Getting started with Constructicore, step by step.

1. Sign in and secure your account

1. Open the link in your welcome email, or sign in at app.constructicore.com.
2. Click your initial at the top right, then Two-factor sign-in, and scan the code with an authenticator app (Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator or similar). Tick "Don't ask again on this device for 30 days" on a computer you trust.

2. Get set up

The first time you sign in, Get set up walks you through four short steps: your company, your client and project, your subcontract, and your first application. You can skip any step and come back later.

There is also a sample project, Riverside Apartments, filled with made-up figures so you can try everything safely. Remove it from the Projects page when you are done.

3. Your company details and defaults

Go to Settings, then Company.

• Company details and logo: these appear on every application PDF, next to your client's logo. A wide PNG on a white or transparent background works best.
• Defaults for new subcontracts: your usual retention, discount, VAT treatment (most subcontract work is domestic reverse charge) and how applications are sent. New subcontracts start from these.
• Default payment calendar: your usual application dates and payment terms. Each project and subcontract can still be changed.

4. Add your main contractor

Go to Contractors and add the companies you work for. For each one you can save their logo, their usual terms and payment calendar, and their contacts. For each contact, choose whether applications are sent to them and whether they are copied on notices, so nothing goes to the wrong person.

5. Set up the project and subcontract

1. On Projects, click New project. Add the client, the programme dates and, if it differs from your default, the payment calendar.
2. On the project, click Add subcontract and enter the order details: the contract sum, retention, VAT treatment and payment terms from the subcontract order.
3. Check Periods and deadlines. If the dates are not right, use Set the payment calendar so every application date, due date and notice deadline is worked out for you.
4. Add the contract sum analysis, the list of items you will value each month. The quickest way is Paste from Excel: copy the description and value columns from your pricing spreadsheet, paste them in, then Check pasted rows and save. Blank rows are ignored.
5. Optionally, list the documents the main contractor needs (insurances, RAMS, O&M manuals and so on). Add our standard list is a good start.
6. Job already under way? On the subcontract's Settings tab, open Starting position and enter your last application number, the amount certified to date and each line's percentage so far. Your first application in Constructicore carries straight on from there.
7. Next job with the same contractor? Copy to a new job on the Settings tab sets up the new subcontract with the same terms, payment calendar and, if you like, the same contract sum analysis to edit.

6. Your first application

1. On the subcontract, click Start application for the open period.
2. For each line, type the percentage complete (type 10 for 10%), or switch to Sliders, which work well on a phone. From the second application onwards you will see last month's percentage beside each line.
3. Add any variations, materials on site and daywork sheets. The totals, retention, previous payments and VAT update as you type, and your work is saved automatically, even if your signal drops on site.
4. Use How was this calculated? to check the sum before you send it.
5. Click Submit. The PDF is stored as issued and does not change afterwards.
6. Send it: Email it now sends the PDF and a secure link to your client's contacts, or download the PDF and send it yourself. The client can also download an Excel for assessment to fill in their certified figures.

If the client asks for changes before certifying, use Revise this application; the original stays on record.

7. Certification, notices and payment

Each application has a Notices and payment section.

• Certification: enter the certified percentage by line, or upload the client's completed Excel. You can check everything before saving.
• Notices received: record any payment notice or pay less notice with the date it arrived, the sum stated and a copy. Constructicore compares the dates against your contract's deadlines and shows where a notice was late or missing.
• Payments: record what was paid, before and after CIS. If you use Xero, payments can come back automatically (step 8).
• Letters: where payment is late, templates such as a payee's notice or notice of intention to suspend are filled in from your figures, ready to check and send.

Reminders are emailed before each date in the payment calendar. Constructicore shows what the dates in your contract mean; it is not legal advice, so take advice before relying on a notice in a dispute.

The Money page (on Projects) shows what you are owed, what is overdue, what needs doing this week and the cash expected over the next six months. Log each variation the day it arrives and attach the instruction, your quote and photos to it; add dated site photos to each application too, and they print at the back of its PDF.

8. Connect Xero

1. Go to Settings, then Xero, and click Connect to Xero. You need a Xero login with the Standard or Adviser role.
2. Choose how invoices are coded: when the draft invoice is created (when you click Create invoice, or automatically when you record the certification), the sales account, VAT rates and tracking.
3. Tracking lets you see sales by job in Xero. If you do not have a tracking category yet, Constructicore can create one for you; each project is then added as an option automatically.
4. Constructicore only creates draft invoices, for you to check and approve in Xero. When an invoice is paid in Xero, the payment is recorded against the application.

9. Work in progress at month end (optional)

The Work in progress report shows work done but not yet invoiced. After the month ends you can download it, or post it to Xero as a journal (a draft to check, or posted straight away) with its reversal on the 1st, so your profit and loss shows work in the month it was done.

It needs a WIP or accrued income account in Xero: in Xero, go to Accounting, then Chart of accounts, then Add account, and choose a current asset account type. See Xero's guide, add or edit an account. Ask your accountant which account and valuation basis suit your business.

10. Invite your team

Go to Settings, then Team, and invite colleagues by email. Everyone signs in with their own login, and every change is recorded against their name. You can require two-factor sign-in for the whole team.

Help and feedback

Use the Feedback tab on any page of the dashboard to tell us what is unclear or missing; it tells us which page you were on. Or email info@constructicore.com.