Contractor software in Quebec
Contractor software in Quebec: how to choose yours
Contractor software should follow the job from the quote to the invoice: work orders, change orders, hours, purchasing, holdback, GST and QST. OKTO PSA covers that path in one tool, in French and English, hosted in Quebec, at $300 a month for up to 10 users. It replaces neither your accounting software nor your payroll software.
What should construction management software cover for a small business?
It should cover the six moments where a job makes or loses money. A general contractor and a trade contractor do different work, but they retype the same things: the quoted price, the extra agreed on site, the week’s hours, the supplier’s invoice. Keep this list beside you during a demonstration.
The quote
It starts from your prices, not from a file copied from the last job. Once accepted, it should become the project without anyone recreating the client, the site and the amount.
The work order
It is filled in on site and signed there by the client. A signed work order that stays in a truck is one that gets invoiced late.
Change orders
The extra requested along the way has to be priced, approved by the client and added to the contract. Otherwise it still gets done, and it does not get invoiced.
Hours
Every hour should carry its job and its type of work. That is what lets you pay the crew, invoice the client and know the real cost.
Purchasing
Purchase order, receipt, supplier invoice: the three get compared. Paying for what was ordered instead of what was received happens more often than people think.
The invoice with GST and QST
Quebec taxes calculated on every invoice, the holdback deducted and tracked, your numbers on the document. Software designed elsewhere often treats all of that as an exception.
What a contractor needs, and what OKTO PSA does
Eight needs, with what OKTO PSA does today for each and the question to ask any vendor, us included. The middle column only repeats what is described in the construction module catalogue, where every feature is shown on screen.
| Need | OKTOPSA | The question to ask any vendor |
|---|---|---|
| QuoteThe price given to the client. | Draft quote to accept line by line, every price with its source. The project is created when the quote is accepted. | Does the accepted quote become the project, or does everything get recreated? |
| Work orderThe day’s work. | One list of work orders across all jobs, printable and signable on site. The client signs with a finger and gets a copy. | Can the client sign on site, on a tablet or a phone? |
| Change ordersThe extra during the job. | Change order signed on site or online, grouped with the work order on one invoice. Revised contract kept current. | Does the approved change order land on the next invoice by itself? |
| Crew hoursThe timesheet. | The crew lead fills in the whole crew’s week. Activity codes limited per job, billed rate and cost rate. | Does the logged hour reach the invoice without being retyped? |
| Purchasing and materialsWhat costs money. | Purchase order, receipt line by line, supplier invoice matched. The difference is held before payment. | Does the software flag an invoice higher than what was received? |
| Invoice, taxes and holdbackWhat the client pays. | GST at 5% and QST at 9.975% rounded to the cent, 10% holdback deducted and tracked until release, RBQ licence and NEQ on the invoice. | Is the holdback released with its own invoice, or in a separate spreadsheet? |
| ProfitabilityKnowing where the job stands. | Original amount, change orders and revised contract on the project record. Actual hours compared with planned hours, phase by phase. | Does the margin show during the job, or only once the file is closed? |
| Accounting and payrollThe books and the pay. | No. OKTO PSA replaces neither: it exports to the software you already use. | What does the software not do, and where does it export to? |
Middle column: features described on the OKTO PSA construction page. Right-hand column: questions to ask, not a judgment on any product. No other software is named on this page.
General contractor or trade contractor: is it the same software?
Yes, as long as it speaks your trade’s language. In OKTO PSA, one setting puts the whole product in job-site words: work order, change order, superintendent, crew lead. Whatever you already renamed yourself stays put. What changes from one contractor to the next is the screen they open in the morning.
The general contractor
They look at the contract: original amount, approved change orders, invoiced to date, left to invoice, holdback. Documents are filed by job, with versions kept, and the client follows progress in their portal.
The trade contractor
They look at the day: today’s work orders, the crew, the materials. The “My day on site” screen opens on a tablet or a phone, and whatever is done offline goes to the office when the signal comes back.
The one who does both
A job-site calendar per crew shows who is where. Equipment, a crane, a lift or a trailer, is booked for a specific job, with its maintenance tracked.
How to choose contractor software in six steps
A well-run demonstration always shows a tidy job. These six steps are there to see what happens with yours, the one where the client changed their mind three times.
- 01
Write down one job’s path
From the quote to the last payment, on one page. Circle every spot where someone retypes information that already existed.
- 02
Sort out what you need on day one
Separate what you need to open a job on Monday from what can wait six months. The short list decides the choice.
- 03
Run the demonstration with a real job
Take a closed job, with its change orders and its holdback, and ask to have it redone in front of you, with no preparation.
- 04
Ask what the software does not do
Accounting, payroll, reports: a vendor who answers that question plainly saves you a surprise in the third month.
- 05
Check the language and where the data lives
Interface and support in French, hosting in Quebec, a database that is yours alone. Our answers are on the security page.
- 06
Work out the cost over three years
Add the data transfer and the training to the monthly price. With us, migration is done for a fixed fee, quoted in advance.
What does OKTO PSA not do for a contractor?
Three things, and we would sooner write them here than explain them after you sign. None of them stops you from running a job, but each one matters to your choice.
Accounting
OKTO PSA produces the invoices and calculates the taxes. Bookkeeping stays in your accounting software, which receives the invoices and the payments.
Payroll
Hours, their codes and allowances are exported in batches to your accountant or your payroll software. Pay is calculated there. Details are on the construction timesheet software page.
Made-to-order reports
Reports are limited to one fixed dashboard and five CSV exports. There is no public API. If you build your own analyses, take that into account.
The price, and where to read the details
OKTO PSA costs $300 a month for up to 10 users, $550 for 11 to 20 and $700 for 21 to 30, in Canadian dollars before taxes. The price follows the tier, not each person you add. The CRM and HR are included. The grid is on the pricing page.
The full catalogue
This page is a buying guide. Every job-site feature, with its screen, is described in the OKTO PSA construction module.
The OKTHAV assistant
An optional add-on, OKTHAV reads a drawing or a photo of a receipt, prepares a takeoff at your prices and answers with your numbers. Nothing is saved without your approval.
The management view
Projects, time, purchasing and invoices together: that is what the ERP for service companies page describes, useful if you are comparing with a heavier system.
Frequent questions
The questions we get asked
Your question is not here?
Write to us. A person in Trois-Rivières answers, within one business day.
Ask your questionThe one that follows your job from the quote to the invoice without making you retype: work order, change orders, hours, purchasing, holdback, GST and QST. Run the demonstration with one of your closed jobs, ask what the software does not do and check where your data is hosted. OKTO PSA covers that path, in French and English, in Quebec.
Not OKTO PSA. It produces quotes, work orders and invoices, calculates GST and QST and tracks the holdback. Bookkeeping and payroll stay in your current software: OKTO PSA sends them the invoices, the payments and the hours. Your accountant keeps their tools and their month-end routine.
Yes. The holdback is deducted from each invoice and tracked until it is released. It adds up per job and is released with its own invoice, at the right time. The project record shows the amount invoiced to date, what is left to invoice and the accumulated holdback, next to the contract as revised by change orders.
It depends on the vendor and on the number of users, so always ask for a price in writing. OKTO PSA posts its own: $300 a month for up to 10 users, $550 for 11 to 20, $700 for 21 to 30, in Canadian dollars before taxes. Always add the data transfer and the training, which we do for a fixed fee quoted in advance.
Yes, for the day’s work. The “My day on site” screen opens on your crew’s tablet or phone: work orders, client signature, photos, receipts, site log and forms. Whatever is done offline stays on the device and goes to the office as soon as the signal comes back.
Yes. A trade contractor gets the day’s work orders signed on site, the timesheet filled in by the crew lead, materials taken out of stock with the hour and equipment booked per job. The vocabulary is set to job-site words, without touching anything you already renamed yourself.
With a call and your spreadsheets. Our team sets up your clients, sites, contacts and contracts in your instance, configures your taxes and trains your team. It is a fixed fee, quoted before any commitment. You validate the data in your instance before you change how you work.
Describe a job to us, and we will show you the path.
A real one, with its extras and its holdback. We redo it with you in OKTO PSA, from the quote to the payment, and we tell you what does not apply to your trade. If you would sooner look on your own first, the interactive demo opens in your browser with sample data.
OKTO PSA prices are in Canadian dollars, before GST and QST. OKTO PSA replaces neither accounting software nor payroll software: it exports to them.