Legacy Construction Achieves 90% Subcontractor Portal Adoption and Eliminates Day-Long Budget Process

Client: Legacy Construction

Industry: Full-service commercial contractor

Region: Fresno, California

For project managers juggling multiple jobs, budgets, schedules, and subcontractors, efficiency isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. Legacy Construction, a full-service commercial contractor based in Fresno, California, found that efficiency with Premier Construction Software, transforming how they manage projects from budget creation to subcontractor payments.

Gina Smith, Project Manager at Legacy Construction, estimates Premier saves her one to two hours daily—over 10 hours per week—while the company achieved a remarkable 90% adoption rate for their subcontractor portal. What was once a dreaded, day-long process of building project budgets now takes minutes, freeing the team to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional healthcare, retail, and mixed-use development projects.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Fresno, California, Legacy Construction has built its reputation as a full-service commercial contractor specializing in three key sectors: healthcare facilities, retail developments, and mixed-use projects. Understanding that successful projects require support from concept through completion, the company expanded its capabilities by founding Legacy Realty & Development, creating a comprehensive family of services that guide clients from initial concept through permitting and construction.

With project managers actively working in the field while maintaining oversight of budgets, schedules, and extensive subcontractor relationships, Legacy Construction needed a construction management platform that could deliver comprehensive project visibility without complexity. Their commitment to efficiency and innovation drives them to continually optimize operations while maintaining the strong subcontractor partnerships essential to their success across diverse commercial project types.

Before implementing Premier, Legacy Construction relied on multiple disconnected platforms: QuickBooks for accounting and other project management software that created significant operational friction. Gina's 16 years of experience with various construction software revealed common industry pain points that many contractors face.

Budget Creation Was a Full-Day Ordeal: Building project budgets in previous systems required dedicating an entire day to the task. The process involved tedious manual data entry, clicking through multiple boxes, and dropping codes one by one. What should have been a straightforward process became something Gina dreaded with each new project.

Limited User-Friendliness: Earlier platforms lacked intuitive navigation, making it difficult for team members to find what they needed or understand where to pull specific reports. The learning curve was steep, and simple tasks required extensive training.

Inefficient Reporting: Generating reports meant wading through pages of irrelevant information with no easy way to filter down to what mattered. Project managers couldn't quickly drill down to pending items or issues requiring immediate attention.

Manual Subcontractor Payment Processing: Processing subcontractor invoices involved multiple manual steps—receiving invoices via email, uploading them to the system, and manually inputting all the information. This time-consuming process created bottlenecks and increased the risk of errors.

Legacy Construction needed more than just accounting software—they needed a comprehensive construction management platform built specifically for how contractors actually work. Premier's construction-specific design offered something their previous systems couldn't: a unified platform where project managers could manage every aspect of their jobs without jumping between multiple tools or wrestling with clunky interfaces.

The decision proved transformative from day one.

10+ Hours Saved Weekly Per Project Manager

The efficiency gains hit immediately. Gina estimates Premier saves her one to two hours every day—translating to 10+ hours per week of recovered productivity. For a project manager balancing field work with office responsibilities across healthcare, retail, and mixed-use projects, those hours make the difference between reactive firefighting and proactive project management.

Budget Creation: From Days to Minutes

Perhaps the most dramatic transformation came in project budget creation. What previously consumed an entire day now takes minutes. Gina can upload the original estimate, review it, and have a complete project budget ready in a fraction of the time. She describes it as not just time-saving, but "life-saving"—eliminating a task she used to dread before starting each new project.

With other contractor software I had to dedicate an entire day to building a budget. In Premier I upload the original estimate, double check it, and I’m done in minutes. I call it life-saving because I used to dread that step.

This efficiency cascade continues: with budgets set up quickly, she can immediately begin issuing the 30+ subcontracts typical for her projects, keeping the entire project timeline on track.

90% Subcontractor Portal Adoption

Legacy Construction achieved a remarkable 90% adoption rate for Premier's subcontractor payment portal—a metric that reflects both the platform's ease of use and the company's smart implementation strategy. They positioned the portal as part of their standard process: a simple link, no software downloads required, and a straightforward path to payment.

Our subcontractor payout portal has about a 90% adoption rate. It’s simple—here’s a link, no software to download. Subs submit their invoice and compliance in one place, and it has saved us a ton of time.

The results eliminated countless hours of manual work. Subcontractors submit invoices and compliance documents directly through the portal, removing the need for Legacy's team to manually upload and input information. Everything arrives in one place, already organized and ready for review—a critical efficiency gain for a contractor managing complex healthcare and mixed-use projects with dozens of subcontractors.

Real-Time Project Visibility Across All Sectors

The job dashboard became Gina's command center. She opens it every morning to check on all her projects, with color-coded indicators immediately drawing her attention to items needing action. Red highlights signal unanswered RFIs or pending submittals. Margin status shows at a glance whether projects are trending as expected.

I'm in my dashboard every morning first thing just to keep tabs on all of my projects. It’s the heartbeat of each job and everything is so easy to access from there.

From that dashboard, a single click provides access to everything affecting a project—change orders, submittals, RFIs, subcontract status, and detailed reports. No more hunting through folders or multiple systems to find critical information across diverse project types.

Streamlined Reporting

Premier transformed how Legacy Construction pulls and uses project data. Reports can be tailored to show exactly what's needed—pending items, completed tasks, or specific cost breakdowns—without sorting through pages of irrelevant information. The ability to drill down from any report means project managers can quickly identify issues and understand their root causes.

Efficient Digital Approvals

The digital signature and approval system streamlined workflows across the organization. When accounting enters an invoice or a subcontractor submits a payment application, the approval workflow routes it automatically. Gina can review, approve, and complete the process with a few clicks, and the charges apply to the job immediately—no paper, no delays, no chasing signatures.

The digital signature and approval system has really streamlined things. I open the invoice, review it, click approve, hit finish, and it’s applied to the job quickly and easily.

When asked about her experience with Premier, Gina emphasizes a combination that's rare in construction software: powerful, high-level reporting combined with genuine user-friendliness.

My experience with Premier is that it's very user friendly. Anyone can get in there and find their way around, and the reporting is super high level but still easy to use.

Intuitive Navigation: Anyone can get into the system and find their way around without extensive training. This ease of use dramatically reduces onboarding time for new team members—critical for a growing company like Legacy Construction.

The Job Dashboard: This central hub provides the heartbeat of each project. All critical KPIs are visible at once, with color coding that immediately draws attention to items requiring action. Whether managing a healthcare facility, retail center, or mixed-use development, the dashboard provides consistent visibility across all project types.

Forgiving and Flexible: Mistakes aren't permanent disasters. The system makes it easy to go back and make corrections, reducing the anxiety that comes with working in less flexible platforms.

Complete Integration: Having all financial and operational data in one place means project managers can truly manage their projects fully. Budget, schedule, subcontractors, change orders, submittals, RFIs—everything lives in one integrated system, essential for complex commercial projects.

Having the financial and operational data all in one place has made my life so much easier. It lets me truly manage the project fully—schedule, budget, everything I'm responsible for—without bouncing between platforms.

Legacy Construction's relationship with Premier extends beyond the technology itself. From implementation through ongoing support, the experience has been notably positive.

During initial setup, the Premier team conducted numerous virtual meetings, always personable and immediately responsive when Legacy Construction encountered challenges or needed workarounds. They provided not just solutions but also training resources, including videos to help subcontractors navigate the payment portal—supporting Legacy's successful 90% adoption rate.

At the Premier Synergy Client Conference, Gina experienced the company culture firsthand and found striking similarities to Legacy Construction's own values: people matter, listening is essential, and you can work hard while having a great time. The networking opportunities allowed her to connect with contractors from around the world, all using Premier differently and sharing insights that will improve how Legacy Construction leverages the platform.

Gina describes the experience as "unlike any other conference," with exceptional attention to detail, informative presentations, and valuable networking that helps contractors learn from each other's implementations.

Legacy Construction continues to explore Premier's full capabilities. The team is currently discussing adoption of Cortex to consolidate even more of their technology stack and move away from their current Autodesk platform. With AI-powered features on the horizon that can learn company trends and patterns, having all project data in one integrated platform will unlock even greater efficiencies.

The more data in the system, the more Premier's AI can understand Legacy's unique patterns and make the company even more efficient—helping them identify trends and optimize processes across their healthcare, retail, and mixed-use project portfolios.

The company has already proven their ability to drive adoption—their 90% subcontractor portal success demonstrates that with the right approach and the right tools, even major process changes can be implemented smoothly.

When asked what she'd tell someone considering Premier, Gina's response is unequivocal: "It's a no brainer."

Her reasoning centers on what matters most to busy construction professionals—productivity, efficiency, and time. Premier delivers all three by being easy to use, easy to train, and capable of saving time at every stage: onboarding new employees, executing daily work, and freeing up capacity for strategic priorities beyond just keeping up with administrative tasks.

The platform helps contractors see multiple projects simultaneously with quick access to data that highlights where improvements are needed. This visibility enables continuous refinement—identifying unexpected job costs, understanding trends, and making adjustments that improve performance on the next project and the one after that.

Time, as Gina notes, is the most important asset we have—not just for productivity at work, but for life in general. Premier gives that time back.

Legacy Construction's experience with Premier Construction Software demonstrates measurable impact across every aspect of project management:

• 10+ hours saved per week per project manager
• 90% subcontractor portal adoption eliminating manual invoice processing
• Budget creation reduced from a full day to minutes
• Real-time project visibility through an intuitive job dashboard across healthcare, retail, and mixed-use projects
• Streamlined approvals with digital signatures and automated workflows
• Comprehensive reporting that delivers exactly the information needed

Beyond the metrics, Premier delivered something equally valuable: peace of mind. Project managers no longer dread budget creation or waste time hunting for information. They have confidence in their data, visibility into their projects, and the tools to make informed decisions quickly across diverse commercial project types.

For a full-service commercial contractor committed to efficiency and growth across healthcare, retail, and mixed-use development sectors, Premier proved to be exactly what Gina called it: a no-brainer.

To watch the full conversation with Gina, click here.

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