Comparison: Buildertrend
Estimark and Buildertrend, compared for UK builders
Buildertrend is a construction management platform built around home building and remodelling, originating in the United States and sold largely into that market. Estimark is a UK product: the same quote-to-invoice spine, with CIS deducted on labour only, the section 55A reverse charge on the invoice where it applies, and payment applications dated by the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act.
Where a US-origin product meets a UK job
The deduction on the invoice
CIS has no equivalent in the US market. A product that never had to model it has nowhere to put a labour-only deduction on a 6th-to-5th tax month.
VAT that is not sales tax
The domestic reverse charge shifts the VAT to the customer and puts statutory wording on the invoice. It is not a tax rate setting.
Payment dates set by statute
The Construction Act fixes due dates, the final date for payment and the pay less deadline. Getting one wrong is not a preference, it is a lost argument.
Client-facing selling
A product built for home building leans on client portals and selections. A commercial subcontractor is selling to a main contractor’s QS, not to a homeowner choosing worktops.
Comparison: how it works
Who is Buildertrend built for?
Home builders and remodelling contractors, largely in the United States.
- Its feature story is built around residential building and the homeowner relationship that goes with it.
- That is a real market. It is a different one from a UK subcontractor invoicing under CIS.
NoteEstimark describes its own product here. For the other product’s current price and what it covers, read that vendor’s own site.
Who is Estimark built for?
UK builders and contractors, including the ones whose work is mostly subcontract and mostly invoiced under CIS.
- Quote, cost, invoice and get paid, with the deduction and the VAT treatment already correct.
- Payment applications, pay less notices and retention on statutory dates.
- Site safety records that stand up: versioned RAMS, operative sign-off, inductions, permits and a muster roll.
What does Estimark do about UK statutory construction work?
It handles the four obligations a UK contractor is judged on: CIS deduction, the VAT domestic reverse charge, Construction Act payment timing, and the safety records that go with them.
- CIS deducted on labour only, excluding materials, VAT and plant hire, on 6th-to-5th tax months, with HMRC verification when connected and the CIS300 recorded with both statutory declarations.
- VAT domestic reverse charge under section 55A: the statutory wording on the invoice, nil VAT, controlled per client.
- Payment applications with Construction Act dates, the pay less deadline calculated, and retention tracked to release.
- RAMS with operative sign-off, inductions, permits and a live muster roll, plus EIC, EICR, Minor Works, PAT and CP12 certificates with typed test results.
NoteEstimark records the CIS300 and locks it to its tax period. It does not file the return to HMRC on your behalf.
What does Estimark not do?
Where Estimark stops, so you can check it against your own requirements before you start a trial.
- It does not file a CIS300 to HMRC on your behalf. It records the return and locks it to its period.
- It does not do BIM or IFC model coordination.
- It holds no security certification: no ISO 27001, no SOC 2, no Cyber Essentials.
- Notifications do not reach an Android handset and there is no web push, so on those anything waiting on you is in the app when you open it.
Estimark, in numbers
- CIS base
- Labour only
- CIS tax month
- 6th to 5th
- Reverse charge
- Section 55A
- Payment terms
- Construction Act
- Damp and mould
- Awaab’s Law timescales
- Certificates
- EIC, EICR, CP12, PAT
- Built for
- United Kingdom
- Field app
- Works offline
Pro
£299 a month +VAT
Payment Applications is included from Pro and Job Costing from Core. CIS Compliance is included from Solo upward, so a sole trader on £39 a month +VAT gets it too.
What you get
- CIS deduction on labour, with the CIS300 recorded
- VAT domestic reverse charge under section 55A
- Payment applications and pay less deadlines
- Retention tracked to release
- RAMS, inductions and the muster roll
- Offline field app for the people on site
Questions
Estimark vs Buildertrend: frequently asked
Is Estimark a UK alternative to Buildertrend?
Yes. Estimark is built in the UK for UK contractors, and handles CIS, the VAT domestic reverse charge and Construction Act payment dates as part of the ordinary quote-to-invoice flow rather than as a localisation.
Does Buildertrend handle CIS?
Check Buildertrend’s own site for that. What Estimark does is written down: labour-only deduction, 6th-to-5th tax months, HMRC verification when connected, and the CIS300 recorded with both statutory declarations.
Does Estimark work for residential builders?
Yes. Quotes, variations, job costing, snagging and handover packs all apply to residential work, and the reverse charge and CIS apply to it too when the client is VAT registered and CIS registered.
Related
CIS compliance
Labour-only deduction, 6th-to-5th tax months, HMRC verification, CIS300 recorded.
VAT domestic reverse charge
Section 55A wording on the invoice, nil VAT, per-client control.
For builders & contractors
Job costing, CIS, payment applications, site safety, plant and fleet.
Pricing
Every plan and every module, with the current price against each one.
Try it on a real job.
14 days, full access, every plan. No implementation fee. All prices exclude VAT, added at 20% at checkout.
Moving from another system? What comes across, what we do with you in the first fortnight, and how long it takes.