Construction Invoicing Software for Builders | Buildwise
Invoicing

Invoicing built for how builders bill.

Create clean, professional invoices your clients trust. Bill cost plus from your real labor, material, and trade partner costs, or bill fixed price by progress. You control how every invoice reads, and how it goes out.

Cost plus + fixed price
Client-ready PDF packages
Receipts + summaries included
The old way

Billing shouldn't be the scary part of the job.

Cost plus billing in QuickBooks is clunky and easy to break. Buildwise gives you the control it never could.

Invoicing in QuickBooks
  • Billable expenses are clunky and scary to touch.
  • One wrong click and you miss a cost or upset your bookkeeper.
  • No clean way to show your markup.
  • No control over how the invoice comes together.
Invoicing in Buildwise
  • Your labor, materials, and trade costs pull in for you.
  • Every billed cost locks to its invoice, so nothing slips.
  • Show markup on the total or by section, your call.
  • You decide exactly how the invoice reads for your client.
Cost plus invoicing

Bill from the costs you already tracked.

As the job runs, Buildwise already holds your labor, material, and trade partner costs. When it's time to bill, pull the unbilled ones onto an invoice, add your markup, and send. You decide how much detail your client sees.

  • Labor, grouped by position or by team member, with hours and rate.
  • Materials itemized by supplier, or summarized to one line.
  • Trade partners always list on their own, under their own heading.
  • Your markup at the bottom, or by section.
  • Chain of custody: billed costs lock, so you never double bill or miss a cost.
Cost plusInvoice 1001
Billing period · Feb 29 – Mar 5, 2024 · Net 7
DescriptionQtyRateTotal
Labor
Project Manager12$75.00$900.00
Site Superintendent32$65.00$2,080.00
Lead Carpenter40$55.00$2,200.00
Carpenter40$50.00$2,000.00
Apprentice24$45.00$1,080.00
Labourer8$35.00$280.00
Labor Subtotal$8,540.00
Materials
Rona · gym floor slab pour1$356.16$356.16
Home Depot · concrete1$67.85$67.85
Home Depot1$99.13$99.13
Home Depot1$35.24$35.24
Home Depot · bulkheads1$185.82$185.82
Materials Subtotal$744.20
Trade Partners
Nick's Electric1$5,000.00$5,000.00
Harry's Plumbing1$12,500.00$12,500.00
Louie's Roofing1$16,000.00$16,000.00
Trade Partners Subtotal$33,500.00
Subtotal$42,784.20
Markup (20%)$8,556.84
Total Due$51,341.04
The complete cost plus package

Send the invoice and the proof, together.

On a cost plus project, one send carries everything your client needs to trust the number. It starts with the automated client summary.

Client summaryAs of Apr 21, 2026
Expected Total
$210,026
estimate + change orders
Total Billed
$13,317
6.3% of total
Remaining
$196,709
93.7% still to bill
Progress billed6.3% of $210,026
Cost GroupEstimateChangeBilled This InvoicePreviously BilledTotal BilledRemaining
General Requirements$25,350$0$425$512$937$24,413
Demolition$16,000$0$1,850$4,213$6,063$9,937
Framing$27,500$0$990$0$990$26,510
Roofing$8,500$0$250$0$250$8,250
Electrical$6,500$0$472$0$472$6,028

The automated client summary builds itself from the job: expected total, billed, and remaining up top, then every cost group with its Estimate, Change, Billed This Invoice, Previously Billed, and Total Billed, and Remaining. Attach it to any cost plus invoice with one toggle.

Material receipt backup

Flip it on and Buildwise attaches every material receipt tied to the expenses on that invoice. No hunting, no scanning, all of it.

Trade partner invoice backup

Attach every trade partner invoice behind the expenses on the bill, automatically. Your subs' numbers, right there as proof.

Everything arrives as separate PDF attachments in one email: the invoice, client summary, statement, material receipts, and trade partner invoices.

Fixed price invoicing

Bill for the progress you've made.

You bid a fixed price built from cost groups. As the job moves forward, you invoice the share of each cost group that's complete. Buildwise keeps track of how much of each group you've already billed, so every draw stays accurate.

Schedule of valuesInvoice 1002 · Draw 5
Cost GroupContract ValuePreviously BilledThis InvoiceBilled to Date% CompleteRemaining
General Requirements$28,000$8,400$5,600$14,00050.0%$14,000
Demolition$50,600$50,600$0$50,600100%$0
Excavation & Shoring$27,000$27,000$0$27,000100%$0
Footings & Foundation$41,000$41,000$0$41,000100%$0
Framing$34,000$13,600$10,200$23,80070.0%$10,200
Roofing$18,500$0$9,250$9,25050.0%$9,250
Exterior Cladding$22,824$0$6,847$6,84730.0%$15,977
Windows & Exterior Doors$26,000$0$13,000$13,00050.0%$13,000
HVAC$19,000$0$0$00.0%$19,000
Electrical$24,000$0$0$00.0%$24,000
Interior Doors & Trim$21,193$0$0$00.0%$21,193
Flooring$17,500$0$0$00.0%$17,500
Totals$329,617$140,600$44,897$185,49756.3%$144,120
Completed to Date (56.3%)$185,497
Less Previously Billed($140,600)
This Invoice$44,897
Balance to Finish$144,120

Bill against your cost groups straight from the approved estimate, and see exactly what you've already billed on each one, so you never over-bill or miss a draw.

Bill by percent complete, three ways

When you bill by percent complete, you choose how much to draw. Pick the way that fits the job.

1

Remaining balance

Bill the full remaining balance across all of your cost groups in one move.

2

Percentage or amount

Bill a set percentage, or a set dollar amount, spread across all of your cost groups.

3

Manual by cost group

Set the exact amount to bill on each cost group, line by line.

Milestone billing

Prefer to bill by milestone?

Not every fixed price job bills by percentage. With Free Form, you invoice the amount you agreed on as you complete each milestone: deposit, foundation, lock-up, completion. Each one goes out as its own invoice, built from a blank slate.

Free FormInvoice 1004
Billed to Mark & Susan DarbyJul 11, 2026 · Net 30
DescriptionAmount
Foundation complete — milestone payment$65,000.00
Amount due$65,000.00
Statement of AccountAs of Apr 21, 2026
DateDescriptionAmountBalance
Feb 1Balance Forward$0.00
Feb 8Invoice #0998$3,541.73$3,541.73
Feb 12Payment−$3,541.73$0.00
Feb 22Invoice #0999$5,000.00$5,000.00
Feb 26Payment−$5,000.00$0.00
Mar 5Invoice #1001$4,775.50$4,775.50
Mar 5Closing Balance$4,775.50
Total Billed (project to date)$13,317.23
Total Received($8,541.73)
Adjustments & Credits$0.00
Outstanding Balance$4,775.50
Aging Snapshot
0–30
$4,775.50
31–60
$0.00
61–90
$0.00
91+
$0.00
Cost plus + fixed price

Statements, generated on the spot.

Pick any date range and Buildwise builds a statement of account instantly: a running ledger of every invoice and payment, with the outstanding balance and an aging snapshot.

  • A clear running balance, invoice by invoice, payment by payment.
  • Aging built in, so you and your client both see what's overdue.
  • Send it with any invoice, on both project types. Nothing to save or rebuild.
Beyond the invoice

The whole money side, handled.

Getting paid is more than sending a bill. Buildwise runs the rest of it too.

Payment tracking

Record a full or partial payment and the invoice moves to paid on its own. Balance owing always current.

Deposits

Hold a client deposit on account, then apply it across invoices as the job runs. The balance tracks itself.

Credit memos

Record a credit when there's no invoice yet, then apply it to any invoice on the account when you're ready.

Reminder emails

Nudge an unpaid invoice with a reminder, sent right from Buildwise, on your terms, when you decide.

Two ways to bill, two clear paths.

Cost plus and fixed price start differently on purpose. Here's each one, end to end.

Cost plus flow
1

Add an invoice and choose From Unbilled Expenses (or From Scratch).

2

Check the costs to bill: labor, materials, trade partners.

3

Set how it reads: group labor, materials summary or detail, markup on total or by section.

4

Toggle the package: client summary, statement, receipts, trade invoices.

5

Send from Buildwise. Billed costs lock to the invoice.

Fixed price flow
1

Add an invoice and choose Percent Complete or Free Form.

2

Set the draw: remaining balance, a percentage or amount, or a manual amount per cost group.

3

Buildwise shows how much you've already billed on each cost group, so you know what's left to draw.

4

Toggle the statement of account to include.

5

Send from Buildwise, then track the payment.

Ready to bill better

Send your next invoice from Buildwise.

Join Buildwise and turn invoicing into the easy part of the job.

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