Running the job

Everything in this section happens after the job is won. It is what the Builder plan adds, and it all reads from the estimate you already built.

The money, in a loop

Four modules track the money, and they connect in one direction:

The BOQ says what you allowed. → Purchase Orders commit it. → Expenses record what you were actually charged. → Progress Claims bring money in.

Variations sit across all of it, because a change to the job changes what you allowed, what you commit, what you spend and what you can claim.

Module	Answers
Purchase Orders	What have I committed to spend?
Expenses	What have I actually been charged?
Progress Claims	What have I invoiced the client for?
Variations	What has changed since the contract?
Schedule & Booking	When does it all happen, and who is coming?

Why orders come first

The temptation on a busy job is to skip orders and just record invoices as they arrive. It works, briefly, and then stops working — because without orders you find out you have overspent when the invoice lands rather than when you commit.

An order raised from the BOQ compares itself against what you allowed at the moment you commit. That is the only point in the process where the information is still useful.

Everything is raised against BOQ items

Orders, claims and variations all point back at Bill of Quantities items. That is what makes the numbers reconcile — and it is why the cost center structure you set up while estimating matters so much here.

If you have not read The Bill of Quantities explained, it is worth ten minutes before this section.

In this section

• Purchase Orders — committing cost to suppliers and subcontractors
• Variations — changes to the contract
• Progress Claims — getting paid
• Expenses — supplier invoices against what you committed
• Colour Selection — recording what the client chooses
• Schedule & Booking — tasks, the Gantt, call-ups, bookings and cash flow
• Site Diary — the daily record: weather, who was on site, deliveries, visitors, issues and photos
• Timesheets — your people’s hours, approved in the office and costed onto the job
• Earned Value — is the job ahead or behind, under or over: estimate, schedule and invoices side by side, with a forecast of the final cost
• Checklists & Safety — inspections, sign-ons, handover checks and the incident register
• Defects — the punch list, through to handover
• Messages — the team’s chat, one conversation per job, with photos, files and phone notifications (replaces Feeds)
• Client Portal — one private page per client: shared documents, selections, variations to approve, claims, photos and a message thread