Steel construction debt collection

Secure your project collections
Between delivering the structure and receiving the final payment, a lot can happen.

In steel construction, the collection cycle is particularly exposed: you commit significant costs upfront, steel, workshop fabrication, transport, installation teams, before even issuing the first progress invoice. And between the delivery of the steel frame and the final payment, there are often weeks, sometimes months, of reception delays, technical reservations, retention money, or disputes over additional works.

Collections management in this sector is nothing like that of a standard service provider. It requires precise tracking by project, knowledge of the mechanisms specific to construction, and the ability to follow up without damaging long-term commercial relationships with industrial clients or private project owners.

Discover how to structure your collections in steel construction, from the first progress invoice through to the release of retention money.

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The specific challenges of debt collection in steel construction

Payments in stages, at the pace of the project

In steel construction, invoicing rarely happens in one go. It follows the progress of the project, design stage, fabrication stage, installation stage, final balance after handover, with a validation required from the project owner or site manager at each step.

Each validation is an opportunity for delay: a disputed progress figure, a late sign-off, a technical reservation on the quality of execution. Without rigorous tracking of each progress invoice by project, it is difficult to know exactly where the overall outstanding balance stands and which invoices are blocked.

Retention money ties up part of your cash flow

As in the wider construction sector, retention money, generally set at 5% of the total contract value, is deducted from each progress invoice and held until the end of the guarantee period. For a steel construction company, this represents a significant share of cash flow tied up for the duration of the project and beyond.

Tracking these retentions, their exact amount, their release date, the steps required to recover them, must be integrated into collections management, on the same level as current invoices.

Project handover: the stage where everything can stall

Formal acceptance of the structure is the step that triggers payment of the final balance and release of the retention money. It is also the step where technical reservations can block the entire process, sometimes over minor points that do not call into question the overall quality of the construction, but which are enough to delay a long-awaited payment by several weeks.

Structured tracking of handovers, planned date, reservations raised or cleared, follow-ups with the project owner, helps avoid these blockages at the collection stage.

Additional works and variations are a common source of disputes

In steel construction, mid-project changes are frequent, plan modifications, section changes, additional works not included in the original contract. These extras give rise to variation orders that must be validated and invoiced separately, and are often the first invoices to be disputed or set aside by the client.

Isolating these amounts, tracking them separately, and ensuring they enter an appropriate follow-up process is essential to avoid losing track of these invoices.

Also worth reading: Construction debt recovery: manage your project receivables

What CashNow brings to steel construction companies

Outstanding balance tracking by project and by progress stage

CashNow makes it possible to structure collections tracking not just by overall client, but by project and by progress invoice, so you always know which stages are awaiting validation, which are overdue for payment, and where the retention money to be recovered stands.

Automatisation des relances client par le logiciel de recouvrement cashnow

Client follow-up

Client follow-up scenarios tailored to each stage of the cycle

A progress invoice awaiting validation is not followed up in the same way as an overdue final balance. CashNow makes it possible to configure differentiated scenarios according to the nature of the blockage and the stage of the project, with the right message at the right time.

Also worth reading: Client follow-up: 10 mistakes that delay your payments

How does it work?

Unblocking payments on additional works

If a client disputes an additional work item or requests amendments, CashNow sets aside the contested amount. You collect everything else immediately, without waiting for the disagreement to be resolved.

Dispute management

A global view of project cash flow

CashNow’s dashboard consolidates the entire outstanding balance, validated stages, retention money, pending variation orders, final balances, to give a clear picture of incoming cash flow and the priority actions to take.

tableau de bord cash now pour le reporting KPI

Reporting and dashboard

Debt collection software adapted to the construction sector

Beyond steel construction, CashNow is a complete debt collection software solution: automated client follow-up, dispute management, DSO and credit risk management. A platform built for companies managing complex outstanding balances, multiple projects, and varied contacts.

Your finance and admin teams are managing progress invoices, retentions and variation orders across several projects at once?

Let’s talk, contact us.