Subcontractor software is searched for by a general contractor with a handful of subs on a handful of jobs and a spreadsheet that no longer says, on any given day, what each sub has billed, what is held on them and what is left to pay. The category is sold as a field-management suite with a per-user price, and that is a different product for a different buyer. What the GC needs is the record of the subs' money: each sub's contract sum, their schedule of values, the draws they have billed, the retainage held on them and the balance to finish, worked the same way the owner's draw is worked on the GC. This page says what subcontractor software has to keep and compute, works it on the hub's example, and points at the free schedule-of-values draw on this site that does the arithmetic for one sub's period, with no account.
What software for subcontractors has to keep
For each sub on each project: the subcontract sum; the sub's schedule of values, their part of the job with a value on each line; each pay application they have submitted, with the work complete to date, the previously billed figure, the period's work, the retainage held and the payment made; and the change orders that moved the sum. Linked to the project, so that the subs' draws add up against the owner's draw, and linked to the sub, so that one screen shows everything held on them across jobs. Subcontractor tracking software that keeps a contact list and a document folder has kept the sub and left the money in the spreadsheet; the test is one screen for one sub with those figures on it.
The arithmetic it owes: a sub's draw, worked
A sub's draw is the owner's draw in miniature. A framing subcontract of $90,000 on the hub's $450,000 job, 60% complete this period, 40% billed before, no stored materials, retainage at 10%: work to date $54,000, less $36,000 billed before, $18,000 this period, $1,800 held, $16,200 due, $36,000 to finish. Subcontractor construction software has to work that for every sub every period and roll the results into the GC's own application to the owner, so that the owner's 35% complete is supported by the subs' percentages beneath it. The free schedule-of-values draw on this site works one sub's period from the same five inputs the owner's draw takes.
Subcontractors management: the money, the paperwork, the year end
Managing subs is three records: the money above, the paperwork the contract requires before a sub is paid (the lien waiver for the previous payment, the insurance certificate in date, the signed change orders), and the year-end reporting, because payments to subcontractors are reported on the Internal Revenue Service's Form 1099-NEC, linked below, and a record that keeps each sub's payments by year makes that a report rather than a reconstruction. Construction software for subcontractors that does the first and the third from one record has done the management; the paperwork check is a field on each draw that says whether it arrived.
Free subcontractor management software, and what the paid record adds
The free tools on this site do the arithmetic: the schedule-of-values draw works any one period for the owner's application or a sub's, with the retainage held and the balance to finish shown, and needs no account. The paid plan is the record: every sub's contract, schedule of values and draws kept against the project and against the sub, with the paperwork flags and the year's payments, exported when the question comes. The suites price per user per month: Fieldwire Basic is free, Pro is $39 and Business $64 per user per month billed annually. DrawScheduleWorks Pro is one price for the contractor, because the subs are the contractor's record and not seats.
Questions people ask about subcontractor software
What should subcontractor software keep?
Each sub's contract sum, schedule of values, pay applications with work to date, previously billed, this period, retainage held and payment made, and the change orders, linked to the project and to the sub. One screen for one sub with those figures is the test.
How is a subcontractor's draw calculated?
Exactly as the owner's: work to date from the percentage complete, less previously billed, gives this period; retainage at the contract's rate is held; the rest is due. A $90,000 sub 60% complete with 40% billed before and 10% retainage is $16,200 due.
Is there free subcontractor management software?
The schedule-of-values draw on this site works any sub's period free, with no account. The paid plan keeps every sub's draws against the project and the sub, with the paperwork flags and year-end totals, at one price for the contractor rather than per user.