Pay Subcontractors Only When They're Compliant
The last chance to catch an expired policy or a missing lien waiver is before the money leaves. SubDoc checks insurance, W-9 and lien waiver status at the moment a subcontractor invoice is scheduled for payment, and holds it if something is missing.
Free for up to 3 vendors. Pro is $20/month or $96/year for up to 100 vendors.
Short answer
SubDoc ties each subcontractor payment to their compliance. Subs submit invoices through a portal, your team approves them, and an invoice from a sub whose insurance or required documents are not current cannot be scheduled for payment. If you turn on lien waivers, SubDoc requests a conditional waiver at approval and an unconditional waiver at payment, and a missing conditional waiver holds the payment too.
What SubDoc does
Insurance checked at payment time
Compliance is recalculated when a payment is scheduled, so a certificate that expired last week stops this week's check, not next quarter's audit.
W-9 before the first payment
Add a W-9 to the requirement template and a sub without one stays out of compliance, so you have the name and TIN you need for 1099 reporting before you pay them.
Lien waivers that follow payments
Conditional waiver at approval, unconditional at payment, by e-signature or upload. A missing conditional waiver blocks scheduling until it arrives or the owner waives it.
Invoices from a portal, not an inbox
Subs submit invoices against a project from their own link. Duplicate submissions and billing past the contract value are flagged before approval.
An AP queue for accounting
Accounting schedules or declines approved invoices; the Treasury role only marks scheduled ones paid. With several companies, one list covers all of them.
Overrides on the record
Only the workspace owner can release a blocked payment, and the override is logged with who did it and when.
The payment gate, step by step
Each subcontractor invoice passes four points in SubDoc. The checks at each point are what keep a payment from going to a sub without coverage or without a waiver on file.
| Stage | What happens | What SubDoc checks |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Invoice submitted | The subcontractor submits an invoice through their portal, against a project. | Duplicate and over-contract checks flag it before anyone approves. |
| 2. Invoice approved | Your project manager approves the amount. | If lien waivers are on, a conditional waiver is requested for this payment. |
| 3. Scheduled for payment | Accounting schedules the payment run, or declines the invoice back to the approver with a note. | Blocked if the sub is non-compliant, on payment hold, or the conditional waiver is missing. |
| 4. Marked paid | Treasury (or Accounting) records the payment once it has gone out. | An unconditional waiver is requested for the amount paid. |
New to waivers? Read how to collect lien waivers from subcontractors for conditional vs. unconditional and when to ask for each, and how to hold payments when insurance expires for the contract language that backs up a payment hold.
What SubDoc does not do
- Payment processing. SubDoc records and gates payments; your bank or accounting system sends them.
- Retainage tracking or AIA G702/G703 pay applications.
- State statutory lien waiver forms. Use your own forms or your attorney’s; SubDoc sends and tracks them.
- A Procore integration.
Frequently asked questions
What is subcontractor payment compliance?
It means a subcontractor only gets paid when the paperwork that protects you is in place: current insurance, a W-9 for tax reporting, and the lien waiver that matches the payment. Checking these before each payment, not once at onboarding, is what keeps an expired policy or a missing waiver from slipping through.
How does SubDoc stop a payment?
An invoice from a vendor that is non-compliant or on payment hold cannot be scheduled for payment or marked paid in SubDoc. If you turn on lien waivers, a missing conditional waiver blocks it too. Only the workspace owner can override, and each override is recorded.
When does SubDoc request lien waivers?
Lien waivers are optional and off until you turn them on. Then SubDoc requests a conditional waiver when an invoice is approved and an unconditional waiver when it is marked paid. If you have a signing template for that waiver type, it goes out for e-signature; otherwise the subcontractor gets a link to upload it.
Does SubDoc pay subcontractors or handle retainage?
No. SubDoc does not move money, and it does not track retainage or produce AIA pay applications. It decides whether a payment is cleared, records when it was scheduled and paid, and connects to QuickBooks Online or exports CSV files for your accounting system.
Can my accounting team use it without seeing everything else?
Yes. Give whoever releases payments the Treasury role: they see Accounts Payable, mark scheduled invoices paid or unschedule them, and cannot approve, edit or change anything else. The Accounting role is for the team that schedules and declines payments; it has Admin access but only gets accounting emails. If you run several companies, each can be its own workspace and the Owner picks which ones each person can open.
What if accounting finds a problem with an approved invoice?
They decline it from the Approved for Payment list with a required note. The invoice goes back to Pending, the note shows next to it, and whoever approved it is emailed. The subcontractor is not told, and the invoice has to be approved again before it can be paid.
How much does SubDoc cost?
Free for up to 3 vendors. Pro is $20/month or $96/year for up to 100 vendors and 100 invoices a month. Advanced is $55/month or $264/year with unlimited vendors and invoices.
Stop paying subs who aren't covered
Connect insurance, W-9s and lien waivers to every payment run. Free for up to 3 vendors.