Early access Built by a general contractor, for general contractors

Construction payables,
entered once.

One invoice becomes one tracked record with its lien releases and insurance attached, gets approved, posts to your accounting system as the right checks with the right coding, and is paid. Every action logged, by name.

Request early access See how it works ↓

Joint checks · Retention · Lien releases · Certificates of insurance · Approvals · Accounting integrations

The payables worklist, rendered here in HTML with illustrative demo data. Companies, vendors, properties and amounts are fictional.

One place for every payment

Everything about a payment, together.

The invoice, its lien releases, the insurance certificate, the approval and the check number all live on one record. Anyone on the team can see where a payment stands and what it is waiting on, without asking.

One system

Inbox, shared drive, spreadsheet and re-keying become one place. Your accounting system stays the books.

Entered once

Record an invoice one time. build.pay drafts the accounting entry from it.

Paperwork that keeps up

Releases and certificates are tracked per payment and requested in one click.

A complete record

Every action is logged by name, so the history is ready when the bank asks.

An invoice with its signed release, insurance certificate and check clipped together on a desk.

How it works

Four steps from invoice to paid.

Every payment follows the same path. build.pay knows what each step needs and shows what is waiting at a glance.

1

Record

An invoice arrives. Record it once: vendor, property, contract and amount. build.pay builds the checks from the contract, including joint checks and retention.

You get the exact checks, previewed before you save.
2

Collect

The lien releases and insurance certificates this payment needs are listed automatically. Request any that are missing in one click and verify them as they come in.

You get complete paperwork, matched to the payment.
3

Approve

The approver sees the invoice, its documents and any open flags in one view, then approves or sends it back with a note.

You get fast decisions, every one on the record.
4

Pay

The accounting entry is drafted for review, the check is recorded once, and the record closes when the final release comes back.

You get a paid, closed, bank-ready file.

Anything incomplete shows as a flag on the item with the action to fix it. Flags inform, they never stall the team.

Joint checks & retention

Built for how construction actually pays.

Subcontractors are paid by joint check. Subs have subs. Retention is held on every progress payment and released at the end. build.pay generates the checks, the payee names and the class offsets from the contract's sub chain, so nobody builds them by hand.

Invoice ALV-2214worked example · demo data
Vendor
Alvarez Concrete Inc
Property
1042 Pico Blvd
GL account
5010 Concrete & Foundation
Amount
$48,750.00
Retention
10% · −$4,875.00
Net this payment
$43,875.00
Contract sub chain
Alvarez Concrete Inc · prime
↳ Delgado Rebar Co · claims $10,980 + $4,860
↳ RB Steel Supply · claims $4,860

Payee names are built for the books and the check: the prime first, then each level down, joined with AND, so they sort together. Payee names are set when the checks are created and never rewritten.

Alvarez Concrete IncCheck 1 · the prime's own check
$28,035.00
Concrete & Foundation work1042 Pico Blvd$48,750.00
Joint offset · Delgado Rebar CoJoint−$10,980.00
Joint offset · RB Steel SupplyJoint−$4,860.00
Retention held · 10%Retention−$4,875.00
Alvarez Concrete Inc AND Delgado Rebar CoCheck 2 · joint check to the first-tier sub
$10,980.00
Joint release · Delgado Rebar CoJoint$10,980.00
Alvarez Concrete Inc AND Delgado Rebar Co AND RB Steel SupplyCheck 3 · joint check to the second-tier sub
$4,860.00
Joint release · RB Steel SupplyJoint$4,860.00
Cash out this payment$43,875.0028,035 + 10,980 + 4,860
Joint class, across the set$0.00offsets and releases net to zero
Retention class−$4,875.00still owed, until released

Retention is a class, not an account

Every line on every check posts to the invoice's GL account. A retention line wears the Retention class, so a report split by class answers "how much retention is still owed", and releasing it drives the class to zero.

Joint nets to zero, and shows the split

The offset on the prime's check and the release on the sub's check both wear the Joint class. The job cost appears once, and the accounting records exactly how the money was divided.

Splits validated live

You see the checks before you save them, built with the same math used to create them. Lines that don't balance, a sub claiming more than the contract allows, or an invoice over the contract amount are warnings you see before you save.

Lien releases

A release ledger that knows who owes what.

When the checks are created, build.pay lists each party and each release it will need. One grid shows what is in, what is out, and what to request next.

  • ✓Conditional, unconditional, final, tracked per party per payment, including every sub and sub-sub on a joint check.
  • ✓One-click request. The email goes out with a pre-filled release generated from the record's own data, ready to sign and return.
  • ✓Date mismatches caught structurally. A release dated differently from its invoice is flagged at receipt, not discovered at the bank.
  • ✓Prior payments remembered. A new invoice from a vendor whose last unconditional release never came back carries that warning forward.
  • ✓Waivable, with a name attached. A requirement can be waived by someone with the permission, and the waiver is logged with their name.
A signed lien release beside an invoice, with a calendar date linking the two.
An insurance certificate in front of a shield, with a calendar, a reminder bell and vendor folders marked current or expiring.

Compliance

Insurance and W-9s, watched every night.

build.pay watches every vendor's insurance certificate and W-9 and gives one plain answer: current, expiring, expired or missing. It rechecks every night and the moment a document arrives.

  • ✓Certificates of insurance and W-9s tracked per vendor, with expiry dates and validity.
  • ✓A compliance board of every vendor's status, with reminders sent from the system and logged.
  • ✓Renewals in one step. Upload the new certificate to the vendor's record and their status updates instantly.
  • ✓A dedicated role. A Compliance Officer sees vendors and their documents and nothing else. The role exists on day one.
  • ✓Surfaced where it matters. A missing certificate colors the vendor's new invoice at intake. An expiring one flags the item at review.

Warnings, never blockades

Ten things build.pay checks for you.

build.pay checks every payment against its paperwork, its vendor and its contract, and flags anything off. A flagged item can still move forward, but only an Admin can approve past a flag, and the override is logged with a reason.

Critical
  • COI missing
  • Lines don't balance
Serious
  • COI expired
  • Release not returned
  • Release date mismatch
  • Prior unconditional missing
  • Contract over amount
Warning
  • COI expiring
  • W-9 missing
  • Sub over claim

Approvals

Approve with the documents in view. In seconds. On the record.

The approver's queue shows each invoice with its checks, its releases, its insurance status and its open warnings inline. Every decision is recorded, and it is the only way an item becomes approved.

  • ✓Set or per-check decisions. Approve all the checks for an invoice together, or each one on its own.
  • ✓Return with a note. Send it back to payables with what needs to change.
  • ✓Nothing sneaks past. An item cannot be posted or paid without a recorded approval.
  • ✓Full history on every item: who recorded it, who requested what, who approved, who paid, and when.
A stamp leaving a check mark on a bundle of invoice and release documents, with an activity log beside it.
Three checks travelling along rails toward an open accounting ledger, one under a magnifying glass.

Integrations

Your books stay your books. build.pay stops the retyping.

build.pay is not another set of books. It connects to the accounting system you already run, reads your accounts, classes and vendors, and drafts one entry per check for you to review before anything posts.

  • ✓You authorize the connection from your own accounting account, and you can disconnect at any time.
  • ✓Matched, never guessed. build.pay links what it can and asks you about anything ambiguous. A mapping you chose is never changed behind your back.
  • ✓Review the exact entry. Before anything is sent you see every line, every account and every class exactly as your books will receive it.
  • ✓One connection per company. Switch companies in the header; each keeps its own connection, and credentials are encrypted.
Accounting
QuickBooks Online

Accounts, classes and vendors read from your company; one bill per check drafted for review.

In final verification
Sign-in
Google

Sign in with the Google account you already use. Access is by invitation only.

Available
Email
Release requests & reminders

Lien release requests go out with the pre-filled form attached. Compliance reminders go out the same way.

Available
Documents
Bank packets

Invoice, releases and check number merged into one file, ready for your lender.

Available
Email
Invoice intake

Vendor emails to your payables address become draft payables automatically.

Coming
Payments
Digital payments

Pay approved items electronically, with the same documents and approvals behind them.

Coming

Run your books somewhere else? Tell us what you use. Early-access partners shape which integrations come next.

Documents, roles, audit

Bank-report ready, every time.

Originals never change

Every upload is checked and stored securely. The original stays exactly as received; PAID stamps and labels are added as new versions on top.

Bank packets in one click

The invoice and its releases merge into a single file for the bank, stamped with the check number, with a record of how it was made.

Private by default

Documents are never on a public link. Every view is permission-checked, logged, and served through a secure link that expires.

Four roles. Sign in with Google, invite only.

Admin
Everything, including connecting integrations, managing users, and approving past a flag with a logged reason.
Payables Office
The day-to-day: recording invoices, documents, release requests and payments.
Compliance Officer
Vendors and their compliance documents: renewals, reminders and status. Nothing else.
View Only
See everything. Change nothing.

Custom roles with per-section permissions are on the roadmap.

Trust

Careful with your money. Careful with your records.

build.pay handles the paperwork behind real checks, so it is built to be conservative: nothing posts without a review, nothing is deleted, and everything is logged.

Private
Your documents and data are encrypted and stored privately. Access is by invitation, with sign-in through Google.
Permanent
Originals are kept exactly as received and protected from deletion. New versions are added, never written over.
Accountable
Every action carries a name and a time: who recorded, who requested, who approved, who paid, and who overrode a flag and why.
Reviewed
Nothing reaches your accounting system until a person has seen the exact entry. Approvals are the only door to payment.
Yours
Your accounting system stays the system of record. build.pay reads your accounts, classes and vendors and posts only what you approve.
Reversible
Disconnect any integration at any time from within build.pay. Your books are untouched.

Roadmap

Here today, and what is next.

build.pay is in early access. Each release ships and gets used before the next one starts.

In the product today
  • Payables tracking with flags for anything missing
  • Joint checks and retention generated from the contract
  • Lien release tracking and one-click requests with pre-filled forms
  • Insurance and W-9 compliance with reminders
  • Approvals queue with documents in view
  • Secure documents and a complete activity history
  • Roles and sign-in with Google
Finishing now
  • Accounting integration (QuickBooks Online) with review before posting
  • PAID stamps on stored documents
  • Bank packets merged and ready to send
Coming next
  • Email intake that turns vendor emails into draft payables
  • Two-way accounting sync
  • Vendor portal for status, uploads and signing
  • Digital payments
  • Custom roles
  • More integrations, guided by early-access partners
A construction back-office desk with a laptop showing a worklist, a hard hat, rolled drawings and an inbox tray.

Who's behind it

We're a general contractor. We built build.pay to run our own payables, because nothing we could buy understood joint checks, retention and lien releases the way our accountant does.

build.pay started inside a general contractor as the system its own payables desk runs on. It is now opening to other contractors who pay subs by joint check, hold retention and want their books to stay their books. If that's you, we'd like to talk.

Request early access

Early access

Enter each invoice once.

We're onboarding general contractors who pay subs by joint check, hold retention, and want the paperwork to keep up. Early-access partners get hands-on setup and a say in what comes next.

Email hello@build.pay Read how it works

Tell us your company, how many invoices a month, and which accounting system you use. We reply personally.