Trimble Acquires Flashtract to Expand Connected Construction Technology Ecosystem

Trimble has acquired Flashtract to add construction payment, compliance and lien waiver capabilities to its connected construction technology ecosystem.

Flashtract’s technology streamlines the flow of payment and compliance information between construction general contractors and subcontractors, Trimble said in a Wednesday (May 8) press release.

Now branded as Trimble Pay, the technology will initially be integrated with the Trimble Viewpoint Vista enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for construction, according to the release.

“Adding the ability to manage these workflows with subs electronically through Trimble Pay helps contractors improve compliance and keep projects on schedule and budget by reducing the two to three days of manual work per month by project managers or accountants,” Lawrence Smith, vice president of construction management solutions at Trimble, said in the release.

Trimble Pay eliminates back-and-forth communication and document transfers between general contractors and subcontractors by managing payment applications, lien waivers, and other compliance and billing documentation electronically, per the release.

Many contractors still manage these processes manually, the release said.

“We have earned a strong reputation for enabling general contractors to minimize legal and financial risk and improve efficiency since introducing our technology in 2019,” Flashtract Co-Founder and CEO Blair Chenault said in the release. “Joining Trimble will allow our teams to advance these capabilities and help contractors make payments on time and keep management of financial and compliance documents from hampering project delivery.”

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that contractors are investing in digital tools to enable faster payments and easier cash flow management.

Thirty-three percent of contractors said they were planning to adopt integration between accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) and 31% were planning to add instant bank verification and virtual cards for making payments to suppliers, according to “Building Better Cash Flow in Construction with Digital Payments,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and American Express collaboration.

In another recent development in this space, Ottimate and Agave partnered in April to make it easier for construction and real estate companies to incorporate an AP automation solution into their existing processes.

In February, construction/landscaping software startup Attentive.ai raised $7 million to expand to new businesses. The company’s platform helps these businesses save time and make effective bids for contracts using automated site measurements.