McShane Construction boosts efficiency, reduces risk with Oracle Textura Payment Management
July 20, 2021 | 5 minute readMcShane Construction is a leading national industrial, multi-family, and commercial building company that has been turning their clients’ visions into reality for more than 35 years. The construction company is annually ranked among the “Top 10 Apartment Builders in the Nation” by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and the “Top 10 Top Distribution/Warehouse Contractors by Engineering News-Record (ENR).
One of the many tools that McShane wields to consistently deliver success for their clients is Oracle Textura Payment Management, a cloud-based solution that streamlines and automates processes for accurate billing, fast payment, and effective lien waiver management.
An owner’s trust
McShane is performing impressive work for their client Crescent Communities on two projects, NOVEL Val Vista in Arizona and NOVEL Harpeth Heights in Tennessee. These multi-family developments are an important part of McShane’s portfolio. McShane currently has over 6,800 units underway using the Oracle solution for construction payment management.
The two NOVEL multi-family developments used a collaborative approach to the engineering process for both uniquely and carefully designed communities. McShane presented value engineering recommendations and up-to-date pricing to meet the owner’s market and financial needs.
Although the two projects have the same owner, the projects are run by different McShane teams from offices in separate states with different subcontractors.
One standard pay application process
Many of McShane’s clients enjoy the simplicity of one standard pay application process across their portfolios, which is exactly what they deliver on the standardized Oracle Textura Payment Management platform. Owners trust the transparent process because they can see how the calculations are done month to month, reflecting commits, payments, and holds.
There is virtually no chance of errors due to little to no manual input. This is an Oracle Textura Payment Management keystone: eliminating double entry and automating processes where possible, including manual entry. Automation is a time-saver and risk-reducer for both the owner and McShane.
“Oracle Textura gives us an edge when bidding projects against other contractors who don’t use the system and do manual billings. It gives the owners peace of mind that the pay app is correct the first time and saves them from lengthy verification processes,” says Sarah Dowd, operations manager, McShane Construction.
How Oracle Textura Payment Management helps McShane
| Slashed average time to produce monthly draws by 50% |
| Able to issue more invoices each month without increasing headcount |
| Saved two days each month on manual data entry |
Lien waivers and peace of mind
McShane’s first project with the Oracle solution was over a dozen years ago, driven by a need to track lien waivers and the status of draws as jobs progress. The Oracle solution’s lien waiver management process facilitates the secure digital exchange of current, unconditional e-signed lien waivers for Automatic Clearing House (ACH) payments.
The Oracle tool also sends notifications of issues for subcontractors to remediate and avoid payment delays, automates payment holds for lien waiver and compliance deficiencies, and enforces using standardized forms, including lien waivers. In addition, Oracle Textura Payment Management helps prevent unauthorized or fraudulent change orders or payment activity.
McShane is also tracking their sub-tier information through the lien waiver process. For example, Arizona mandates a preliminary 20-day notice. Subcontractors, suppliers, and other construction parties send the notice to the property owner and/or general contractor to inform them of their involvement on a project and to secure their lien rights.
McShane can receive and save the preliminary 20-day notices, and track these notices along with the associated lien waivers, using the construction payment management software.
“This is huge for us. First, Oracle Textura Payment management saves time because everything is kept in one secure system, so we’re not trying to cross reference documents in different folders. Secondly, it’s the peace of mind from knowing it’s all there, and we can prove it the moment anyone asks,” says Dowd.
Streamlined processes
Before McShane started using Oracle’s construction payment management software, its billing, payment, and lien waiver tracking processes were manual, and mostly done in spreadsheets. Spreadsheets included manual data entry, entering calculation formulas in cells, and helping ensure everything adds up.
Much time was wasted manually reconciling the numbers because of the high potential for calculation errors, incorrect data entry, and mismatches between McShane and their subcontractors.
McShane estimates that the amount of time to produce draws each month was cut at least in half using the Oracle solution. The construction company saved time that normally was devoted to tracking down documents and comparing the dollar amounts to ensure the totals agreed.
The vendor invoicing process is automated, saving time and costs and shifting teams’ focus to value-added tasks.
Additionally, Mc Shane leverages Textura’s ERP integration capabilities, automating the seamless transfer of critical financial data between the Oracle solution and most popular ERP solutions, including McShane’s CMiC system. McShane’s accounting team estimates they are handling 25% more sub invoices each month, compared to 3 years ago, without any additional headcount.
The accounting team’s productivity is also increasing thanks to saving two extra days of data entry each month. Plus, the team has the peace of mind of knowing that potential errors are mostly eliminated.
"Oracle Textura Payment management saves time because everything is kept in one secure system, so we’re not trying to cross reference documents in different folders. It's the peace of mind from knowing it’s all there, and we can prove it the moment anyone asks."
-Sarah Dowd, Operations Manager, McShane Construction
Trust in the team
McShane’s project managers, accounting team, owners, subcontractors, and sub tiers value how well people can use and benefit from a technology solution. The construction company also includes Oracle Textura Payment Management’s client services staff as an extension of their team.
Client Services handled the ERP integration and is always on hand for other work such as process improvements, document customizations, or training at no extra charge.
“Thanks to the ongoing support of Oracle Textura Payment Management client services, what started as one project has grown to 12 years of continuous and expanded use of Oracle’s payment solution. Oracle Textura Payment Management has helped McShane rapidly grow its national reach and work with new subcontractors in remote markets with its seamless and consistent online experience. We look forward to many more years of expansion with the help of the Oracle solution,” says Tom Beres, vice president, McShane Construction.
About McShane Construction Company
McShane Construction Company was established in 1984 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois with regional offices in Alabama, California, Wisconsin, and Arizona. The firm offers integrated design/build and build-to-suit construction services for the multi-family, retail, office, recreational, hospitality, educational, healthcare, distribution, manufacturing, and food processing markets. For more information, visit the firm’s website.
Oracle Construction and Engineering, the global leader in construction management software and project portfolio management solutions, helps you connect your teams, processes, and data across the project and asset lifecycle. Drive efficiency and control in project delivery with proven solutions for project controls, construction scheduling, portfolio management, BIM/CDE, construction payment management, and more.
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Lucie Trepanier
Product Marketing Director
Lucie is an experienced technology marketing professional with a current focus on payment and cost-related products in Oracle's construction and engineering global business unit. At Oracle, her work in product marketing is centered on customer engagement and creating the right content to support our customers.
She has over 20 years experience in engineering, product management, marketing, project management, and sales. She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA, from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and can be found most nights at the dance studio, prepping for her next ballroom competition.
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