Finance
AR and collections
See every receivable across every project and counterparty in one view, know exactly where each pay application sits, and work a prioritized queue instead of chasing email.
Construction accounts receivable is the money owed to a contractor for work performed, tracked through pay applications, retainage, and lien waivers across multiple projects and counterparties. Collections in construction means managing that pipeline: knowing where each pay application sits, what is holding payment, and what to pursue next.
- Construction DSO (industry surveys, no official figure)
- Commonly cited near 80 days
- Private retainage (ASA / Clemson study, Bausman 2004)
- 7.59% withheld
The problem
You finance the job, then wait months to see the cash.
A subcontractor can carry a job on its own cash for 60 to 120 days before the first dollar comes back. Pay applications sit in an approval chain with no visibility, retainage piles up across counterparties, and change orders get approved but never billed.
Existing portals let you submit and sign, but they give no portfolio view of cash realization. The finance team lives in email, chasing payments one project at a time, with no way to see what is stuck, why, or what to do first.
Buildalytic aggregates receivables across every project and counterparty, tracks each pay application through its approval chain, and produces a next-best-action queue ordered by dollar amount, aging, and likelihood of collection.
How it works
From scattered portals to one collections operation.
Aggregate the portfolio
Receivables from every project and counterparty roll into one aging view, so the whole AR picture is in one place.
Track each pay app
Every pay application is followed through submitted, reviewed, approved, released, and paid, across each counterparty’s rules.
Surface what is stuck
Change orders approved but not billed, missing waivers, and aging balances are flagged with the reason.
Work the queue
A prioritized next-best-action list tells the team what to chase, in what order, with the documents attached.
What is inside
A managed collections operation, not an overdue list.
Portfolio aging
Every receivable across every counterparty in one aging view: who owes, how much, how late.
Pay-app status
Where each pay application sits in the approval chain, per counterparty.
Change-order capture
Approved change orders not yet billed surfaced so revenue is not left on the table.
Waiver management
Conditional and unconditional waivers tracked with the right timing so payment is not delayed.
Next-best-action
A queue prioritized by dollar amount, aging, and likelihood of collection.
DSO visibility
Days sales outstanding tracked so cash realization is measurable, not a feeling.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good DSO for construction?
Construction runs a high days-sales-outstanding compared to other industries, commonly cited near 80 days in industry surveys driven by retainage and long approval chains. A better-than-average DSO is anything meaningfully below that. Lowering it comes from faster pay-application approval, timely waivers, and disciplined follow-up on aging balances.
How is construction DSO calculated?
Days sales outstanding is average accounts receivable divided by total credit revenue for a period, multiplied by the number of days in the period. It measures how long it takes to collect after billing. In construction, retainage and slow pay-application cycles push it well above other industries.
Why is getting paid so slow in construction?
Payment moves down a chain: an owner pays the general contractor, who pays subcontractors, each step gated by pay-application review, lien-waiver exchange, and retainage. Retainage alone holds back a share of every payment until the end of the job. The result is long cycle times and cash tied up in receivables.
What is a collections control tower?
A collections control tower is a single portfolio view of all receivables across projects and counterparties, showing where each payment sits and what is blocking it. Instead of chasing invoices one portal at a time, the finance team works a prioritized queue of the highest-value, most-collectible items first.
Does this replace my accounting system?
No. Buildalytic layers on top of your accounting system to manage collections. The ledger of record stays where it is. Buildalytic aggregates the receivables, tracks pay-application status and waivers, and drives the follow-up work that an accounting system does not orchestrate.
See your receivables in one view.
We will show portfolio aging, pay-application status, and a next-best-action queue on a real book of receivables.