Verdad construction services Customer Story
Verdad Construction discovers a new way to handle payment applications
Verdad Real Estate and Construction Services became a GCPay customer a few years ago. Verdad is a commercial general contractor in Southlake, Texas, that specializes in new construction and remodeling projects for franchises like 7-Eleven, Tiff’s Treats and Popeye’s Chicken.
We sat down with Tammi Savage, Verdad’s Senior Project Coordinator, to get an update on how their payment processing has improved with GCPay.
Tammi Savage
Senior Project Coordinator
Company Info
Founded in 2009
Headquarted in Southlake, TX
The Challenge
Before switching to GCPay, Verdad had a manual process for the payment application submissions from subcontractors. It was crucial to ensure that all compliance documents had been turned in. Tammi says they used an Excel template for the draw worksheet, similar to an AIA progress payment application. She says, “That didn’t always go very smoothly because subs either hadn’t used an AIA document before, or they messed up draw one and were on draw five, and we then had to go back and recreate the wheel. Sometimes I just created their billing for them to get it done, because we were at the end of the project, and they needed to get paid and they were frustrated.”
Verdad used a manual cover sheet to track compliance documents and ensure that everything, like lien waivers, had been received. “If the sub didn’t have a lien waiver, then I’d have to go and track it down. Then come pay time, if we still didn’t have it, I’d have to hold their check and do the back and forth of telling them I need your waiver before I can give you this payment,” Tammi says.
Invoices were sometimes lost or misplaced during this process, so they weren’t entered in accounting and the sub didn’t get paid. Tammi remembers that the process caused a lot of delays and created tension between her and the accounts payable department.
Subcontractors weren’t happy with the way the system was working either – there were complaints about lost invoices and the lack of payments. Tammi said Verdad tried multiple processes in an attempt to address the issues, but subs continued to criticize the amount of paperwork required, saying they didn’t have to provide this much information to other GCs.
GCPay + Sage 300 CRE
GCPay has been an integration partner with Sage 300 Construction & Real Estate since 2003. This partnership allows for information related to commitments, change orders, and compliance documents to sync automatically with GCPay. Approved applications for payment can be automatically pushed to Accounts Payable. GCPay’s integration with Sage 300 ensures subcontractor commitments and change orders are detailed properly and processed accordingly
A New Way to Handle Payment Applications
One day, Tammi and other accounting staff members were called into a meeting to look at GCPay. The CFO decided that Verdad would implement the pay app software into their payment process. After seeing the functionality, Tammi was quickly sold!
“The onboarding process was seamless and successful,” Tammi tells us. “We were up and running in the software in less than a month.”
Big Benefits
Tammi says that GCPay has improved Verdad’s efficiency, relationships, and communication. “I can get my job done more efficiently. I can go in and look at an overview of a job and know if we’re going to bill a client. I can see if a sub has submitted billing. If they haven’t, I can reach out to them. Having that overview in one spot is more convenient, versus having to go check each folder for that sub. If we were still doing things that way, I would say we’d probably have to hire two more people.”
With the pay app software, there’s a better relationship between project coordination and accounting, and between Tammi and her subs. The subs are being paid on a timelier basis and they can go in and see the draw. Because GCPay is online, “it’s easy for them to set their own schedule of values the way they want to break it out. Then it fits with what they want to bill, not what our line item is. And the waiver is automatically filled out for them. All they have to do is print it out, sign it, notarize it, upload it and we get it back.”
More key functionality: The ability for management to see who’s billing and what’s been billed on the job. Tammi adds, “Our director, who does all the billings for our clients, can go in and look at the overview and say, ‘Hey, so-and-so hasn’t billed.’ Or ‘Why is the electrician billing so much? I know they’re not done.’”
Seamless Integration with Sage 300
Tammi says that GCPay has helped with Verdad’s efficiency, relationships, and communication. “I can get my job done more efficiently. I can go in and look at an overview of a job and know if we’re going to bill a client. I can see if a sub has submitted billing. If they haven’t, I can reach out to them. Having that overview in one spot is more convenient, versus having to go check each folder for that sub. If we were still doing things that way, I would say we’d probably have to hire two more people.”
Now there is a better relationship between project coordination and accounting, and between Tammi and her subs. The subs are getting paid on a timelier basis and they can go in and see the draw. And because GCPay is online, Tammi remarks that “it’s easy for them to set their own schedule of values the way they want to break it out. Then it fits with what they want to bill, not what our line item is. And the waiver is automatically filled out for them. All they have to do is print it out, sign it, notarize it, upload it and we get it back.”
Tammi also notes that the ability for their management team to see who’s billing and what’s been billed on the job is key. “Our director, who does all the billings for our clients, can go in and look at the overview and say, ‘Hey, so-and-so hasn’t billed.’ Or ‘Why is the electrician billing so much? I know they’re not done.’”
Superior Support Experience
GCPay’s support is extraordinary. Tammi says, “I know that my phone call will be answered, my issue will be handled within seconds and everything will be working great. I wish you could train other companies’ support teams. I have never dealt with such a great support team.”
Solutions & Results
When asked if she wished anything was better or easier in GCPay, Tammi told us “it covered all of our needs – my only wish was that we had it sooner rather than later!
GCPay makes my life a lot easier and the product is true to form. Everything we requested or needed was implemented and completed. It is just great!”
