The real difference: a filing cabinet, or the work that fills it
Most construction software is a system of record. It is where a variation or a claim is stored and reported, after someone has already written it up. That someone is usually you, at night, or an admin keying it in.
Sabeam is that someone. You set the job up once by uploading the contract, capture variations by talking on site, and forward the emails and invoices you already get. When a stage is done, the progress claim is drafted from the contract and those variations, priced and ready to send. You review and approve. Same for variations, sub-invoices, BAS, site diary, sub compliance, TPAR, defects and homeowner updates. Sabeam is not another place to store the work. It does the work, so it arrives ready to approve.
It works with the tools you already use
You do not have to drop Procore or Xero to use Sabeam. Sabeam sits underneath them. It turns what you forward, speak and snap into finished paperwork, and that flows into the tools you already run. Those tools keep the record. Sabeam does the drafting that fills it. 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 | Payapps | |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | The whole back office for residential builders | Progress claims and payment approvals |
| How a claim is created | Drafted for you from the contract and the variations you have captured | Entered and submitted in the platform |
| Also handles | Variations, sub-invoices, BAS, site diary, sub compliance, TPAR, defects and homeowner updates | Claims and the payment approval workflow |
| Built around | Small and residential builders | Commercial and subcontractor claim workflows |
| Who has to sign up | Just you, no subbie portal to roll out | Two-sided: subbies submit, the head contractor approves |
| Your existing tools | Works underneath Procore and Xero and drafts the paperwork that fills them | Posts approved claims into your accounting or ERP |
| Payments | Secure milestone payments coming as a premium add-on | Payment approval workflow |
Which one is right for you
If you run high-volume commercial or subcontractor claims and just need that workflow digitised, a dedicated claims tool like Payapps is built for it. If you are a residential builder who wants the claim, and the variations, diary, compliance and TPAR behind it, drafted for you from what you already say and forward, that is what Sabeam is for. And because Sabeam works for you, the builder, there is no subbie portal to roll out and nobody to chase into signing up before you see the benefit.
Common questions
Is Sabeam a like-for-like Payapps replacement?
No, and that is the point. Payapps is built around submitting and approving progress claims. Sabeam drafts your claim for you from the contract and your variations, and it also handles the rest of the back office. If all you need is a claim approval workflow, Payapps does that well. If you want the paperwork done for you across the whole job, that is Sabeam.
Does Sabeam do progress claims?
Yes. Set up the job once and Sabeam reads the payment schedule from the contract, then drafts each progress claim from that schedule and your approved variations, priced and ready to send.
Can I use Sabeam alongside the tools I already have?
Yes. Sabeam sits underneath the tools you use day to day. You forward, speak and snap as you do now, and it turns that into finished paperwork.
I already use Procore or Xero. Are you not just duplicating them?
No. Procore and Xero are where your records live and get reported. They assume someone has already turned the site note, the email and the sub invoice into a tidy entry. Sabeam is what does that. It drafts the variation or the claim from what you say and forward, ready to approve, and it can feed the tools you already use. You are not paying us to store the same data twice. You are paying us to stop doing the data entry.
When do the payments come in?
Today Sabeam drafts the claim. Secure milestone payments are coming as a premium add-on, where the owner funds each stage up front and you are paid the moment it is approved. That part is not live yet.
Payapps is a product of its respective owner. This is our own comparison, check their site for their full feature set.