Construction is not like distribution, retail, or Software as a Service (SaaS). Every job is a unique project with its own scope, crews, subcontractors, materials, and risks, often running over months or years. Traditional accounting systems that offer only general ledger, accounts payable, and accounts receivable fall short when you need real-time project performance across dozens of active jobs.
NetSuite, combined with Full Clarity Construction for NetSuite, brings together core financials, job costing, project management, American Institute of Architects (AIA) billing, retainage, and subcontractor compliance in a single cloud platform. No middleware. No disconnected systems.
Construction introduces complexities that standard accounting software was never built for:
Project-based revenue with complex contract structures (fixed price, time and materials, Guaranteed Maximum Price)
Dozens or hundreds of concurrent jobs, each with separate budgets and cost codes
Detailed labor, equipment, and material allocations by phase and cost code
Change orders that constantly reshape scope, budget, and billing
Retainage held on both the customer side (Accounts Receivable) and subcontractor side (Accounts Payable)
Compliance requirements: lien waivers, insurance certificates, safety certifications
Asset-heavy operations with fleets and heavy equipment in the field
A construction Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system routes every estimate, purchase, timesheet, and progress bill through one database so executives, project managers, and finance teams work from the same data in real time.
Note: NetSuite's native project module (SuiteProjects) handles project accounting well, but lacks retainage, AIA-style billing, construction estimating, and dedicated subcontractor bid management. These are where Full Clarity Construction for NetSuite adds essential construction-specific capability.
Effective job costing is the foundation of construction financial management. If you cannot see the true cost of a project by phase, cost code, or task, you will struggle to bid competitively and manage risk.
NetSuite tracks costs by:
Labor by employee, role, project, and task.
Materials from purchase orders, receipts, and inventory issues to job.
Subcontractors from commitments through billing and payment.
Equipment based on usage rates and depreciation allocations.
Overhead allocated by labor hours, revenue, or direct costs.
Projects are configured with cost codes and Work Breakdown Structures (WBS). Every transaction (timesheet, purchase order, vendor bill, inventory issue, journal entry) is assigned to the appropriate project and cost code, giving project managers granular visibility into where money is being spent.
Full Clarity Construction for NetSuite extends this with real-time committed cost tracking, Work in Progress (WIP) reporting, and claim preparation based on cost codes and Schedules of Values (SOV), directly inside NetSuite.
Beyond costs, construction firms need strong project tracking: milestones, percent complete, schedule status, and profitability, all visible on demand without waiting for month-end.
Project dashboards. Role-based views for executives, controllers, and project managers showing WIP, margin by job, AR aging, change orders, and open issues.
Milestone tracking. Projects include milestones (foundation, rough-in, substantial completion, final) tied to billing events, revenue recognition, or internal approvals.
Percent complete and earned value. NetSuite tracks percent complete at project or task level and supports earned value metrics when configured.
Project profitability analysis. Reports and dashboards show profitability by project, customer, division, region, or project manager.
Because all project transactions flow through the same ERP, project managers can run real-time status and profitability reports at any time, making mid-project corrections possible before margins disappear. Full Clarity adds construction-specific views including claim status, retainage balances, and SOV progress directly within NetSuite project screens.
In construction, change orders are both a risk and a profit opportunity. Poorly controlled changes erode margins. Disciplined change management helps you protect revenue and scope.
NetSuite with Full Clarity manages change orders as controlled revisions to project scope and budget:
Approval workflows. Change requests are initiated by project managers or account teams and routed for internal approvals (and customer approvals where required) with electronic signatures and audit trails.
Budget revisions. Approved change orders automatically update project budgets and forecasts, so cost vs budget reports stay accurate.
SOV updates. In Full Clarity, approved scope changes flow directly into AIA-style invoices and Schedules of Values without manual rework.
Audit trail. All approvals, rejections, and revisions are logged for internal control and dispute resolution.
Subcontractors carry much of the risk and workload on modern construction projects. Managing their contracts, compliance documents, and payments is critical.
Tracking subcontract agreements and committed costs at the project level
Managing payment schedules, including progress payments tied to milestones or percent complete
Handling retainage for subcontractors as part of the AP workflow
Storing and monitoring compliance documents: insurance certificates, W-9s, safety certifications, and licenses
Supporting lien waiver workflows where payments are contingent on receiving signed waivers
Full Clarity extends this with a vendor portal, subcontractor bid management, and certified document tracking. Dashboards flag expired insurance or missing compliance documents before payments are issued, reducing compliance risk.
Construction companies are asset-intensive. Cranes, trucks, heavy equipment, and tools represent major capital investments. A construction ERP helps maximize utilization and accurately allocate equipment costs to jobs.
Track equipment assets, locations, and ownership
Schedule preventative maintenance and track service history
Record equipment utilization (hours, days, or units) and apply internal rental rates to specific projects
Manage depreciation in accordance with accounting standards while allocating costs to jobs
Integrate with fleet management or telematics systems via connectors or API
By allocating equipment costs to projects based on standardized rates and actual usage, you gain a truer picture of job profitability and can identify whether certain equipment-heavy scopes consistently underperform.
Full Clarity includes a capital project management workflow that handles the transition from construction WIP to capitalized fixed assets, which is particularly valuable for Build-Own-Operate contract structures.
Revenue recognition is particularly complex in construction. Percentage-of-completion, milestone-based billing, and retainage all require careful handling to avoid misstated financials under ASC 606 (or equivalent standards in other jurisdictions such as Philippine Financial Reporting Standards 15).
NetSuite and Full Clarity support:
Percentage-of-completion recognition on a cost-to-cost basis or other measures.
Milestone-based revenue tied to specific deliverables.
Retainage accounting with separate tracking from standard AR and AP.
WIP reporting showing contract value, cost to date, revenue recognized, and billings to date.
Earned revenue vs billed revenue to monitor over-billing and under-billing.
For retainage specifically, Full Clarity's Retainage for NetSuite automates retainage percentages, tracks retained amounts and claims, and provides real-time reporting. It eliminates manual retainage spreadsheets and ensures accurate billing by automating retainage calculations and streamlining collection directly in NetSuite.
A standard retainage rate of 5 to 10% is common in construction contracts, but rates vary. Full Clarity allows configurable retainage rates per contract and project.
AIA billing is the standard format for construction progress invoices, using G702 (Application for Payment) and G703 (Schedule of Values) forms. These documents detail the contract value, work completed to date, retainage held, and amount due.
Out of the box, NetSuite supports project-based and milestone billing but does not generate AIA-compliant G702/G703 invoices natively. Full Clarity Construction for NetSuite fills this gap by generating AIA-format pay applications directly from NetSuite, connected to the project's Schedule of Values and change order history. This streamlines progress billing, reduces manual preparation time, and helps ensure on-time, accurate submissions to owners and general contractors.
AIA G702/G703 forms are the standard for US construction progress billing. Outside the US, construction projects use region-specific progress billing formats. Full Clarity's underlying capability, billing against a Schedule of Values with retainage tracking and change order integration, applies regardless of the billing format required.
A typical construction NetSuite configuration includes:
Core NetSuite ERP for financials, purchasing, and procurement
Project accounting for job costing and project management
Advanced Revenue Management for ASC 606 and percentage-of-completion
Full Clarity Construction for NetSuite for AIA billing, change orders, and WIP
Full Clarity Retainage for NetSuite for retainage AR and AP automation
Subscription costs depend on user count, modules, and the Full Clarity licensing tier. Implementation fees vary based on the number of projects, contract types, integrations, and level of configuration required.
Pricing is quote-based. Request proposals from a NetSuite solution provider experienced in construction for an accurate estimate.
Softype is a NetSuite implementation partner and authorized reseller of Full Clarity Construction for NetSuite. We combine NetSuite's core ERP capabilities with Full Clarity's construction-specific modules to deliver job costing, AIA billing, retainage, and project tracking in a single platform.
Our construction ERP approach:
Job cost structure design. Mapping your cost codes, phases, and Work Breakdown Structure into NetSuite projects and tasks before configuration begins.
AIA billing and SOV setup. Configuring Full Clarity for G702/G703 billing aligned to your contract structures and owner requirements.
Retainage workflows. Setting up AR and AP retainage through Full Clarity Retainage for NetSuite, with configurable rates per project.
Change order workflows. Approval routing, budget revision, and SOV update processes designed around your actual sign-off requirements.
Revenue recognition alignment. Configuring percentage-of-completion, milestone, or other methods to match your contract types and accounting standards.
WIP reporting. Dashboards and reports for project managers, controllers, and executives showing WIP valuation, margin by job, and over/under billing.
Softype has implemented percentage-of-completion revenue recognition and project accounting for project-driven businesses, and brings that foundation to construction deployments. We are actively working with construction and Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) organizations to design and implement NetSuite plus Full Clarity solutions.
Book a meeting to discuss your construction ERP requirements.
Yes. NetSuite tracks labor, materials, subcontractors, equipment, and overhead by project, phase, and cost code, with real-time actual vs budget visibility. Full Clarity Construction for NetSuite extends this with WIP reporting, committed cost tracking, and claim preparation based on Schedules of Values, making it a full construction job costing solution.
Not natively. Out of the box, NetSuite supports project-based billing but does not generate AIA G702/G703 invoices. Full Clarity Construction for NetSuite adds AIA-compliant invoice generation directly inside NetSuite, connected to the project's Schedule of Values and change order history.
NetSuite tracks retainage separately from standard AR and AP. Full Clarity Retainage for NetSuite extends this with configurable retainage rates per contract, automated retainage calculations, claims management, and real-time reporting of retained amounts across all active projects.
Yes. NetSuite manages detailed job costing across dozens or hundreds of active projects simultaneously. Each project can have its own budget, cost codes, billing rules, and retainage settings. Portfolio-level dashboards and WIP reports provide visibility into overall margin, cash flow, and project health across your entire job book.
NetSuite is commonly used by general contractors, specialty trades (mechanical, electrical, plumbing, civil, interiors), engineering and EPC firms, and construction-related service businesses seeking modern cloud ERP. It is particularly attractive to contractors with $10 million or more in revenue who have outgrown basic accounting software and need integrated job costing, WIP reporting, AIA billing, and retainage management.
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