Frequently Asked Questions
If you are weighing up Neo for your subcontracting business, the questions below cover what most business owners, operations managers and payroll teams ask before subcontractors book a demo on their live jobs. If your question is not answered here, the team is always happy to talk through your requirements directly.
Neo is the operations platform Australian subcontractors rely on for scheduling, crew management, timesheets, EBA and award compliance, payroll and site documentation. The answers below explain how Neo works, where it fits within your existing operational processes, and what changes for subcontractors once they move their jobs and projects onto the platform.
About Neo
The basics about our subcontractor software, who it is built for, and how it differs from generic construction management software.
Neo is subcontractor software built for Australian construction subcontractors working in trades like concrete placement, concrete pumping, formwork, steel fixing, civil works and labour hire. It replaces spreadsheets and disconnected tools with one platform for subcontractors that connects the office and the field, covering scheduling, labour, compliance, payroll and site records in a single workflow.
Where most construction management software sits in the head contractor's corner, Neo is subcontractor management software, purpose-built as an all in one platform for the subcontractors doing the physical work. Subcontractors use Neo to manage jobs and projects across multiple sites, with mobile access for site crews and a back office Admin Console for office staff.
Who Neo is built for
Neo suits subcontractors who run their own crews, track billable hours against jobs and projects, and need clean data flowing from site to office. It replaces the patchwork of spreadsheets, WhatsApp threads and separate software that subcontracting work usually depends on, giving business owners full visibility of job progress, cost overruns and subcontractor performance across multiple projects.
Neo is used by construction subcontractors managing crews across multiple sites and projects. This includes labour-intensive, field-based trades such as concrete placement, concrete pumping, formwork, steel fixing, civil construction and labour hire, where accurate project scheduling, labour tracking, site documentation and EBA or award compliance are non-negotiable.
It’s equally suitable for large civil construction projects and on smaller jobs where subcontractors still need the same audit trails, compliance documentation and clean labour data. Subcontractors working in both civil and commercial construction use Neo to keep jobs, crews and records aligned, no matter how many sites are active at once.
Neo is built to scale with you. It suits subcontractors of different sizes that manage crews working across multiple projects, from growing teams bringing structure to their operations for the first time, through to leading subcontractors managing significant workforces and project counts. As operational complexity increases, purpose-built subcontractor management software becomes essential to protect margin and keep jobs moving.
Business needs change as a subcontracting business grows, and Neo is designed to streamline operations at every stage. The same subcontractor management software that handles a small crew on smaller jobs also handles a national workforce running dozens of jobs and projects in parallel, without forcing teams onto the wrong platform for their stage of growth.
Why choose Neo over other construction software
Honest answers to the questions subcontractors ask when they are comparing Neo against generic construction management software or sticking with separate tools.
Most construction management software is built for head contractors and general contractors managing projects from the top, not for subcontractors delivering the work on site. Neo is purpose-built for the subcontractor side of the job, with subcontractor management built around crew scheduling, productivity tracking, compliance and daily records across jobs and projects. Because Neo's subcontractor management is shaped around the specific pressures subcontractors face (tight margins, EBA compliance and fast-moving crews), it consistently outperforms generic construction project management software for the trades it serves.
Purpose-built vs generic tools designed for someone else
Software designed for head contractors rarely solves the problems subcontractors actually have, things like interpreting EBA and company awards against approved labour hours, or coordinating crew scheduling across multiple projects. Teams that try to stretch generic project management software to fit end up building workarounds inside separate tools, and clean data never really settles. Neo gives subcontractors the right platform for their own account of work, with the right tools for each role on every job.
Neo captures site diaries, photos, timesheets and variations as the work happens, creating clear, time-stamped records linked to each project. When head contractors raise questions around hours, delays or scope, subcontractors have defensible evidence ready. That reduces disputes, supports claims and helps payments move faster, which is often the difference between a profitable job and a difficult one.
From site diary to getting paid
Billable hours, variations and site conditions are captured in the Field App, flow into the Admin Console, and become clean data that subcontractors can claim against. Audit trails sit underneath every job, so when head contractors query a line on a progress claim, the evidence is already there. The shorter the loop between site record and claim, the faster cash flow moves, and the less time spent re-creating records after the fact.
The Admin Console dashboard pulls job progress, labour, equipment and document data from every active project into one platform, so business owners and operations managers see the whole portfolio without chasing supervisors for updates. Cost overruns, productivity trends and subcontractor performance surface as actionable insights rather than end-of-month surprises.
Project financials update as timesheets are approved and variations are logged, giving business owners a running picture of margin by job. Project managers can drill into job details on any single project, or step back to compare performance across multiple projects, and the view is built from the same job data rather than a new set of spreadsheets.
Getting started with Neo
What rollout actually looks like, who needs training, and how Neo handles scheduling from day one.
Most subcontractors go live on Neo within two to four weeks. The exact timeline depends on crew size, the number of active projects and how much historical data you want migrated. Neo's onboarding team maps your crews, clients, award rules and project structure into the software, runs the office team through the Admin Console, and introduces supervisors to the Field App so they can walk their crews through it on site. Because Neo is cloud-based subcontractor software, there is no server to stand up and no long integration phase before you start getting value.
What onboarding covers
Onboarding walks office staff through the key features of the Admin Console first: scheduling across jobs, crew management, timesheet submissions and approvals, compliance documentation and reporting across projects. Supervisors are trained on the Field App with their own account, so they can demonstrate it to crews in a pre-start. Throughout rollout, Neo provides the right resources and support so teams are not left to figure out the subcontractor software on their own, saving time for everyone involved.
Minimal training is needed. The Field App is built for easy adoption by tradespeople who already use a phone on site, so crews typically pick it up in under an hour. Clocking on, submitting a site diary, photographing progress and signing a form all work the way banking and messaging apps do, without menus or jargon. Most sites run a quick 15 minute supervisor-led walk-through before the first shift, and crews are productive from day one. Office teams get guided onboarding, in-app help and dedicated support throughout rollout.
Every crew member uses their own account on their existing mobile device, so there is no new hardware and no extra login to remember. Supervisors can reset access on the fly when new starters join, and the Field App uses the same patterns crews already know, which matters more on a busy day than any training video could.
Neo's project scheduling tools are built to handle both recurring jobs (regular pours, labour hire shifts, cyclical pumping runs) and large, complex processes like phased civil construction programs. Crews and subcontractors can be assigned across multiple jobs and projects at once, with the schedule and job information pushed to every worker's Field App so nobody is chasing phone calls to find out where to be.
Subcontractor coordination and project management across multiple sites is handled from one system rather than separate tools. Operations managers can move subcontractors between jobs of different sizes without losing job details, and the change is visible to everyone who needs it, including the crew member on the ground.
On site and in the field
Working conditions on construction sites are rarely predictable. Here is how Neo holds up when signal drops, paperwork stacks up or compliance is on the line.
Site forms in Neo are fully configurable, so your existing QA and safety, tool box talks, pre‑start forms, variations, day labour dockets, and inspections and test plans (ITPs) can be brought across as templates, or you can start from Neo's library and edit from there. You control which forms are assigned to which crews, trades and projects, and every submission is stamped against the right job, crew and location. Your tried and tested paperwork keeps working the way your subcontracting crews already run it, just without the paper.
Document control sits alongside the form library, so the current version of a template is always what crews are completing on site. When head contractors require an update to a form, the change goes out to every active crew at once rather than relying on an email, and document control is maintained across every job automatically.
Document control across every project
Every document uploaded to a job carries a version history, access log and audit trail, so operations managers always know what the crew had on the day. That level of control is what separates software built for subcontractors from generic tools stitched together after the fact.
Compliance management is built into the core of Neo. Crew tickets, inductions, equipment service records and form submissions all sit in one system. The platform tracks expiry dates and notifies you well before anything lapses, so you have time to act, whether that means asking crews to upload new tickets and licences or sending equipment away for servicing. That way the right resources are on the right job, and the business is not scrambling for evidence when an audit lands.
Audit trails on every job
Every timesheet, diary, photo and form submission creates a time-stamped audit trail linked to the project. From onboarding a new crew through to project completion, compliance documentation is captured once and reused across every job, rather than rebuilt for each head contractor portal.
Working with your existing tools and software
Neo is designed to sit alongside what you already use, not force a replacement.
Neo sits firmly on the subcontractor side of the job, so it runs independently of whatever head contractor platform you are asked to use. Your team can keep uploading RFIs, ITPs, daily reports and documents into Procore, Aconex, InEight, Hammertech or any other head contractor software, while Neo manages everything on your side of the fence: scheduling, crew hours, EBA and award compliance, payroll and job costing. You stop duplicating records just to satisfy the upstream portal.
Neo's aim is to collapse the separate software subcontractors that end up stitching together into an all in one system for the work you are accountable for. Other software your team uses for drafting, estimating or head contractor comms can stay where it is. Neo takes over the parts of subcontractor project management those tools were never really designed for.
Approved labour data flows from Neo into the major Australian payroll and accounting software, including Xero, MYOB, Jobpac Connect, QuickBooks, Sage, Cheops and MicrOpay. EBA and award interpretation runs automatically against approved timesheets before payroll is exported, which removes the most common source of payroll errors and the back-and-forth that usually goes with them.
Clean data flowing into your accounting software means less reconciliation at month end and fewer phone calls between payroll, project managers and the office. Every hour on a timesheet is linked back to a crew, a job and a project, so billable hours can be reported against the right job without re-keying.
Reporting, asset management and day-to-day operations
Beyond labour and compliance, Neo gives subcontractors a live view of jobs, equipment and project financials across the business.
Neo handles asset tracking for revenue-generating equipment, such as pumps, vehicles and small plant, alongside the crews using them. Equipment registers, service intervals and inspection records sit in the same software as crew data, linked back to the right jobs and projects, so operations managers can see at a glance what is on which job and when the next service is due.
Crew compliance alongside equipment
Because asset management sits next to crew management, Neo can match the right ticket to the right equipment without chasing paperwork. When a crew moves to a new job, their certifications, insurances and the gear they are qualified on move with them, which keeps subcontractor coordination tight across multiple sites.
Every job in Neo carries live job data: scheduled crew, approved hours, equipment assigned, forms completed, variations logged and photos attached. Job details and project financials roll up into reporting that shows subcontractor performance across jobs and projects, productivity by trade and cost overruns as they emerge, so business owners and project managers can act on actionable insights rather than history.
Reporting can be cut by job, by project, by crew or by trade across subcontractors, which means the office staff running project completion reviews and leadership looking at portfolio-level performance are working from the same job data, not separate spreadsheets.
Real-time access to site records is a core part of Neo. As crews submit timesheets, diaries and forms on the Field App, the Admin Console updates immediately, giving project managers, office staff and back office support full visibility of what is happening across every job and project for their subcontractors.
That visibility means fewer phone calls between site and office, less time spent re-asking the same questions, and a clearer picture of where crews are and what they are doing right now. It is the kind of day-to-day awareness that keeps jobs moving, particularly when something needs to change at short notice.
Pricing and next steps
How pricing works, and what happens when you ask for a demo.
Neo's pricing is structured around packages that scale with your business. Costs depend on workforce size and operational needs, so you only pay for what you use. A demo is the fastest way to understand which package fits your subcontracting operation and the ROI you can expect from subcontractor software like Neo.
Because every subcontracting operation is different, pricing is always shaped around how your operation actually works rather than a one-size-fits-all licence. The right software for a 15-person crew managing a handful of jobs looks different to the right software for a national subcontractor running dozens of projects, and Neo's pricing reflects that.
Book a demo today and the team will walk you through the software using your own jobs, projects and workflows as the reference. You will see the Admin Console, the Field App and the integrations that matter most to your trade, and leave with a clear view of what rollout looks like for your jobs and projects.
The demo is a conversation, not a generic product tour. By the end you should have a concrete answer on whether Neo suits the way subcontractors run jobs, and if it does, a realistic picture of timeline and value in the first 90 days.
Ready to see an easier way to run your subcontracting business?
Get the clarity, accuracy and confidence you need to keep jobs and crews moving. Book a demo and we will walk you through Neo using your own jobs, projects and subcontractors as the starting point.
No obligation, no pressure, just a practical look at how leading subcontractors are running jobs and projects with one system instead of a dozen separate tools.