Why Electrical Contractors Lose Money on Undocumented Change Requests
A field crew is running high-voltage wiring when they hit a problem. The walls went up before electrical got in. The work scope needs to change, the schedule needs to shift, and someone is going to pay for it. The foreman flags the issue. The project manager says they will take care of it. Work continues.
A month later, the job is wrapping up. The electrical sub is waiting on a $200,000 change order that everyone agreed to verbally but nobody ever put in writing. The GC says they will look into it. The owner has no record of it. This is not a worst-case story. It is a predictable outcome of managing change requests outside a system built to track them.
The Problem With Managing Change Requests Through Email and Spreadsheets
Change requests are the documentation step that comes before a change order. They record what needs to change, why it needs to change, how much it will cost, and how it will affect the schedule. When that documentation exists in a structured system, it creates a paper trail that protects everyone involved.
When it exists only in email threads, handwritten notes, and spreadsheet tabs, it creates risk.
That risk compounds at every step of the job. A request gets buried in an inbox. A notebook gets left in a truck. A spreadsheet row gets overwritten. By the time billing comes around, the work has been done but the record does not exist in a form that can support a change order. The contractor either submits an invoice with no backup or walks away from the cost entirely.
The contractors who get paid are the ones with the best documentation. The ones who lose are the ones who treated change requests as informal conversations.
The 90-Day Problem
There is a financial consequence to undocumented changes that goes beyond a single bad invoice. Many construction contracts include a clause stating that if a change is not billed within 90 days of being identified, the owner is not legally obligated to pay it.
For electrical contractors running on manual processes, where a change order turnaround can take 60 to 90 days even when documentation exists, that window closes fast. Add undocumented or disorganized change requests into the mix, and work performed months ago can become work performed for free.
This is not about slow-paying owners or bad-faith disputes. It is about a process problem that creates a contractual outcome the contractor cannot fight. The 90-day clock started on the day the change was identified. If the documentation was not in place to support the change order before that window closed, there is nothing to argue with.
EXPERT INSIGHT
"On manual processes, you see change order turnarounds in the 60 to 90 day figure. With Sage Intacct, you would be getting change orders approved in 15 days or less. And it is a pretty common practice in construction: if you are not billed within 90 days of a change order being identified, the owner does not have to pay it."
- Spencer Doak, Account Executive, Alliance Solutions Group
Change Requests and Change Orders Inside Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct's change management module starts with the change request. Unlike a note in a spreadsheet or a thread in email, a change request in Intacct is a live record tied directly to the project. The moment it is entered, every stakeholder with access to the job can see it: the project manager, the accounting team, the operations director. Supporting documentation attaches directly to the record. Scope, cost impact, and schedule impact are captured in a structured format that can be searched, sorted, and audited without having to track anyone down.
When a change request is approved, Intacct converts it to a project change order in a single action inside the ERP. The project budget and the client contract update at the same time, not sequentially and not manually. Accounting sees the approved amount the moment it is signed off. No phone call. No email to follow up on. No risk of one system reflecting the approved change while another still shows the original contract value. The change order is a document of record in the system from the moment approval happens.
For contractors used to managing this workflow across email, Excel, and phone calls, the visibility shift is significant. Every open change request is a live line item in the system, and every approved change order has its supporting change documents attached directly to the project record, not filed in a separate folder or sent as email attachments.
That connected record closes the visibility gap. A project manager winding down a job can pull the change log in Intacct at any point and see exactly which changes are approved, which are still pending, and which need a signature before they can be billed.
Stop Letting Change Requests Slip Through the Cracks
Undocumented change requests are a revenue problem. They cost electrical contractors real margin on every job where a change slips through without proper documentation, and they compound over time because the habits that allow one change to go undocumented tend to allow others to follow.
[Link: How Change Management in Sage Intacct Keeps Electrical Projects on Budget] covers the full Intacct workflow from change request to project budget update. [Link: The Real Cost When Change Orders Take 60 Days to Approve] looks at what the approval cycle costs in terms of cash flow and billing risk.
If you want to see how Alliance Solutions helps electrical contractors get their change management process out of spreadsheets and into a system that protects the work they do, talk to an expert.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Sage Intacct's change management module handle change requests?
Sage Intacct's change management module creates change requests as live records tied directly to the project. When a change is identified, it is entered into the system with the scope of work, cost impact, and schedule impact captured in a structured format. Every stakeholder with access to the job can see the change request immediately: the project manager, the accounting team, and the operations director. Supporting documentation attaches to the record directly. The change request stays visible in the system until it is resolved, so nothing slips through the cracks between identification and billing.
How does Sage Intacct convert a change request to a change order?
When a change request is reviewed and approved, Sage Intacct converts it to a project change order in a single action inside the ERP. The conversion simultaneously updates the project budget and the client contract, with no separate manual entry required on the accounting side. The approved amount is reflected across all relevant modules the moment the change order is created. There is no lag between the project management record and the financial record, and no risk of one system showing a different figure than the other.
Can multiple departments see the same change requests in Sage Intacct?
Yes. Because change requests live inside Sage Intacct's project module rather than in a separate field tool or spreadsheet, they are visible to every department with access to the project record. Project managers, accounting teams, and operations directors can all see the same change request at the same time, with the same status information. There is no need to email updates, chase down approvals, or reconcile different versions of the same record across departments.
How does Sage Intacct help electrical contractors meet the 90-day billing window?
Many construction contracts include a clause stating that if a change is not billed within 90 days of being identified, the owner is not legally required to pay it. Sage Intacct helps contractors stay inside that window by making every open change request visible and trackable from the moment it is entered. With manual processes, change order turnarounds commonly run 60 to 90 days, leaving almost no margin for anything to go wrong. Contractors using Sage Intacct's change management module typically bring that cycle down to 15 days or less.
Does Sage Intacct track change documents alongside change requests and change orders?
Yes. Supporting change documents attach directly to the change request and change order records inside Sage Intacct. Scope documentation, cost breakdowns, and approval records for each change are stored in context alongside the project, not in a separate filing system or email chain. When a project closes or a billing dispute arises, the complete documentation trail is in one place and accessible to anyone with access to the project record.
