Construction Firms Relied on Manual Payment Processes
Financial leaders at large contractors are digitizing admin workflows to cut the 38 hours spent weekly on manual payment tasks.
Updated on Sept. 29, 2026 in Construction
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A late 2025 survey of 162 financial decision-makers found that construction firms managing an average of 210 subcontractors remained heavily dependent on manual tools like spreadsheets and email. These administrative burdens often fall on finance ledger teams of just five employees.
Why it matters
High administrative workloads increase the risk of payment errors and cash flow volatility for contractors. These firms now face pressure to upgrade legacy systems to maintain margins as subcontractor management grows in complexity.
Finance teams average 20 hours per week processing payment applications and another 18 hours managing self-billing agreements. While 91% of respondents identified technology as important, these tasks currently occupy ledger teams of just five people.
The players
Payapps
A construction technology firm that provides cloud-based software for managing payment applications and progress claims.
Censuswide
A market research consultancy that specializes in data collection and sentiment analysis for corporate clients.
The details
Contractors managing hundreds of subcontractors rely on small finance teams to handle massive volumes of billing data via manual software. This creates significant operational bottlenecks, as the lack of automated ledger integration requires staff to manually reconcile payment applications and self-billing agreements. The resulting administrative friction limits the capacity for financial analysis, leaving teams reactive rather than strategic in managing project cash flows.
Timeline
The industry survey was conducted between 27 October 2025 and 3 November 2025.
63% of businesses plan to adopt dedicated payment software within the next six months.
45% of businesses intend to prioritize process efficiency improvements over the next 24 months.
Market Landscape
The reliance on spreadsheets and email marks a departure from the digitized back-office standards common in other high-revenue sectors. This trend follows the broader industry move toward centralized project accounting to mitigate the risks inherent in large subcontractor networks.
Operators should audit the time currently spent on subcontractor reconciliation to determine if the cost of automation software is offset by recouped administrative hours. Firms that continue to rely on manual ledger management may find it difficult to scale operations without increasing headcount.
The takeaway
Manual billing processes act as a drag on operational capacity, effectively capping the number of subcontractors a small team can manage. Owners should track the 'cost per invoice' metric to determine the precise ROI of shifting from spreadsheet-based tracking to dedicated payment platforms.
Further reading
For more on industry shifts, see Construction.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Planning, BIM & Construction Today.
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