The real difference: holding the payment, or doing the paperwork
CheckVault sits on the money. It holds the owner’s payment and releases it to you when a milestone is done. That is a real service and it is live today. If getting paid safely at each stage is the problem you want solved right now, that is what CheckVault is for.
Sabeam sits on a different problem. Every build throws off a pile of paperwork, the progress claim, the variation you agreed on site, the sub invoice, the compliance certificate, the TPAR, the update the owner keeps asking for. Someone has to write all of that up, usually you, at night. Sabeam is what does that. You forward the email, speak the note and snap the photo, and it drafts the paperwork ready for you to approve. Sabeam’s own secure milestone payments are coming as a premium add-on, but that part is not live yet.
It works with the tools you already use
You do not have to choose between them or drop the tools you already run. Sabeam sits underneath Procore and Xero and turns what you forward, speak and snap into finished paperwork that flows into them. If you use CheckVault for the payment step, Sabeam can draft the claim and the rest of the paperwork behind it. Those tools keep the record and hold the money. Sabeam does the drafting. The thing Sabeam replaces is not your software. It is the hours of admin and the pile of paperwork that never quite gets entered.
Side by side
| Sabeam | CheckVault | |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | The whole back office for residential builders | Holding and releasing milestone payments |
| What it does for you today | Drafts your claims, variations, sub-invoices, BAS, site diary, sub compliance, TPAR, defects and homeowner updates | Holds the owner’s payment and releases it to you as each stage is done |
| Secure milestone payments | In development as a premium add-on, not live yet | Available today |
| Paperwork and compliance | Drafted for you from what you forward, speak and snap | Not its focus, it looks after the payment step |
| Built around | Small and residential Australian builders | Owner and builder milestone payments |
| How you use it | Forward an email, speak a note on site, snap a photo, then review and approve | Agree the payment schedule, then release funds at each milestone |
| Your existing tools | Works underneath Procore and Xero and drafts the paperwork that fills them | Sits on the payment holding and release step |
Which one is right for you
If the problem you want solved today is holding and releasing the owner’s payment at each milestone, that is what CheckVault does now. If the problem is the paperwork, the claim, the variations, the diary, the compliance and the TPAR, drafted for you from what you already say and forward, that is what Sabeam is for. Sabeam’s own secure milestone payments are coming as a premium add-on with a residential builder and compliance focus, but they are not live yet, so pick Sabeam for the back office today, not for holding money.
Common questions
Is Sabeam a like-for-like CheckVault replacement?
No, and it is worth being straight about that. CheckVault holds the owner’s payment and releases it to you at each milestone, and it does that today. Sabeam is a different thing. It is the AI back office that drafts your paperwork across the whole job, from the claim to the variations, diary, compliance and TPAR. Sabeam’s own secure milestone payments are in development as a premium add-on and are not live yet. So if you need payment holding right now, that is CheckVault. If you want the paperwork done for you now, that is Sabeam.
Does Sabeam hold my payments the way CheckVault does?
Not yet. This is the honest bit. Today Sabeam does the paperwork, not the money. Secure milestone payments are coming as a premium add-on, built with a residential builder and compliance focus, but they are still in development and not live. CheckVault is the one that holds and releases milestone payments today.
What does Sabeam actually do today?
It drafts the paperwork you already have to do. Set the job up once with the contract, then forward the emails you get, speak a note on site and snap a photo. Sabeam turns that into progress claims, variations, sub-invoices, BAS, site diary entries, sub compliance, TPAR, defects and homeowner updates, ready for you to review and approve.
Can I use Sabeam alongside CheckVault?
Yes. They do different jobs. CheckVault can look after holding and releasing the payment while Sabeam drafts the claim and the rest of the paperwork behind it. Sabeam sits underneath the tools you already run and feeds them.
When will Sabeam’s secure milestone payments be live?
We are building them now as a premium add-on, with a focus on residential builders and compliance. They are not live yet, so we will not pretend otherwise. Today the value is the paperwork being drafted for you. When secure milestone payments are ready, they will sit on top of that.
CheckVault is a product of its respective owner. This is our own comparison, check their site for their full feature set.