Solutions · Residential builders
From the first estimate to the final billing.
The full estimate-to-profit loop for residential work: DUPA and POW build-ups, a client portal, progress billing with retention, and a live per-job profit number.
An eight-person builder runs the whole job on two people's memories: the estimate in one file, the budget in another, approvals over Viber, progress billing in someone's head.
01 — The operating loop
The loop, tuned for residential builders.
Six stages, one connected graph. The filled stages are where Trestle does the heavy lifting for this firm — 4 of the six; the open stages are shared by every customer.
01
Estimate
DUPA and POW build-ups from a cost database, priced for the way Philippine residential jobs are built.
02
Budget
The won estimate becomes the working budget in one click. Same lines, no re-entry.
03
Purchase
POs and petty cash raise committed cost as materials move.
04
Field
Daily logs, photos and deliveries captured offline on site — even where there's no signal.
05
Bill
Progress billing with retention, generated from verified accomplishment.
06
Profit
A live per-job profit number, read straight from the graph.
02 — What they run today
The current stack, and where it leaks.
Most firms don't have a system problem. They have five systems that don't talk to each other. This is what residential builders run today, and what each tool actually costs.
01One Excel for the estimate, another for the budget
They drift apart in a week. Retyping the same numbers is where the 3–8% permanent error rate is born.
02Approvals over Viber
The record of what the client approved is whatever someone remembers later.
03Progress billing in someone's head
Retention and milestones aren't tracked, so billing runs late and arguments surface at the end.
04Profit by gut feel
There's no live number, so profit is discovered long after the job. 35% of work hours go to rework, searching and conflicts.
3–8%
permanent error rate from disconnected software
11.5h
a week hunting and reconciling data per team
35%
of work hours lost to rework, searching and conflicts
Source: PH Construction OS master blueprint, problem section
03 — Before / after
What changes for the people doing the work.
Before
The estimate in one file, the budget in another — and they disagree.
After
The won estimate becomes the budget in one click. Same lines, no re-entry.
Before
Client approvals bounced over Viber with no record.
After
The client reviews and approves in the portal; every decision is logged against the project.
Before
Retention and progress billing tracked in someone's head.
After
Progress billing with retention is generated from verified accomplishment.
Before
No live number for job profit until long after the job.
After
A live per-job profit number, read from the graph as you go.
04 — Capabilities by phase
Capabilities, placed where they work.
Not a flat feature list — each capability lives in the phase of the job where it does the work.
01 · Bid & estimate
- DUPA and POW estimating
- Takeoff and cost database
02 · Budget & cost
- Budget vs. actual
- Petty cash and liquidation
03 · Field
- Offline field app
- Daily logs and photo records
04 · Bill & close
- Client portal and approvals
- Progress billing + retention
05 — Who uses it
Four seats on the same graph.
Owner / builder
01Wins the job and runs the business
Builds DUPA/POW estimates, locks the budget, and bills progress with retention — from one screen.
Foreman
02On site
Logs progress, photos and petty cash on the offline field app; the office sees it as it happens.
Finance / bookkeeper
03Keeps the books
Liquidates petty cash, watches budget vs. actual, and exports clean numbers for the accountant.
Client
04Owns the property being built
Reviews progress and approves milestones in the portal — no Viber threads, no ambiguity.
06 — Plans & alternatives
Start on Growth. Scale around it.
Most firms like yours start on Growth. Step down if you're smaller; step up when the work outgrows it.
Startup
The first system a small crew moves off Excel onto.
$230 /mo
Billed annually · 3 Pro seats
- 5 active projects
- 100 GB
- 1,000 AI credits
Growth
The plan most firms land on.
$646 /mo
Billed annually · 10 Pro seats
- 25 active projects
- 500 GB
- 5,000 AI credits
Professional
For general contractors running real complexity.
$1,562 /mo
Billed annually · 25 Pro seats
- 100 active projects
- 2 TB
- 20,000 AI credits
Not sure which plan fits?
Compare all four, or talk to someone in Manila.
“We stopped retyping the estimate into the budget. That one change ended most of our cost surprises.”
Owner, eight-person residential builder — pilot cohort