once you have marked the HCV as approved, the total dollar amount change will be reflected in the 'Approved VARs' column on the Budget tool. See Create a Head Contract Variation (HCV).
  • Create a Commitment Variation (CV). A CV outlines variations in costs that affect the contract between the contracting company and a vendor or subcontractor. Once you have marked the CV as approved, the dollar change will be reflected in the 'Committed Costs' column on the Budget tool. Commitments and Potential CVs with a status of 'Pending' will show up in the 'Pending Cost Changes' column on the Budget tool.  See Create a Commitment Variation (CV).

To learn what else you can do with the Variations tool, see Variations.

Invoicing Tool

Procore's Invoicing tool uses the user permission granted in the Commitments and Head Contracts tool. As your project progresses and the contracts have been created and approved, subcontractors can bill you for completed work via subcontractor progress claims. You can also create owner progress claims, which can then be emailed to the owner or the party that is being responsible for payment approval.

To learn what else you can do with the Invoicing tool, see Invoicing.

Direct Costs Tool

In Procore, the term direct cost is used to refer to a cost on a construction project that is NOT associated with a commitment. Using the Direct Costs tool, you can create these items:

  • Progress Claims. Create a direct cost for a paper progress claim from a non-contracted vendor for items such as printer ink, computer paper or postage. 
  • Expenses. Create a direct cost for expenses that might include computer equipment, telephones or internal equipment rentals. 
  • Payroll. Create a direct cost for monthly payroll costs classified by cost code, so that payroll amounts reflect each month on the budget. 

To learn how to create a direct cost, see Create a Direct Cost

To learn what else you can do with the Direct Costs tool, see Direct Costs