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Between the spreadsheet and the enterprise system
Most mid-sized owners run construction projects one of two ways: spreadsheets and email, or an enterprise project management information system (PMIS) built for much larger programs. The biggest difference: in Kipso, the AI does the project management work and sets the system up, and your staff make the decisions.
Side-by-side comparison
| Spreadsheets and email | Typical enterprise PMIS | Kipso | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Nothing to set up | An implementation project: $49,621–$212,278 in public contracts, and 6–9 months by one vendor's own estimate | Set up by the AI from your files, not by a consultant; designed to go live in a day (our target) |
| Who does the work | Your staff, by hand | Your staff, in forms and workflows the system tracks | An AI agent per project checks pay apps, drafts and routes change orders, raises alerts and writes the board report; your staff decide |
| Pricing | Staff time | Usually unpublished; implementation and admin support billed on top | Planned: published, all-in, by capital spend (free during the early preview) |
| Users | Whoever has the file | Often unlimited | Unlimited |
| Change orders | Typed up by hand; approvals by email | Forms and workflows staff fill in and advance | Drafted from field notes; routed by your policy automatically |
| Pay-app checks | Manual, when there's time | Pay apps tracked against the SOV; review is manual | Every line checked against SOV, change orders, site progress, retainage and lien waivers before certifying |
| Board report | Rebuilt every month | Report builders; narrative written by staff | Generated monthly from live cost data, with a drafted narrative |
| Public bond page | Updated by hand, if at all | Offered by some systems | Included; updates drafted for staff approval |
| AI | None | Where offered, often a premium add-on | Part of the planned price, not an add-on |
| Admin | Whoever built the workbook | A trained admin or a support retainer: $33,005–$128,376 a year in public contracts | Built-in admin assistant (in development) |
| Accounting connection | Retyped into the accounting system | Often a separate integration project; one city's feed was cut to one-way journal entries "due to limited budget" | A CSV mapped to your system's import format, imported by your finance team (in the demo; live connectors planned) |
| Approval controls | Email and signatures | Workflows configured in implementation; one city audit found 571 missing sign-offs and 297 doubled-up roles | Only the person it's waiting on can approve; email sign-in with roles; separation-of-duties checks; an append-only, hash-chained audit log (in the demo) |
| Breadth | Anything, loosely | Many modules: documents, RFIs, submittals, capital planning, facilities | Focused on the change-order-to-payment loop, forecasting and reporting; imports schedule milestones from your scheduler and works alongside your document tools |
| Security certifications | Depends on where files live | Commonly SOC 2; some hold FedRAMP | Not yet certified. See our security plan |
"Typical enterprise PMIS" describes common patterns across owner-side systems sold to large public agencies, from public contracts and product material. Individual products differ. Figures and sources: what implementation really costs.
How long enterprise rollouts take
A public example shows a rollout of 12 months or more.
12+ months
A large university system's rollout ran from planning and design sessions through two rounds of testing and a pilot to a phased go-live.
Kipso takes a different approach: the AI sets the system up from the files you already keep, asks only about what it can't work out, and your finance lead signs off when the totals reconcile. Going live in a day is our target, and we'll measure it with every early owner.
Based on a public agency record about a traditional construction PM platform. It's an example of how long a rollout can take, not a review of any product; each depends on the owner's size, scope and decisions.
Kipso is a good fit if
- You spend under about $50 million a year on capital projects
- A small team handles change orders and pay apps
- You're on spreadsheets now, or your current contract is up for renewal
- Your board, oversight committee or grantors want regular reporting
It's probably not, yet, if
- Your IT or procurement rules require SOC 2 or FedRAMP today
- You need one system for documents, submittals, facilities and work orders
- You run a multi-billion-dollar program with dozens of PMs
We'd rather tell you now than after an RFP.
Common questions
How is Kipso different from an enterprise project system?
Enterprise systems usually start with an implementation project, $49,621–$212,278 in public contracts, and charge for admin support after go-live. Kipso sets itself up from your files and includes setup, admin and the AI in a published price.
What does Kipso not do?
It's focused on the change-order-to-payment loop, forecasting and reporting. It imports schedule milestones from your scheduler and works alongside your document tools rather than replacing them, and it doesn't cover facilities or work orders.
Can we run it alongside our current system?
The plan is that you'll be able to run one project in parallel before you decide, using an export of your current system plus your workbooks.
Is Kipso SOC 2 certified?
Not yet. SOC 2 Type 1 and then Type 2 are planned, with the work starting during pilots. If your rules require SOC 2 today, tell us and we'll give you a straight answer on timing.
Where do the enterprise figures come from?
From public school-board and agency contract records, board packets and audits, summarized on our page about what implementation really costs. Sources are available on request, and individual products differ.
Compare it on your own projects
Talk to us about a recent change order and pay app, and we'll walk through how Kipso would handle ones like them. We'll use redacted copies, or set up a data agreement first.