Most contractors in Saudi Arabia already have accounting software. The trouble starts between the site and the invoice: quantities in Excel, certificates typed by hand, retention tracked in a notebook and variations approved on WhatsApp. A construction ERP should close that gap. Here is what to check before you choose one.
1. The BOQ is the backbone
Everything in a contract hangs off the bill of quantities. Your system should hold the full BOQ with sections, units, rates and a cost budget per item, import it from Excel, and lock it after signing so every change goes through a proper variation.
2. Monthly payment certificates (IPC)
Progress billing in the Gulf is cumulative: each certificate shows work done to date, previous certificates and this period. The system must calculate advance recovery and retention automatically and produce a certificate the consultant can approve, then turn it into an invoice without retyping.
3. 15% VAT and ZATCA e-invoicing
Progress invoices are tax invoices, so they need the right VAT treatment and must go through ZATCA e-invoicing like any other invoice. Check that your ERP handles both, and decide early how retention appears on the invoice. Read our ZATCA Phase 2 guide for the details.
4. Retention, guarantees and variations
- Retention: every amount held, per contract, with release dates and reminders, because retention that nobody chases waits for months.
- Bank guarantees: advance payment and performance guarantees with expiry alerts.
- Variations: approved changes update the BOQ and appear on the next certificate, so extra work is never free work.
5. Subcontractors
Most projects pass work to subcontractors. You need their contracts, their certificates, the retention you hold from them and back-charges, all linked to your main contract, so your margin is visible on both sides.
6. Purchasing, site stores and real project cost
Material requests and purchase orders should be checked against the BOQ budget before you buy. Each site needs its own store, so you know what cement and steel is on which project and what was used or wasted. Every bill, timesheet and expense should land on the right project automatically, so budget vs actual is always up to date.
7. Arabic documents and consultant approvals
Certificates, invoices and variation orders often need English and Arabic. A portal where the consultant approves certificates online, with a record of who approved what and when, saves days on every billing cycle.
How we do it in Odoo
We built the DigitalVizta Contracting Suite for Odoo 19 to cover exactly this list: 11 apps from tender to final payment, on Community or Enterprise. Send us a sample BOQ and we will show you your first payment certificate in Odoo, free.
ERP consultant.
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