Construction credit control that starts with why an invoice is stuck.
A construction invoice can be overdue because an approval is missing, a PO is wrong, a valuation is questioned, a document is needed, an amount was deducted or the customer is simply slow. Steinfin keeps track of what is blocking payment and what needs to happen next, then follows it through with the right person.
In construction, overdue is often not the whole story.
A balance can be outstanding because the customer has not replied, is waiting on internal approval, needs a document, has questioned part of the amount, needs a PO corrected, has promised a date, has deducted something, has paid part, or has paid without saying what for. Payment often depends on information moving between several people.
Your invoiceWaiting on...
Customer APNeeds a matching PO and invoice reference
Project managerConfirms the work was done
Commercial teamAgrees the amount or valuation
ProcurementRaises or corrects the PO
Client financeSchedules the payment run
DocumentationBackup, sign-offs, delivery records
Illustrative. Not every customer has all of these, and names differ by business.
Why it gets complicated
Project work, several stakeholders and paperwork before payment.
Construction billing sits between site teams and finance teams, so the facts a customer needs before paying are often spread across both. Depending on the contract and market, that can include:
How work is billed
Project-based work
Staged or milestone billing
Applications for payment, where used
Variations or change orders
What the customer checks
Purchase orders
Supporting documentation
Valuation or approval processes
Customer-specific portals and processes
What comes back
Disputed items
Deductions
Partial payments
Retention or holdback, where the contract uses it
The right next action
Chasing the wrong person does not fix the problem.
Another reminder to the customer's accounts inbox will not fix a missing PO, an unapproved application or a questioned valuation. Each blocker has its own useful next step, and some of them need you.
BlockerGeneric reminder to accounts@Useful next action
PO number missing or wrongUnlikely to move itGet the correct PO from the customer and resend the invoice
Project manager has not approvedUnlikely to move itContact the project contact to confirm the work and approval date
Amount or valuation questionedUnlikely to move itLog the query and bring it to you for a commercial answer
Supporting document requestedUnlikely to move itSend the backup you provide and confirm it was received
Invoice reference unclearUnlikely to move itClarify the reference with AP so the invoice can be matched
Payment already promisedUnlikely to move itTrack the promised date and check the payment arrived
One account, several contacts
Every contact, what they said and who acts next.
One construction account can involve accounts payable, a project manager, a quantity surveyor or commercial manager, procurement and a site contact. Steinfin records who was contacted, what they said, what is needed, who owns the next action and when follow-up is due.
Every customer is different. We work with the contacts you and your customer actually use.
Customer account, exampleHarbour Point Construction LtdINV-10482 £12,400$15,500€14,500C$21,100
AP contactAccounts payable"Needs PO 7741 on the invoice"Steinfin resends
Project contactProject manager"Approves after the snagging visit"Steinfin follows up Thursday
Commercial contactCommercial manager"Questions the variation amount"Needs your input
Your teamYour commercial lead"Asked to confirm the variation"Decision with you
From aging report to action list
An aging report says who owes and how long. Not why.
It will not tell you why an invoice is unpaid, who was contacted, what they said, what is blocking payment, who needs to act or when to follow up. Steinfin turns your receivables information into a working list of next actions.
Aging reportWhat you have today
Harbour Point Construction Ltd61-90 days£12,400$15,500€14,500C$21,100
We run the follow-up. Your commercial decisions stay yours.
Steinfin handles the agreed day-to-day receivables work around your construction ledger, and brings anything commercial to you with the context attached.
Steinfin manages
Monitoring outstanding invoices and applications
Prioritising overdue accounts
Contacting the agreed customer contacts
Recording payment promises, and following up missed ones
Identifying and routing invoice blockers
Requesting your input and tracking the answer
Keeping a next action on every account
Supporting cash collection and cash application
Clear, regular reporting
Stays with you
Agreeing valuations
Accepting deductions
Approving variations
Changing contract values
Issuing credit notes
Agreeing settlements or waiving balances
Writing off debt
Resolving contractual disputes
Unless you have given explicit authority for something specific, these are always your decisions.
Payment promises
A promise to pay on Friday becomes a tracked date.
A promise on a site call or buried in an email thread is easy to lose. Steinfin records the amount, the invoices, the date, the contact and the context, then checks. If the money does not arrive, follow-up starts straight away.
Promise to pay, exampleWaiting for payment
Customer
Kestrel Build Group
Invoice
INV-10455
Amount
£18,600$23,250€21,750C$31,600
Promised
Friday, by the site accounts contact
Next action
Check receipt Monday
Invoice queries
When the answer has to come from you.
Many delayed construction invoices involve a query, not a refusal to pay: a wrong PO, missing backup, a questioned amount, a work confirmation, an outstanding project approval, a variation question or incorrect billing detail. Steinfin identifies, records, routes, tracks and follows up. When a query needs a commercial answer, it says so plainly.
Client input requiredWith you
Issue
Variation amount disputed
Customer
Harbour Point Construction Ltd
Invoice
INV-10482
Needed from you
Commercial confirmation of the variation
Requested
Today
Next follow-up
With the customer, after your response
Deductions and part payments
A payment arrived. That does not mean the invoice is closed.
A customer may pay less than invoiced because of a deduction, a short payment, an amount held back under the contract, a disputed element, a credit they have requested, or for no stated reason at all. Steinfin identifies the difference and tracks it. We do not decide whether it is valid.
Where part of a balance is intentionally held back under your commercial arrangement, such as retention or holdback depending on the contract and market, Steinfin can keep it separate from ordinary overdue balances when you give us the details.
Invoice
£20,000$25,000€23,400C$34,000
Paid
£15,000$18,750€17,550C$25,500
Remaining
£5,000$6,250€5,850C$8,500
The remaining balance may need
Follow-up
An explanation from the customer
A deduction review
Your input
Which service fits
Construction AR is broader than chasing individual invoices.
Sometimes consistent follow-up is enough. Often it is not. Match the situation to the service.
Old construction balances, sorted into what happens next.
Older construction ledgers often hold old balances, stale disputes, unmatched payments, unexplained deductions, old promises, missing contacts and items nobody has followed up in months. Cleanup separates what is genuinely collectible from what is already paid, disputed, waiting on you, held back where known, or still unclear.
Project context from your team. Follow-up from Steinfin.
You may still be working with a customer while older invoices are unpaid. Steinfin handles agreed follow-up professionally, in your company's name, with the account and project context in mind. Tone, sensitive accounts and escalation points are agreed with you first.
Project and commercial team
Provides project context and commercial answers when needed
Finance team
Controls financial and commercial decisions
Steinfin
Runs the agreed follow-up and tracking, and reports back
Your customer
Gives payment status, queries and remittance
Tone agreed per customer
Sensitive and live-project accounts handled as you instruct
Your approval before any firmer step
Accounting systems
Works alongside the accounting system you already use.
You give Steinfin authorised access from your own account, at the level you choose, or send regular exports. We never ask for your password, and nothing about how you raise invoices changes.
Reporting
Clear, regular reporting on every account.
Each update shows account status, the latest customer response, promise dates, open queries, next actions and anything that needs your input. On Starter, that is a weekly report.
A good fit
Who Steinfin suits in construction.
B2B construction businesses invoicing on commercial terms
A meaningful number of invoices or applications
Customers with several stakeholders and approval steps
Aged receivables that need working through
A finance team without the capacity to follow everything up
Relationship-sensitive accounts
Including main contractors, subcontractors, specialist and building services contractors, engineering services and construction consultancies. Materials suppliers often bill more like distributors, which our wholesale and distribution page covers.
Probably not the right fit
When you may not need Steinfin.
You are mostly paid upfront
You issue very few B2B invoices
You need litigation or legal enforcement
You are looking for consumer debt collection
Pricing
The same plans as every industry.
There is no separate construction pricing. The monthly retainer scales with your ledger: invoice and customer volume, how complex the receivables are, the follow-up and communication involved and your reporting needs. Plans start from £299$399€349C$499 a month.
Why is construction accounts receivable harder to manage?
Because payment often depends on more than the invoice. A PO, a project approval, supporting documents or an agreed valuation may all be needed first, and each can sit with a different person at the customer. An overdue balance is often waiting on one of those, not on a reminder.
Can Steinfin chase construction invoices?
Yes. Steinfin follows up invoices with the agreed customer contacts, in your business's name, and records every response, promise and query so each account has a clear next action.
Can Steinfin manage applications for payment?
Where you bill by application, Steinfin can track the status of each application and follow up the agreed contacts for approval and payment. Valuing or certifying work, and any question of contractual entitlement, stays with you and your commercial team.
Can Steinfin track invoice queries and project approvals?
Yes, from the Growth plan. Each query or pending approval is logged with the contact, what is needed, who owns the next action and when to follow up, until it is resolved.
Can Steinfin deal with disputed invoices?
Steinfin manages the operational side: recording the dispute, gathering what you provide, routing it to the right person and following up. Commercial disputes, such as a disagreement over a variation or a valuation, are decided by you.
Who decides whether a deduction is accepted?
You do. Steinfin identifies the difference, records the reason the customer gives and brings it to you. Steinfin never accepts a deduction, issues a credit note or writes off a balance on your behalf.
Can Steinfin track retention or holdback balances?
Where part of a balance is intentionally held back under your commercial arrangement, and you give us the amount and expected timing, Steinfin can keep it separate from ordinary overdue balances and follow it up at the dates you set. We do not decide when a retained amount is legally payable.
Can Steinfin work with our commercial or project team?
Yes. When a query needs project context or a commercial decision, Steinfin brings it to the person you nominate with the account history attached, then continues the follow-up once they respond.
Can Steinfin follow up customers in our company name?
Yes. Follow-up goes out as your business, using wording and a tone you approve. Key or sensitive accounts can be handled differently, or only as you instruct.
Can Steinfin help clean up old construction receivables?
Yes, as part of the Scale plan. AR cleanup works through old balances, stale queries, unmatched payments and old promises, and sorts each item into a status and a next step. Any write-off decision stays with you.
Can Steinfin help match customer payments?
Yes, as part of the Scale plan. We match payments to invoices using remittances and references, and flag short payments, partial payments and unidentified receipts for you. We never move money.
Do we need to change accounting software?
No. Steinfin works alongside the accounting system you already use, including Xero, QuickBooks and Sage, through authorised access you grant from your own account, or regular exports.
How much does construction credit control cost?
The same plans apply to every industry. Pricing is a monthly retainer that scales with your ledger, including invoice and customer volume and how much query and follow-up work is involved. The pricing page shows the current plans in your currency.
Find the blocker. Reach the right person. Get paid.
See what is holding up your construction receivables. It starts with a free AR health check.
