Subcontractor Management Software

Subbie paperwork in a filing cabinet and payments in a spreadsheet? We set up one system for compliance, payments and performance, connected to Xero or MYOB.

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Subcontractor management dashboard showing compliance status and payment schedules

Managing Subbies by Hand?

Say you use 40 subbies across six live projects, and their insurance certificates are spread across a filing cabinet, a shared drive and a handful of email threads. Can you be sure they all have current public liability cover today? If one has an accident on site with expired cover, the problem lands on you.

Signing up a new subbie means rounds of emails collecting ABN details, insurance certificates, QBCC licences and bank details. Payments are tracked in spreadsheets nobody trusts. You can't easily tell which subbies deliver on time and which always run late.

What we do: we help you choose subcontractor management software, or build what's missing, set it up with your compliance rules and connect it to Xero or MYOB and your job system. You get one place for every subbie's paperwork, reminders before cover lapses, payments you can track, and a clear record of who performs.

What It Covers

From signing a subbie up to their final payment

📋

Signing Up New Subbies

Subbies fill in an online form and upload their ABN, insurance certificates, trade licences, QBCC registration and workers compensation details. Most of the back-and-forth by email goes away.

Less chasing, faster start
🛡️

Insurance & Licence Tracking

One register of every subbie’s insurance, licences and compliance documents, with reminders before anything expires, so no subbie turns up on site with expired public liability or workers compensation cover.

Reminders before cover lapses
💰

Payments

Purchase orders, progress payments, retention and back-charges tracked for each subbie across every project, and lined up with your own cash flow so you don’t pay out before you get paid.

Every subbie invoice accounted for
📊

Performance

Rate subbies on delivery, quality, safety, communication and cost. Over time you can see who to give more work to.

Choose subbies on their record
💬

Messages and Records

One log of every scope question, request for information, defect notice and schedule change for each subbie. No more digging through emails to find what was agreed.

A record of what was agreed

State Compliance Rules

Examples of the subbie rules a good system can track for you. Always check the current rules with the regulator in your state.

Queensland (QBCC)

  • Checking the QBCC licence covers the trade and financial category
  • Domestic building work over $3,300 needs a QBCC licence
  • Written subcontract agreements required
  • Payment claim and payment schedule obligations under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (BIF Act)
  • Checking WorkCover Queensland registration

New South Wales

  • Checking NSW Fair Trading licences for specialist trades
  • Home Building Compensation Fund coverage for residential work
  • SafeWork NSW compliance requirements
  • Security of Payment Act claim procedures
  • Checking workers compensation insurance

Victoria

  • Checking Victorian Building Authority registration
  • Domestic building insurance requirements
  • WorkSafe Victoria compliance
  • Security of Payment Act procedures
  • Checking plumbing and electrical licences

Software Options Compared

Vendor prices as published; we help you choose and set up the right one

Procore

Subcontractor management built into a large project management platform

Price: $10,000-$50,000+/year

Best for: Commercial builders with many subbies across several projects

  • Covers subbies from start to finish
  • Linked to project documents
  • Compliance steps built in
  • See every project at once

Simpro

Job and subcontractor management for trade businesses

Price: $200-$800/month

Best for: Trade businesses (electrical, plumbing, air conditioning) using a moderate number of subbies

  • Job scheduling with subbie allocation
  • Purchase order management
  • Field mobile app
  • Xero/MYOB integration

Assignar

Workforce management and compliance for construction

Price: $300-$600/month

Best for: Civil and commercial contractors with large, changing workforces

  • Online sign-up for workers and subbies
  • Compliance documents
  • Scheduling and dispatch
  • Safety records

Custom System

Subcontractor management built around how you work and connected to your existing systems

Price: Fixed quote after a free initial chat

Best for: Builders with unusual requirements or existing systems to connect

  • Fits the way you work
  • Connects to Xero, MYOB and your job system
  • Your own compliance rules
  • Grows with your business

How We Set It Up

1

Look at How You Work Now

We look at how you manage subbies today: signing up, compliance, payments and performance. We find the gaps, the risks and the work that could be automated.

2

Set Up and Connect

We set the system up with your compliance rules, payment terms and performance measures, connect it to Xero or MYOB, and bring across your existing subbie list and documents.

3

Bring Your Subbies On

Subbies are invited to their own login, where they upload documents, check their details and accept your terms. We help with the messages to subbies so they know what's changing and why.

4

Training and Support

We show your project managers and office team how it works, then support you as rules change, new subbies come on and the system is updated.

Related Services

Business Process Automation

Automate repetitive construction admin tasks

Procore vs Buildertrend

Compare construction management platforms with subbie features

Frequently Asked Questions

It keeps everything about your subbies in one place: signing them up, checking their paperwork (ABN, insurance certificates, QBCC or other state licences, workers compensation), tracking what you owe them, and recording how they perform. It replaces the spreadsheets, email chains and filing cabinets most builders use, so you are not caught out by an expired certificate and your office spends less time chasing paperwork.

Each subbie’s documents (public liability, workers compensation, ABN, trade licences, QBCC registration) are stored with their expiry dates. Reminders go to you and the subbie well before anything expires. If a document does lapse, that subbie is flagged and can’t be booked on new work until it is updated.

In Queensland, builders must check that subcontractors hold the right QBCC licence for their trade and financial category. Subcontractors doing domestic building work over $3,300 must be QBCC licensed. Builders also need to keep records of subcontractor insurance, ABN details and written contracts. A good system checks licences and keeps all of these records together, ready for an audit.

Yes. It tracks purchase orders, progress payments, retention, back-charges and final payments for each subbie across every project. Payments can be lined up with your own progress claims, so you pay subbies after you get paid, not before. Connected to Xero or MYOB, approved subbie invoices go into your accounts without being retyped.

Procore includes subcontractor management in its platform ($10,000-$50,000+/year). Assignar starts at $300-$600/month. Simpro includes basic subbie management in its job management software ($200-$800/month). For our set-up and integration work, the cost depends on how many systems are being connected and how much needs to be built, so we look at your setup and give you a fixed quote after a free initial chat.

Yes, and that is where it helps most. Tracking insurance expiry dates by hand across a long list of subbies is hard to keep on top of. With a portal where subbies upload their own documents, the admin doesn’t grow every time you add a subbie.

Yes. Subbies get their own login where they update insurance certificates, licences, bank details and contact details. When a certificate is about to expire, they get a reminder and can upload the renewal themselves. Your team checks it instead of chasing it.

The system records how each subbie performs: finishing on time, defects, safety incidents, how quickly they respond, and quoted versus actual cost. Over time you build up a real picture of who delivers and who causes problems, which helps when choosing subbies for the next job and when talking rates with your best ones.

Get on Top of Your Subbies

Tell us how you manage subbies today and where compliance slips. In a free initial chat we'll talk it through, and if we can help, you get a fixed quote.

Book a free initial chatContact Us

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