Oracle Netsuite
Netsuite is an integrated cloud-based ERP service for automating core business processes across industries, including construction.
ERP in the construction industry: services, integrations & deployment tips
November 6, 2024
ERP in construction is a specialized ERP platform that enables construction companies to manage core business processes, from raw materials budgeting and subcontracts onboarding to project execution and payroll. With 10+ years in ERP services, Itransition delivers scalable and cost-effective solutions to help its clients orchestrate key workflows and minimize operational risks.
About Itransition
50+ completed projects of different scales across various industries
Hands-on expertise in delivering out-of-the-box, custom, and hybrid ERP solutions
Strategic partnership with Odoo, NetSuite, and Microsoft
Key construction ERP features
Enterprise resource planning systems are modular solutions, so your company's needs, requirements, and goals define the choice of features. Here, we’ve outlined some capabilities commonly implemented by construction firms:
Contractor & subcontractor management
Automating general contractor and subcontractor management processes from onboarding to invoicing, to focus on project execution, profitability, and growth.
- Contractor and subcontractor data storage (insurance data, health and safety data, training and skills data)
- Contractor and subcontractor registration
- Quotation management
- Work orders creation and issuing
- Work progress tracking
- Tracking of billable tasks with completion status
- Tracking of scheduled and change work order statuses from request to approval
- Running account bill generation
- Performance monitoring
- Bill and payment tracking
- Analytics and reporting (contractor/subcontractor performance, rate analysis, snag list report, job costing, etc.)
Project management
Overseeing and managing all aspects of the homebuilding project to deliver it within budget, schedule, and scope, as well as in line with quality requirements.
- Project planning and scheduling
- Project budgeting
- Project resource requirements and costing
- Project task update and completion tracking
- Material issues and at-site work completion tracking
- Project progress forecasting
- Communication and collaboration capabilities
- Real-time reporting capabilities
- Mobile support to access project plans and submit jobsite operations reports
Inventory & warehouse management
Obtaining real-time visibility into actual inventory levels and automating inventory management processes to meet the demand, minimize inventory shortage and loss, and optimize carrying costs.
- Inventory tracking (location and levels)
- Returnable material tracking
- Material management
- Automated alerting (low stock, expiration, shipment delays, etc.)
- Analytics and reporting (low-stock inventory, on-hand inventory, inventory turnover, goods receipt note, inventory used on a project, supply-demand analysis, etc.)
Supplier management
Getting visibility into the supplier collaboration workflows and automating supplier performance tracking and assessment, document management, and other tasks to ensure reliable partnerships and procurement cost savings.
- Supplier registration, grading, assessment
- Supplier performance monitoring
- Supplier risk monitoring and compliance audit
- Supplier contract tracking
- Supplier bid comparison and supplier selection
- Quotation management
- Purchase order management (creation, approval, status review, cross-checking of purchase against budget, etc.)
- Generation of material indents per project
- Analytics and reporting (supplier performance, top suppliers by value/quality/defect rate, purchase order analysis, supplier sustainability, supplier risk analysis, indents analysis, etc.)
Accounting & finance
Getting complete visibility into the company’s cash inflows and outflows and the financial health of each project for accurate budget management and transparent on-budget project delivery, analytics accounting, and more.
- Purchase orders (materials, equipment, and suppliers) tracking
- Managing contract invoices, general invoices, and applications for payments
- Accounts payable and accounts receivable tracking
- General ledger management
- Material budgeting
- Service budgeting
- Billing automation
- Payroll management
- Tax management (automated calculation and payment triggering)
- Loans and repayments management
- Profit and loss forecasting
- Project cash flow reporting
- Statuary forms generation
- Financial statement and cost reports creation
- Income-expenses statement generation
Document management
Automating the management of construction projects’ legal documents to ensure quick access to actual information, quality control, budget accountability, and schedule compliance.
- Construction contracts
- Change orders
- Compliance documents
- Bidding documents
- Contractor and subcontractor agreements
- Project schedules
- Floor plans
- Electrical drawings
Time management
Efficiently organizing the time set for the project completion, accurate billing and payroll, and improving the scheduling of future projects.
- Tracking onsite and offsite employee or team activity on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis
- Tracking time spent on projects, time off, overtime, late arrival, unscheduled absences, etc.
- Cost control and tracking per project, task, client, etc.
- Employee, job, and shift scheduling
- Analytics and reporting (work time utilization, billable and non-billable hours per project, employee productivity rate, etc.)
Are you looking for a reliable tech partner for your construction ERP project?
Сonstruction ERP benefits
Construction data consolidation
Automatic centralization of all data across business processes in an integrated secure database to enable real-time data transfer between departments and seamless access to the required records within seconds.
Accelerated project planning & management
End-to-end project visibility helps managers and executives plan effectively, define realistic project schedules, improve resource allocation, and manage projects across several locations without delays and cost overruns.
Risk management
Continuous project monitoring with real-time alerts and automatic tracking of compliance with state, national, and international regulations to help identify and mitigate construction project risks as soon as they emerge.
Accurate cost & revenue estimation
Generating accurate project estimates and quotes for successful bidding and accurate planning and management of the budget for raw materials, equipment, and workforce.
Improved decision-making
Interactive dashboards and regular and on-demand reporting capabilities forend-to-end visibility and real-time insights into business workflows to support each decision with data.
Cross-department collaboration
Construction ERP simplifies the tedious information exchange process. It helps seamlessly connect your site and back office teams regardless of time and location for real-time collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Real-life examples of construction ERP solutions
+400%
in the platform use
Acumatica Construction Edition development
Itransition helped Acumatica customize its cloud-based ERP system to adapt it to the needs of the construction industry by streamlining document management, automating construction project management, and more.
2x
faster work order management
ERP for repair & maintenance business
Itransition deployed an Odoo-based ERP solution to help the customer reduce the time for purchase order approval, automate and streamline the management of various enterprise processes, and accelerate work order management.
Best construction ERP software on the market
Key features
- Finance management and accounting
- Service and marketing automation
- Human resource management
- Billing
- Asset management
- CRM
- Sales order management
- Opportunity management
- Planning and budgeting
- Revenue recognition
- Financial analytics and reporting
Limitations
- Price hikes in the long run
Odoo
Odoo is an open-source, scalable, and flexible ERP system with a user-friendly interface for high-growth construction companies in the small and mid-market.
Key features
- Project planning and controlling
- Procurement and subcontractor management
- Contact management
- Land acquisition and development
- Fleet and equipment management
- Accounting and finance
- CRM and estimation
- Equipment and fleet management
- Ecommerce
Limitations
- Requires sufficient expertise to implement, maintain and scale
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a flexible solution for small and medium-sized companies across multiple industries, including construction.
Key features
- Financial management and accounting
- HR management
- Sales management
- Procurement and inventory management
- Supply chain control
- Project management
- Fixed asset management
- Analytics and reporting
Limitations
- Risks of overcustomization
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations
Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, comprising Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 SCM modules, is a comprehensive solution for midsize and large construction organizations that helps them effectively manage their finance, supply chain, and HR operations.
Key features
- Account payable/accounts receivable
- General ledger
- Budgeting
- Cash and bank management
- Compliance management
- Cost accounting
- Asset management
- Project management
- Inventory management
- Procurement and sourcing
- Sales and marketing
- Transportation management
- Warehouse management
- HR and payroll management
Limitations
- Complex setup that requires solid knowledge of Dynamics 365 F&O applications
Acumatica
A major provider of ERP systems for various industries, Acumatica offers full-featured construction accounting software for mid-sized and small businesses.
Key features
- Project management
- Contact management
- Budgeting and job costing
- Contactor and subcontractor management
- Payroll
- Construction mobile
- Change management
Limitations
- BI and reporting is challenging to set up
- A steep learning curve
Infor CloudSuite
A highly customizable and configurable ERP solution for companies across industries, including construction and real-estate.
Key features
- Billing and costing
- Financial and accounting
- CRM and customer service
- Inventory and order management
- End-to-end project management
- Supply chain management
- Asset management
- Document management
Limitations
- High cost and complex licensing
- Unsuitable for multi-site construction organizations
Procore
End-to-end ERP solution tailored to construction workflows and designed for managing projects of all sizes end-to-end.
Key features
- Bidding
- Budgeting
- Contract management
- Document management
- Project management
- Field service management
- Site progress monitoring
- Financial management
Limitations
- Slow processing of graphic-intensive drawings and files
How to choose the best construction ERP
The success of your ERP implementation project will greatly depend on the ERP software you choose for your construction business. The ERP choice depends on a majority of factors, including your functionality requirements, preferred deployment model, and budget and time constraints. Here are more details about factors influencing your ERP software choice.
Mapping needs & ERP requirements
ERP software selection starts with the analysis of your business processes and your corporate IT environment. The analysis will help identify pain points to be addressed, as well as business workflows to be covered by the ERP solution. Most often, key operations that require automation for construction companies will include such activities as project management, job costing, resource planning, finance management, compliance, and many more. To implement an ERP system with well-thought-out functionality, try to engage your employees to understand their day-to-day challenges and how a new solution can help eliminate such issues.
It is also important to take into account the technology landscape you operate to map out technical requirements for your ERP solution since it needs to be seamlessly integrated with your existing corporate systems to ensure smooth data flow across the organization.
All in all, analyzing your current workflows will allow you to map your needs to the requirements for the future ERP system and outline features you would like to see in your system.
Selecting between custom vs platform-based
After outlining the desirable feature set, you must decide between ready-to-use software or a custom ERP solution.Â
Custom ERP solutions, fully tailored to your business workflows, suit construction companies with unconventional business requirements. However, such solutions are more expensive than off-the-shelf ones and scaling them can require adding more servers and other hardware.Â
Off-the-shelf ERP systems for construction come in two shapes – packaged and modular. Packaged ERP platforms have all modules well-integrated and packed into one system. By paying for a license, you get access to all modules. Modular solutions suit companies who don’t want to overpay for additional functionality, because the owners can pick necessary modules and pay only for them.
Deciding on the deployment model
When choosing an ERP solution for construction, one of the most critical decisions is cloud or on-premises hosting. This decision influences the total project cost, solution scalability, hardware investments, deployment speed, and more.
- An on-premise construction ERP system
is run on the company’s proprietary infrastructure, which means the organization faces high upfront investments in hardware, facilities, and an in-house IT team to manage the solution’s customization, maintenance, security, upgrades, etc.
- Cloud-based ERP software
can be deployed and scaled faster and easier, as the company doesn’t need to provide the IT infrastructure and in-house expertise. Many companies consider the subscription-based model an undeniable advantage; however, in the long run, the subscription fee and ongoing support and maintenance fees can get too high compared to on-premises ERP.
- A hybrid construction ERP solution
which combines on-premise and cloud ERP modules, is an alternative for companies looking to maintain the inherent scalability and flexibility of cloud solutions without losing the security of ERP modules running in-house. However, integrating and maintaining hybrid ERP requires advanced expertise and considerable investments.
Our ERP services for construction companies
ERP consulting
Our ERP consultants provide advisory support throughout construction ERP implementation and optimization, helping you mitigate project risks and ensure high ROI.
ERP implementation
We help construction companies implement platform-based ERP solutions, taking on the process end-to-end from business analysis and software selection to configuration, deployment, and user onboarding.
Custom ERP development
Our team builds bespoke ERP systems for construction companies from the ground up, delivering fully tailored sets of features and integrations that support unique business processes of our clients.
ERP migration
We help construction companies move core business functions and corporate data from existing systems to the new ERP solution, preserving data integrity and business continuity.
Implement ERP software that matches your needs
Essential integrations for construction ERP systems
To ensure uninterrupted data flow across all departments and business processes, ERP solutions should be well-integrated with the company's IT environment and required construction management software. We recommend integrating construction enterprise resource planning platforms with the following systems:
Customer relationship management (CRM) system
Business intelligence (BI) software
Business information modeling tools
Construction ERP
Project management software
Health, safety & environment (HSE) management system
Communication & collaboration tools
ERP implementation challenges & ways to solve them
Resistance to change
Resistance to change
Implementing an ERP system requires employees to switch to the new software for some of their daily tasks and adapt to the new workflows. A lack of understanding of ERP implementation goals, as well as insufficient training on ERP functionality, can lead to resistance from the employees side, potentially affecting the project’s outcomes.
To drive a smooth ERP adoption and mitigate resistance to change, set up a change management strategy from the ERP project’s inception. Clearly communicate the advantages of the new system to employees, emphasizing how its going to improve processes, and invest in ERP training programs to ensure a smooth transition.
Budget overruns
Budget overruns
An ERP implementation project comprises multiple stages, each with its nuances, so exceeding your initial budget is easier than it seems.
To keep the project budget within its initial frame, it’s essential to agree upon the project scope and interrelated costs before its kick-off. Weigh on different deployment options and shortlist ERP vendors with a comprehensive overview of product cost structure to find the most cost-efficient solution and calculate possible costs affecting your budget.
Data quality & security
Data quality & security
Adopting an ERP solution requires transferring a lot of corporate information from existing applications to the new system, which can be fraught with data quality or security issues. In order to safely migrate your data while preserving data consistency, it’s advised to establish robust data governance practices, clean the data before transmission, and make sure your ERP implementation partner uses secure tools or custom scripts to extract and transfer the data.
FAQs
How much does implementing construction ERP cost?
The cost of ERP implementation can vary from $50,000 to $1,000,000 for a mid-sized company. Such a price break stems from several factors that form the final price, among which are:
- ERP software type (custom or off-the-shelf)
- Software license fees (depends on the deployment option, functional modules covered, user community, etc.)
- Hardware-related costs (in case of the on-premises deployment)
- Data management activities (data cleansing, consolidation, migration, etc.)
- ERP customization and integration with custom and third-party solutions
- Solution QA
- User and admin training
- After-launch support and maintenance, and more
You can get accurate ERP implementation estimation and streamline your project planning by resorting to professional ERP consultancy.
How long does ERP implementation take?
ERP implementation project timeline depends on several factors, which include:
- The number of business operations and processes streamlined by a construction ERP software solution (or the number of functional modules to be delivered)
- Construction ERP technology choice (custom or off-the-shelf)
- The required level of customization
- Construction software integrations
- ERP implementation methodology
If speaking of rough estimations, ERP implementation for a medium-sized construction company may take anything from 6 to 12 months; more accurate calculations can only be provided after a careful business analysis and ERP solution conceptualization.
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