$400 to $1,000 a month. Forever. And you still can't tell if Job 184 is making money because your real cost codes live in a spreadsheet your PM updates on Fridays.
Buildertrend wants you in their portal. JobTread wants you in their budget. Your super wants to log hours, your crew lead wants to get paid for the extra bathroom, and your bookkeeper is hunting Home Depot receipts in the truck.
Black Ridge builds the system that Buildertrend never will: one app around YOUR cost codes, YOUR CO approval gate, and YOUR crew pay rules — where you cannot post time, materials, or sub invoices without a valid Job / Cost Code / CO #. You own it outright.
$449-$999/mo base + $50-$90 per user. 3 years = $16k-$36k and you own nothing.
$6K-$16K once. 12 field crew + office + 4 subs = $0 extra. Code, data, docs yours.
Generic cost codes (08-Finish, Materials). Crew picks "Framing" for everything.
Your 38 codes: 03-200 Concrete Slab, 06-410 Frame Labor, 09-920 Paint Extra. Required pick.
CO in docs, budget in other tab, QuickBooks in other app. Office re-types.
Foreman taps Add CO: photo + what changed + cost impact. Client signs on phone. Budget, draw, sub PO all bump instantly.
History in their cloud. Export is CSV you can't use. Cancel = lose portal.
All jobs history searchable forever: Job 1124 from 2021, original bid, every CO, true labor by code, photos by phase.
Buildertrend does selection sheets and client messages fine. JobTread does clean estimating better. Neither runs a crew day where money actually leaks.
You pay rent, then you pay your office manager to keep the real books in Excel because the SaaS won't let you lock cost codes, enforce CO signatures, or pay crews piece-rate off the same job card.
Buildertrend gives you 20 generic CSI divisions hoping you'll adapt. Custom system starts with your actual sheet.
Fixed list: 01 General, 06 Carpentry, 09 Finishes. Can't require Phase + Cost Code + CO # together. Crew bypasses.
Your list imported: 02-100 Demo, 03-300 Foundation, 06-120 Lumber Package, 06-410 Frame Labor, 09-330 Tile Set, 15-500 Plumbing Extra. Every entry enforces Job + Phase + Cost Code + optional CO #. No code = no save.
Budget lives in software, receipts live in phone, labor lives in Timesheet app. PM stitches Friday.
One posting screen: Who did it, What job (184), What phase (Rough), What code (06-410), Photo of receipt or hours, If extra → link to CO # or create request in same tap.
No time, no receipt, no sub bill can be posted without picking from YOUR cost code list. Tagging "Materials" generic = blocked. Pick Job 184 / 06-120 Lumber / Parr invoice # 4421 / lumber yard photo required before save.
Hours or dollars to any code ending in "Extra" (09-905, 06-905) without approved CO # = yellow flag + PM daily digest + final invoice blocked. Client added shower niche? Foreman creates CO request on phone, office prices with your markup table, client signs link → budget + draw + crew pay code auto-opens.
Pay rule tied to code: 06-410 Frame = piece-rate sq ft from plan qty, 09-100 Paint = $2.10/sq ft wall, punch = $45/hr, extras = hourly only on approved CO #. 4 foremen can edit time only for their crew. Friday export = clean CSV with job/code splits for QB payroll.
Required shots per phase: Pre-pour 3, Rough framing 4, Final 5. No phase complete without them. Counter receipts: snap at register, auto-OCR total, force pick job/code. Missing = red badge on PM dashboard sorted by dollars at risk.
45-second phone flows. Not office forms shrunk to mobile. If it takes longer than a text, crews won't use it.
Super opens Job 184 - 247 Oak. Today view shows budget by code: Frame Lbr 68% used, Frame Labor 92% of hrs at 60% complete = red. Crew taps Start on 06-410, system starts clock. Lumber delivery hits — lead snaps BOL, tags 06-120, $4,220 posts live to job cost. No office entry.
Client wants shiplap accent. Lead taps +CO Request, picks Job 184 / 09-905 Extra / Photo of wall, enters 80 sq ft. Office gets push, prices: $4.50 mat + $3.25 labor + 18% markup = $732, sends sign link via text. Client e-signs while at lunch. Budget bumps +$732, draw updated, piece-rate code 09-410 unlocks for installer. Work starts paid, not gifted.
Electrician finishes extra cans — selects Job 184 / CO #2 / 16-210 Electrical Extra, $650 + photo of invoice. System checks CO #2 approved and insurance expiration > job end date. If not insurance valid or no sig, blocks posting, flags PM: "Sub invoice to unapproved extra." No more mystery "extras" inbox.
4 PM: Foremen hit Clock Out. Hours flow to correct codes. PM dashboard: Job 184 margin 24.1% signed / 18.4% if unsigs fail, 1 unapproved CO request $410 pending, 0 untagged receipts. Draw draft #4 ready: contract $142,500 + approved COs $8,250, less paid $89,340, this draw $21,400 with lien releases checked. One export hits QuickBooks as: Job 184 / 06-120 / Parr $4,220.
All rent. All template. None will enforce your 06-410 piece rate or block posting without YOUR codes.
$499-$999/mo + $50-$90/user. Great client portal. Job costing = add-on you don't trust. COs loose docs. Crew pay = hours only. Export CSV, lose portal on cancel.
One fee $6K-$16K. Client selection light version if you want it, but focus is YOUR money: cost codes, CO gate, crew pay. Client e-sign CO link still works. Own export forever.
Better budget, still generic codes. No real crew piece-rate enforcement. CO pricing manual, not gated. You still keep real profit calc in sheet.
Your markup matrix auto-applies per code. CO ticket can't post to extra code without approval. Budget vs actual by code is live, same day, not month end.
CoConstruct now Buildertrend clone, per-builder rent creeping. BuilderStack slick UI but still rent + another login. Neither does mixed piece/hour crew pay or photo-gated phase.
Phase complete gated by required photos: pre-pour 3, rough 4, insulation 2. No complete tap without them. That photo set becomes your dispute proof and your final book, owned, not rented.
Buildertrend $699 + JobTread $229 + time tracking $129 + forms $45 = $1,102/mo. 3 years = $39,672 paid, you own nothing, still fixing job costs in Excel.
Truck shop replaced $700/mo with $6K, break-even 9 months. Your builder stack $1,102/mo = $13,224/yr rent. $11K custom build break-even 10 months on rent alone — before counting 1 caught CO per job.
Our first truck shop client learned early: rent software holds your records hostage. You stop paying, you lose the search. Builder lawsuits need 4-year history. Warranty calls need photos from 2022.
Custom system: SQLite/Postgres file you keep. Every job, every CO signature with IP stamp, every receipt photo tagged Job/Cost Code, every crew hour by code, every sub invoice linked to CO #.
Buildertrend charges rent whether you make money on jobs or not. Custom system pays for itself in caught change orders.
Buildertrend $699/mo (10 users) + JobTread $219 + QuickBooks addons $90 + time tracker $129 + Docusign $45 = $1,182/mo = $14,184/yr. Plus 10 hrs/week office $35/hr re-entering, chasing receipts, Word COs = $18,200/yr waste. Plus 1.2 unbilled COs/mo avg $1,450 eaten = $20,880/yr lost. True cost: $53,264/yr.
$9,500-$13,500 first build typical for 3-12 man builder, 3-5 weeks. Office re-entry 10 hrs → 3 hrs/wk: $12,740/yr back. Unbilled COs drop near zero because extra codes blocked without signed CO. Receipts live same day, payroll export clean. Client CO signs on phone, no delay.
Rent only: $11,000 / $1,182 = 9.3 months — just like truck shop $6K vs $700/mo = 9 months. With waste + 1 caught CO: $11,000 / ($1,182 + $1,516 waste + $1,740 lost CO) = $11,000 / $4,438 = 2.5 months. After that, you own it. No per-user hike when you add 3 framers.
Buildertrend fails because it's office software on a phone. This is 3 buttons: Add Time, Add Receipt, +CO Request. Open Job 184, picks pre-loaded codes, done in 45 seconds. No typing bid items. They already send photos — now photo posts to correct code automatically. If they can text, they can post.
That's the point. We import YOUR list exactly: 03-200 Slab, 06-120 Lumber, 06-410 Frame Labor Pce, 09-905 Paint Extra Hr, whatever you call it. Enforce it so every dollar has Job + Phase + Code + CO# if extra. New code added in 10 seconds. No mapping to template ever.
We make skipping harder than doing. Log hours to 09-905 Extra without approved CO # = blocked + daily PM flag + final invoice blocked. Receipt to extra = red until signed. Office prices CO in same screen with your markup, sends text link, client signs on phone, system unlocks code. Crew wants to work, they need to tap request.
They keep QuickBooks. Your system stops sending "Materials $4,123" garbage. Every bill exports clean: Job 184 / Phase Rough / 06-120 Lumber / Parr #4421 $4,220 / CO #0. QB class/job gets correct code. Draw invoices sync, payments auto-tag to job. Accountant stops cleaning your books.
Buildertrend charges $300-$1000/mo forever and still needs your spreadsheet for real job costing. JobTread, CoConstruct, BuilderStack same rent trap.
$6K-$16K custom build, 2-6 weeks, your cost codes enforced, your CO gate locked, your crew pay rules real, your photos and history owned — not rented.
Choose a date, pick a time, and tell us a little about the broken part of the process. The request lands in the backend so you can review it.