Sage Intacct for construction: the financial platform built for how construction businesses actually work
Sage Intacct is the leading cloud financial management platform purpose-built for construction project accounting, WIP reporting, retentions, progress claims and multi-entity consolidation. LimeLedger transforms construction finance using Sage Intacct and AI automation, delivered in a fixed-fee, 14-week engagement.
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Entry-level accounting was built for small businesses, not construction
MYOB, Xero and QuickBooks were designed for businesses with simple transactions. Construction finance is fundamentally different: long project durations, multiple cost codes, retention schedules, WIP recognition, progress claims and subcontractor payment obligations that standard accounting systems simply cannot handle.
What your current system can't do
Real WIP accounting
Percentage-of-completion revenue recognition with automated overbilling and underbilling GL entries. Not a spreadsheet. Not a workaround.
Job costing at the cost code level
Track actuals vs budget, committed costs and forecast at completion across every project in real time.
Retention and progress claim management
Automated retention tracking with release date alerts, and progress claims that tie directly to your contract billing schedule.
Multi-entity consolidation
Consolidated P&L, balance sheet and cash flow across multiple entities in minutes, not days.
What Sage Intacct delivers
| Capability | MYOB / Xero | Sage Intacct |
|---|---|---|
| Job costing | Workaround | Native |
| WIP reporting | Spreadsheet | Automated |
| Retentions | Manual | Native |
| Progress claims | External tool | Integrated |
| Multi-entity | Separate files | One system |
| TPAR reporting | Manual export | Built in |
| Real-time dashboards | End of period | Live |
| AI-powered insights | None | Sage Copilot |
Built for every construction business type
Head contractors
SOPA workflow support, subcontractor management, progress claim scheduling and multi-project WIP across your entire portfolio.
Subcontractors
Accurate job costing by trade, variation tracking, subcontract claim management and a real-time view of AR and AP by due date across your active contracts.
Property developers
Development finance reporting, drawdown tracking, pre-sales management and multi-entity consolidation across your portfolio.
Construction accounting workflows
handled natively in Sage Intacct
Most platforms treat construction like a complicated version of retail. Sage Intacct was built with construction workflows as first-class features - not add-ons, not workarounds, not a separate module you pay extra for.
Every contract sits in Sage Intacct with its original sum, approved variations and revised total. Variation orders are recorded with an approval status - pending, approved or rejected - so your team always knows what is confirmed and what is still under review before it flows into your billing schedule.
Progress claims calculate from your contract milestones or percentage complete and generate invoices directly inside Sage Intacct. Sage Intacct's billing module supports your SOPA process - payment claim due dates and statutory response deadlines are tracked in the same place you raise invoices, giving your team clear visibility of outstanding obligations.
Percentage-of-completion revenue recognition runs automatically as costs are posted. Overbilling and underbilling GL entries generate without manual calculation. Your WIP schedule updates in real time, so month-end is a review task, not a rebuild from a spreadsheet.
Retention amounts withheld from each progress claim are tracked as a separate receivable per contract inside Sage Intacct. Defect liability period expiries and scheduled release dates trigger automated alerts so no retention falls through the cracks at year end.
A multi-level work breakdown structure maps every project into phases, sub-phases and cost codes. Budget versus actual and forecast at completion are visible at any level in real time - no report to run, no spreadsheet to pull from the system each morning.
Purchase orders and subcontract orders create committed cost entries the moment they are approved. Your forecast at completion includes what has been ordered, not just what has been invoiced. Project margin is never a surprise at the end of a period.
Subcontract purchase orders and claim approvals are managed inside Sage Intacct, with payment schedule obligations tracked through the billing workflow to support your SOPA process. Every payment to a subcontractor automatically creates a Taxable Payments Annual Report record, so your TPAR generates at year end without any manual data extraction.
Timesheets or payroll data from Employment Hero allocate labour costs to the right project and cost code on the day payroll runs. Site allowances, superannuation and on-costs are included automatically. Your cost-to-complete never understates the real number.
Connect Sage Intacct to your whole tech stack
Sage Intacct connects to the tools Australian construction businesses already use via certified Marketplace connectors. Job costs flow from Procore into Sage Intacct automatically. Payroll data syncs from Employment Hero without rekeying.
Procore and Kynection
Committed costs, purchase orders and subcontract claims move from your project management tool into Sage Intacct automatically. Your finance team stops rekeying data from operations.
Employment Hero and KeyPay
Payroll data, including site allowances, superannuation and STP Phase 2 obligations, syncs directly to Sage Intacct. Labour costs hit the right project and cost code on the day payroll runs.
AP automation
Sage Intacct's built-in AP workflows route invoices through purchase order matching and project cost coding before they reach your finance team for approval. Approval happens in the system, not by email.
LimeLedger implements and maintains these integrations as part of every engagement. See the full integration guide at construction-integrations.
AI-powered accounts payable
built into Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct includes Sage Copilot, Sage's embedded generative AI assistant. Sage is actively expanding Copilot's capabilities across close automation, variance analysis and intelligent agents - with rollout to Australian customers ongoing as features reach general availability.
The AI capability confirmed available in Australia today is AP Automation with AI Matching - and for construction businesses processing high volumes of subcontractor claims, purchase orders and supplier invoices, it is one of the most practically valuable features in the platform.
"The automation and AI-driven insights from Sage Intacct have allowed us to cut processing times in half and significantly reduce manual errors."
Christian Mulvihill, CFO - Greenidge Generation Holdings
AP Automation with AI Matching
AI and machine learning automatically match invoice lines to purchase order lines, flag discrepancies, and accelerate approvals. The full AP and purchasing workflow - from bill entry through PO matching to payment - runs in one unified platform.
For construction businesses processing high volumes of subcontractor claims and supplier invoices, this removes the manual matching work that creates backlogs and errors. Your AP team stops checking spreadsheets and starts reviewing exceptions.
Australian compliance built in, not bolted on
Sage Intacct is configured for the Australian compliance environment. TPAR reports generate automatically from your subcontractor payment data. BAS preparation pulls directly from your GL. SOPA payment schedules are tracked within the system, so you have a clear record of claims raised and response deadlines met - without a separate spreadsheet.
TPAR reporting
Taxable Payments Annual Reports generate automatically from contractor payment records. No manual extraction, no year-end scramble. Your BAS agent receives a clean TPAR-ready file.
Security of Payment Act (SOPA)
Sage Intacct's billing module supports your SOPA process. LimeLedger configures billing workflows during implementation so progress claim due dates and payment schedule obligations are tracked inside the system, giving your team visibility of outstanding claims and response deadlines.
Australian data hosting
Your financial data is hosted in Australian data centres. Sage Intacct runs on AWS in the Sydney region, so your data stays in Australia - meeting the residency requirements of government contracts and regulated construction projects. SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II certified.
BAS and GST
GST is coded at the transaction level across every project and entity - so when BAS time comes, the data is already there. BAS preparation becomes a review task, not a data gathering exercise. Multi-entity tax consolidation runs across your whole group in minutes.
Built for AU construction
Every LimeLedger implementation includes full Australian compliance configuration as standard - TPAR settings, GST tax codes, BAS workflows, and billing workflows configured to support your SOPA process. These are not optional add-ons. They are part of the standard implementation scope.
#1 rated mid-market cloud ERP
Sage Intacct is the top-rated mid-market cloud financial management platform, recognised by G2 and Gartner. Purpose-built for project-based, multi-entity businesses - not adapted from a small business product.
Australian data residency
Sage Intacct is hosted on AWS in the Sydney region. Your financial data stays in Australia - a common requirement for government clients and regulated construction projects. SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II certified, so your auditors have the evidence they need without a manual evidence-gathering exercise.
What Sage Intacct implementation looks like with LimeLedger
LimeLedger implements Sage Intacct for Australian construction businesses on a fixed-fee basis, with a 14-week go-live commitment. Every engagement is led by Justus Siage, a CPA who helped launch Sage Intacct's construction capability in both Australia and the UK. There are no offshore delivery teams and no surprises.
Discovery and design
We map your existing chart of accounts, entity structure, project data, and compliance requirements. You sign off on the design before any configuration begins.
Build and configure
Sage Intacct is configured to your construction workflows: WIP templates, cost code structures, approval hierarchies, TPAR settings, and integration connections are all built and tested.
Data migration
Your chart of accounts, open projects, customer and supplier records, and agreed historical transactions migrate cleanly. Opening balances are validated against your source system before go-live.
Training and go-live
Your finance team is trained on the workflows they will use every day. We stay on post-go-live to make sure the first month-end close runs cleanly.
Questions about Sage Intacct for construction
What types of Australian construction businesses use Sage Intacct?
Sage Intacct suits Australian construction businesses with $10M+ annual turnover that have outgrown MYOB or Xero. This includes general contractors and head contractors, civil infrastructure businesses, specialty and trade contractors (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fit-out), and property developers. The common thread is financial complexity: multiple projects, multiple entities, or compliance requirements that entry-level accounting systems cannot handle properly.
How long does Sage Intacct implementation take for an Australian construction business?
LimeLedger implements Sage Intacct in 14 weeks for most Australian construction businesses. This covers discovery and design (weeks 1-3), system build and configuration (weeks 4-8), data migration (weeks 9-10), and training and go-live (weeks 11-14). The 14-week timeline is our standard scope, agreed with you at kick-off. More complex businesses with many entities or legacy systems may run to 16 weeks.
Can Sage Intacct connect to Procore and other construction software?
Yes. Sage Intacct integrates with Procore via a certified Sage Intacct Marketplace connector, Kynection for field operations, and Employment Hero and KeyPay for payroll. LimeLedger implements and tests these integrations as part of the standard engagement. The result is that committed costs, purchase orders, and payroll data flow into Sage Intacct automatically, without your finance team rekeying data from other systems.
Does Sage Intacct handle Australian compliance requirements like TPAR and SOPA?
Yes. Sage Intacct is configured for the Australian compliance environment as part of every LimeLedger implementation. TPAR reports generate automatically from subcontractor payment records. BAS preparation pulls from the GL without manual data extraction. Sage Intacct's billing module supports your SOPA process - progress claim due dates and statutory response deadlines are tracked inside the system, giving your team visibility of outstanding obligations. Payroll - including STP Phase 2 - is handled by your payroll provider (Employment Hero or KeyPay), which integrates with Sage Intacct so labour costs flow in automatically. LimeLedger configures all of these workflows during implementation, specific to how your business operates.
Ready to move your construction business
to the right platform?
Book a 30-minute consultation. We'll tell you whether Sage Intacct is the right fit and what implementation looks like for your business.
Questions? Email info@limeledger.com
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