Automate job setup and subcontractor insurance checks in your job cost system
Stepwork sets up won jobs in your job cost system and project tool, and holds pay apps for subs whose insurance has lapsed, in Viewpoint Spectrum, Sage, and others.
- Industry
- Job setup and sub compliance for general and specialty contractorsConstruction
- Best for
- Controller, Project Accountant, AP Lead
- Applications used
OutlookViewpoint Spectrum
Procore
Excel
- Business outcome
- No pay app goes out to a sub with lapsed insurance
The problem
The bid is won. Now someone types it in twice.
When a job is won, someone creates it in the job cost system with the customer, contract amount, and cost codes, then creates the same project in the project tool. Same numbers, two screens, and a typo in either one shows up months later in a cost report.
Before paying a sub, AP is supposed to check their insurance certificate hasn't expired. With dozens of subs and pay apps every month, that's the check that slips, and it's the one that matters if something goes wrong on site.
The math
What the manual version costs a contractor
Example volumes for a contractor running about 60 active jobs. Swap in yours.
| The manual task | Times a week | Minutes each | Hours a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set up a won job in two systems | 4 | 45 | 3 |
| Check a sub's insurance before a pay app | 40 | 6 | 4 |
| Chase an expired certificate | 8 | 15 | 2 |
- Hours a week
- 9
- Hours a year
- 450
- Of one full-time person
- 23%
Systems
Works in Viewpoint Spectrum, Sage, and the rest
Construction accounting runs on systems that have been in place for decades. Stepwork uses their screens with your team's login, so it doesn't matter how old they are or whether they have an API.
Job cost and accounting
Sage 300 CRE
Foundation Software
CMiC
Project management
Autodesk Build
Buildertrend
Email and files
- Outlook
- Excel
- SharePoint
Example procedures
Two procedures from the back office
One branches on whether the customer is new. One repeats for every sub with a pay app due. Swap in your job cost system and the steps stay the same.
Won bid to a job in Viewpoint Spectrum and Procore
- Outlook
Won bid in the Outlook estimating inbox
message received · estimating
Output variables
- bid_pdf
Read the bid
Input variables
- bid_pdf
Output
- customer_name
- job_address
- contract_amount
- cost_codes
Look for the customer in Viewpoint Spectrum
Input variables
- customer_name
Extracted variables
- customer_id
Is it a new customer?
Input variables
- customer_id
Paths
- If no customer in Viewpoint Spectrum matches the nameThen: Add the customer in Viewpoint Spectrum
- OtherwiseThen: Set up the job in Viewpoint Spectrum
Add the customer in Viewpoint Spectrum
Input variables
- customer_name
Output
- new_customer_id
Set up the job in Viewpoint Spectrum
Input variables
- customer_id
- job_address
- contract_amount
- cost_codes
Output
- job_number
Create the project in Procore
Input variables
- job_number
- job_address
- contract_amount
Drag to explore · pinch to zoom
Step by step
- The won bid comes inEstimating sends the won bid to the estimating inbox. That email starts the run.
- AI reads the bidThe AI card pulls the customer, the job address, the contract amount, and the cost codes off the bid.
- It looks for the customerStepwork searches Viewpoint Spectrum for the customer before creating anything.
- The rule prevents duplicatesNo match takes the top path and adds the customer. A match skips straight to the job.
- If new customerAdd the customer in Viewpoint Spectrum
- If existingSet up the job in Viewpoint Spectrum
- New customers get addedOnly for new customers: the recorded flow adds them in Viewpoint Spectrum.Only on this path: If new customer
- The job gets set upBoth paths meet here. Stepwork creates the job in Viewpoint Spectrum with the address, contract amount, and cost codes, and hands back the job number.
- The project gets createdThe same job goes into Procore under the same job number, so the PM and accounting are looking at one job.
Watch it run
Field map
| From | To |
|---|---|
| OutlookBid: customer | Viewpoint SpectrumJob: customerCreated only when it's new |
| OutlookBid: contract amount | Viewpoint SpectrumJob: original contract |
| OutlookBid: cost codes | Viewpoint SpectrumJob: cost code budget |
| Viewpoint SpectrumJob: job number | ProcoreProject: number |
Subcontractor insurance checks before pay apps in Viewpoint Spectrum
- Outlook
Step by step
- This week's pay apps come outStepwork reads every sub with a pay app due from Viewpoint Spectrum. Each sub is one pass through the loop.
- It reads the insurance dateInside the dashed frame, Stepwork reads the sub's certificate expiration from their compliance record in Viewpoint Spectrum.Repeats: For each sub with a pay app due · 36 subs
- The rule compares datesA certificate that expires before the pay app takes the top path. Current ones go ahead with nothing else to do.
- If expiredPut the pay app on hold in Viewpoint Spectrum
- If currentThe pay app goes ahead
Repeats: For each sub with a pay app due · 36 subs - Expired subs go on holdOnly when it's expired: the recorded flow puts the pay app on hold in Viewpoint Spectrum.Only on this path: If expiredRepeats: For each sub with a pay app due · 36 subs
- The sub gets askedStepwork emails the sub for a current certificate, with the expiration date it found.Only on this path: If expiredRepeats: For each sub with a pay app due · 36 subs
- AP gets the listAfter the last sub, the Summary card lists every hold and every request sent.Only on this path: If expired
Watch it run
Flows
The flows behind these procedures
Each flow is one job recorded once in one system, on your own screens.
- Viewpoint Spectrum
Set up a job
Creates a job with the customer, contract amount, and cost code budget. - Viewpoint Spectrum
Put a pay app on hold
Places a subcontractor's pay application on hold with a note. - Procore
Create a project
Creates a project with the job number, address, and contract value. - Outlook
Read a won bid
Opens the newest won bid email and hands the PDF to the next step.
Why Stepwork
The same numbers in every system
Stepwork enters each job the same way in your job cost system and your project tool, so the job number, contract, and cost codes match everywhere. The insurance check runs every week whether or not anyone remembers, and every run records which subs were held and why.
FAQ