Lien Waivers are crucial documents in construction projects, providing security for both the builder and subcontractors by ensuring that payment disputes do not result in legal claims.

Creating Lien Waivers for your company is quick and easy. You are able to customize your Lien Waiver verbiage, create multiple Lien Waivers and attach them to any applicable Bill.

Lien Waivers can be created by navigating to the User Profile Icon and selecting Company Settings.

Within Company Settings, navigate to the Bills / POs / Budget within the Financials section.

Decide if you would like to disable Lien Waivers on your jobs by checking the first box.

To add a default line for an additional signature on Lien Waiver printouts, such as a notary, check the second box.

To view or edit the default Lien Waiver, click the title Standard Lien Waiver.

To create a new Lien Waiver, click Add New Lien Waiver Form.

Next, add Title and Lien Waiver Description.

Definition of Terms will auto-populate using Job Details when applied to the Job.

Active Subcontractors may sign to approve as shown below.

To apply Lien Waivers to Bills, navigate to the Bills tab, and use the checked actions.

Use the options at the top to Apply Lien Waiver.

Next, choose the correct Lien Waiver from the dropdown and click Apply.

Open the Bill, and click the Lien Waiver tab to make adjustments, add Attachments, and Send.

Adjust the grid filters to show Lien Waivers, to view status.

Online Payments made on these Bills and POs with Lien Waivers will require a subcontractor signature before receiving a payment online.

Payments made on Purchase Orders are to be created as Bills. Payments may be partial, or the total amount of the Purchase Order. Integration with Quickbooks or Xero is not required to utilize this feature.

Payments may be made individually on each Bill, or in mass action using the checked boxes.

It's important to understand basic functionality, rules and permissions for mass action payments.

Next, it's important to understand what makes a Bill or PO eligible for mass action payments.

Eligible

Ineligible

Eligible

Ineligible

To make a payment on a Purchase Order, navigate to the Purchase Orders tab.

Next, use the check boxes to select the desired Purchase Orders and select Bill Remaining Amount to immediately create a bill, or select Mark Work Complete to show that this item is ready to be billed by your accounting team.

It is recommended to select Mark Work Complete for proper documentation, but it is not required.

Choosing Bill Remaining Amount will automatically update Work Status to "Work Complete".

Once completed, navigate to the Bills tab, or open the desired Bill. These items are now ready for next actions using the checkboxes to Pay Online, Record Offline Payment or Mark Ready for Payment.

After you choose your method of payment, the Bill Status will update accordingly.

When you need to retroactively add paid bills to POs and ensure that the correct amounts are reflected in both the POs and the job costing budget, you have two primary options.

Option 1: Void Existing Paid Bills

First, start by voiding the bills that were previously paid within Buildertrend.

Next, navigate to the relevant POs and create new bills directly from them.

Ensure these new bills are marked as "paid", and if necessary, prevent them from being sent to QuickBooks.

This method ensures that the correct amounts are reflected in both the POs and the job costing budget without duplicating any entries.

Option 2: Create a Negative Bill

Instead of voiding the paid bills, create a new bill with a negative amount that offsets the total of the already paid bills.

This approach allows you to adjust the job costing budget and PO amounts without voiding the existing bills. The job costing budget will reflect the correct total, and the POs will be updated accordingly.

If accuracy in the POs and budget without any redundant entries is your priority, voiding and recreating the bills is the recommended approach.

If maintaining the original records is important and you prefer a simpler adjustment, creating a negative bill may be preferable.

Reflecting Changes in QuickBooks

For Option 1 (Voiding Bills): Voiding bills in Buildertrend does not automatically void them in QuickBooks. After creating the new bills from the POs, you’ll need to manually reassign payments in QuickBooks to ensure everything aligns correctly.

For Option 2 (Negative Bill): Ensure this approach aligns with your accounting practices and correctly reflects in QuickBooks, as adjustments made in Buildertrend may require corresponding actions in QuickBooks.

Purchase Order management and collaboration with your trade partners through Buildertrend will result in a structured workflow, key for accuracy and efficiency.

Active subcontractors are able to directly invoice you for completed work on their Purchase Order scope and/or access their scheduled payment details.

This streamlined process enhances communication, ensuring that job costing is accurate and managed efficiently.

Watch the video below to learn more about how Subcontractors request payments.

Subcontractor approved Purchase Orders are eligible for payment request through the subcontractor portal, shown below.

They may request a partial amount, or the entire outstanding.

If you utilize a payment schedule using Bills, this will be visible to the Subcontractor.

When payment has been requested, you will receive a notification of the request. You can access their request within the purchase order under the Bills/Lien Waivers.

A Bill will be automatically created for the request, but you will need to manually fill out the amount you would like to pay.

After entering an amount that you would like to pay, you can choose to:

Purchase Orders and Bills may be linked to your schedule to ensure your deadlines are aligned on the project and accounting aspects.

Whether those expenses are planned or unexpected, documenting them appropriately will help the project continue to run smoothly without disruption. When you need to account for an unexpected cost that either you or your client is responsible for, you can utilize Variance Purchase Orders and/or Bills.

Watch the video below to learn more about POs, Variance Codes & PO + Schedule

Watch the video below to learn more about Bills, Variance Codes & Bill + Schedule

When creating a Purchase Order off a client initiated cost, you may do so from the Change Order or Purchase Order directly. Both workflows will allow you to relate these items to one another. Continue reading to review the workflow from Change Order to Purchase Order.

To create a Variance PO, navigate to the Purchase Order tab within Financials dropdown. Select +Purchase Order, and then Variance PO.

After selecting new Variance PO, the "Mark as a Variance PO" will automatically be checked. If you selected to create a new Purchase Order, you will need to check this box.

Select the appropriate Variance Codes to describe the unplanned cost. If applicable, select the original Purchase Order this variance is related to from the Referenced Purchase Order dropdown.

To reflect that this change is client initiated and therefore responsible for payment, select the Variance Code, "72 - Client Change Order."

Referenced Change Order will now be available for you to choose the related Change Order.

As mentioned, Customer Variance Purchase Orders can be created from Purchase Orders, or from a Change Order.

To create a Customer Variance PO from a Change Order, navigate to the Change Order, select New dropdown, then select Purchase Order.

Since this Purchase Order was created from a Change Order, Buildertrend will automatically utilize the assigned "72 - Customer Variance" Cost Code.

These items are now linked and can be found on both feature grids.

Purchase Order grid with Related COs column

Change Order grid with Related POs column

The Buildertrend Learning Academy is your one-stop-shop for your online education, whether you're new to Buildertrend or an experienced user looking to learn more.

If you have any questions or require additional support, feel free to chat with us, send an email: support@buildertrend.com, or give us a call at 1-888-415-7149. We’re always happy to help.