construction

The silent bottleneck for site managers

In construction, where margins are tight and workforces are constantly on the move, speed matters. Materials need ordering. Subcontractors need paying. Workers need reimbursing quickly to protect their own cash flow.

But there’s a silent, unnecessary delay embedded in many construction businesses: most expense claims are still being submitted via desktop PC instead of mobile. And this single behaviour is keeping workers out of pocket longer than they need to be and creating an avoidable bottleneck for site managers, who are left waiting for accurate, real-time cost information before they can make informed decisions. When receipts only come through hours—or days—after the spend happens, managers lose visibility, forecasts slip, and small delays compound across the project.

What our data shows about desktop submission delays

Despite the nature of construction work being mobile, 47% of expense claims are still submitted through desktop compared to just 32% through the mobile app. WhatsApp, despite being widely used on construction sites for day‑to‑day communication, accounts for only 4% of submissions.

This means workers often wait until they’re back in the site office or worse, at home, to submit receipts. The result of this is a time lag in submission even through approvals themselves can be fast.

Why submission lag matters

Once a claim is submitted, finance teams move quickly.

• Median approval time: 1.8 days
• Average approval time: 8.2 days

These figures demonstrate that the issue isn’t on the site of the finance. The problem is that workers simply are not submitting their claims in real time.

When claims aren’t submitted in real time and pile up:

• Paper receipts get misplaced or damaged
• Project managers lose sight of real‑time spend
• Workers wait weeks to get reimbursed
• End of the month administration becomes overwhelming

All of this can be solved by simply shifting more workers to mobile and instant messaging submission methods.

The financial impact on workers and managers

In 2025, construction workers submitted 22,556 expense claims through our expense management platform, Capture Expense, with an average claim value of £66.19. Even a small delay can escalate the challenges that a business faces. But on a personal level, the site manager or site worker takes a personal cashflow hit. And for workers who are already facing a continually rising cost of living, even a £30-£60 hole in their finances can matter, especially when it is unnecessary. Mobile submission removes this barrier.

For project managers, delayed submission can cause budget management issues:

• Budgets appear healthier than they are
• Costs land suddenly in a large batch
• Forecasting becomes reactive
• Reporting accuracy suffers

Month‑end pressure increases too. This habit of submitting expenses in large batches delays cost visibility and raises the risk of inaccurate project reporting.

Paper versus digital: a workflow built for delays

One of the key challenges is that the construction industry still relies heavily on paper receipts, with only 35% of expenses submitted digitally. Paper almost guarantees a slower workflow. Workers have to keep hold of receipts onsite, check they’re readable, take them back to a desktop, and then scan or photograph and upload them. Every step introduces time, admin, and the risk of loss or error. By comparison, mobile submissions provide frictionless, near‑instant capture that fits the way construction teams actually work.

So, what positive impacts are experienced when submissions shift to mobile devices?

1. Real-time expense tracking

Workers submit at the point of purchase, giving project managers immediate, accurate cost visibility.

2. Dramatically reduced reimbursement delays

If a claim is submitted instantly workers are reimbursed significantly faster.

3. Lower rejection rates

Mobile submissions reduce errors that lead to rejected claims (especially in high‑rejection categories like subsistence and hotel stays).

4. Less end‑of‑month admin

No more piles of receipts dumped onto a site manager’s desk on the last Friday of the month.

5. Better project cost accuracy

Project managers get a real‑time view of ad‑hoc, non‑PO expenditure which is vital for accurate forecasting.

How construction first can encourage mobile-first adoption

Encouraging mobile-first behaviour on site is crucial to increase visibility of out-of-pocket expenses. There are some practical things that construction companies can do to make the shift towards digital expenses simpler for the workforce.

• Put QR codes on noticeboards that link to the mobile app, so that workers can install the app in seconds giving them instant access to the platform.
• Train supervisors and foremen to encourage on‑the‑spot submission. Behaviour change starts with leadership so demonstrating the benefits of this needs to be a top-down initiative.
• Promote WhatsApp submission for quick, informal capture. Workers already use WhatsApp for everything else so make expenses just as easy by using this as the chosen solution.
• Use AI‑assisted capture to automate data entry. The app can extract amounts, dates, and categories from a single photo removing the need for this information to be inputted manually.
• Reward fast submission habits. Simple incentives (e.g. ‘submit on the day, get reimbursed faster’) can shift behaviour quickly.

Desktop workflows don’t fit a mobile workforce

Desktop‑dominant workflows simply don’t fit the reality of construction work. Workers are mobile. Managers are mobile. Costs occur on the move. By enabling and encouraging mobile and WhatsApp submissions, construction companies can reduce reimbursement times, give project managers real-time cost visibility, significantly reduce monthly administrative spikes and improve overall financial accuracy across projects. The beauty of this shift is that it doesn’t require any major investment or new technology, it simply uses the tools that workers already have in their pockets.

Why is procurement losing real-time visibility of spend?

Construction workers still operate in a world of paper receipts. Material purchases are often unplanned and bought on the fly when an issue on-site occurs and needs immediate attention, otherwise work grinds to a halt. But there’s a problem. While on-site work continues, off-site in the back office, procurement teams are absorbing avoidable cash-flow risk and losing real-time visibility of project spend. Receipts stuffed in wallets or fluttering around the dashboards of construction vehicles, for example, often take days or weeks to be uploaded or sent to finance for processing. 

What the latest Capture Expense data shows

New data from our expense management software, Capture Expense, reveals exactly how construction teams are claiming, spending, and delaying uploads of their expenses. And what it shows is that controlling site spend has never been more critical. With margins under pressure, labour constraints biting, and projects moving at speed, visibility over every ad hoc purchase—from a tank of diesel to emergency equipment hires—is essential. 

We looked at 22,556 construction sector claims submitted via our platform in 2025, and it’s messy. There are two stand out trends we found that procurement managers need to address: 

1. Paper still dominates. Two thirds (65%) of expense claims were submitted with paper rather than digital receipts. Paper-based spend equals late uploads, lost receipts, and no live visibility for procurement.
2. Workers are still going back to their desks to submit claims. Despite being on the move all day, nearly half (47%) of claims come from a desktop computer, with only 32% uploaded via a mobile app and 4% via WhatsApp. This is critical. Most construction workers keep receipts in vans, pockets, or glove compartments, meaning claims pile up, errors and delays creep in, and procurement teams are left blind to daily site spend. 

The cost of lost visibility 

Think about it. Procurement is potentially losing visibility on thousands of pounds of spend. We found that the average claim value is £66.19; well under the likely minimum approved spend limit. Multiply that by an average of 22,500 annual expense submissions, and construction firms could easily be seeing an overspend or inconsistent supplier use for £1.4m worth of expenses. 

What’s the best way to get cost control under control? It’s behaviour change  

Construction workers aren’t unwilling; they just need tools that fit the way they work. They need to be able to deal with expenses as they happen. Quick photo. Quick upload. Zero desktop admin. Mobile submissions on the go is the way to go. Yet both WhatsApp and mobile submissions are massively underused – only 4% of submissions are made using former, and 32% made using the latter.  

Immediate receipt capture using a friendly interface, such as Whatsapp, means fewer missing receipts, instant compliance checks and real-time spend data for procurement. And using live dashboards with daily uploads can help you spot supplier drift, whether that’s site managers buying from unapproved suppliers, expenses trending above budget and project costs starting to slip. Having real-time insight = real-time correction. 

Then set expectations for same‑day or real‑time submissions to help reduce receipt loss, increase compliance, improve worker reimbursement (many are waiting a full 30 days).  

How do you get workers to adhere to expense management rules? Bring expenses into the flow of work

Construction workers aren’t going to switch to mobile admin just because you tell them to. The opportunity is to fit expense capture into the natural rhythm of their day. Show them the benefits of snapping a receipt while they’re still in the van and upload it in seconds and highlight how it removes end‑of‑month admin stress.  

Final thought: why delay payment to workers when speed isn’t the issue?

We found that on average expense submissions are paid in 1.8 days. What this tells us is that finance isn’t the problem. It’s the moment the claim is created causing the issue. If you can shift that moment earlier in the cycle – by getting expenses uploaded and into the system on the same day, procurement gains from real-time cost tracking, consistent supplier use and reduced errors. But importantly you benefit from happier, case-secure workers who don’t feel like they’re subsidising the company and its construction projects while waiting for recompense. This is where competitive advantage begins.