For Small Custom Builders & Construction Companies
If you run a custom construction company with 5 to 15 employees and manage 3 to 10 active projects at any given time, this page is written for you.
23 days
average delay between milestone and draw invoice in manual operations
$6,200
monthly cost of a project coordinator, before benefits
Day 1
milestone reached, draw invoice sent — same day, automatically
Every one of these happens in custom construction companies with 5 to 15 people. They are not edge cases. They are the quarter.
A neighbor of your current client called after seeing the addition you built next door. You were on-site all day managing framing inspection and a concrete pour. The call went to voicemail. You called back four days later. They had already signed with another builder. That job was a $280,000 custom addition. The other builder answered his phone the same afternoon.
Halfway through a kitchen remodel, the homeowner wanted to move a load-bearing wall, upgrade to quartz countertops, and add a butler's pantry. You said yes. You did the work. The verbal agreement was clear — to you. Six weeks later you invoiced $22,000 in extras. The homeowner disputed $6,500 of it, saying the pantry was never confirmed. There was no written record. You split the difference. You ate $3,250 in work you already completed.
Framing on your biggest project completed on a Thursday. That triggered draw number two — $45,000. You were pulling permits on another job and managing a subcontractor dispute on a third. The invoice went out 23 days later. Three weeks of cash you had already earned sitting idle while you floated payroll out of your own account. Not a business problem. A systems problem.
In a custom construction company with 8 to 15 employees, the owner is almost always the project manager, collections department, and communications hub. Here is what that costs by the numbers.
Typical week breakdown for a custom builder managing 5 simultaneous projects
23 days
Avg. milestone invoice delay
The average small builder takes 23 days from milestone completion to sending the draw invoice. That is 23 days of earned cash sitting uncollected while you float payroll.
$6,200
Monthly cost equivalent
A project coordinator costs $6,200–7,500/month in salary before benefits or management overhead. TIM handles the same coordination workload at a fraction of that cost — across every active project simultaneously.
$28K
Annual cost of verbal change orders
Custom builders who rely on verbal change order agreements lose an average of $28,000 per year in disputed extras. Written documentation before work begins eliminates the dispute before it starts.
TIM is Digital Labor — a business operating system for US construction companies with 5 to 15 employees running high-ticket, multi-phase projects. Every operational thread runs without you in the middle of it.
Every inbound referral or lead gets a follow-up message within hours — not days.
Every change order generates a written record and client approval before work begins.
Every completed milestone triggers the draw invoice the same day — automatically.
Every subcontractor gets a pre-work brief with scope, access, and contact details before they show up.
Every client gets a project status update at each phase without you making the call.
Every completed project sends a review request within 48 hours of final walkthrough.
TIM is priced against the $6,000/month salary of the project coordinator it replaces — not against $20/month software. Here is how all three options compare for a custom construction operation running 5 active builds.
| Category | Spreadsheet | Project Coordinator | TIM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $0 + your time | $6,200–7,500 | Fraction of a hire |
| Lead follow-up | Days later, if at all | Depends on workload | Same day, automatically |
| Change order docs | Verbal only | Email threads | Written + client-approved |
| Milestone invoicing | When you remember | Manually tracked | Same day as milestone |
| Sub coordination | Phone calls + texts | Inconsistent emails | Automatic pre-work brief |
| Review collection | Rarely happens | Inconsistent | Every completed project |
Yes. TIM tracks each project phase, subcontractor assignment, milestone, and payment draw independently. Whether you have 3 or 10 active projects with 5 subs each, every thread stays visible without you being the one holding it together.
TIM generates a written change order record the moment a scope change is logged — including description, cost impact, and homeowner approval status. No more verbal agreements that get disputed at final billing. Every change is documented before the work starts.
No. TIM works alongside your existing project management tools. It handles the operational layer — lead follow-up, client communication, invoice triggering, subcontractor briefs, and review collection — the work that falls through the cracks when you are on-site all day.
When a milestone is marked complete in TIM, the corresponding draw invoice goes out automatically — the same day, not three weeks later. Across 5 active projects, that means every payment trigger fires on time without you remembering to send it.
TIM handles the follow-ups, change order documentation, draw invoicing, and subcontractor coordination — so you can run more projects without adding headcount or losing margin. Meet your Tim and see how it fits your operation.
Meet your Tim