Softwr

Construction · head to head

Foundation Software vs Siteline

Foundation Software logo

Foundation Software

Construction

Job cost accounting and construction payroll for contractors running certified and union jobs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Siteline logo

Siteline

Construction

Pay application and billing workflow built only for speciality subcontractors

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Foundation Software no pricing is published anywhere, so shortlisting requires sitting through a sales process before you know whether the product is within budget at all.; Siteline it serves subcontractors only, so a general contractor evaluating it is looking at the wrong side of the transaction entirely.
  • They diverge on capability: Foundation Software covers Job costing, Siteline covers Pay application generation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Foundation Software and Siteline actually diverge.

Attributes where Foundation Software and Siteline differ
AttributeFoundation SoftwareSiteline
PlatformsWindows, Web, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Construction).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Foundation Software

  • Job costing
  • Certified payroll
  • Union payroll
  • AIA billing
  • Equipment costing
  • Service dispatch
  • Mobile time entry
  • Executive dashboards

Only in Siteline

  • Pay application generation
  • Lien waiver management
  • Compliance document tracking
  • Billing status visibility
  • Accounting system integration
  • Accounts receivable reporting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Foundation Software

  • A union electrical or mechanical contractor whose payroll spans several trades and fringe schedules in the same weeknot Siteline
  • A general contractor bidding federally funded work that requires weekly certified payroll filingsnot Siteline
  • A contractor whose QuickBooks file has outgrown job costing and who is reconciling work in progress in spreadsheetsnot Siteline
  • A firm with owned plant that needs equipment hours costed back to jobs to see true contract marginnot Siteline

Siteline

  • A trade contractor whose billing team rebuilds the same pay application in four different general contractor formats each monthnot Foundation Software
  • A subcontractor losing a billing cycle to rejected applications over missing lien waiversnot Foundation Software
  • A finance director trying to forecast collections across dozens of general contractors and retention balancesnot Foundation Software
  • A growing subcontractor whose billing process depends entirely on one person and a spreadsheetnot Foundation Software

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Foundation Software

  • No pricing is published anywhere, so shortlisting requires sitting through a sales process before you know whether the product is within budget at all.
  • Implementation, data conversion and training are billed separately from the licence and routinely run into five figures, which buyers comparing monthly software subscriptions do not budget for.
  • The payroll compliance engine is built for United States federal and state law, so the product has essentially no value to contractors outside the US.
  • The interface is a long-lived Windows-style application, and staff hired from cloud-native tools find it slow to learn compared with Buildertrend or Procore.
  • Project management, document control and field collaboration are weaker than the dedicated construction platforms, so most sites end up running Foundation for money and something else for the job, and paying twice.

Siteline

  • It serves subcontractors only, so a general contractor evaluating it is looking at the wrong side of the transaction entirely.
  • It does not do job costing, project management or payroll, so it is an addition to your systems rather than a consolidation of them.
  • Value depends on a clean integration to your construction accounting system, and contractors with heavily customised or elderly installations should confirm the connection before signing.
  • General contractor portals and billing formats change without warning, and although the vendor absorbs that maintenance you still feel it as occasional friction in a month-end window with no slack.
  • The billing team has to adopt it fully in the first month-end or they revert to spreadsheets under deadline pressure, which makes the implementation timing more delicate than the software suggests.

Pricing, plan by plan

Foundation Software

On request
  • FOUNDATION$undefined/year
    • Modular licensing, priced by modules and user count
    • Cloud hosted or installed on your own server
    • Separate one-off implementation, data conversion and training fee

Siteline

On request
  • Siteline$undefined/year
    • Pay application workflow
    • Lien waiver and compliance tracking
    • Accounting system integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Foundation Software if

  • You need job costing.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want certified payroll.
Foundation Software review

Choose Siteline if

  • You need pay application generation.
  • You also want lien waiver management.
Siteline review

Questions people ask

Is Foundation Software or Siteline better?
Neither clearly leads. Foundation Software starts at On request and Siteline at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Foundation Software or Siteline?
Foundation Software starts at On request and Siteline at On request.
Does Foundation Software or Siteline run on more platforms?
Foundation Software runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android. Siteline runs on Web.
What is Foundation Software best used for?
Foundation Software is most often used for a union electrical or mechanical contractor whose payroll spans several trades and fringe schedules in the same week, a general contractor bidding federally funded work that requires weekly certified payroll filings, a contractor whose quickbooks file has outgrown job costing and who is reconciling work in progress in spreadsheets, a firm with owned plant that needs equipment hours costed back to jobs to see true contract margin. Of those, a union electrical or mechanical contractor whose payroll spans several trades and fringe schedules in the same week and a general contractor bidding federally funded work that requires weekly certified payroll filings are not what Siteline is typically brought in for.
What can Foundation Software do that Siteline cannot?
Foundation Software covers Job costing, Certified payroll, Union payroll, AIA billing. Siteline covers Pay application generation, Lien waiver management, Compliance document tracking, Billing status visibility.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Foundation Software: How much does Foundation Software cost?

The vendor publishes no rates. Pricing is assembled per contractor from module selection and user count, with a separate implementation fee, and is only given after a discovery call.

Siteline: Does it replace our accounting system?

No. It reads from Sage 300 CRE, Vista, Foundation and similar systems and handles the billing workflow those systems handle poorly.

Foundation Software: Does it replace Procore?

No. Foundation is the accounting and payroll system; Procore is project management. They integrate, and many contractors run both.

Siteline: What should we measure in a trial?

Days sales outstanding and the number of rejected or delayed pay applications. The case is about cash timing, not headcount.

Foundation Software: Can it handle certified payroll for multiple states?

Yes, it produces state-specific certified payroll formats as well as the federal WH-347, which is the main reason multi-state contractors buy it.

Siteline: Is it useful for general contractors?

No. It is built for the party submitting pay applications, not the party receiving them.

Foundation Software: Is there a cloud version?

Yes, it is offered hosted as well as on-premise, but the hosted version is the same application delivered remotely rather than a rebuilt browser product.

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