Know Where Every Project Will Land — Before It Lands
Thin margins leave no room for surprises. IFS Cloud gives contractors and engineering firms real-time project financial control on one platform — from estimate to final account and beyond — and ESS makes your ERP selection fast and clear.
63%
of construction firms plan to select a new ERP within 1–2 years
91%
report projects routinely overrunning on budget, schedule or both
4%
project margin is considered good in construction
IFS 2024 Global Construction & Engineering Study (825 industry leaders, 14 countries) and IFS project financial control research.
Who we help
Built for Growing Contractors and Engineering Firms
Different trades and project types, one shared need: accurate, real-time control of cost, cash and margin on every project.
Specialty trade contractors
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and other specialty contractors combining project work, service and maintenance.
- Job costing and cost-to-complete
- Labor and equipment planning
- Shop fabrication and offsite work
- Service and maintenance contracts
General contractors
Regional general contractors coordinating many subcontractors, packages and stakeholders across concurrent projects.
- Subcontract packages and payments
- Change orders and variations
- Progress billing and retention
- Consistent processes on every project
Engineering & EPC firms
Engineering, procurement and construction firms delivering complex, high-specification projects and assets.
- Engineering and procurement control
- Joint ventures
- Earned value and forecasting
- Asset handover and lifecycle service
Residential & infrastructure builders
Homebuilders, developers and infrastructure contractors scaling output while protecting margin.
- Plot and phase planning
- Sales and subcontract management
- Modular and offsite methods
- Multi-company operations
Step 1 · Recognize
Signs You've Outgrown Your Current Systems
“Have we outgrown what we run today?”
Many contractors run on an accounting system that tells them what already happened. Growing firms need to know what will happen. These are the signs it's time to change.
- Cost-to-complete lives in spreadsheets, and project margin is only clear at month end.
- Estimating, project management, procurement and finance each run in a different system.
- Committed costs aren't visible until the invoice arrives.
- Change orders are slow to price and approve, and some never get billed.
- Every project is run a little differently, so results can't be compared or repeated.
- Your accounting-led system can't keep up with more projects, entities or locations.
The industry, in numbers
- Firms planning to select a new ERP within 1–2 years
- 63%
- Firms reporting 25% or more of projects overrunning
- 71%
- Companies using 13 or more systems regularly
- ~30%
- Firms struggling to find qualified craft workers
- 80%
- Firms that plan to increase AI investment next year
- 91%
IFS 2024 Global Construction & Engineering Study and IFS construction and engineering publications, 2024–2026.
Step 2 · Explore
What IFS Cloud Does for Your Operation
“What does good look like for a company our size?”
IFS Cloud is a finance-centered, project-based ERP: every estimate, commitment, change and invoice updates the same project picture in real time.
Project financial control
Budgets, commitments, actuals and forecast cost-to-complete in real time, for every project and the whole portfolio.
Estimating & bids
Build estimates that flow straight into the project budget when the bid is won.
Contract & change management
Price, approve and bill change orders quickly, with the impact on budget and schedule visible immediately.
Subcontracts & procurement
Supply-and-fit, labor-only and package subcontracts, purchasing and payments tied to the project.
Resource & equipment planning
Plan labor, crews and plant across concurrent projects competing for the same people.
Progress billing & revenue
Applications for payment, retentions and revenue recognition driven by actual progress.
Project supply chain
Project-driven material demand, lead times and inventory with AI-enhanced planning.
Offsite & modular construction
Manufacturing capabilities for prefabrication and modular production on the same platform.
Handover, service & maintenance
Carry assets into service and maintenance contracts after handover — often worth more than the build.
Go deeper: Projects & ETO · Finance · Supply chain · Asset management · AI in IFS
Step 3 · Match
How IFS Maps to Your Requirements
“Would IFS fit our requirements and budget?”
Contractors are actively selecting new ERP systems. A fit assessment maps your requirements to IFS Cloud line by line — ready for your RFP.
| What you need | How IFS Cloud delivers it |
|---|---|
| See project margin in real time, not at month end | Project financial control updates budgets, commitments, actuals and cost-to-complete as transactions happen. |
| Price and bill every change | Contract and change management links each variation to budget, schedule and billing. |
| Manage subcontractors consistently | Standard subcontract types, packages, valuations and payments managed on every project. |
| Get paid on time | Progress billing, applications for payment and retention release driven by measured progress. |
| Run every project the same way | Construction-specific, out-of-the-box processes that standardize best practice across projects. |
| Replace a patchwork of systems | Estimating, projects, procurement, resources, finance and service on one platform and data model. |
A phased roadmap that pays back early
A typical sequence for a growing organization. ESS tailors the order to where your value is highest.
Phase 1
Project financial control & finance
Get real-time margin and cost-to-complete visibility on every project first.
Phase 2
Procurement, subcontracts & resources
Bring purchasing, subcontract packages, labor and equipment into the same project picture.
Phase 3
Service, assets & offsite
Extend into maintenance contracts after handover and offsite or modular production.
Step 4 · Validate
See the Proof on Your Own Operation
“What's the proof?”
Construction firms often run a formal selection. ESS makes it faster: requirements mapped, RFI or RFP answered in full, and a demonstration built on your own projects.
Requirements mapped, RFI answered
Send us your requirements or RFP. ESS maps each line to IFS Cloud capability, answers every question in writing, and prepares a demonstration using scenarios from your own projects.
- Line-by-line requirements mapping to IFS Cloud
- Complete, written RFI and RFP responses
- A demonstration built on your own project scenarios
Scenarios to see in your demonstration
ESS builds the demonstration around real situations from your business. These are the ones organizations in this industry most often want to see.
- 1A customer change order after work has started — priced, approved and reflected in budget, schedule and billing.
- 2Cost-to-complete on a half-finished project, including commitments not yet invoiced.
- 3An application for payment with retention, against measured progress.
- 4Two projects competing for the same crews and the same long-lead materials.
Running a formal evaluation? See how ESS supports your RFI and RFP.
Step 5 · Decide & plan
A Business Case Your Leadership Can Act On
“What will it cost, and how fast do we see value?”
ESS turns the fit assessment into a business case and phased plan your leadership team can approve with confidence.
- A business case built around your project margins and cash flow
- A phased roadmap that starts with project financial control
- Scope, timeline and resourcing for each phase
- Data migration plan for open projects and history
- Integration approach for estimating, design and site tools you keep
- A support model built for a lean IT team
One partner from decision to delivery
ESS is a North America IFS Gold Partner with 15+ years of IFS expertise and 18 IFS Cloud certifications. The same team handles your licensing, implementation, integration and ongoing support — and manages every IFS Cloud release update, so your team stays focused on the business.
Learn how we run IFS Cloud implementations and upgrades to IFS Cloud.
Plan Your IFS ProgramRelated Reading
Go Deeper
FAQ
IFS for Construction & Engineering — FAQ
Yes. IFS Cloud is a project-based, finance-centered ERP with construction-specific processes out of the box — project financial control, estimating, change management, subcontracts, resource planning and progress billing on one platform. Growing specialty contractors, general contractors and engineering firms use it to replace a patchwork of accounting, project and spreadsheet tools with real-time control of every project. ESS scopes the rollout to your size and priorities.
Many construction systems report what already happened. IFS Cloud connects estimates, budgets, commitments, actual costs, progress and revenue in real time, so cost-to-complete and forecast margin are always current. Because purchasing, subcontracts, labor and billing all update the same project, you can act on a margin problem while there is still time to fix it.
Yes. ESS maps your requirements to IFS Cloud line by line, responds quickly and completely to your RFI or RFP, builds a demonstration around your own project scenarios, and prepares the business case for your leadership team. The aim is a confident decision, made quickly, with every question answered in writing.
Yes. IFS Cloud combines project management with field service and asset management, so contractors can run projects, service agreements and maintenance work on the same platform. That matters because service and maintenance contracts can be worth more than the original build, and IFS lets you carry the asset from handover into long-term service.
Yes. IFS Cloud includes manufacturing capabilities alongside project management, so contractors adopting prefabrication, modular or offsite methods can plan and run production on the same platform as their projects.
ESS is a North America IFS Gold Partner with 15+ years of IFS expertise, 18 IFS Cloud certifications and 25+ years of ERP implementation experience. One team handles your licensing, implementation, integration and ongoing support, responds quickly to your RFI or RFP, and builds demonstrations around your own projects.
Let's Map IFS Cloud to Your Projects
Share your requirements or RFP. We'll map them to IFS Cloud and show you how it runs your projects — from estimate to final account.
