The last 18 months have been a stressful ride for UK construction firms, with cost pressures and cashflow struggles like never before.
And no wonder, government data shows that last year the overall price of construction materials increased by 26% with some essentials, like reinforcing bars, shooting up by 58%!
To retain healthy margin and stay competitive, construction firms across the UK are looking for ways to get smarter, fitter, and leaner on costs and cashflow – that’s usually when they find Allstar.
Unavoidable complications and unexpected costs are part of the construction business, but the way you pay sub-contractors and suppliers can have a huge impact on your cashflow balance. Allstar enables construction firms to simplify accounts payable and take total control of when cash leaves their business.
Our latest guide examines how UK construction firms can use these changes to get in shape for 2023.
Download our full guide here: Are rising costs leaving your construction business out of shape?
Hidden costs of manual payments processing
Despite their best efforts to stay healthy, construction firms still paying suppliers manually are missing out on efficiencies and savings available to competitors who consolidate and streamline accounts payable through a business credit solution like Allstar Plus.
Time: Handling all that paper, chasing those receipts, updating spreadsheets – payments admin is a time sink that drains value and energy from back-office operations.
Pressure: The complexity of traditional processes puts unnecessary stress on finance staff, who struggle to keep accurate records for auditing, VAT and tax reporting.
Visibility: Because the manual process can be slow, insight on spend can run weeks or even months behind, making accurate project planning and cost allocation more difficult.
Control: With limited ability to control spend before it actually happens, there’s no telling what surprises could be lurking in the receipts to further squeeze project margins.
How healthy are your payments processes?
Here are five tell tale signs that your payments process could be leaving you out of shape:
Tracking spend across multiple projects is a nightmare – budget overshoots are common, impacting cashflow and forcing you to rely on expensive short-term credit to say on track
Slow invoice processing means you can’t always access to the best supplier deals and ‘early payment discounts’
Out-of-pocket expenses regularly come in higher than expected on projects, eroding profit margin, while payment schedules are erratic and often put pressure on your positive cashflow balance
Absent or inaccurate spending data from previous jobs means agreed pre-work payments rarely reflect the reality of project costs
Back-office pressure turns effective management and tracking of orders and supplies into a lottery
If any of these feel familiar, you might be one of the many construction firms who need a fast fitness regime targeting how you purchase things like fuel and construction materials – perhaps it’s time to look at a business credit card solution like Allstar.
Allstar puts you in control
Allstar business credit cards help thousands of UK businesses keep a tighter rein on project spending. Our easy-to-implement online reporting solution offers near real time visibility and control on what can be purchased, by who, where and when – plus get flexible terms, and up to 44 days interest free credit* plus rebates on some purchases. **
*Subject to status and full credit check
**Rebate on monthly spend applies to purchases made on the Allstar Visa Card. Level of rebate depends on monthly spend. Minimum spend £200 per month to qualify.
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