Construction project owners have a powerful new tool to manage cost-plus, time and materials, and force account construction projects. CostTrax, powered by EquipmentWatch, is a new software solution that streamlines reporting, automatically flags questionable expenses, and ensures every reimbursement request is 100 percent compliant.

CostTrax is entirely web-based and requires no software to download — it can be accessed from any computer or device with an internet connection. It is unique in its ability to leverage third-party datasets to verify rate compliance. Data integrations, such as ownership and operating costs from the Rental Rate Blue Book and local rental market pricing from EquipmentWatch, give project owners critical new rate intelligence to prevent overpayment.

Streamlining the Reimbursement Workflow

CostTrax provides project owners with an efficient way to receive and approve project costs. "Project owners define their specs on day one," said Greg Lutz, managing director for CostTrax. "This ensures that every report they receive through CostTrax is already compliant to their exact specifications, with any markup and adjustments applied, and all required backup provided."

Protecting the Project Owner's Bottom Line

CostTrax is the industry's only solution with built-in rate compliance. "Many project owners find it difficult to know whether the rates they are being charged are in line with market standards. This is especially true when it comes to the reimbursement for use of heavy equipment," said Lutz. "In order to prevent overpayment, we use proprietary datasets to audit every report and automatically flag expenses that exceed reasonable market pricing."

CostTrax is able to accomplish this through an exclusive integration with EquipmentWatch. Standard hourly ownership and operating rates are provided by the Rental Rate Blue Book, the same standard approved for use by the Federal Highway Administration. Rental invoices are validated against the industry's most comprehensive rental database, which provides local market benchmarking.

Representing the Best Practices From Across the Industry

As part of the EquipmentWatch family, the team behind CostTrax spent years working with state DOTs and large project owners, helping to verify billions of dollars in reimbursement. "These organizations represent the most experienced managers of cost-plus construction in the country," said Lutz. "We've been fortunate to learn extensively from these industry heavyweights and turn those lessons into features that all project owners can use to save time and better control costs."

A Modern, Turnkey Solution for Managing Cost-Plus Construction

CostTrax is a turnkey solution for project owners who want to go paperless, stay compliant, and save on costs. "It was important for us to build a completely cloud-based solution that doesn't require any installation," said Lutz. "When project owners sign up for CostTrax, they are able to start using it to manage their reimbursement workflow that same day. And we've made sure getting data out for use in other systems is as easy as possible."

CostTrax is software designed for the project owner - including cities, counties, construction managers, and owner's representatives.

To learn more, visit www.costtrax.com

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