Budgets, bills, valuations and a dedicated client portal — all in one place. Built for how UK construction businesses actually work.
When your bills are in your email, your budgets are in Excel, and your client is chasing you on WhatsApp — things fall through the cracks. ClientBuild puts everything in one place so you always know exactly where you stand on every job.
Client decisions buried in WhatsApp. No record, no accountability — and no defence if they dispute it later.
Invoices landing from 10 suppliers, no idea which project they belong to or whether you're already over budget.
No real-time cost tracking means you only find out at the end — when it's far too late to do anything about it.
Writing up valuations, hunting for invoices, sending update emails — all time you should be winning the next job.
No complicated setup. No training needed. Log in and start running your projects properly from day one.
Set budgets by trade section and cost code. Track paid and outstanding spend in real time and see your implied profit on every job — budget minus actual costs. Your margins stay completely private from your client.
Log every bill with Labour, Materials, and Other line items. Set CIS % per bill, flag domestic reverse charge VAT (marked RC), and attach the invoice for reference. If a trade runs over budget, split the bill — overflow goes to another cost code automatically.
Drop an invoice photo or PDF into the Bills inbox and AI reads the supplier name, invoice number, date, net/VAT/gross, whether it's reverse charge, and the CIS rate — then fills your bill form instantly. No typing, no transcribing.
Set a retention percentage per project — it's automatically held back from each monthly valuation and tracked cumulatively. See what's been certified, what's retained, and what's due. Generate a professional invoice cover letter in one click.
Every project gets a password-protected client view. Your client sees progress, valuations, drawings, and the programme — without seeing your costs. No more daily update calls.
Upload drawings, specifications, and material choices by section. Clients approve decisions digitally — giving you a full audit trail that protects you when disputes arise on site.
Build a Gantt programme visible to your client. Log snagging items with photos. Keep all project discussion in one place — visible to your team and your client in their portal.
The Bills inbox has a built-in AI scanner. Drop in a photo or PDF of any invoice and it reads the supplier name, invoice number, date, amounts, VAT rate, whether it's domestic reverse charge, and the likely CIS percentage — then fills your bill form automatically.
Photos or PDFs. Drop a phone photo of a paper invoice or upload a PDF from your email. The AI handles both.
Reads amounts, VAT & CIS. Net, VAT, gross, reverse charge flag, and CIS percentage are all extracted and filled — no manual entry.
Auto-assigns cost codes. The AI reads the type of work on the invoice and suggests the most likely trade and cost code for your project.
AI scanning uses the Claude API — you set up your own API key in the Bills Inbox settings. It takes 2 minutes and costs fractions of a penny per scan.
Every project on ClientBuild comes with a built-in, password-protected portal your client can log into at any time. They see exactly what you want them to see — nothing more.
Live valuation summary. Clients can see the current valuation, cumulative amount certified, retention held, and payment history — updated as you work.
Drawings & sign-offs. Upload drawings and specification choices. Clients approve decisions directly in the portal — timestamped and logged for your protection.
Programme visible to your client. The Gantt chart is visible in their portal so they can see the project timeline without having to ring you.
Snagging & client actions. Clients can view the snagging list and see action items assigned to them — keeping everyone on the same page without the back-and-forth.
Clients never see your bills, budgets, cost codes, or what you're paying subcontractors. They only see what you choose to share: valuations, programme, drawings, and their action items. Your profitability is completely private.
No sales call, no demo, no setup fee. Sign up and start using it straight away.
Sign up with your email and invite code. It takes under 2 minutes and there's no credit card needed to start your trial.
Add each live job, assign trade sections and cost codes, then enter your budgets. Your dashboard is ready to track spend from day one.
As invoices arrive, log them against the right project and cost code. Attach a copy for reference. See immediately whether you're on or over budget.
Set a password for each client. They log in and see valuations, drawings, the programme and their action items — without ringing you for an update.
| ClientBuild | Spreadsheets | Generic PM Tools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real-time budget vs spend by cost code | ✓ | Manual | ✗ |
| Bill tracking with file attachment | ✓ | No attachment | Limited |
| Monthly valuations & retentions | ✓ | Manual | ✗ |
| One-click invoice letter generation | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Password-protected client portal | ✓ | ✗ | Extra cost |
| Digital client sign-offs & drawings | ✓ | ✗ | Limited |
| Gantt programme visible to client | ✓ | ✗ | Add-on |
| Snagging list with photo upload | ✓ | ✗ | Add-on |
| CIS deduction support | ✓ | Manual | ✗ |
| Domestic reverse charge VAT (RC) | ✓ | Manual | ✗ |
| Retention tracked per project | ✓ | Manual | ✗ |
| Profit visibility per job | ✓ | Manual | ✗ |
| Split bills across cost codes | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Built for UK construction | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Flat monthly price | £39/mo | Free* | £100–300/mo |
* Free — until it costs you £22k in an overrun you didn't see coming.
One plan, everything included. No per-project charges. No hidden extras. Cancel any time.
No card required to sign up · Free trial included
Most construction software is built for large firms with full-time office staff. It takes weeks to set up, requires training, and costs hundreds a month — for features most small contractors will never use.
ClientBuild was designed by someone who runs a construction company in Surrey. It's built around the way small and medium UK contractors actually work. You can have your first project set up before your morning brew goes cold.
No contracts, no tie-ins, no cancellation fees. If ClientBuild isn't right for you, cancel from your account settings in seconds. We're confident it will be.
Join contractors across the UK who've already stopped running their business on spreadsheets and WhatsApp.
£39/month after trial · Cancel any time · No card required
Fill in your details and we'll be in touch within 24 hours — no hard sell, just a straight conversation about whether ClientBuild is right for your business.