ERP for construction, engineering & systems integration. Tender to RA bill to handover to AMC: one project record.
One project record from tender to handover to AMC, with RA bills raised only on certified quantities. This page describes the United States edition, which starts in early 2027.
Industry pack ready From early 2027How does Kinnow help an EPC or system integration firm? One project record from tender to handover to AMC: the BoQ is priced and baselined, the award creates the project, subcontractor and supplier bills are measured, RA bills go out only on certified quantities, retention is tracked, and a signed handover puts the assets under AMC.
Your business in one paragraph
An EPC firm wins a tender, prices it against a Bill of Quantities, mobilizes crews and plant, and is paid in running-account (RA) bills against quantities a consultant certifies in the Measurement Book. Margin is made or lost in procurement, in variations agreed on site and not billed, and in retention that sits uncollected long after the defect-liability period ends. Compliance sits on the site: safety, inspections and non-conformances. The owner is awake over the RA bill held up for a certificate, the variation nobody priced, and the handover packet that takes weeks and delays the AMC that should follow.
See one of your projects as Kinnow would hold it. Send us a BoQ and the last two RA bills.
How your month runs on Kinnow
Ten steps from tender to AMC, with the approval points marked. Nothing is billed, posted or released without a person.
- A tender is priced. The estimator imports the BoQ in Build. BoQ Pricer proposes a cost for unpriced lines from rates already on the sheet and leaves blank any line it cannot price from the sheet. The bid is submitted with the priced BoQ; bid security and bank guarantees are kept together in one list.
- Bid or no bid. The commercial head decides after the site assessment is verified and the solution case approved. Accepting an award above the limit set with you needs an approver.
- The award creates the project. The project opens with its WBS and BoQ. The BoQ is baselined as the budget the project is measured against. A project with no accountable owner is blocked.
- Suppliers and subcontractors are qualified. A supplier submits documents, they are reviewed, and only a qualified supplier can receive a purchase order. A PO above the limit set with you needs an approver, and an unapproved make is blocked at the PO and at goods receipt.
- Material is bought and received. Buy raises requirements against the BoQ, matches the supplier bill to the PO and receipt, and the project cost cockpit shows committed, actual and accrued by WBS node.
- Site progress is measured. The site engineer records the daily progress report: manpower, plant and progress. Inspections are requested at hold points; a failed inspection raises a non-conformance that must be closed with a verified corrective action.
- The consultant certifies; the RA bill is raised. Certified quantities are reconciled to the Measurement Book. The RA-Bill Reviewer checks them against the contract. The invoice is raised in Sell with sales tax priced by destination state, and the certified value posts to the books.
- Variations are priced and decided. A variation is raised, advised on by the Margin Guard, and approved with its sell value and cost estimate locked.
- Retention is held, then released. Each bill holds retention. At the end of the defect-liability period the DLP Expiry Watch warns 30 and 7 days ahead and the second tranche can be released.
- Snags, handover and AMC. Snags are cleared, the Handover Composer drafts the packet from the document register, assets and quality position, the client signs it, and the assets move under AMC in Maintain.
What the EPC setup gives you on day one
The ready-made setup for your industry (we call it an industry pack) comes with starting figures, set with you in the first week, in US dollars. Retention is the amount held back until the defect-liability period (DLP) ends.
| Part | What the setup covers |
|---|---|
| Limits and rules (10) | A project or accepted award above a value and a purchase order above a value need approval. An unapproved make at PO or goods receipt, a project with no accountable owner and an AMC call with no service promise (SLA) attached are blocked. A manual journal above a value needs approval. A credit limit above a ceiling and a site lease escalating above a set rate raise a warning. |
| Who signs off, in order (4) | Project approval, purchase approval, journal approval and award acceptance. |
| Ready-made routines (23) | Tender to cash, buying material to site, snag to closure, site visit to sign-off, subcontractor engaged to closed, award to sales order, site lease and plant hire, month-end close and others. |
| Reports (10) | Project register, milestone status, RA bills, retention outstanding, AMC register, service tickets, receivables aging, project value by status, project cost register and cost by type. |
| Ask starters (14) | Which projects are over budget, what retention is due for release, show me pending RA bills, what have we committed on this project that we have not been billed for. |
| Your words | RA bill, snag, Measurement Book, DLP, AMC, and project or site in place of generic terms, as the product names them today. |
Processes, built in
A full set of best-practice processes for your industry come switched on: who owns each step, which steps Kinnow enforces, and a clock on every hand-off between departments. Print any of them as an SOP.
Agents for engineering and construction
Each agent is validated with each client before it works on your books, and every output waits for a person. The industry setup also brings Subcontractor bill release review, Material Variance Watch, Punch Closure Watch and AMC Renewal.
RA-Bill Reviewer
Checks each running account (RA) bill as it is raised: whether the total certified so far goes past the contract as varied, and whether retention was withheld. It only advises; it does not post, change or stop a bill.
Variation Margin Guard
Judges a change order before approval against the margin the job was won at and flags a variation with a sell value and no cost estimate. Advisory.
BoQ Pricer
Proposes cost rates for unpriced BoQ lines from rates already on the sheet and names what it cannot price.
DLP Expiry Watch
Warns 30 and 7 days before a defect-liability period ends so retention does not sit uncollected.
Handover Composer
Drafts the handover packet from the document register, asset list and quality position and states the gaps.
Project Risk Predictor
Warns you when a project is running late, spending ahead of the work done, or billing ahead of it, measured against the baselined bill of quantities (BoQ).
BuildSafety Compliance
Built to total the serious site-safety findings not yet fixed, with their estimated penalty. The estimate and the fixed marker are set up with you.
Substitution Guard
Flags a BoQ line whose cost rate deviates more than 20 percent from the sheet's own rate book when it is baselined.
Ask us to run the Margin Guard on your last five variations.
Tax and compliance calendar for a contractor (United States)
Kinnow prepares; a person confirms and files. Dates are not printed here because each state and locality sets its own.
| Obligation | What Kinnow prepares | What stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| State sales tax on progress bills | The invoice is raised in Sell with tax priced by destination state. An untaxed taxable line needs an exemption certificate or a reason. How construction contracts are taxed differs by state. | A person, with your tax adviser, decides taxability. |
| Per-state sales-tax returns | A summary of taxable sales and tax collected by state, to transcribe into each state return. It does not decide nexus and does not file. | A person files each state return. |
| State registrations | EIN, state sales-tax permit, state annual report and foreign qualification tracked as registrations; due dates appear only where you supply them. | The controller keeps them current. |
| Subcontractor payments | Subcontractor bills carry retention and dues for review before release. | A person pays. 1099 forms are not produced. |
| Site safety | Incident register, toolbox talks, permits and safety findings. | The safety officer investigates. |
| Inspections and permits on handed-over sites | A calendar of pending, scheduled and expiring items, with the United States starting set of fire inspection, elevator inspection and certificate of occupancy. | Renewal with the local authority. |
| Month-end close | Twelve checks; seven must pass. | The finance head signs. |
What the owner sees
Every answer shows its source and cost before it runs. Veil, our privacy layer, holds back bank, tax and ID numbers and swaps names for placeholders before an AI call. It covers Ask Kinnow and most agents today; the rest are being added.
| Question an owner would type | What comes back |
|---|---|
| Which projects are over budget? | Committed, actual and accrued against budget by project, with the earned-value index (work done against money spent). |
| Show me pending RA bills | Bills awaiting certification or invoice, by project. |
| How much retention is still outstanding? | Retention held, and tranches releasable. |
| Which projects have slipped their milestones? | Planned against actual with the variance. |
| What have we committed on this project that we have not been billed for yet? | The cost register of open commitments. |
| Which AMC contracts renew this quarter? | The AMC register with renewal dates. |
Numbers that matter
- Cost performance index (earned value over actual cost) by project, and forecast at completion.
- Certified but unbilled work and RA bills pending certification.
- Retention outstanding and DLP expiry dates.
- Open snags and non-conformances on projects nearing their planned end.
- Receivables aging by client.
Controls an owner cares about
- No bill on uncertified work. The review check comes before the invoice.
- No handover without a signed packet. It is the only way to start the DLP clock.
- No retention release inside the defect period. The release is refused until it ends.
- Approved makes are enforced. An approved make list is checked at PO and at receipt.
- Margin advice is recorded on the variation, so anyone can see later what the approver was told.
Applications switched on
Your words, on day one
| Generic term | In your Kinnow |
|---|---|
| progress invoice | RA bill (or milestone / progress invoice) |
| defect list | snag (or punch / defect) |
| site quantities | Measurement Book (MB) |
| warranty period | DLP (defect-liability period) |
| post-handover contract | AMC / O&M / LTSA |
| location | plant / project / site |
Questions
Can an RA bill go out on uncertified quantities?
No. The RA-Bill Reviewer checks certified quantities against the Measurement Book and the contract first, and an RA bill is raised from what the consultant has certified. The reviewer holds a bill back; it never posts one.
How do variations and retention work?
A variation is judged before it is approved: its margin against the margin the job was won at, the cumulative variation share of the contract, and whether it has a sell value but no cost estimate. The advice is recorded on the variation. Retention is tracked on its own, with a defect-liability tranche that cannot be released before the period ends, and a watch warns 30 and 7 days before it does.
Can we stop equipment being bought outside the approved make?
Yes. A purchase order line or goods receipt for a make that is not approved is blocked, so the design and the warranty are not voided on site. A supplier must also be qualified before a purchase order is released.
Does it do scheduling and critical path?
It computes float and the critical path on finish-to-start links in working days, Monday to Friday, with no holiday calendar and no resource levelling. Milestones carry planned and actual dates with variance.
Does it handle BIM, drawings or RFIs?
Drawings and documents are kept in a document list that holds every version. BIM and CAD authoring stay with your design tools. There is no separate routine for requests for information (RFI) or submittals; inspection requests and the document register cover part of it.
What happens after handover?
Handover needs a signed packet, which starts the defect-liability clock. Handed-over assets are listed in Maintain under AMC with their OEM warranties, and an AMC contract is created in Leases & contracts (Pact). Snags found later are logged against the punch list.
When is the United States edition available?
From early 2027. Until then this page describes what the edition is built to do, not something running today.
How long does it take to set up?
About two weeks to first results for one company. Masters and opening balances are imported in the first week. We run alongside your current records until the month-end numbers tie.
Show me Kinnow for construction, engineering & systems integration.
Answer three questions. Get the applications, the agents and a two-week plan for your business.