Buildertrend Reviews

It does seem to have considerable functionality... some of which has been very helpful to us

Where to start. Response time is slow, even when I am connected to fibre. Some of the functionality is hard to use.. For example we are using the leads features, but it seems like we need many clicks to get a decent summary of a lead.... The window where activity is stored is very small...and does not seem expandable... so we can only see 2 or 3 lines of the data at a time....ie no ability to enlarge the window.
Next, I have enrolled in the credit card payments...and was helped initially by a BT specialist....but then was handed off to Wepay. After 2 weeks the account is still not set up. WePay regularly send emails asking me to submit documents I have already submitted.... I do and then the send another email asking for the same documents.... I reply asking to talk to someone...but no one seems interested in talking...only sending confusing emails.....
The hours of the help line seem very limited... As I try to grow my business I need to do considerable admin work after a shift has gone home...but so has buildertrend. Folks on the help line do work hard to resolve issues, but are often not available...for example.... the whole support team seems to be required for the same regular internal meetings... In an ideal world the customer would not have to wait so long for help.

I really like that there is unlimited storage and that since it is cloud-based, everyone sees the same data as soon as it is entered. There are also ways to customize the software in several areas, especially To-Do's. Permissions are very granular which can be good, although it can be complex as well.

Understanding how all areas of the software interact is complex, you can't customize fields in Events/Schedule, most of all I dislike the search and filter settings. They are very poor and make it hard to deal with large data sets. Their filters are missing exact matches between items in the same category. There are a handful of other little complaints, but they really need to add custom fields to Events and then update their filter settings to allow exact matches only and also use standard search engine criteria in the text fields.

It covers all the aspects of managing a job; from when the lead is created, to when the job is done. It gives you the power to customize, to a point, the program to fit your company and allows you to make changes on the fly. We keep up on the schedule daily but the schedule keeps our jobs running smooth. The time-clock is top notch and it communicates with QuickBooks. Overall, its the whole package and it all is two thumbs up.

The ability to customize certain things, like tabs or change the wording. All other items Builder Trend fixes as we bring them to their attention.

BuilderTrend offers a comprehensive approach to managing customer interactions, project development and construction management. Implementing BuilderTrend will help you define processes for the key elements of your business - the processes that help you make the most money!

BuilderTrend integrates with QuickBooks desktop but the interface can be a bit clunky. It does work but requires a bit of patience, as do all things QuickBooks.

How easy it was to setup and use. The fact that me and my crew can access Buildertrend from my desktop, laptop, ipad and iphone. Keeps me up to date on my appointments and to do. To develop an estimate is easy and quick and it keeps all my information in one central location.

The software can use some more ability to work with custom fields. The software does not capture company names, which we use to develop proposals. When I print an estimate I have to come up with creative ways to insert the company name for my commercial and governmental clients.

This program helps track our costs with purchase orders and change orders. We do rough scheduling and the daily reports helps clients see what is being done on site daily

They recently came out with a new pay structure which nearly doubled the costs of the program. Its a shame as we are now looking elsewhere for a program that has many of the same functions.

Pictures, prices, all available in one spot.
I love the fact that I can view by location, or category. But it is impractical to use because there is so much dead space between items.
It is great being able to tally up costs as you pick items. unfortunately the costs show up in the wrong fields. See the cons section for more.
I really love the pictures and the details. the fact that I can see multiple images , in different rooms of the floor that I picked, for example.

Very intuitive.

Summary Price information is all wrong. My total price and remaining balance are the same! How can that be? As I pick additional items the dollar figure under selections made goes down. How can that be? I have no idea what my condo rebuild will cost me.
It takes 500 click for me to pick flooring for 1 condo. I should be able to say "I want Tile- Wood Plank- 6"x 24" Lumber Gray tiles throughout". It takes hours for me to record what should take 1 minute!
Each section is organized difrently. in the 1st section (enterance) my tile is 1st on the grid. Then on the second(Kitchen) it is last! This makes it so hard to search.
If I look at a category view, there are page, after page of blank space between items, making it impossible to use. I have to go through 10 pages to move between flooring selections in this view making it useless. The same hold true for the location view. I suspect this is a function of the data loader, but the company and project managers always say "that is the way BY works" When I complain to Road runner restoration they say they can do nothing about it. They state they cant modify the software!
The user has no capability to undo selections! So if we make a mistake we need to wait a month for the construction company to make changes.
Items .
If I logon to two units in the same webbrowser, one overwrites the other! Aaaah!

- Time tracking with overtime automatically calculated.
- Job costing with custom jobs/types. Can generate reports so you can see effectiveness of employees.
- Different views for job schedule which can be nice - calendar, agenda, gantt.
- Can store unlimited photos, videos, and documents. All are organized in folders and can be shared with the client easily.
- Can assign multiple employees to jobs as well as subcontractors and their prices and information.
- It will show your current costs, so you can see how much the job is costing the client in real time.
- Most everything is customizable and template based.
- You are assigned a specific rep from BT that will answer all questions and do live training with you - Very helpful.
- There are a fair amount of videos available online from other users who are also using the software.
- Effective for companies that deal with large jobs with many moving parts and subcontractors.
- Client portal for each job that includes notes, pictures, videos, progress, invoices, etc. This all can be hidden from clients as well and customized to how much information you are wanting to share.

- Calendar feature doesn't allow you to drag and drop jobs or scheduled items and also allow clients to view it. You can either drag and drop or have it be viewable to clients. This is fairly simple to switch back and forth, but it adds extra steps.
- App is not user friendly for employees or technicians. There are too many buttons to press.
- This software only works well for companies that handle large jobs that are long term with many elements.
- To-do's are fairly simple and not well designed. Great that you can add photos, videos, docs to each checklist item. But there's only 1 checkbox per item, no title for the item, and no way to make the to-do list required for employees.
- If you don't press "save" after uploading photos/videos or writing notes, they will disappear and you can easily erase notes. No window that reminds you to save work before moving on.
- Extremely job-based. You must chose the job and then you can view schedule, clock in, add notes, complete checklist, etc. Not easy to view all jobs at same time.
- No line items for invoices.
- Client portal is set up to be job-based and not client-based. That means every job will have to have a different username for the client to log into.
- Overtime that is automatically calculated doesn't automatically calculate a higher rate on the client's budget.
- Learning curve is overall fairly steep. As a fast learner and pretty technically able, it took me a while to figure out how the software worked. Not super intuitive.
- Not a very updated or attractive look.

Project management. daily reports, calendar, to dos, bidding, having a budget, documents, mobile app, templates

all things financial - PO's, Lien Releases, integration with QB (need to have PO's and budget integrate), subs submitting an invoice (shouldn't be all or nothing), progress billing. Securing areas of use. Not getting a sub report (with custom columns so we can print a list for customers). Not having custom fields in the PO. not being able to remove former employees from the list (make inactive, like subs). reminders on the bell are always wrong or not relevant. Not able to have a change order directly associated with a PO so we can see the full value of the contract with changes. Managing retention. No PO approval process (internally route). Unable to get signatures on additional lien waivers. Time it takes to push from BT to QB - during billing there is a long delay. Constant circle of death. Unable to pull up vendor from a PO or add a new vendor from PO. With Bills and POs we should be able to select on that bill/po if we want it added to the budget / new expected. On the budget we should be able to select which columns are viewed.

- We can upload all project-related documents, photos & videos under the customer folder.
- We can update daily logs, which helps the team members to be on one page.
- To-Dos helps us a lot in completing our task by time.
- The schedule section helps a lot to keep a track record of projects.
- We can send messages to our customers, and other team members can also view it using the global tab.
- Under the financial tab, it gives us various categories which help a lot to our finance team.

- It takes time while loading.
- Daily logs can be edited by any team member without edit history.

I have an organized mind. I like to keep things consistent and predictable. In this industry, nothing is consistent or predictable, so having an information base that is reliable and helpful and as organized as my mind is INCREDIBLY HELPFUL. Project managers come at me with all questions at all times and I can have an answer for them in 3 clicks of my mouse. Job status? Material samples? Delays? Change orders? I have it all. I like that as my understanding of this field grows, I will be able to customize and implement BuilderTrend to my liking and my needs.

There is so much to learn! I want to do it all, making our small business more efficient. I don't understand estimating or anything in the financial category. It can do SO MUCH, and I understand very little. It has taken me a long time to learn to make a schedule template that works for me, the difference between daily logs and to dos and scheduling, how change orders should be documented etc. But when I learn how to implement the program I get very excited. I can't wait to share the program with my colleagues and transform our job flow.

I love how everything about the building process is in this one spot. Very user friendly, and Buildertrend is very interested to hear on how they can improve. I love the scheduling feature and use this daily. Our clients are ravening fans and love this software because of it's transparency.

Because Buildertrend is so awesome, it sets a high bar for itself. So when there are glitches or I cannot successfully upload many pictures I am highly disappointed. But 1st world problems right?!

The interface is user Friendly and the tutorials easy to follow for all levels of our team. The cloud based system with live updates has allowed for all team members to access live data, Photos and videos no matter were they might be working.
Our clients have an interface and capability to be a part of the construction process and see live updates of what is happening on their new home.
Buildertrend has allowed us to implement systems and checklist all in one place available to everyone., We are now in the process of scaling our Company to build in outer regions. All easily controllable from the head office.

- Some of the windows and drop down categories don't have the flexibility to change what text is fixed by Buildertrend internally.
- Not having tax inclusive and exclusive in the owner invoices and the Purchase orders (Australia 10%GST)
- Using the selections window we have had to set up a work around to show the client a cost difference between the base item and the item they select. This results in not being able to use the selection as part of the estimate and the item selected has to be carried in from elsewhere.

The best part about BuilderTrend is that we were able to apply our own processes we have established throughout the 38 years we have been open on a cloud based platform.

BuilderTrend is a very powerful tool. There is nothing about the software I particularly dislike, but I will say that it takes a lot of time to implement and understand the software. There are several areas that need improving/changing, however, the people at BuilderTrend are so quick to adjust. It is amazing