General Contractors need accurate, real-time financial visibility to keep projects on budget and protect margins. But forecasting is only as reliable as the data feeding it, and one of the biggest blind spots is unaccounted Change Order exposure. Without a clear process to track outstanding Change Orders across every Trade Partner, financial projections are incomplete, increasing the risk of budget overruns and fee erosion. The challenge boils down to a single question:
“How do I know all of my Change Orders are accounted for in my forecast?”
For many project managers, the answer is often a moving target. The current industry standard for tracking Change Order exposure is a tedious, manual process involving countless emails to subcontractors, reconciling inconsistent COR logs, and cross-referencing information in project financial systems. This process is riddled with inefficiencies, delays, and opportunities for critical cost exposures to be missed entirely.
Project financial systems are closed by design to protect sensitive financial data, which means they do not inherently provide visibility into Change Order risk. At Clearstory, we call this disconnect The Change Order Gap, and it’s what continues to force the manual workarounds that project teams rely on: scattered email exchanges, disconnected logs, and fragmented tracking methods that make forecasting a challenge.
This is what Clearstory solves.
By providing a shared, cloud-based Change Order Log, along with a digital T&M Ticket app and a Change Notifications feature for conducting pricing exercises, we ensure that every General Contractor has a real-time, comprehensive view of Change Order exposure. Instead of relying on email chains and inconsistent logs, project teams gain a centralized, real-time view of all outstanding Change Order requests.
With Clearstory, General Contractors can:
- Eliminate Manual Log Collection – Specialty Contractors on a project simply upload or create Change Orders directly in Clearstory, ensuring that every request is standardized, documented, and visible in real time.
- Instantly Identify Missing or Unassigned Change Orders – Using Clearstory’s filtering and insight tools, project managers can pinpoint which Change Order Requests haven’t been assigned a PCO in their project financial software.
- Capture Field-Directed Extra Work with a Digital T&M App – Subcontractors can submit T&M Tags digitally with a single click, providing instant visibility into what has been authorized and priced.
- Streamline Pricing Exercises with Change Notifications – General Contractors can distribute pricing requests and track cost responses in a structured, automated workflow.
- Seamlessly Integrate with Financial Tools – Our integrations with Procore, CMiC, Viewpoint, Sage, HCSS, and other industry-leading software systems ensure that Change Order risk is accurately reflected in financial forecasts without redundant data entry.
Instead of working endless hours and waiting weeks for updates, project teams have immediate access to Change Order exposure across every Subcontractor, allowing them to make data-driven decisions in real time.
Regardless of the size and scope of projects, construction teams can no longer afford to rely on outdated processes that leave them guessing about their financial exposure. Clearstory’s platform ensures that:
- Every Change Order Request is captured and accounted for in a single, universal log.
- General Contractors, Trade Partners, and Owners are always aligned on outstanding costs and approvals.
- Forecasting is no longer reactive but proactive, backed by real-time data and automated workflows.
By leveraging Clearstory’s Change Order Log, digital T&M app, and Change Notifications, General Contractors gain confidence in their financial forecasting to protect margins, reduce project risk, and create a smoother, more predictable path to project close-outs.
In an industry where every dollar counts, the ability to answer the question “How do I know all of my Change Orders are accounted for in my forecast?” with certainty is transformative. With Clearstory, the answer is a resounding yes.
If you’re tired of the inefficiencies and risks associated with manual Change Order tracking, it’s time to experience a better way. Clearstory streamlines forecasting, eliminates guesswork, and puts you in control of your project’s financial future.
Let us show you how. Schedule a demo today to see how easy it is to put Clearstory to work on your next project—and take the uncertainty out of forecasting for good.
