The problem in one sentence
Project businesses earn money in stages, but most systems only notice when an invoice is raised. StageVO notices when the work is done.
Step by step
- An enquiry arrives
The customer asks for, say, three rotary plough feeders. StageVO logs the request, their reference and, importantly, the date the offer is due. If that date passes, it shows up on the dashboard.
- The offer sets the scope
The offer is where the important choices are made. Is design in scope? Third-party inspection? Freight? Erection and commissioning? Each tick changes what follows. The payment terms are set stage by stage, and the total must come to 100%.
- Revisions keep their history
After a site discussion, the feeder size changes and the price is revised. The revision takes the same reference with a new revision number. The old one is kept and marked superseded, with the reason for the change printed on the new one.
- The order freezes the deal
The customer’s purchase order is booked against the live revision. The project is created, scope and payment terms are frozen onto it, every payment stage becomes a claim waiting for its trigger, and retention is registered with a provisional release date.
- The stage ladder
The project gets a ladder of stages built from its own scope. A supply-only order has a short ladder. An order with design, inspection and commissioning has a long one.
- The shop floor reports progress
The project is broken into jobs, and each job into operations: cutting, welding, machining, painting, testing, packing. Supervisors update them from a phone. The office sees real progress.
- A stage is reached, a claim falls due
When the project is marked dispatched, the payment due against dispatch documents moves to receivables at once. Nobody has to remember to raise it.
- Retention has a date
Once the customer takes delivery, or the equipment is commissioned, the retention clock runs from that real date. StageVO reminds you before it falls due, and counts anything past its date as claimable now.
A worked example
Here is how the payment terms on a typical order map onto stages. The order value is ₹50 lakh.
| Payment term | Share | Amount | Becomes claimable when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance with purchase order | 30% | ₹15,00,000 | Order received |
| On receipt of raw material at works | 20% | ₹10,00,000 | Raw material received |
| Against dispatch documents | 30% | ₹15,00,000 | Dispatched |
| On receipt of material at site | 10% | ₹5,00,000 | Material received at site |
| Retention, released after 12 months | 10% | ₹5,00,000 | 12 months after delivery |
Every row is a claim from the day the order is booked. The last row is the one most businesses lose track of, because it falls due a year after anyone last thought about the project.
The stage ladder adapts to the scope
| If the offer includes… | The project gets… |
|---|---|
| Design and engineering | Drawings submitted, drawings approved, and a design operation on each job |
| Third-party inspection | Inspection call and inspection cleared, instead of a single final inspection |
| Erection at site | An erection complete stage, and the option of a payment against it |
| Commissioning | A commissioned stage, and the option of a payment against it |
| Supply only | A short ladder: order, material, production, inspection, dispatch, delivery |
Every morning
A digest goes to the people who can act on it: approvals waiting, enquiries with offers overdue, stages that have stalled, and payments ready to claim. It is the one screen that tells you where money is sitting still.
What StageVO doesn’t do
It doesn’t replace your accounting software or raise tax invoices. Keep Tally, Zoho or Xero for the books. StageVO tells you what to invoice and when, and records the invoice once you have raised it. That keeps it simple to set up and easy to trust.
Want to see what retention alone could be worth to you? Try the retention money calculator.