Cornerstone Forming

Before Siteline, compiling and submitting pay applications was often a fire drill for Cornerstone Forming, a prominent concrete contractor based in Atlanta, Georgia. With new project opportunities arising quickly—with some even requiring immediate billing as soon as the contract was signed—it became difficult to keep track of deadlines and meet the specific lien waiver and billing requirements of each general contractor (GC).

These issues were rooted in Cornerstone Forming’s reliance on outdated systems. “Prior to Siteline, we were tracking everything via email,” explained Colton Smith, Accounting Manager at Cornerstone Forming. “There were a lot of face-to-face or phone conversations, so it was always difficult to know whose court something was in. And if I didn’t personally follow up on each item, it could slip out another five to ten days.”

The absence of a centralized system—compounded by a heavy reliance on server-based file storage—also hindered Cornerstone's ability to track pending change orders and manage backup materials. This lack of visibility prevented the team from gaining a comprehensive overview of open change orders, which increased their risk of starting work on unapproved changes. Smith mentioned, "There was a lot of back and forth and miscommunication between the field and back office. For example, our accountants were copied on the original change order request but not included in subsequent revisions."

Everything changed when Cornerstone Forming’s forward-thinking Controller, Cory Patton, met Siteline at a CFMA conference. Patton immediately saw the value in Siteline’s ability to automate the tedious, manual work often required of pay applications—all in one location. 

Billing Improvements

Cornerstone Forming now uses Siteline to generate both their time and materials and lump sum pay applications. Whenever the organization wins a project with a new GC, they simply drag and drop the billing requirements (e.g., custom GC pay app forms, custom lien waivers) into Siteline, and it generates the GC-specific forms for each month the project manager intends to bill. “We were excited that Siteline could generate customer’s forms with one click,” shared Smith. “No tweaks needed—just boom, there it was.”

Moreover, Siteline helps predict when Cornerstone Forming receives payments for a pay application. Based on the average time to payment from that GC, the team can quickly see if a payment is late and then take the necessary action to chase down that payment. 

Cornerstone Forming’s project managers have also been using Siteline’s billing projections tool to plan their billings for the project's duration, guided by the original project schedule. This has helped surface billing red flags early on, prompting the team to investigate the root issue.

Change Order Improvements

Additionally, the Cornerstone Forming team uses Siteline’s change order log to track pending change orders across all projects. This heightened visibility has enabled the entire team to see how many open change orders they have across the business, what approvals they’re waiting on, and, most importantly, whether they’ve proceeded with work before the change order was approved.

The change order log makes it easy for Cornerstone Forming’s team to attach all necessary backup materials on the go. Then, Siteline compiles those materials together to generate their cover page when they’re ready to submit. This has significantly reduced the time and stress of searching for backup documentation.