AR for construction subcontractors
The work is done.
Get the pay app paid.
Subcontractors don’t get paid when they invoice. They get paid when the pay app is approved, the lien waiver is in, the owner has paid the GC, and, months later, when retainage is finally released.
Book a demoYou set the rules. Alder follows through.
Why it gets stuck
Billed is not paid, and on a job site the gap is months.
The pay app is sitting with the GC
The application went in by the cutoff, but the project manager hasn’t approved it, or approved it for less, and nobody told you why.
Waiting on a lien waiver
The GC won’t release payment until it has your conditional waiver for this draw, and the unconditional one for the last.
Change orders not approved
The extra work was done on a verbal go-ahead. Until the change order is signed, that line on the pay app won’t be paid.
Retainage nobody tracks
Five or ten percent of every payment is held back until completion, then quietly forgotten once the crew moves to the next job.
Pay-when-paid
The GC says it hasn’t been paid by the owner yet. Without a record of the draw dates, you can’t tell whether that’s still true.
Back-charges and short pays
The GC deducts for cleanup, damage, or delay, and the deduction sits unchallenged because nobody has pulled the daily logs.
How Alder handles it
Your relationships with general contractors matter more than any single invoice, so Alder starts read-only. You set tone and escalation once, and anything sent to a GC waits for your approval.
Follows each pay app
Alder tracks every pay application from submission to approval to payment, and follows up with the project manager or GC accounting team in the original thread when it stalls.
Learn more: Follows each pay appFinds the document holding payment
When payment is waiting on a lien waiver, a certificate of insurance, a sworn statement, or a signed change order, Alder identifies it and puts it in front of the right person.
Keeps retainage on the list
Retainage is tracked by project with its release conditions, so it is invoiced and followed up when the job reaches completion, not a year later.
Researches back-charges
When a GC short-pays, Alder gathers the contract terms, the approved scope, and the related emails, and hands you a recommendation on whether to dispute.
Learn more: Researches back-chargesHow we deploy
We observe your workflow before an agent writes anything.
Your data is never used to train models, ours or anyone's.
Deployed inside your VPC or cloud account when required.
Every action an agent takes is logged, attributable, and reversible.
Questions
What is retainage in construction?
Retainage, or retention, is a percentage of each progress payment, typically 5 to 10 percent, that the owner or general contractor holds back until the project or the subcontractor’s scope is complete. It is released after substantial or final completion, often only once the subcontractor submits a final invoice, close-out documents, and a final lien waiver.
What is a pay application?
A pay application is a subcontractor’s request for a progress payment, showing the scheduled value of each line of work, the percentage completed, materials stored, retainage withheld, and the amount due for the period. Many projects use the AIA G702 and G703 forms. It must be approved by the general contractor, and often the owner’s architect, before it is paid.
What is the difference between a conditional and an unconditional lien waiver?
A conditional lien waiver gives up lien rights only once a specific payment is actually received. An unconditional waiver gives them up immediately, whether or not the payment has cleared. Subcontractors usually provide a conditional waiver with each pay application and an unconditional waiver once the funds arrive. Several states prescribe the exact waiver forms.
What does pay-when-paid mean?
A pay-when-paid clause lets a general contractor delay paying a subcontractor until the owner has paid the GC, usually for a reasonable time. A pay-if-paid clause goes further and makes the owner’s payment a condition of the subcontractor being paid at all. Enforceability varies by state.
Does Alder work with GC payment portals?
Yes. Alder submits pay applications and lien waivers into Textura, Procore Pay, GCPay, and Siteline, as well as by email. It connects to construction accounting systems including Sage 300 CRE, Sage Intacct Construction, Viewpoint Vista, Foundation, and QuickBooks.
Will Alder contact general contractors without approval?
No. You set tone, escalation, and approval rules once, and anything sent to a GC waits for your approval. Every deployment starts read-only.
Free tools
DSO calculator
The DSO formula, worked examples, and a calculator for days beyond terms and cash tied up in AR.
AR aging report
Paste or upload your open invoices and get an accounts receivable aging report by customer, in your browser.
Remittance advice template
Fill in the payment and the invoices it covers, then download a remittance advice as a PDF.
Payment reminder & collections email templates
Seven payment reminder and collections emails for past-due invoices, from a first nudge to a final notice. Fill in your details and copy.
More of the work
Collections
Follow-up in the original thread, with every promise to pay tracked.
AP portals & approvals
Invoices submitted, rejections fixed, and the real approver chased.
Disputes & short-pays
Every short-pay researched, with a decision and the evidence behind it.
Cash application
Payments matched to open invoices, with the exceptions queued for review.
AR automation
Every receivables workflow Alder takes on, in one place.
See what’s owed on every job.
Thirty minutes on your open balances: which pay apps are stuck and why, what retainage is due, and which back-charges are worth disputing. Bring a job list or an aging summary if you have one.
Book a demo