Construction procurement involves managing high volumes of materials, subcontractors, and logistics while ensuring cost control and timely deliveries. Many companies struggle with scattered data, manual processes, and poor visibility into procurement status. 4castplus centralizes procurement into one unified system, automating purchasing, vendor management, and cost tracking to reduce errors and improve efficiency.

Project procurement is unique in several ways. First, the purchasing and subcontracting is done on behalf of the project. This means that the PO committed costs are being drawn from the project’s budget and cost codes. For contractors, this is typically a pass-through cost, or items procured are billed to the client at a markup. Secondly, project procurement can often result in an intense amount of activity in a short time, with the need for precise timing on deliverables arriving at site to keep the project on schedule. Thirdly, project procurement often involves a lot of subcontracting to specialty contractors and rental contracts for specialized equipment. And fourth, EPC organizations often drive the procurement process for industrial projects where 1000s of engineered items are designed, fabricated, and shipped to site, requiring a much more complex supply chain management of planning, requisitions, tagging, drawings, expediting, and logistics.

Long lead procurement in construction refers to engineered items of equipment or materials that are custom-fabricated for a specific purpose. This can require a long process of engineering drawings, detailed planning, tagging, expediting, and oversight on shipping & other key milestones.

The 3-way match is a financial control in accounts payable. Prior to approving to pay an invoice from a supplier or subcontractor, the purchase order commitment, item receiving document, and the vendor invoice are compared (attested) to ensure all details match. The 3 elements are: Commitment, Receipt, and Invoice. The commitment occurs when the PO is issued to the vendor. The receipt is entered when the goods are shipped and received in good order. An invoice is sent from the vendor at some point after the goods are received. Typically, the receipt is matched against the commitment. And then, the invoice is matched against the receipt. This is also true of subcontracts. The difference is that the ‘receipt’ in this case is a formal payment claim made by the subcontractor for work completed. This can be expressed as a milestone, progress or other form of payment agreement.

Yes, 4castplus supports multi-currency procurement, allowing buyers to manage international vendors, contracts, and payments in different currencies from the currency of the project. The system provides reporting on base vs. PO currency and budget tracking across multiple currencies.4castplus also provides for financial adjustments resulting from currency fluctuations between the time of PO commitment and final invoice.

4castplus provides an organized RFQ and bid management system, allowing teams to issue, track, and evaluate vendor bids seamlessly. The system ensures transparency, reduces manual effort, and enables better decision-making through structured comparison tools and real-time bid tracking.

Poor invoice matching can lead to overpayments, budget discrepancies, and avoidable disputes with vendors. This drains project resources, strains key vendor relationships, and places the project at risk. 4castplus eliminates these risks with automated 3-way matching, ensuring that invoices align with purchase orders and received goods, preventing costly errors and fraud.