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Buildertrend Review: Pros, Cons, Features, and Pricing

Buildertrend is a construction accounting software that helps construction professionals manage project schedules, budgets, and client communications. It's particularly beneficial for mid-sized to large construction firms, such as contractors, home builders, and remodelers, due to its comprehensive project management features. Buildertrend enhances project oversight with tools for financial management, job costing, time tracking, and document sharing, making it a competitive construction management software option in the broader construction industry.

Buildertrend addresses common pain points like inefficient project management, change orders, and communication gaps, especially for teams dealing with multiple construction projects. In this article, I'll cover Buildertrend's features, pros and cons, use cases, and pricing, so you can decide if it meets your construction management needs and goals.

Buildertrend Evaluation Summary

Buildertrend provides integrated job costing, budgeting, and financial tracking.
Rating
4.5 /5
Pricing
  • Pricing upon request
  • Free demo available

Why Trust Our Software Reviews

Buildertrend Overview

In my opinion, Buildertrend is a solid choice for construction accounting and construction project management, especially for those managing multiple projects. It shines with its project management functionality, templates, and excellent customer support, making it a reliable tool for tracking, financial management, and documentation. However, its complexity can be a hurdle for new users, and the pricing might not be ideal for smaller firms. If your team can navigate the learning curve, Buildertrend offers valuable capabilities for project scheduling, task management, and workflow automation. It's best suited for environments where robust project tracking and client communication are priorities. Consider it if you need comprehensive features and can invest in initial training.

How We Test & Score Tools

We’ve spent years building, refining, and improving our software testing and scoring system. The rubric is designed to capture the nuances of software selection and what makes a tool effective, focusing on critical aspects of the decision-making process.

Below, you can see exactly how our testing and scoring works across seven criteria. It allows us to provide an unbiased evaluation of the software based on core functionality, standout features, ease of use, onboarding, customer support, integrations, customer reviews, and value for money.

Core Functionality (25% of final scoring)

The starting point of our evaluation is always the core functionality of the tool. Does it have the basic features and functions that a user would expect to see? Are any of those core features locked to higher-tiered pricing plans? At its core, we expect a tool to stand up against the baseline capabilities of its competitors.

Standout Features (25% of final scoring)

Next, we evaluate uncommon standout features that go above and beyond the core functionality typically found in tools of its kind. A high score reflects specialized or unique features that make the product faster, more efficient, or offer additional value to the user.

We also evaluate how easy it is to integrate with other tools typically found in the tech stack to expand the functionality and utility of the software. Tools offering plentiful native integrations, 3rd party connections, and API access to build custom integrations score best.

Ease of Use (10% of final scoring)

We consider how quick and easy it is to execute the tasks defined in the core functionality using the tool. High scoring software is well designed, intuitive to use, offers mobile apps, provides templates, and makes relatively complex tasks seem simple.

Onboarding (10% of final scoring)

We know how important rapid team adoption is for a new platform, so we evaluate how easy it is to learn and use a tool with minimal training. We evaluate how quickly a team member can get set up and start using the tool with no experience. High scoring solutions indicate little or no support is required.

Customer Support (10% of final scoring)

We review how quick and easy it is to get unstuck and find help by phone, live chat, or knowledge base. Tools and companies that provide real-time support score best, while chatbots score worst.

Customer Reviews (10% of final scoring)

Beyond our own testing and evaluation, we consider the net promoter score from current and past customers. We review their likelihood, given the option, to choose the tool again for the core functionality. A high scoring software reflects a high net promoter score from current or past customers.

Value for Money (10% of final scoring)

Lastly, in consideration of all the other criteria, we review the average price of entry level plans against the core features and consider the value of the other evaluation criteria. Software that delivers more, for less, will score higher.

Core Features

Job Costing: Track your project's costs in real time to ensure you stay within budget. Buildertrend allows you to break down costs by labor, materials, and other expenses, helping you maintain financial control.

Budget Management: Create and manage budgets for each project. This helps you allocate funds wisely and adjust as needed.

Invoicing: Use quality financial tools to generate and send invoices directly from the platform. You can customize templates to fit your branding.

Time Tracking: Monitor team members’ hours using the integrated time clock, ensuring accurate time entries and billable hours.

Purchase Order Management: Create, send, and track purchase orders. Integration with QuickBooks and Xero streamlines financial workflows.

Reporting: Generate detailed financial reports and project summaries to analyze each job’s performance and profitability.

Ease of Use

Buildertrend's intuitive interface makes it easy to navigate for you and your team. Its dashboard is clear, and features like drag-and-drop scheduling and comprehensive training resources facilitate quick onboarding. Compared to other construction accounting software, Buildertrend stands out by offering a user-friendly experience for those who need its specific features, minimizing the learning curve, and allowing you to focus more on project management and less on software navigation.

Integrations

Buildertrend integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, Pro Xtra, Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Gusto, and more.

Buildertrend also has an API and connects with third-party integration tools.

Buildertrend Specs

  • API
  • Batch Permissions & Access
  • Budgeting
  • Calendar Management
  • Collaboration Support
  • Contact Management
  • Contact Sharing
  • Customer Management
  • Dashboard
  • Dashboards
  • Data Export
  • Data Import
  • Data Visualization
  • Dependency Tracking
  • Document Sharing
  • Expense Tracking
  • External Integrations
  • File Sharing
  • Gantt Charts
  • Kanban Boards
  • Multi-User
  • Notifications
  • Project Management
  • Resource Management
  • Scheduling
  • Task Scheduling/Tracking
  • Third-Party Plugins/Add-Ons
  • Time Management
  • Travel Management
  • Workflow Management

Buildertrend FAQs

Bradley Clifford
By Bradley Clifford

I have 15+ years of experience helping growth-stage companies build finance infrastructure, forecasting tools, and decision-support frameworks. I'm VP of Finance at Black & White Zebra, and previously Senior Director of Finance at Rewind, where I helped cut cash burn from $11M to $2M. I also spent 6 years at Stack Overflow, supporting growth from $20M to $100M through its $1.8B acquisition. I hold an FCCA designation and an MSc in Professional Accountancy.