Keep one list of money going out
Clients pay you against an invoice. Your subs deserve the same order. Four rules are enough.
- One contract per sub per job, signed before the work starts. It says the scope and the total.
- The sub bills against that contract, in writing. Not by voice message.
- You never pay more than the contract total without a written change.
- Every payment gets a method and a reference: Zelle, check number, cash.
Two questions the list must answer
- What do I owe this sub across all jobs? Useful on the day you sit down to pay.
- What does labor cost on this one job? Useful before you quote the next one like it.
Keep the tax paper too
Collect a W-9 from each sub before the first payment. In January you need the totals you paid each of them. Ask your accountant which of your subs need a 1099-NEC.
How it works in WorkTime CRM
Your saved subcontractors live in Subs → My partners. Money going out to them is on one page, the Sub Invoices tab.
It lists what the subs submitted from their own portal, the steps of the payment schedule they have not billed yet, and assignments still waiting for a signature. At the top you see Paid out, Owed and how many are pending. A sub cannot invoice more than the contract total.
The "Group by" switch answers both questions. "Subcontractor" shows everything for one sub across all jobs. "Client / Project" shows what labor costs on one job.
To pay, open a submitted invoice and press Pay. Pick Zelle, Check, Cash or Other, and type the check number if there is one. For Zelle the window shows the amount and the sub's details with Copy buttons. Open your bank, send the money there, come back and press "I sent it — mark paid". Only that button marks it paid. The CRM does not move the money itself.
Marking it paid also books the labor expense on the project and emails the sub. At tax time, Accounting builds the 1099-NEC list from the sub invoices you paid in the CRM.
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