Use case · Subcontract
Tracking subcontractor cost and forecast on a project
Subcontract cost is usually incurred well before it posts, so a project’s reported position can trail the work already done on site.
Foras keeps subcontractor cost against the same cost structure as everything else, so it reaches the position and the forecast rather than sitting to one side.
Northgate Logistics Park — Phase 2
Position · Aug 2026 · Demo data
Captured
£11.85m
Finance
£10.47m
Adjusted CTD
£11.97m
| Cost code | Captured | Finance | DiffDifference | Adjustments | CTDAdjusted CTD | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 150Project Management | £1.84m | £1.78m | £60k | — | £1.84m | Timing |
| 210Labour | £2.96m | £2.70m | £262k | — | £2.96m | — |
| 311Shoring | £1.43m | £1.54m | −£115k | +£115k | £1.54m | Match Finance |
| 707Subcontract | £3.18m | £3.02m | £158k | — | £3.18m | — |
Difference = Captured − Finance. A negative difference means captured cost sits below Finance. Shoring shows a Match Finance adjustment of +£115,000, so adjusted CTD equals the Finance position to date. Values rounded for display.
Why this is hard
A large cost stream that arrives late
Nothing about subcontract cost is simultaneous. The work, the recorded cost and the posting happen at different times, and the project has to hold a view across all three.
The cost is incurred long before it is posted
Work happens in week one, the cost is recorded against the project when it is known, and the invoice posts in a later period. The project carries a real cost for weeks with nothing in the ledger to show it.
Site knowledge and posted cost disagree
The site knows how many gangs were on, for how long, and what was disrupted. The ledger shows only what has reached it. Those are two different pictures of the same fortnight.
Subcontract cost is often held apart from the cost structure
When subcontract cost is kept in its own record rather than against the project cost structure, it has to be compared with Finance separately from everything else, on its own timetable.
Forecasting the remainder starts from an unclear base
Working out what remains means holding three things at once: the work done on site, the cost actually posted, and the scope still to run. When those sit in different places, the remaining cost is estimated rather than calculated.
How it usually goes
A side workbook, updated when the paperwork lands
Subcontract cost is commonly tracked in a workbook kept alongside the job, updated when invoices or statements arrive. It answers a commercial question well enough, but it is maintained separately from the project cost position.
Two problems follow. The same subcontract cost is represented differently in two places, so the reported position depends on which one you open. And the workbook is updated when documents arrive rather than as work happens, so the project’s view of subcontract cost trails both the ledger and what the site already knows.
The effect shows up at month end: subcontract is the line where the difference between captured cost and posted cost is largest, and the hardest to explain from records kept outside the cost position.
Northgate Logistics Park — Phase 2
Forecast lines · Cost Item view · Demo data
| Cost item | Approved budget | Adj CTD | Forecast CTC | Forecast final cost | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 210Direct labour | £4,200,000 | £2,964,800 | £1,405,050 | £4,369,850 | £169,850 over |
| 311Piling & shoring | £1,900,000 | £1,541,700 | £336,000 | £1,877,700 | £22,300 under |
| 707Drainage subcontract | £3,600,000 | £3,180,500 | £520,000 | £3,700,500 | £100,500 over |
| Project total (all lines) | £18,420,000 | £11,964,300 | £6,941,100 | £18,905,400 | £485,400 over |
Actual Foras interface pattern. Figures are illustrative demo data from the Northgate Logistics Park demo project.
How Foras handles it
Subcontract cost inside the position, not beside it
A subcontractor area, not a spreadsheet tab
Subcontractor records are maintained inside the project rather than in a side workbook, alongside the material supply and management cost areas.
Associated with the project cost structure
Subcontractor cost is associated with the project cost structure and Budget lines, so it sits in the same position as diary-captured labour, plant and materials.
Compared against posted Finance actuals
Where a subcontract cost has been posted, it appears in the Finance comparison per cost code with a recorded decision for any difference — Timing, or Match Finance.
Carried into the forecast
Subcontract cost forms part of adjusted cost to date, and the remaining work is forecast on its cost lines like any other cost stream — quantity, rate and utilisation.
Foras is a cost-control record, not a subcontract administration or payment system. It does not run valuations, assess applications, issue certificates, make payments or manage package final accounts. Finance remains authoritative for what has been posted.
What changes in practice
Month to month
The lag becomes visible instead of invisible
Work recorded but not yet posted shows as a difference with a decision attached, rather than as a gap nobody has quantified.
Subcontract cost sits on the same codes as everything else
Because subcontract cost is attributed to the project cost structure, it appears against the same cost codes as diary-captured labour, plant and materials rather than in a separate report.
The forecast has the same lineage as everything else
Subcontract cost to complete is built from the same reconciled position as the rest of the job, so the total forecast can be defended as one number.
Cost recorded but not yet posted is stated, not assumed
Where captured subcontract cost has not reached the ledger, it shows as a difference against Finance with a recorded decision, rather than as a gap somebody has to remember.
Bring a subcontract cost stream and a Finance export
We’ll show subcontract cost captured and attributed to the cost structure, the difference against posted actuals, and the forecast on the work that remains.
Who this matters to