Buildertrend Reviews

Buildertrend is a wonderful way to keep track of what is going on. This includes scheduling; creating, recording and sending documentation; organizing projects neatly; and staying aware of finances. It also has a very helpful Leads section, which helps me keep track of prospects from the earliest stage of when I become aware of them. In a word, I would say I appreciate most the organization which Buildertrend offers.

To be succinct, the user interface (UI) is decent but could use some improvement. The Files section in particular could use some work. I would like it to be versatile and able to navigate easily. An example of improved versatility is being able to access information in a simpler and faster way, such as Windows Explorer offers in how I see and can analyze various folders and files. An example of easy navigation is being able to tile multiple view windows so I can compare file locations across multiple Jobs to keep similar file types in the same locations, and so I could ensure my folders all have identical names across multiple Jobs

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 like that it is easy to use. I also LOVE the iPhone app. Once everything has been loaded, I can send large files, communicate effectively, and raise the efficiency of my team and sub-contractors. I also Love the ability to template a project for easy set up of a new project!

When building significant line item estimates, the browser page has to refresh each time as you switch from the budget tab to the estimate tab. Even with a fast connection, it takes a bit of time to update. Not a big complaint since you can upload a spreadsheet from excel for the initial set up.

This software is VERY user friendly no matter what your computer skill level may be. The online tutorials are great and a huge time saver if you are unsure what to do. The customer support staff, should you need them, is always very quick to respond and explains how to execute your task. We were fortunate to have a two day training session with our representatives and that was priceless. Our subs and vendors are able to access our system so it really cuts down on paperwork flow and we know they are seeing the most up to date information on each project. We did have some special needs in our company to tweak things a bit and that was never a problem.

Nothing really, it just takes time to get use to how it flows and again, any question that I did not think of until I dove in feet first, I just emailed or called customer support and got my answers right away.

Has nice TAKEOFF features. Has customer facing features

Not true estimating software, but was portrayed as such. No labor units. The free trial is not really free, because extensive training and setup is needed to even use the software. Need to have someone to set up the software, and learn it fast to be able to recoup the expense of the software. Continued taking money out of my account, even with no contact for months. It's better to purchase on-site software, and have someone train on site. That way you're not paying a fortune every month, for something you cant use.

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.

I like the sense of security it provides to our customers since they can log in and see how their job is doing.

It does everything, but it doesn't do everything WELL. For instance, it does time tracking and GPS tracking.... but it only tells us where our guys are when they clock in and out. It doesn't give us a map of where they went the whole time like T-sheets did, so we have no way of knowing if someone went to the job site, clocked in and then left. It sync's to Quickbooks for payroll, but not correctly. It sends over all of the guys time as Regular time. I have to manually input their hours if I want to pay them for their overtime. It has this Buildertrend Flat Rate Code that nobody can edit or delete and it causes a lot of problems for us. The list goes on..... Whenever I ask them if they can help, I'm told, "Well it doesn't have that feature." Then I ask if they can put in a tech request, but they go on telling me how I should do it online, it will be more effective. That's not right. They should be able to put in a tech request for me and have it be just as effective as if I did it online.

I like that Buildertrend brings together all aspects of residential construction - homeowners, sub-trades, vendors, internal users, and allows everyone to see the information they need to see, as well as provides them the ability to upload photos, documentation and even provide comments to certain areas within the program. This gives everyone an overall sense of what is happening within the project.
Having everyone tied into the program eliminates a lot of extra searching for information, as well as lessen the overall messages one needs to send out to verify parts of the projects - selections, drawings and pricing can be Approved or Declined. This also helps to eliminate outdated/non-approved details from occurring.

The program has a lot to take in, which I suppose is expected, but for me, knowing how things affect something else is really important, as we are a Canadian company trying to work with an American program and American terminology. I have had to experiment a bit with how best to enter information, and sometimes redo it altogether.
I do not like how often I have to press on users to be entering information and using the platform for communications, but that does not have anything to do with the program itself.

The customer service is surprisingly amazing. Anytime I have a question, I am able to reach someone by phone or email very quickly. The integration with Quickbooks Desktop is almost flawless. We use the daily logs quite regularly. These logs allow the entire team to remain up to date on the jobs and their progress. We've also found that the homeowners are reassured by these daily logs. The bids section has saved us tremendous time and increased our estimating accuracy. The ability to be able to template jobs, bid packages, and so many other items saves us a ton of time.

The software seems to be most suited for a cost-plus project. As we bid jobs on a fixed price, we have found a few of the features less useful. We are only using about half of the features. I can't fairly say that these unused features are not good, but we do want to use some of these features, and the fact that we have been unable to implement them causes me some frustration. These features include the selections and the warranty sections.

What I like most about BuilderTrend is it's ease of use, the customization ability of the software, and the ease of edit/revision. We can design the program to where our PO generate directly off of selections, separate by trip, and include whatever options may have been chosen. From selections, I can easily edit budgets and generate estimated sales cost for each individual job.

The only drawback I can come up with is in direct correlation to one of their strengths. The company updates daily instead of doing batch updates periodically. As a result, they shut down part of their servers to perform their updates which can bog down and slow the program while they are doing this. This is usually no more than an hour or so and usually around the same time of the day. Knowing the benefit of doing this, it's a tolerable inconvenience.

I like that it is one platform for our staff, our clients and our subtrades. I like the ease of the change order approval and decline, and the change orders are interactive with the appropriate vendors and subtrades. The schedules are so helpful to keep everyone apprised of the sequence of events. We use the daily logs to record our field visits and items that need to be actioned from those meetings. The To-Do tab keeps everyone on task and on time. We also enjoy the lead opportunity to make sure we are following up with all our potential clients.

The inability to hide non pertinent information from the client view. We like to keep things as simple as possible for clients, so they are not confused. We would like the ability to hide columns that the client is not required to action. e.g. selection, change orders.

Buildertrend has been exactly the product we needed to allow our field supervisors to actually be in the field instead of in the office. Our supers are able to easily schedule their crews on the go and also keep all of their job notes in the Daily Logs. This keeps everyone on the same page and allows those of us in the office to see real-time what's happening in the field. We also use the system to track upcoming houses, safety meetings, and warranty issues. It is very user friendly.

I only have very minor complaints: I wish we could merge multiple lead opportunities together. Also, pulling reports from the schedule is ok, but we have to drop everything into Excel and create our own reports to pay our subcontractors.

By far, the best thing about Builder Trend is its people. I have interacted with a lot of the staff and they excel in getting issues resolved.
This Online Software has everything that you need to manage a large variety of construction projects, Vendor/Contractors, and Customers
They continually update their program and it keeps getting better and better
They take great care in listening to their clients when making improvements
You can easily access the system using Desktop, Tablet or phone

They are working to address these issues, but one of the main issues is that it tends to not be as user friendly as other software, there are many times that they use 4-5 steps to accomplish tasks, when 1-2 would be better.
There are several bugs anytime that you use something that is internet based. Some of these issues have been addressed, others (like window scrolling) Still need to be corrected.