Stop Losing Billable Dollars: How MEC General Contractors Automated Lowe’s & Home Depot Expenses

The Challenge: Reconciling Receipts with GL Accuracy

Field employees are hired for their trade skills, not for administrative work. Yet, every purchase for a job site came with a list of extra steps. Employees had to save the paper receipt, write the correct job number on it, take a picture, send it to the accounting team, and later log in to complete an expense report. For field-service oriented employees, this was time away from the job site and easy to push aside.

Once receipts reached the office, administrators had their own set of challenges. Each receipt had to be matched to the right corporate card transaction, often relying on receipt legibility, incomplete job numbers, or handwriting that was hard to read. Every line item then had to be coded to the correct GL account, such as plumbing, electrical, or tools, before being entered manually into the accounting system.

This multi-step process consumed hours every week. Delays in receiving complete information pushed back billing or payment cycles. Charges to customers were sometimes missed entirely. Inconsistent GL coding created extra work during audits and reduced confidence in the accuracy of financial reports.

The DATABASICS Solution: Fully Automated, End-to-End Expense Management 

DATABASICS transformed this process by removing the burden from both field employees and administrators by implementing an automated process:

1. Credit Card Integration
   
   Corporate card feeds from Lowe’s and Home Depot load directly into DATABASICS with purchaser, time, and location details. Field service staff are instructed to enter the job number at the point of purchase in one of the fields.

2. Receipt Collection
   
   Field employees take a photo in the mobile app or email their receipt to the system. No login or form is required.

3. Auto-Receipt Matching
   
   AI matches and links receipts to the correct card transactions using merchant, amount, and timestamps pulled from the credit card data and from the receipt data.

4. AI-Powered Itemization and GL Coding
   
   Each receipt is scanned, itemized, and assigned to the correct GL account. Job or service order numbers from the point-of-sale or linked automatically.

5. Automated Expense Report Creation
   
   Once matched and coded, the expense report is generated and routed for approval automatically.

6. Validation and Auditing
   
   Administrators are notified if a credit card transaction does not have a receipt attached. Administrators can also act as proxies to allow for editing of automated reports. If automated GL coding is incorrect, administrators can review and override coding prior to posting.

“We were constantly chasing down missing receipts, correcting miscoded expenses, and manually keying everything into the system. Now those steps are handled automatically.”

— Darlene Rosa, Accounts Payable Lead

The Results: Time Reclaimed, Focus Restored 

Before DATABASICS:

• 8+ hours per week chasing receipts and calling field staff
• Manual GL coding with 80% accuracy
• 10% of invoices delayed due to missing or incomplete data
• Billing cycle averaged 7 days

After DATABASICS:

• Receipt matching and GL coding are fully automated
• GL accuracy improved to 90% and late billing reduced to 5%
• Billing turnaround dropped from 7 days to 24 hours

“Since implementing, we’ve probably saved 6–8 hours a week just by eliminating manual data entry. My goal is that we’ll reduce credit card reconciliation time by 40–60% as adoption improves. The accounting team’s time is shifting away from data entry toward more value-added projects like job cost analysis, forecasting, and improving cash flow.”

— Jennifer Agrait, Director of Finance

In Their Words – MEC's Customer Perspective

“Before DATABASICS, we were chasing receipts, correcting miscoded expenses, and dealing with delays every month. Now we’re confident billing will be faster, cleaner, and it will be easier for MEC General Contractors to scale.” — Jennifer Agrait, Director of Finance

GL Compliance and Audit-Ready Documentation Built In

Every transaction is matched to a receipt, coded correctly by GL, linked to a job or service order number, and stored in an auditable report.

With no re-entry, fewer delays, and fewer human errors, compliance is built into the process.

“From an audit perspective, the transparency is much better. Expenses are digitally captured and tied to the right project, so if a client requests documentation, we can show exactly where the costs were instead of digging through paper files.”

— Jennifer Agrait, Director of Finance

DATABASICS Insight

“Construction teams are stretched thin—every minute spent chasing receipts or coding expenses is a minute away from the job site. That’s why we built a system that automates the process, lightening the load on employees while giving finance full control.”
— Sophie Bukrinsky, DATABASICS Senior Systems and Application Consultant

Conclusion

Construction companies can have operational efficiency and billing accuracy at the same time. DATABASICS keeps field teams focused on their work, gives finance teams back hours every week, and delivers clear, itemized invoices to clients faster.

Stop chasing receipts. Start billing with confidence.

Learn more at www.data-basics.com