The 7 Best Construction Procurement Software Tools

A lousy procurement strategy can lead to longer purchasing cycles, shadow purchasing, wonky data, and supplier hiccups – issues that top construction procurement software can tackle.

To make the procurement process a breeze in 2023 and beyond, equip your procurement teams with the tools they need to cut costs and make project management a piece of cake by getting rid of time-consuming bottlenecks.

Check out these seven construction procurement tools to kick things off.

Best construction procurement software in 2023

1. Archdesk
2. Tradogram
3. 4castplus
4. Trimble
5. Procore
6. Medius
7. Ivalua

Related content: check out the best construction accounting software on the market

What's construction procurement software all about?

Construction procurement software is business software that lets organisations completely automate their source-to-pay cycle.

Users can manage every aspect of the procurement process, from budget analysis and management to contract management and invoice payment.

You can use construction procurement software in various ways to streamline project purchasing and subcontracting, giving your teams better visibility and control.

All in all, construction procurement software can be a fantastic tool for businesses keen on automating the processes of buying materials and maintaining a stockpile of goods.

What's construction procurement, you ask?

In simple terms, procurement is the act of getting products or services, usually for commercial purposes.

This holds true in the construction field, where procurement is the process of getting all the materials and labour needed to complete a project. It's all about keeping an eye on supply chain risk monitoring.

Types of construction procurement software and tools

• Spend Analysis: Spend analysis tools help you uncover purchasing trends and identify opportunities for cost savings, performance improvements, and general efficiency gains. You can analyse spending by category, supplier, and more.
• Supplier Discovery: Tools for supplier discovery let you search for suppliers that meet your requirements for capabilities, location, supplier diversity, and more.
• Supplier Information Management: Supplier information software, also known as supplier onboarding, enrollment, or registration, allows you to collect and manage supplier information directly from suppliers, ensuring efficiency and accuracy. This info can range from contact details to certification status and more.
• eSourcing: eSourcing software enables you to electronically request bids and proposals from suppliers in real-time.
• Contract Management: Contract management software allows you to quickly create contracts using pre-written templates and clause libraries.
• e-Procurement: eProcurement software lets users browse catalogues of pre-approved goods and services from approved vendors, create requisitions, and have those requisitions turned into purchase orders (either manually by buyers or automatically when specific criteria are met).
• e-Invoicing: With e-Invoicing software, also known as "ePayment," you can receive supplier invoices online, boosting efficiency and accuracy.
• Supplier Management: Supplier management tools let you monitor and/or rate supplier performance.
• Combination Solutions: "Procure-to-pay," or P2P, refers to an eProcurement system where purchasing organisations can pay suppliers directly, rather than having to do it through their ERP systems. When these systems allow users to receive vendor bids, they're called source-to-pay solutions.
• Full-Suite Solutions: Some software vendors offer most or all of the solutions included in this list. Such comprehensive sets of solutions are called suites.

Here are some key features to look out for:

The construction procurement software you choose should meet your company's essential needs. Its capabilities and deployment strategies should take into account factors like your company's size and existing technology stack.

• Easy-to-use interface: The importance of intuitive construction procurement software cannot be overstated. There's no way to make up for the time and money spent training your team on an overly complicated platform.
• Supplier management: Procurement software features should include supplier onboarding functionality to ensure that only authorised suppliers are used for purchases.
• Budget insight and control: When budgets are transparent, users are better equipped to make smart purchases. Procurement software should provide authorised personnel with access to real-time data and the ability to report on budgets vs actuals to promote this visibility.
• Visibility and business intelligence: Gaining visibility into expenses by spend category is a crucial goal of procurement installations. Your ability to analyse and report on historical and current data depends on understanding how your company spends money and where to make cost cuts.

Why you need construction procurement software

Using procurement software benefits the entire organisation, not just your procurement department. Here are some advantages of using construction procurement software:

1. Track your spending with construction procurement software from a single, centralised location, giving you visibility into all suppliers and transactions.
2. Automation in a procurement platform can boost overall operational performance. Standardising workflows and improving process efficiency reduces the time spent on internal procedures like tender management and managing contracts and suppliers.
3. Enhanced reporting capabilities in procurement software provide you with valuable data to help you make informed decisions.
4. Procurement software offers an efficient collaboration portal, which improves both internal and external communication. It features centralised storage for all communications and documentation.

By using an automated process, procurement staff can focus on more valuable tasks while reducing errors and inefficiencies caused by manual processes.

Best construction procurement software of 2023

Here are the best software tools for construction procurement this year, as heavily researched by our team.

1. Archdesk

Capterra Rating: 4.8/5
G2 Rating: 4.3/5
Archdesk Pricing:

Archdesk Overview

Do you want to deliver your projects faster while having your costs and profits under control? Archdesk, a cloud-based construction software, can support you in that.

With Archdesk, you can forget about relying on error-prone paper documentation. All your data is in one place, so you can check the current project’s status or dig into budget details in a few clicks. 

You need to enter the data only once, as Archdesk gathers and connects the information inside the system. As a result, you gain more time and can make knowledge-based decisions.

Despite the automation, you keep complete control over your process. For example, you can set a customisable approval process for any new order to ensure that no unplanned purchase will slip into your costs. 

Overall, Archdesk is an excellent solution to help you control expenses and track budget changes. With the system, you can feel safe about your project data, no matter how complicated the project is.

2. Tradogram

Capterra Rating: 4.5
G2 Rating: 4.1

Tradogram Pricing

Tradogram Overview

If you want a budget-friendly solution and have more control over your purchases, Tradogram might be a good solution.

This business spending management software offers a range of features that streamline your purchasing process, from the initial requisition approval to the final reconciliation.

Tradogram's value proposition is effective communication, especially regarding purchasing.

With its six comprehensive solutions, including supplier management, purchase-to-pay, and spend analysis, this platform has almost everything you need to take control of your purchasing communication.

3. 4castplus

Capterra Rating: 4.5
G2 Rating: 4.4

4castplus Pricing

4castplus Overview

For builders globally, 4castplus offers performance-driven construction procurement software.

It enables construction project management to move from old, ineffective spreadsheets to an integrated cloud platform. Here, many disciplines can share data and workflows in real-time to complete projects on schedule and within budget.

Contractors can increase their profits by delegating much of the labour-intensive and time-consuming work to the software, freeing up professionals' time for the high-value task of completing projects.

4castplus, designed to connect data with your ERP finance system easily, gives your finance team the confidence that the project financial data is under control, safe, and entirely in sync with your accounting system.

4. Trimble

Capterra Rating: 3.6
G2 Rating: 4.2

Trimble Pricing

Trimble Overview

Trimble Construction One is the complete set of linked construction management software products that provides the actionable data and workflows you need to better manage your people, projects, and processes.

By safely storing, distributing, and arranging documents, drawings, and data in a centralised repository, architects can construct or annotate architectural models, expedite workflows, and preserve a single source of truth.

With Trimble Connect, businesses can store and examine data in different dimensions, create folders and upload files to them, and better understand projects through news feeds, file versioning, and status sharing.

Engineers can use building models and construction data to support decision-making and perform quality checks to find and fix problems before construction.

5. Procore

Capterra Rating: 4.5
G2 Rating: 4.5
Procore Pricing

Procore asks you for some information and promises a call back with a quote

Procore Overview

Procore is a full-featured online construction management and procurement software that offers every feature available in customary construction software, including web-based document management and task management.

The platform links each project participant to industry-specific solutions created for the owner, general contractor, and speciality contractor.

By creating a single source of truth, communication across teams simplifies collaboration. Procore gives your team simple access to all the information required to complete the task.

6. Medius

Capterra Rating: 4.4
G2 Rating: 4.3

Medius Pricing

Medius Overview

A cloud-based accounts payable solution, Medius AP Automation, was created to assist small and large construction businesses in automating AP procedures and managing vendor invoices and approval workflows.

An invoice matching engine built into the system enables managers to speed up every step of the invoice processing lifecycle, including finding, looking at, and comparing invoice data.

Managers can create personalised rules for allowable purchase order deviations for operations, certain suppliers, and approvals using the functionality of deviation management.

The digital procurement module users can create a pre-approval purchase model to maintain purchase orders, requisitions, and goods receipts.

Business processes, workflows, best practices, AP benchmarks, and more are all uncovered through analytics tools.

7. Ivalua

Capterra Rating: 3.8
G2 Rating: 4.0

Ivalua Pricing

Ivalua Overview

Because it is built on a single code base, Ivalua radically changes what procurement and supply chain professionals can accomplish, data models, and adaptable cloud infrastructure.

Many construction companies choose Ivalua's Source-to-Pay package to manage over $500 billion in direct and indirect spending.

As proven by the platform's retention rate, its mix of ease of use, depth, breadth, and flexibility ensures high employee and supplier engagement, quick speed to value, and the capacity to address specific or evolving requirements.

Frequently asked questions

What is a procurement system in construction?

The procurement process is, in its simplest form, the procedure used to secure construction projects. It includes the choice of a legal framework that expressly outlines the hierarchy of roles and powers for those involved in the construction process.

What is the best procurement method for construction?

The most popular and frequently employed technique of construction procurement is general contracting. It entails delivering a design to the contractor from a business or individual. This type of procurement works well when the procedure is finished before the project starts.

What are the three main types of procurement?

Direct, indirect, and service procurement are the three basic categories of procurement activity.

What is an ERP procurement system?

Accounting, order management, inventory management, and human resources management are just a few of the many business processes that are brought together by an ERP system. The functionality covers purchasing as well.

How do you manage procurement in construction?

The project manager is in charge of it, often involving the following five areas of accountability: Establish the project's requirements. Request quotes for services, then choose one. Purchase or rent supplies and machinery. Monitor construction contracts, future price changes, and completion dates.